The Biden White House Is Tossing Obama’s Economics Playbook - Joe Biden and Janet Yellen are proving to be far bolder than past Democratic Administrations. - link
Can Biden Reverse Trump’s Damage to Latin America? - The new President has vowed to end his predecessor’s “incompetence and neglect” in the region, but first he must convince allies to trust Washington again. - link
Trump’s Impeachment-Trial Lawyers Refuse to Seriously Engage with the Constitutional Issues - What looks like incompetence by Bruce Castor and David Schoen may be better understood as contempt for the process. - link
The Fight for Fifteen at an Orlando McDonald’s - For Cristian Cardona and his co-workers, the pandemic brought new meaning to a nationwide movement to raise the minimum wage. - link
The Evolution of Alexey Navalny’s Nationalism - The Russian opposition politician has placed the right to self-determination at the center of his politics. - link
From Vox
“We got what we wanted”: Democrats defend the decision not to call impeachment witnesses -
House impeachment manager Del. Stacey Plaskett (D-VI) walks to the Senate Chamber on the second day of former President Trump’s second impeachment trial on February 10, 2021. | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Del. Stacey Plaskett told CNN that “we didn’t need more witnesses, we needed more senators with spines.”
One day after the acquittal of former President Donald Trump, multiple House impeachment managers worked to explain their decision not to call witnesses in his second impeachment trial.
Witnesses initially were not expected to be called during the trial, but that expectation was upended Saturday morning when lead House impeachment manager Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) called for Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA) to be deposed.
On Friday, Herrera Beutler released a statement that confirmed details from her previous account of Trump’s conduct during the storming of the US Capitol on January 6, and that suggested the former president was not alarmed about the insurrection. Raskin argued for hearing more from Herrera Beutler, and the Senate voted to draft rules on calling witnesses. But amid opposition from Republicans — and reportedly, some Democrats — impeachment managers ultimately settled for having Herrera Beutler’s statement read into the record and calling no witnesses.
“I think what we did was we got what we wanted,” US Virgin Islands Del. Stacey Plaskett told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday. “Which was [Herrera Beutler’s] statement, which was what she said, and had it put into the record. And being able to say it on the record, out loud, so others would hear.”
“We didn’t back down,” says House impeachment manager Stacey Plaskett on their decision to forego witnesses.
“We had sufficient evidence to prove that the President did what we said he did, which was incite an insurrection to overthrow our government.” #CNNSOTUpic.twitter.com/6XoxBV4Mi0
Democrats argue witnesses would have been difficult to get — and wouldn’t have mattered
According to Herrera Beutler, who was also one of just 10 House Republicans to vote to impeach Trump for a second time last month, Trump spoke to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) on January 6 as the Capitol building was under attack by a pro-Trump mob.
“Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are,” Trump reportedly told McCarthy as rioters stormed the Capitol.
Herrera Beutler had previously recounted that conversation to a local news outlet, the Longview Daily News, in January after her impeachment vote, but it garnered new attention when CNN reported additional details Friday.
“You have to look at what [Trump] did during the insurrection to confirm where his mind was at,” Herrera Beutler told CNN Friday. “That line right there demonstrates to me that either he didn’t care, which is impeachable, because you cannot allow an attack on your soil, or he wanted it to happen and was OK with it, which makes me so angry.”
As compelling as Herrera Beutler’s testimony might have been, though — she called Trump’s comments “chilling” — Democrats argued Sunday that it wouldn’t have made any difference to the outcome of the trial, and it wouldn’t have been worth the delay to other Senate business.
“We could have had a thousand witnesses, but that could not have overcome the kinds of silly arguments that people like McConnell and Capito were hanging their hats on,” Raskin told NBC’s Chuck Todd on Meet the Press Sunday.
EXCLUSIVE: @RepRaskin explains why Democrats chose not to hear from witnesses.
Raskin: “We could have had a thousand witnesses but that could not have overcome the kinds of silly arguments that people like McConnell and Caputo were hanging their hats on.” pic.twitter.com/tkStrGVxUV
Plaskett took a similar line with Tapper. “We didn’t need more witnesses, we needed more senators with spines,” she said Sunday.
Rep. Joe Neguse (D-CO), one of the impeachment managers, also told Margaret Brennan on CBS’s Face the Nation Sunday that “witnesses that were not friendly to the prosecution were not going to comply voluntarily, which meant that we were going to be litigating subpoenas for months and potentially years.”
This all raises the question of why Raskin proposed deposing Herrera Beutler if getting her testimony might have been difficult and if it was seen as having little influence on the outcome.
Why a deposition seen as futile was proposed appears more complicated.
Pressure from Democratic Senate colleagues may have played a role in the House managers’ decision Saturday. According to a Politico report, Delaware Sen. Chris Coons cautioned his House colleagues that pursuing witness testimony would mean losing Republican, and possibly some Democrat, votes to convict Trump.
“The jury is ready to vote,” Coons reportedly said. “People want to get home for Valentine‘s Day.”
The managers also claimed Sunday that they were satisfied with having Herrera Beutler’s words read into the record, because any deposition taken would have been similar to what the Washington representative had already said in previous statements.
“It became very clear to us the president’s counsel was willing to stipulate to allow that statement to come into evidence and be considered by the Senate,” Neguse said on CBS. “And that was an important stipulation.”
As Vox’s Andrew Prokop pointed out Saturday, there was little suspense about whether testimony could affect the final vote in the Senate. This made the argument for calling witnesses more about attempting to shed further light on Trump’s state of mind — and chipping away at his support — than anything else.
According to Prokop:
The outcome of the trial wasn’t in serious question, since Democrats never got anywhere near the 17 Republican Senate votes they’d need to convict Trump. (For instance, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell announced he would vote to acquit Trump Saturday morning, ending rumors to the contrary.)
This means the witness question would mainly be about attempting to further unearth facts about what happened, or aimed at hurting Trump’s political support (rather than having a real chance of convicting him). But in the end, political leaders in both parties preferred the trial to end now, rather than dragging it out. Democrats hope to return to a focus on President Biden’s agenda, and Republicans want the focus off Trump’s ugly actions.
As Neguse said Sunday: “I think it’s pretty clear, and lead manager Raskin touched on this, whether it was five more witnesses or 5,000 witnesses … it would not have made a difference to those senators.”
All told, 57 senators — 10 shy of the two-thirds majority needed to convict Trump — voted to find him guilty Saturday. Seven Republicans joined every Democrat in voting to convict Trump of inciting insurrection. Despite that verdict, which was widely, and accurately, seen as predetermined along largely partisan lines, House impeachment managers argued Sunday that their evidence, including Herrera Beutler’s statement, speaks for itself.
“We had sufficient evidence to prove that the president did what we said he did, which was incite an insurrection to overthrow our government,” Plaskett said Sunday. “I think that all Americans, when we rested our case, believed that we had proved our case.”
Lindsey Graham’s latest Fox News Sunday appearance highlights the GOP’s identity crisis -
Sen. Lindsey Graham leaves the US Capitol on February 13, 2021, after Trump’s second impeachment trial concluded. | Joshua Roberts/Getty Images
Graham is still all in on Trumpism. Bill Cassidy? Not so much.
Two very different interviews on the Sunday morning news shows illustrated the Republican Party’s post-Trump impeachment acquittal identity crisis.
With Trump now out of office, banned from social media, and fresh off a trial in which a bipartisan majority of senators voted for his conviction, the Republican Party is polarized.
Some Republicans want to try to finally push the party past Trumpism and its anti-democratic impulses, while others — perhaps more mindful of Trump’s continued hold over the GOP base — are using his acquittal as an occasion to wrap their arms more tightly around him.
Sunday, the anti-Trump faction was represented by Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA). After four years of loyalty to Trump, Cassidy somewhat surprisingly joined six other Republican senators on Saturday and voted for Trump’s conviction on an article of impeachment accusing him of inciting the January 6 insurrection. And while Cassidy has already been censured by the Louisiana Republican Party for crossing the former president, he indicated during an interview on ABC’s This Week that he has no regrets.
“I think I may already represent a majority view,” Cassidy said, downplaying the censure. “I have voted to support and defend the Constitution … the Republican Party is more than just one person.”
Despite already being censured by the LAGOP, Sen. Cassidy (R) says he has no regrets about voting for Trump’s conviction: “I may already represent a majority view … [but] I have voted to support and defend the Constitution … the Republican Party is more than just one person.” pic.twitter.com/y0dlBqpMVx
On the pro-Trump side stands Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC). Graham was one of Trump’s most loyal supporters during his time in office, but that momentarily changed following the January 6 insurrection when Graham gave a speech distancing himself from Trump.
If Graham’s Sunday morning appearance on Fox News Sunday is an indication, his loyalty to the former president is stronger than ever.
“Donald Trump is the most vibrant member of the Republican Party,” Graham said, distancing himself from former UN ambassador Nikki Haley’s comments about Trump not having a future in the GOP. “The Trump movement is alive and well … all I can say is that the most potent force in the Republican Party is President Trump.”
Those comments came at the end of an interview that began with Graham suggesting Republicans will go as far as to retaliate for Trump’s second impeachment by impeaching Vice President Kamala Harris if they take back the House next year.
Lindsey Graham suggests Kamala Harris will be impeached if Republicans take back the House next year pic.twitter.com/J68Or4k1la
Both Cassidy and Graham were comfortably reelected for fresh six-year terms last November, but each lawmaker is using his mandate differently at a moment when principles and politics are at tension in the GOP.
Cassidy is using his job security to distance himself from a president he views as violating his oath of office, but Graham seems to be calculating that Trumpism represents the Republican Party’s best bet to retake one or both chambers of Congress next year.
That was apparent toward the end of Graham’s latest Fox News interview, when he basically endorsed Lara Trump — Donald Trump’s daughter-in-law — to fill a North Carolina US Senate seat being vacated in 2022 by Sen. Richard Burr, who, also surprisingly, joined Cassidy in the camp of former Trump loyalists who voted to convict Trump.
“North Carolina, the biggest winner, I think, of this whole impeachment trial is Lara Trump,” Graham said. “My dear friend Richard Burr, who I like and have been friends to a long time, just made Lara Trump almost the certain nominee for the Senate seat in North Carolina to replace him if she runs. And I certainly will be behind her, because I think she represents the future of the Republican Party.”
A third Republican — Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, who has been an outspoken critic of Trump — made a case on CNN’s State of the Union Sunday morning that Cassidy’s stand should represent the future of the party.
“I think the final chapter of Donald Trump and where the Republican Party goes hasn’t been written yet, and I think we’re going to have a real battle for the soul of the Republican Party over the next couple of years,” Hogan said. “Are we gonna be a party that can’t win national elections again, that loses the presidency, the House, and the Senate in a four-year period?”
“We’re going to have a real battle for the soul of the Republican Party.”
Hogan is right to point out that the two election cycles following Trump’s 2016 victory over Hillary Clinton saw Republicans losing power in that way, which often served as a rebuke of Trumpism’s broader appeal. But the former president remains very popular with the GOP base — polling conducted just before the second impeachment trial found Trump’s approval rating among Republicans still in the 80s.
So while Cassidy’s stand for democracy is commendable, and Hogan’s optimism notable, it’s an open question whether there’s a place for people like them within a party so complicit in Trump’s authoritarian attempt.
Two weeks after a coup, hundreds of thousands of people are protesting in Myanmar -
Buddhist monks shout slogans and make three-finger salutes during a protest on February 10, 2021 in Yangon, Myanmar. | Hkun Lat/Getty Images
Myanmar’s military seized power earlier this month.
Protests continued in Myanmar on Sunday for the second week in a row after the country’s military seized power in a coup and placed pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest.
The protests are the largest in more than a decade, according to Reuters, with hundreds of thousands of people turning out on Sunday despite the risk of a police crackdown on protesters. And they continue despite a move by the country’s new military government on Saturday to suspend the need for security forces to obtain a court order before detaining suspects for more than 24 hours or searching private property.
Protesters are demanding Suu Kyi’s release and a return to democracy, but Myanmar’s new military government has shown no willingness to grant either request, despite nine days of mass demonstrations.
As Vox’s Jen Kirby explained last week, the protests have mobilized a diverse coalition of people and are drawing on other regional pro-democracy protest movements for inspiration:
Reports indicate a wide swath of people joined in the demonstrations, from young activists to Buddhist monks to teachers, and many more. Some activists have called for a general strike this week, though it’s not clear how widely that message has circulated, compared to the outpouring on the streets.
According to Al Jazeera, protest tactics have had at least some success so far. Strikes and civil disobedience mean that “trains have ground to a halt, hospitals have closed, and ministries in the capital, Naypyidaw, are believed to be straining amid mass walkouts.”
Myanmar’s military government has responded by cracking down. Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and WhatsApp have all been blocked in the country, arrest orders have been issued for prominent activists, and security forces have deployed water cannons against peaceful protesters.
The government also used either rubber bullets or live ammunition to disperse protesters near a power plant servicing the northern city of Myitkyina this weekend, according to Reuters.
On Sunday, the military deployed armored vehicles in Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, for the first time since the coup took place on February 1, leading the US embassy there to urge US citizens in Myanmar to “shelter in place.”
The crackdown is a grim throwback to an earlier era in Myanmar’s history. The country, which is also known as Burma, has been under military rule for much of its existence since winning independence from Britain in 1948.
As Kirby points out, Myanmar’s military has a history of using lethal force to quell protests, perhaps most notably during pro-democracy protests in 1988. Already in 2021, at least one protester has been shot and is believed to be in critical condition with “extensive” brain damage.
The country began a slow process of democratizing about a decade ago, as Vox’s Alex Ward has explained at length, but though Suu Kyi — a popular leader who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 and until this month held the title of “state counsellor” — was released from house arrest in 2010 and allowed to wield some power, the system was never fully democratic.
Ahead of the military coup, it appeared more democratic reforms could be on the way: Suu Kyi’s party won parliamentary elections last year by a landslide on the promise to push constitutional reforms that would have further pared back the military’s political power.
The military, according to Ward, decried those elections as fraudulent, though there is no evidence to support that claim, and finally moved to seize power on the pretense of a national emergency just before the election results were set to be certified by a new parliament.
As one expert, Northwestern University political science professor Sarah Bouchat, told Ward: “[The military is] potentially using this global opportunity, where other leaders are focused on all of the crises around Covid-19 and economic recession, to seize whatever power they can with impunity.”
The US is imposing new sanctions on Myanmar’s military leaders
Since the coup, Myanmar’s military government has been widely condemned by the international community, including by the US, the United Nations, and international organizations like Human Rights Watch.
“We call on Burmese military leaders to release all government officials and civil society leaders and respect the will of the people of Burma as expressed in democratic elections on November 8,” new US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement earlier this month. “The United States stands with the people of Burma in their aspirations for democracy, freedom, peace, and development.”
The US has also officially labeled actions by Myanmar’s military a coup d’etat, which State Department officials say will “[trigger] certain restrictions on foreign assistance to the government of Burma” as well as “a broader review of our assistance programs.”
President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that the US will impose new sanctions on military leaders responsible for the coup, including senior general and coup leader Min Aung Hlaing, and freeze about $1 billion in funds currently held in the US.
However, he said, the US will continue to support “health care, civil society groups and other areas that benefit the people of Burma directly.” (In 2016, the US lifted longstanding sanctions on Myanmar in response to the country’s now-undone democratic progress.)
Some Myanmar experts, such as former US ambassador to Myanmar Derek Mitchell, caution that it won’t be easy for the US to meaningfully affect events in Myanmar.
“We don’t have a whole lot of leverage,” Mitchell told the BBC on Saturday. “The key is our allies. That’s a very difficult path, because some of our allies — Japan, India, Korea — have a lot of investment. They will be worried about growing Chinese influence there.”
White House press secretary Jen Psaki also signaled that the possibility of China, which shares a border with Myanmar, taking advantage of changes in US policy was a concern.
“Certainly, we are concerned about China’s absence from the conversation and lack of a vocal role here,” Psaki said this week.
From The Hindu: Sports
Rafael Nadal reaches Australian Open quarterfinals for 13th time - Rafael Nadal has advanced to the Australian Open quarterfinals for the 13th time.The No. 2-ranked Nadal closed his 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 win over 16th-seeded
Top-ranked Ash Barty into Australian Open quarterfinals - Top-ranked Ash Barty moved into the Australian Open quarterfinals for the third straight year by beating Shelby Rogers 6-3, 6-4.Barty lost in the sem
Wicketkeeper-batsman Naman Ojha retires from all formats - The Madhya Pradesh player, who represented India in all three formats, holds the record for the most dismissals by a wicketkeeper in the Ranji Trophy
Rahul climbs to second spot, Kohli remains at 7th in ICC T20I rankings for batsmen - Among bowlers, South Africa spinner Tabraiz Shamsi grabbed a career-best second position
Ind vs Eng, 1st Test, Day 3 | Ashwin’s master-class century puts India in command as England wobble in chase of 482 - India were all out for 286 in their second innings on the third day of the match
From The Hindu: National News
Farmers’ protest | Supreme Court panel on farm laws holds consultations with agri-professionals, academicians - The Supreme Court-appointed committee on the new farm laws on Feb. 15 said it held consultations with eminent academicians and agri-professionals on
Re-polling today in three booths in Punjab civic polls - SEC takes serious note of damage to EVMs
Government insulted farmers, ministers called them traitors: Priyanka Gandhi - Priyanka also criticised Haryana minister J P Dalal, who had stoked a controversy on Saturday saying the farmers who died during the course of the agitation would have passed away even if they had stayed back home.
BBMP finds cluster in Bommanahalli zone - This is days after 40 students of a nursing college in the East zone tested positive for COVID-19
Mamata Banerjee launches ‘Maa’ scheme to provide meals at ₹5 to poor people - They will get a platter of rice, dal, a vegetable and egg curry for ₹5, she said adding that the State government will bear a subsidy of ₹15 per plate.
From BBC: Europe
Catalonia Spain: Separatists set to boost majority in regional parliament - Pro-independence parties will continue governing the affluent region, near-complete results suggest.
Brexit: Musician fears being priced out of touring - Bristol singer Elles Bailey says costs due to post-Brexit travel rules risk making touring unviable.
Mario Draghi sworn in as Italy’s new prime minister - The former head of the European Central Bank must guide his country out of the Covid pandemic.
The video of a protester’s arrest Russian police ‘leaked to scare people’ - A leaked video shows Russian police interrogating protester Gennady Shulga while pushing him onto his dog’s food bowl after a rally in support of opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
In pictures: Joy for Dutch as canals freeze over - People in the Netherlands are making the most of wintry weather that has frozen local waterways.
From Ars Technica
Chevrolet gives the Bolt EV a facelift, a stretch, and a price cut - There are new front seats, and the 2022 Bolt EV starts at $31,995. - link
Jared Leto’s Joker is back in new trailer for Zack Snyder’s Justice League - “If you can’t bring down the charging bull, then don’t wave the red cape at it.” - link
CDC releases updated “science based” school guidelines - CDC head Walensky promises the new guidance is “free from political meddling.” - link
Why did the flywheel hybrid system never catch on for road cars? - Born for but never raced in F1, the idea found some success at Le Mans. - link
The $3,000 eVscope makes stargazing easy and fun - Unistellar’s eVscope promises great stargazing whether you’re in the city or country. - link
From Jokes Subreddit
A kid is playing video games in his room, minding his own business. His mother walks in. “Honey, come meet my new boyfriend!” “I’m kind of busy right now. Can you bring him in here instead?” -
A minute or so later, her boyfriend walks in. “Hey, champ! How you doing?”
The kid ignores him.
“Don’t like champ, huh? That’s fine. How about BlueDragon72?”
The kid turns his head quickly. “I haven’t heard that name since I was ten…” He then realized. “It can’t be..”
“Call of Duty, right? I told you I’d bang your mom.”
An elderly man is stopped by the police around 2 a.m. and is asked where he is going at this time of night. -
The man replies, “I am on my way to attend a lecture about gambling, hookers, alcohol abuse and the effects it has on the human body, as well as smoking, and staying out late.”
The officer then asks, “Really? Who is giving that lecture at this time of night?”
