Examining the Case Against the Filibuster - In a new book, Adam Jentleson blames government failures on more than a century of Southern obstruction in the Senate. - link
Joe Biden Is Playing It Cool with Benjamin Netanyahu - The Biden Administration’s support for the Abraham Accords is having unintended consequences for Israel’s Prime Minister. - link
On Climate, Biden’s Administration Needs to Combat Zombie Trumpism Quickly - And Montana’s Yaak Valley is a good place to start. - link
The Risks of Trump’s Impeachment Trial - Given the importance of condemning Trump’s destructive actions, the message sent by an acquittal may be worse than no trial. - link
The San Francisco School-Renaming Debate Is Not About History - Somehow, our sport of celebrity has blurred into the real work of society-making. - link
From Vox
The Marjorie Taylor Greene committee removal vote, explained -
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) leaves her office at the US Capitol on February 3. | Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images
Eleven House Republicans joined Democrats to take the conspiracy theory-promoting lawmaker off her committee assignments.
House Republicans were forced to go on the record Thursday evening about Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) when the lower chamber voted on partisan lines to remove her from her two committee assignments.
The vote comes after days of back-and-forth between party leaders, as Democrats have pushed for consequences forthe first-term representative, who has supported or suggested, in no particular order: the QAnon conspiracy theory; Parkland and 9/11 denial; the killing of Democratic leaders; and the idea that 2018 forest fires were started by a Jewish-controlled space laser.
The removal vote — which passed 230-199, with 11 Republicans joining the Democrats — could be a watershed moment for both parties, but particularly the GOP. House Republicans effectively weighed in on the future of their party, and whether it welcomes lawmakers like Greene and the supporters they bring.
Eleven Republicans voted YEA
Fitzpatrick Gimenez Jacobs of New York Katko Kim of Calif Kinzinger MALLIOTAKIS Salazar Smith of NJ Upton Diaz-Balart
But it also could be a pivotal moment in the House’s institutional politics.
Disciplining members is a rare tactic, and practically unheard of for comments made before being elected. During debate, Republicans warned that Democrats were opening a “Pandora’s box” of majority tyranny, while Democrats maintained that Greene’s comments represent a uniquely unacceptable situation.
Going forward, both parties could have some control over whether it’s a one-off in Congress’s history or a signal of what’s to come.
Republicans are trying to unify two very contentious factions
The vote is another battle in the ongoing wrestling between the establishment wing of the Republican Party — represented by Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who have sought to distance the party from former President Donald Trump and Greene — and the pro-Trump, conspiracy-embracing right flank, which includes QAnon supporters, election deniers, and a significant number of House Republicans.
In a closed meeting of House Republicans Tuesday night, Greene privately apologized for how her statements may have hurt fellow Republicans, stating that 9/11 and school shootings did happen and saying she embraced QAnon during a dark period of her life but has since moved forward. In a display of just how embedded she is in the House GOP, she received a standing ovation.
Of course, Greene is still fundraising off her controversies — she says she has raised $175,000 — and had yet to address the incidents publicly until speaking on the floor Thursday during debate over the resolution. She expressed “regret” over her posts supporting 9/11 and school shooting denial, but did not mention her previous anti-Semitic and raicst remarks or suggestions that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi should be killed.
Greene also blamed tech companies for enforcing “cancel culture” by taking “teeny, tiny pieces of words that I’ve said, that you have said, that any of us, and portray us into something we’re not,” and said the media is “just as guilty as QAnon” in promoting lies.
Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA), the chair of the House Rules Committee, spoke with increasing exasperation as the debate went on, saying he had yet to hear an apology from Greene and expressed shock that such a weak explanation warranted a standing ovation from Republicans.
If @SpeakerPelosi was the minority leader, she would pull every identity politics trick in the book to defend her member.
White, Woman, Wife, Mother, Christian, Conservative, Business Owner
These are the reasons they don’t want me on Ed & Labor.
Now, Republicans must weigh the pressures associated with the vote. On the one hand, establishment leaders have condemned Greene. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has been hammering Republicans over Greene, already releasing ads in vulnerable Republican districts linking some moderates to the controversial representative.
On the other hand, Trump still wields enormous influence over the party and its base. He has reportedly embraced Greene, and she has explicitly tied herself to the former president, making a vote against her a potential repudiation of Trump and all he represents.
In the middle of it all is McCarthy, who tried to unify his caucus in that closed-door meeting, standing behind Cheney and Greene both. Hehas condemned Greene’s statements but taken no action against her.
In a statement condemning Greene’s anti-Semitic theories and embrace of violence, McCarthy picked a scapegoat he is betting his whole caucus can agree on: Democrats. And given that Republicans voted overwhelmingly to unsuccessfully keep Greene on her committees, it’s clear his gamble worked.
The institutional future of the House is at stake
Democrats say Greene’s comments are so egregious that it warrants taking such historic action, and that if Republicans had stepped up and taken care of it themselves — as both parties have previously done with errant members — the vote would be unnecessary. They are particularly bothered by Republican leadership’s decision to place her on the Education Committee, despite her comments about the Parkland shooting and harassment of survivor David Hogg.
But Republicans say Democrats are playing with procedural fire, opening the door to a tit-for-tat escalation where the majority party is free to punish members of the minority with whom they disagree.
“I understand that Marjorie’s comments have caused deep wounds to many, and as a result, I offered Majority Leader [Steny] Hoyer a path to lower the temperature and address these concerns,” McCarthy said in a statement. “Instead of coming together to do that, the Democrats are choosing to raise the temperature by taking the unprecedented step to further their partisan power grab regarding the committee assignments of the other party.”
McCarthy’s comment is a warning shot to Democrats that if they pursue committee removal, Republicans could dictate minority assignments if they take the majority back in 2022. It also provides cover to House GOP members to say they are voting to support Greene purely to keep Democrats from abusing their power as the majority.
Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) embraced that argument speaking on the floor during debate.
“The matter we are faced with is bigger than any one individual member,” he said. “It’s about how we as an institution will continue to function in the future. I fear that if we open this particular Pandora’s box, we will not like what happens next.”
Asked whether she’s concerned about the precedent being set with the Marjorie Taylor Greene vote, Pelosi responds:
“No, not at all. If any of our members threatened the safety of other members, we’d be the first ones to take them off of a committee. That’s it.”
Both parties would have control over whether that becomes the case. It would be an active choice on the part of both Democrats and Republicans (next time they hold the majority) to target members of the other party.
Already, a group of House Republicans sponsored a retaliatory amendment to remove progressive Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) from her committee assignments. The move has no political chance in a Democratic House, but sends a clear, though disingenuous, message about punishing supposed “extremism.” As Vox’s Zack Beauchamp has written, comparing the most left-wing Democrats with Greene draws a false equivalency between embracing socialist policies seen in peer democracies and suggesting a cabal of Jews are creating natural disasters from outer space.
Democrats, for their part, say the action is uniquely inspired by the circumstances of a member encouraging violence against another member — a stance McGovern said was “not a radical idea” and only unprecedented in that Greene’s party refused to take action.
Theywere committed to imposing consequences on Greene, with some members even advocating for censure or expulsion.
“The party of Lincoln is becoming the party of violent conspiracy theories,” McGovern said during debate over the resolution. “And apparently the leaders of the Republican Party in the House, today, are not going to do a damn thing about it.”
How did we get here?
Thursday’s vote is the culmination of a week of negotiation between McCarthy and Hoyer since the newest batch of Greene scandals came to light.
In the fallout of the scandals last week, Democrats, including Pelosi, began speaking out against her — particularly after Republicans named her to the House Committee on Education and Labor.
McCarthy called Hoyer with a counteroffer: He would move Greene from the Education Committee to a different committee if Democrats agreed to drop the resolution. Hoyer said no, and the Rules Committee moved forward with the resolution, voting to bring it to the floor.
Republican leadership discussed potential committee moves for Greene, but ultimately McCarthy decided to let it go to a vote, effectively signaling he — and the members he leads — would defend Greene’s place in the party.
The caucus also voted to keep Cheney in the leadership by a vote of 145-61-1 on a secret ballot, demonstrating the pull both wings of the party exert on members.
If Trump’s departure from the White House reignited the GOP civil war, McCarthy has made his position clear: The Republican tent is plenty big enough for his detractors — and for QAnon supporters and conspiracy theorists, too.
Correction: The House voted largely on partisan lines — with 11 Republicans joining Democrats — to strip Greene of her committee assignments Thursday evening. The fully partisan vote was earlier in the day to advance the resolution.
Myanmar’s coup has no heroes -
Myanmar citizens living in Thailand protest against Myanmar’s military coup outside Myanmar’s Embassy on February 4, 2021. | Peerapon Boonyakiat/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
This episode of Worldly discusses what happened in Myanmar and what potentially lies ahead.
On Monday, Myanmar’s military launched a coup, detaining the country’s democratically elected civilian leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, along with hundreds of members of her political party.
On this week’s episode of Worldly, Vox’s Zack Beauchamp, Jenn Williams, and Alex Ward discuss why the coup happened, why both sides in this fight are morally compromised, and what the Biden administration and the international community can (and can’t) do in response.
As Ward has previously explained, Myanmar’s ruling military junta maintained solid control of the country for decades. Suu Kyi, a prominent advocate for democracy, was placed under house arrest for speaking out, gaining her international fame and support.
But during the Obama administration, after years of political and economic pressure from the United States and other nations — including strict economic sanctions — Myanmar’s military began to make some modest moves toward democracy.
In 2010, they released Suu Kyi from detention, and in 2015, her National League for Democracy (NLD) party won 77 percent of the seats in parliament in the country’s first free and fair election in 25 years.
Since then, Suu Kyi has run the country in her role as “state counsellor” alongside the Myanmarese military, which still retained significant power.
Yet Suu Kyi began to push for constitutional reforms that would further restrict the military’s role in governing the country, thereby threatening the military’s grip on power. And in the country’s November 2020 elections, Suu Kyi’s party gained massive support, essentially giving her a mandate to pursue those reforms.
So hours before Myanmar’s parliament was set to seat its new members, the military seized control and again placed Suu Kyi under house arrest.
But while the military’s actions are reprehensible, Suu Kyi is no angel herself.
Once an international darling who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her fight for democracy and emphasis on nonviolence, Suu Kyi fell from grace internationally when she supported the military’s 2017 campaign of genocide against the Rohingya, a Muslim ethnic minority group. She not only refused to condemn the military for its actions, but went as far as to defend them in an international court.
That poses a challenge for the Biden administration and the international community because while the US and its partners want to support the pro-democracy movement in the country against the military regime, it’s harder to do now that the leader of that movement is potentially complicit in genocide.
The Biden administration has officially labeled the takeover a coup and said it is considering placing economic sanctions on Myanmar’s military. But US allies in the region, particularly Japan and South Korea, are big trading partners with Myanmar and likely won’t support these sanctions, which means imposing them will have less bite.
A delicate path lies ahead for the Biden administration. There are things the US can do to help, but the core problems that have plagued Myanmar for decades, including the often-violent repression of its many ethnic and religious minorities, remain.
To hear more about what led to Myanmar’s coup and what it means for the country’s future, listen below.
And don’t forget to subscribe to Worldly wherever you get your podcasts, including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and Stitcher.
The Senate vote-a-rama gets Democrats closer to approving Covid-19 relief on their own -
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer speaks during a press conference about student debt outside the US Capitol on February 4, 2021, in Washington, DC. | Drew Angerer/Getty Images
The Senate is kicking off its budget resolution with a process known as a vote-a-rama.
The Senate is in the middle of one of its lengthiest — and most interestingly named — processes: the “vote-a-rama” for a budget resolution.
It’s happened a handful of times in the past decade or so; this time, it’s part of Democrats’ bid to either pass President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion Covid stimulus plan or push Republicans into a more conciliatory position for a bipartisan plan.
As the name suggests, this effort involves lots and lots of back-to-back floor votes, and marks the next major step in advancing a budget reconciliation bill that would enable Democrats to approve their version of Covid-19 relief unilaterally. Typically, most bills require 60 votes to advance in the Senate, but budget bills only require 51. By using budget reconciliation to pass Covid-19 relief, Democrats would be able to move everything from $1,400 stimulus checks to enhanced weekly unemployment insurance payments single-handedly, even if Republicans don’t sign on.
Although there’s still the possibility of a bipartisan deal on Covid-19 aid, Democrats have gone ahead and initiated the reconciliation process, since it’s possible GOP lawmakers stand firm and refuse to back an ambitious package.
Before Democrats can get to writing this bill, however, both the Senate and the House need to approve a budget resolution, and the vote-a-rama is an opportunity for every senator to introduce amendments to this measure. The resolution effectively serves as an outline for what the final bill could look like.
During the vote-a-rama, which began on Thursday afternoon, each amendment gets about 10 minutes of floor consideration, followed by a rapid-fire vote. Like the budget resolution itself, amendments can pass with a simple majority, or 51 votes.
Any amendment that’s budget-related can be considered as part of this process. And because of this flexibility, lawmakers have filed amendments that run the gamut from addressing tax policy for remote workers to funding for schools. In one instance, an amendment from Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Susan Collins (R-ME) would bar “upper-income taxpayers” from receiving stimulus payments.
McConnell’s office outlines 5 GOP vote-a-rama priorities, including amendments that would:
— Prohibit stimulus checks to illegal immigrants
— Reduce $$ to states that have an active investigation into nursing homes for underreported deaths
Republicans, in particular, are using this opportunity to hold messaging votes: For example, one of their amendments focuses on preventing stimulus checks from going to undocumented immigrants — something that was already the case in previous Covid-19 relief packages. But by holding a vote on this issue, and others, Republicans aim to get their Democratic counterparts on the record about them.
Because of how many amendments they involve, vote-a-ramas can take a long time: In 2013, lawmakers were in the Senate until 5 am. And in 2008, the Senate considered a total of 44 amendments. This time, roughly 700 amendments have been filed (though not all will end up getting a vote).
Once the protracted vote-a-rama is over, the path to writing the Covid-19 relief bill and moving forward with budget reconciliation is effectively cleared.
What’s next
After lawmakers work through amendments to the resolution, both chambers need to pass this measure, so that Congress can get started on writing the budget bill. Here’s what comes next in that process:
The Senate votes on the amended budget resolution: After amendments have been considered, the Senate will vote to approve the budget resolution, which can pass with 51 votes.
The House must approve an identical budget resolution, too: Both chambers of Congress must approve the budget resolution for the process to move forward and for lawmakers to start crafting a budget reconciliation bill. Since Democrats have House and Senate control, the lower chamber is poised to approve the final version that the Senate passes on Saturday.
Once both chambers approve the resolution, lawmakers can begin writing the bill: The resolution directs House and Senate committees to write the bill, and to ensure that it includes the provisions of Biden’s Covid-19 package.
Congress then votes on the final bill: This final budget bill can pass with just 51 Senate votes as well, giving Democrats the opportunity to pass it unilaterally. Democrats are aiming to approve the legislation ahead of a March 14 deadline, when the current enhanced unemployment benefits are scheduled to expire.
The politics of the budget reconciliation process, briefly explained
Democrats are starting the budget reconciliation process at the same time that Biden is negotiating with Republicans and Democrats alike on the parameters of his Covid-19 relief package.
Republican senators who want to work with Biden have proposed a counteroffer of $600 billion — which is nowhere near what the administration wants.
“There’s obviously a big gap between $600 billion and $1.9 trillion,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Monday. “Clearly, [Biden] thinks the package size needs to be closer to what he proposed than smaller.”
With reconciliation as a backdrop, the message to Republicans is: You can either negotiate something closer to what we want or we’ll pass it anyway on a party-line vote.
Democrats in Congress and the White House say they want bipartisan talks to continue. But many are also wary of negotiations dragging out for months like they did during the Obama years, wasting precious time to stimulate the economy.
Working toward a bipartisan deal — or at least trying to — is part of Biden’s nature, but it’s also good politics.By negotiating directly with moderate Republicans, Biden is also trying to keep centrist Democrats like Sens. Joe Manchin (WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (AZ) happy. Helping Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer keep his caucus in line may be just as important, if not more so, as finding areas of common ground with Republicans. Democrats are holding on to their Senate control by a single vote; they have no room for error even with a simple majority vote.
“Any senator who’s willing to act contrary to their leadership has power,” former Sen. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota told Vox.
This is the latest time the budget reconciliation process has been used
Back in 2017, congressional Republicans were the ones making fast use of the budget reconciliation process.
With unified control of the White House and Congress, Republicans used reconciliation twice: once in their unsuccessful attempt to overturn the Affordable Care Act, and once in their successful passage of a $1.5 trillion tax cut bill that slashed the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent, among other things.
In other words, as much as Republicans are grumbling about Democrats using budget reconciliation now to potentially pass more Covid-19 relief, they’re familiar practitioners themselves.
If Democrats ultimately do use reconciliation to pass Biden’s Covid-19 relief plan, it likely won’t be the last time they use it. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has already floated it as a possible vehicle to pass large portions of Biden’s yet-to-be-released economic recovery plan, which will likely include an infrastructure package, among other things.
Still, there will likely be a lot of other items on the new president’s to-do list that can’t be passed with budget reconciliation. For instance, Biden has already introduced an immigration bill as another top priority of his administration. He’ll either have to compromise with Republicans on a number of other issues or Senate Democrats could blow up the filibuster — which is looking unlikely.
“If they want to get it moving fast, work with us on a bipartisan solution, and then use your political muscle with reconciliation later on,” Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski (AK) told Vox recently. “But at least show evidence of the value of working together. If we move toward reconciliation, I wonder what signal that sends to those of us who want to try to advance solutions that might not be 100 percent solutions but are 80 percent solutions.”
From The Hindu: Sports
Bio-bubbles are mentally draining, Indian cricketers must get two-week break after IPL: Ravi Shastri - The Indian players have not taken a break since the IPL 2020 in September in the UAE
Williams withdraws from semifinals in Australian Open tuneup - Serena Williams withdrew from an Australian Open tuneup tournament citing a right shoulder injury on Friday within hours of setting up a semifinal ma
India vs. England first Test | Bumrah, Ashwin strike as England reach 67/2 at lunch on Day 1 - Skipper Joe Root, playing his 100th Test, was batting on 4 while opener Dominic Sibley was undefeated on 26 (96 balls, 3 fours) going into the lunch break.
India vs England | Joe Root receives special cap for his 100th Test - The England captain a stylish right-hander, got it from star all-rounder Stokes prior to the start of the Test at the M.A.Chidambaram stadium in Chennai
India vs England | Root hits ton in 100th Test as visitors end Day 1 on 263/3 - Root’s unbeaten knock was studded with 14 boundaries and a six
From The Hindu: National News
Worldview with Suhasini Haidar | The military coup in Myanmar and its repercussions - Diplomatic Affairs Editor Suhasini Haidar takes a deep dive into the happenings at Myanmar, answering key questions about what the future holds for the country and its neighbours, including India.
Aero components sector to double to ₹ 60,000 cr. by 2024, says Rajnath Singh - Between 2016 and 2019, 138 proposals worth over $37 billion for domestic manufacturing had been approved, he says.
BJP MLAs protest as Mamata Banerjee tables Budget - Chief Minister presented the last Budget before the Assembly polls
Seaweed farming project yet to take off - Studies raise doubts regarding feasibility of the industry along Kerala coast
Nana Patole appointed Maharashtra Congress president - Six working presidents and ten vice presidents also appointed.
From BBC: Europe
Russia Navalny trial a ‘low point’ in EU-Russia relations, says Borrell - As the opposition politician returns to court, the EU repeats its call for his release from jail.
Denmark to build ‘first energy island’ in North Sea - The ambitious and costly artificial island will provide energy for three million households.
French skiers swerve Covid in cross-country boom - Cross-country replaces downhill skiing in French resorts struggling to survive the pandemic.
Europe’s Roma: ‘Even dogs can’t live like this’ under Covid - Inhabitants in one of Bulgaria’s largest Roma settlements say they feel abandoned during the pandemic.
France bomb plot: Iran diplomat Assadollah Assadi sentenced to 20 years - Assadollah Assadi is convicted by a Belgian court of planning an attack on an opposition rally in 2018.
From Ars Technica
Rocket Report: SpaceX sets new reuse record, Astra valued at $2.1 billion - “This takes us a step closer to our mission of improving life on Earth from space.” - link
Lost Alaskan Indigenous fort rediscovered after 200 years - The Tlingit built the Sapling Fort in 1804 to repel a Russian naval attack. - link
Signs that SARS-CoV-2 is evolving to avoid immune responses - Mutations are changing, but not eliminating, the antibody response to the virus. - link
Remastered images reveal how far Alan Shepard hit a golf ball on the Moon - 50 years ago, the Apollo 14 astronaut hit a golf ball that traveled roughly 40 yards. - link
Zoombombing countermeasures are ineffective in the vast majority of cases - Password-protecting meetings is among the most ineffective protections. - link
From Jokes Subreddit
I’m in a really bad place right now. -
Not mentally, I’ve just found myself in fucking Utah.
The day after his wife disappeared in a kayaking accident in the Bay Of Fundy, Nova Scotia , a man answered his door to find two grim-faced Mounties. “We know it’s late, sir, but we have some information about your wife,” said one of the Mounties. -
“Tell me! Did you find her!?” the husband shouted.
The Mounties looked at each other. One said,
“We have some bad news, some good news, and some really great news.. Which do you want to hear first?”
Fearing the worst, the ashen husband said “Give me the bad news first.”
The second Mountie said, “I’m sorry to tell you, sir, but this morning we found your wife’s body in the bay.” “Oh my God!” exclaimed the husband. Swallowing hard, he asked, “What’s the good news?”
The Mountie continued, “When we pulled her up, she had 6 twenty-five pound snow crabs and 12 good-size lobsters clinging to her.”
Stunned, the husband demanded, “If that’s the good news, what’s the great news???”
The Mountie answered, “We’re gonna pull her up again tomorrow.”
An Irish housewife is at home, being a homemaker, while her husband is away working at the Guinness factory -
When she hears a knock on the door.
Upon answering the door, she sees it is two of her husband’s friends and co-workers.
“Mary,” says the first co-worker, “I’m afraid we have some terrible news. You see, there was an accident at the factory today, and your husband fell into a vat of the Guinness.”
“My God!” Exclaims Mary, “will he be alright, how badly is he hurt!?”
“Well,” says the co-worker, “the fact is Mary, he didn’t make it, he drowned.”
“No!” Sobs Mary. “Please, tell me it was at least a quick death, and painless?”
“Well, you see, the thing of it is Mary, he got out three times to pee.”
There was a very, very unlucky man with a single testicle. -
One day, he went on a plane. Unfortunately, a malfunction occurred. The flight crew announced that the plane was going down and one of the passengers had to be thrown out to reduce weight.
To determine the victim, passengers drew lots, and the unlucky man was chosen. He refused furiously, saying “No, I lived a miserable life because of my bad luck and I refuse to let it dictate the end of my days!”
Passengers drew lots for the second time, he was chosen again. He refused for the second time, with less determination.
When the lots were drawn for the third time, his name was chosen once more. He refused again.
Finally, when his name appeared again after the fourth ballot, he said:
“OK, I agree to jump off the plane on one condition. You have to guess this correctly: What is the total number of testicles of me and the man in front of me?”
Passengers looked at each other with slight surprise and a grin on their faces and said “Four, of course!”. The man laughed at them saying “No! You’re wrong, as you see!” while revealing his proud, single testicle to them. Then the other man pulled down his pants…
