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Levin Report
Surprise: Mitch McConnell Vows to Never Let Democrats Add a Justice to the Supreme Court Again
At least the world's most shameless hack is honest?
Why do people run for office? For some, it's to make a better world for their children. For others, it's a passion for government. For Mitch McConnell, it's to fuck over Democrats at every possible opportunity, his neck pouch quivering with joy as he shreds small "d" democracy over and over and over again.
Obviously, one of McConnell's favorite ways to screw not just his colleagues on the other side of the aisle but the millions of Americans who voted for them is by denying the other party the ability to add justices to the Supreme Court, based on made-up logic he literally pulls out of his ass as it suits him. In 2016, of course, he spent nearly an entire year blocking Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland, claiming that presidents aren't allowed to put someone on the court in an election year and that he had to delay the confirmation so the voters could decide. (They did, and it was in 2012 when they decided they wanted Obama to be president again.)
Fast-forward four years later, though, and with just weeks to go until the 2020 election, McConnell didn't just ram through Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation, he announced he would do so basically before Ruth Bader Ginsburg's body was cold. The night RBG died, McConnell, the most shameless man to ever live, released a statement saying that he would move quickly to confirm Trump's nominee, rewriting the completely arbitrary rule he invented to block Obama's replacement for Antonin Scalia. And to lay the hackery on extra thick, he cast his absurd reversal as a fulfillment of a promise to the American people. "In the last midterm election before Justice Scalia's death in 2016," McConnell said, "Americans elected a Republican Senate majority because we pledged to check and balance the last days of a lame-duck president's term. We kept our promise. Since the 1880s, no Senate has confirmed an opposite-party president's Supreme Court nominee in a presidential election year. By contrast, Americans reelected our majority in 2016 and expanded it in 2018 because we pledged to work with President Trump and support his agenda, particularly his outstanding appointments to the federal judiciary. Once again, we will keep our promise." Then he went on to clear the way for a woman who thinks there are some instances when abortion should be punishable by death to be confirmed to a lifetime appointment on the highest court in the land with the election less than 2 months away.
At this point, you could reasonably assume that with Joe Biden in power, McConnell would once again revert to his position that presidents can't seat someone on the court within an election year. And of course, he has. But he's also amended the policy to basically state that he'll never let a Democratic president get a justice on the Supreme Court again so long as he's in power, even if said president has nearly two years left on his term.
McConnell wasn't asked about confirming a Democratic nominee in 2021 or 2022 because he is not actually the majority leader at the moment, but it's pretty clear if he was he'd come up with—and implement—some kind of rule saying that only Republicans can add justices to court. Which is obviously insane and corrupt and shameless but hey, that's Mitch, the guy who said last month that he is "100%" focused on blocking Biden's agenda, up to and including all the parts that might actually help Americans. Which would explain why many people are openly begging for Justice Stephen Breyer, 81, to retire. Asked about the situation on Sunday, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told CNN, "You know, it's something I think about, but I would probably lean towards yes.… I would give more thought to it, but I'm inclined to say yes." She did not add, "Because Biden needs to get a liberal on the court before that old crone from Kentucky can snatch the seat out of Democrats' fingers," but presumably she was thinking it.
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P.S. Trump's Justice Department spied on White House employees too
It wasn't just his congressional nemeses and enemies in the press. Per The New York Times:
The Justice Department subpoenaed Apple for information in February 2018 about an account that belonged to Donald F. McGahn II, President Donald J. Trump's White House counsel at the time, and barred the company from telling him about it, according to two people briefed on the matter. Apple told Mr. McGahn about the subpoena last month, said one of the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the matter. Mr. McGahn's wife also received a similar notice from Apple, the person said.
It is not clear what FBI agents were investigating, whether Mr. McGahn was their specific focus, or whether he was swept up in a larger net because he had communicated with someone who was under scrutiny. As the top lawyer for the 2016 Trump campaign and then the White House counsel, Mr. McGahn was in contact with numerous people who may have drawn attention either as part of the Russia investigation or a later leak inquiry. Still, the disclosure that agents had collected data of a sitting White House counsel, which they kept secret for years, is extraordinary.
While we don't know exactly what the DOJ was looking for, as the Times notes, we do know things were tense between Trump and McGahn around the time the department went after the White House counsel's records. A month prior, per the Times, Trump had "tried to persuade Mr. McGahn to make a statement falsely denying" that he'd been asked to fire special counsel Robert Mueller, as press reports had indicated. Trump is said to have told aides that McGahn was a "liar" and a "leaker," according to former Trump administration officials. And it seems he decided to use the power of the DOJ to go after him!
Area senator temporarily blocked from spreading bullshit medical advice
Ron Johnson knows what we're talking about:
YouTube suspended GOP senator Ron Johnson's account on Friday after he posted comments regarding dubious treatments for COVID-19. "We removed the video in accordance with our COVID-19 medical misinformation policies, which don't allow content that encourages people to use hydroxychloroquine or ivermectin to treat or prevent the virus," a YouTube spokesperson said in a statement to CNN.... For months Johnson—who tested positive for coronavirus last fall—has spread anti-vaccine misinformation and downplayed the urgency of vaccinating all Americans against COVID-19, putting the controversial Wisconsin Republican at odds with public health guidance aimed at easing the ongoing pandemic. The two-term senator, who's facing reelection next year, has also downplayed the seriousness of the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6.
YouTube doesn't allow medical misinformation about COVID-19, including anything that recommends use of ivermectin or hydroxychloroquine for the treatment or prevention of COVID-19, according to the company. In July of 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration revoked an emergency use authorization for hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine to treat COVID-19. The agency now says hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine have not been shown to be safe and effective for treating or preventing COVID-19.
Hydroxychloroquine, of course, was one of Dr. Donald Trump's big recommendations to the public, second only to his suggestion that they shoot up household cleaner, leading the manufacturer of Lysol to issue a statement saying that "under no circumstance" should disinfectant be injected into one's body.
In an extremely huffy statement, Johnson told CNN that YouTube has "decided there is only one medical viewpoint allowed and it is the viewpoint dictated by government agencies. YouTube's ongoing COVID censorship proves they have accumulated too much unaccountable power. Big Tech and mainstream media believe they are smarter than medical doctors who have devoted their lives to science and use their skills to save lives."
Marjorie Taylor Greene is sorry about that stuff she said about Jews
Just kidding, she's sorry she's getting backlash over it, and is hoping this stunt field trip to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum helps:
Freshman Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene paid a visit to the Holocaust museum on Monday in a bid to defuse the controversy over her comments comparing vaccine and mask requirements to Nazi Germany.... Greene's museum visit comes as one Jewish House Democrat, Illinois rep. Brad Schneider, prepares to introduce a censure resolution condemning Greene's latest comments on the Holocaust. Some Democrats are already privately discussing censure as a potential response to a group of Republican lawmakers pushing a censure resolution against one of their caucus members, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), for her recent remarks on Israel.
Last month Greene claimed that "any rational Jewish person" thinks mask mandates are as bad as the Holocaust. She's also previously blamed California wildfires on Jewish space lasers.
Elsewhere!
Novavax's coronavirus vaccine is 90% effective, study finds (The Washington Post)
Boris Johnson Delays End of England COVID Lockdown as Cases Surge (Bloomberg)
Biden, NATO leaders voice concern about China's expanding nuclear arsenal, "assertive" behavior (The Washington Post)
Elon Musk Says He's Putting Last Remaining House on the Market (Bloomberg)
GOP Bills Rattle Disabled Voters: "We Don't Have a Voice Anymore" (NYT)
2020 was the deadliest gun violence year in decades. So far, 2021 is worse. (The Washington Post)
Wall Street's Return-to-Office Gulf Exposed by Goldman, Citi (Bloomberg)
Kayleigh McEnany claimed she "never lied" as White House press secretary. Here are five times she did. (Insider)
23 Thoughts I Had About Wasabi, the Winner of the Westminster Dog Show (Vogue)
Lobster diver injured when caught in whale's mouth (AP)
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— The Lab-Leak Theory: Inside the Fight to Uncover COVID-19's Origins
— Ben Crump Is Thriving in Biden's Washington
— Why It's Not a Great Time to Be Matt Gaetz
— AOC's Endorsement Could Change the NYC Mayor's Race—But It May Never Come
— Trump Has Been Telling People He's Going to Be President Again
— Is Juan Williams's Exit From The Five Thanks to a Greg Gutfeld Blood Feud?
— Republicans' Reason Not to Want to Investigate January 6: They're to Blame
— Trump's Inner Circle Is Scrambling at the Likelihood of Criminal Charges
— From the Archive: "60 Minutes Is Going Down"
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Bess Levin
Politics Correspondent
Bess Levin is a politics correspondent at Vanity Fair. An essential voice of our current tragicomedy, she is an incisive, hilarious daily narrator of the horrors that never seem to stop. If you need catharsis in these terrifying times—or even if you don't!—she is a must-read. You can follow her... Read more
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