DL Open Thread: Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024

Another day, another glitch.  I’m thinkin’ solar flares or lunar earthquakes.  But, I digress.

The press has swarmed on Biden’s age to a degree they rarely have for Trump’s misdeeds.  I’m not linking to anything from the pack mentality, which includes beltway Democrats.  Suffice it to say that, at some point, the collective press will do a half-hearted critical self-evaluation, but only after the damage has been maximized.   Remember, kids, you can’t unring a bell.

Likely RNC Chair An Election Denier.  You expected anything different?:

Former President Donald Trump and his allies are pushing to replace the chair of the Republican National Committee with North Carolina’s party leader who promoted 2020 presidential election lies and supported using the courts to overturn the results.

Michael Whatley, the chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party, shared false claims that Republican observers were prevented from accessing polling locations and repeatedly said Democratic cities in swing states were engaged in “massive fraud,” a CNN KFile review of Whatley’s comments following the election found.

“Regardless of how these lawsuits come out around the country with the presidential race we do know that there was massive fraud that took place,” Whatley said in one late November 2020 interview on local North Carolina radio. “We know that it took place in places like Milwaukee and Detroit and Philadelphia.”

Will Biden Stop Impending Israeli Invasion Of Rafah?:

Experts and officials tell HuffPost they are extremely skeptical of suggestions this week from the Biden administration that it is adjusting U.S. policy to prevent further devastation in Gaza, where, according to health officials there, at least 28,000 people have been killed since Israel launched its campaign following the Oct. 7 attack by Gaza-based militants that killed 1,200 Israelis.

Biden’s Thursday night rebuke of Israel did not come with any indication that he will reduce U.S. military and diplomatic support for Israel if it continues on its current trajectory. And though his new memo directing officials to ensure U.S. weapon transfers abide by the law sounds nice on paper, the administration is unlikely to actually enforce it in this case because Washington is so wary of steps that appear unsupportive toward Israel. Even in the best-case scenario, the memo would not affect hostilities in the days ahead.

EPA Goes After Soot Pollution.  Polluters file lawsuits in 3-2-1:

The Environmental Protection Agency has finalized long-awaited new limits on soot, the tiny air pollution particles emitted by sources as varied as power plants, factories, car exhaust, and wildfires.

Also known as fine particle pollution, soot is one of the nation’s most widespread air pollutants. It is also one of the most dangerous, causing an estimated 85,000 to 200,000 excess US deaths annually; the tiny particles can become lodged in human lungs and sometimes even enter the bloodstream, triggering asthma attacks, cancer, and heart and lung disease.

Of course, many will not live to see it implemented:

The strengthened pollution controls, unveiled on Wednesday, will lower the annual soot standard to 9 micrograms per cubic meter of air, down from the previous standard of 12 micrograms.

In 2032—the first year that regulators expect compliance with the standard to be required—alone, the new rule will prevent up to 4,500 premature deaths, the agency estimates. It will also result in health benefits valued at $46 billion, including 290,000 lost workdays averted, 800,000 asthma symptoms avoided, and thousands of emergency room visits prevented, the agency says.

The standard will invariably be reversed if Trump gets elected.

Cops Run Amok In Georgia.  Go after protestors of proposed Cop City project:

Police in Georgia, together with federal agencies, are conducting a crackdown on activists involved in a continuing campaign against a controversial police and fire department training center known as “Cop City” that has included acts of arson and sabotage against equipment being used on the project.

This week alone saw Atlanta-area raids by law enforcement that took a woman out of her house with no shirt, left a naked photo of another woman on display after ransacking a room and dragged a man by his hair – while arresting none of them.

The pre-dawn raids on three houses on Thursday were the third Swat-style operation in residential areas of Atlanta and nearby unincorporated DeKalb county tied to a movement that began in 2021 – and the first in which the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) played a prominent role.

Lawmakers pile on:

The Georgia state senate passed legislation on Thursday mostly outlawing bail funds for protest groups, and added dozens of offenses to the list of charges requiring cash bail to secure release.

The passage of SB63 by a 30-17 vote in the Republican-dominated state senate arrives as three activists operating the Atlanta Solidarity Fund face state-level racketeering and charity fraud charges in connection with the prosecution of dozens of protesters against “Cop City”, an Atlanta project to build a police-training facility.

The bill would require any individual or group raising money as a charitable bail fund and soliciting donations for the release of accused persons to register and meet the requirements of a bail bond company. Under Georgia law, a county sheriff has absolute discretion over who can register as a bondsman, giving local law enforcement an effective veto over the bail component of political protests, said state senator Josh McLaurin, an Atlanta-area Democrat.

Two Bald Guys Who Look Like Each Other.  Somebody thinks this is news.

What do you want to talk about?