Crooked Media - What A Day: MAGAmbling Man

- Trump’s former Attorney General Bill Barr, just…not having it with the "unprecedented intrusion into a former president's home!!!" crowd.

Well, folks, the inventory we’ve all been waiting for is here. 
 

• The Justice Department revealed in general terms the contents of 33 boxes taken from Mar-a-Lago during the FBI’s August 8 search. The inventory does not describe the content of the documents but it shows the extent to which classified materials—including at the top secret level—were haphazardly stashed among newspapers, magazines, clothing, and other personal items. It also clarifies for the first time the volume of unclassified government documents housed at Mar-a-Lago even though they too should have been returned to the National Archives and Records Administration. As Trump’s former Attorney General Bill Barr pointed out, classified or unclassified, the documents still belong to the government. 
   

• The inventory shows that just in Box No. 2, there were 43 empty folders with classified banners, along with an additional 28 empty folders labeled as “Return to Staff Secretary/Military Aide,” 24 government documents marked confidential, secret, or top secret, 99 news articles and other printed media, and 69 unclassified government materials. Empty folders of that nature were also found in a storage closet. It’s not clear why the folders were empty or what may have happened to the documents inside. There were also more than 10,000 government records without any classification markings on them at all. Really not looking good for old Don!!

• Many elected Republicans were quick to criticize the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago, some resorting to complete hysterics as they are wont to do. But as new details emerge about the excess of 100 classified documents Trump carelessly stashed at his private club, many of those same Republicans are now oddly quiet. The reason is twofold: the evidence is, of course, piling up, which means egg on the faces of those who so vociferously defended him, but also for those who have perhaps known from the start that Trump did the crimes (i.e. anyone who can read) there is still a great fear of crossing Trump in any way as both midterms and the 2024 election approach. It’s undeniable that the Republican base is still very much with Trump, so the political consequences for those who speak out against him could be steep, even if his guilt becomes more obvious. So for now, most elected Republicans are going with a strategic “no comment.” Profiles in courage, etc. etc.

As Republicans continue to sycophantically fall in line behind former president Trump, current-President Biden used a primetime address to warn of the lowercase-d democratic consequences our nation could face because of it.
 

• Biden returned to Philadelphia yesterday, the place where he began his presidential campaign in the spring of 2019, where he said his chief reason for seeking the highest office in the land was to “restore the soul of the nation.” In his primetime address, the president was quick to preface his belief that “not every Republican is a MAGA Republican,” but that the “extreme ideology” that has taken hold of the Party is a danger to the nation as a whole. "I believe it's my duty to tell the truth with you no matter how difficult, no matter how painful," he said. “And here, in my view, is what is true: MAGA Republicans do not respect the Constitution. They do not believe in the rule of law. They do not recognize the will of the people. They refused to acknowledge a free election.” Get their asses, Joe!
   

• The president delivered the speech in front of a few hundred people outside of Independence Hall. Really hitting us over the head with symbolism there, Joe! The diction and tone of the address marked a true shift for the president, who has often prided himself on “reaching across the aisle” and avoiding partisan rhetoric. Perhaps the more overtly partisan approach stems from both the high stakes of the current reigning ideology of the Republican Party, and also knowing that even if he didn’t utter one partisan word, it would still be interpreted as such by the Right. The president rightly pointed out that “MAGA Republicans” dominate the Party, and want to take America backwards…to an America where there is no right to choose, no right to privacy, no right to contraception, no right to marry who you love.”

Maybe Biden finally understands that the right is going to accuse him of one-million different forms of political treachery anyways, so he might as well just say what needs to be said: the truth. What is to be gained by pretending that these extremists are not, in fact, extreme?

Monkeypox isn’t deadly or new, and yet the response is too slow to contain the epidemic, and the communication around it from experts and professionals has been convoluted. On a recent episode of Positively Dreadful, President Biden’s former senior COVID adviser, and host of the podcast In The Bubble, Andy Slavitt joins Brian to shed light on the Monkeypox outbreak. They also discuss how political pressures put on leaders can warp decision making. 

Listen to new episodes of Positively Dreadful every Friday, on Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts.

There’s a sleeper case on the Supreme Court’s docket that could blow an enormous hole in the already gossamer-thin American social safety net. The case, Health and Hospital Corp. of Marion County, Indiana v. Talevski, could give states even more leeway to neglect or end care for tens of millions of the most vulnerable citizens. The family of a patient suffering from dementia alleges that he was given a slew of unnecessary medications and improperly transferred to different facilities hours away, so they sued, citing violation of the Federal Nursing Home Reform Act, which guarantees rights of residents of nursing homes that receive Medicaid or Medicare funding. But the state of Indiana, sensing a bigger opportunity, used this case to ask the Supreme Court to re-examine (aka eliminate altogether) the pathway people participating in federal spending programs have to sue when their rights have been violated. This from the state once governed by former Vice President Mike Pence? I don’t believe it. In all seriousness, Sara Rosenbaum, a professor of health law at George Washington School of Health, called the case “to Medicaid what Dobbs was to abortion.” And it’s not just Medicaid, though with 90 million Americans enrolled, it’s certainly the largest program at risk. The case could leave all of those who depend on federally-funded, state-administered programs—like SNAP (formerly known as food stamps) or WIC, which helps low-income pregnant women and mothers with young children buy food—without any recourse, should states stop providing the benefits they’re required to give, making the comparison to Dobbs even more apt. If the Republican-captured court blows these protections asunder, it closes the courthouse doors to low-income people that states fail to protect. A number of states have joined Indiana’s cause, seeking to rid themselves  of the “burden” of legal accountability for caring for their most vulnerable citizens. 

Facing historic teacher shortages across the country, school districts in California are trying to attract teachers with low-cost apartments on school property. May we also suggest paying them more!

The G-7 agreed to implement a price cap for global purchases of Russian oil which the U.S. hopes will ease the energy-market pressures and reduce Russian oil revenue. 

White House health officials warned that new pandemics could prove more serious than COVID-19 in a new report reviewing efforts to prepare for the “high likelihood” of future serious outbreaks.

More than 2,000 patients in Los Angeles unknowingly received a diluted dose of the Pfizer vaccine, and only found out a year later.

President Biden said he has offered Gov. Tate Reeves (R-MS) every resource available to address his state’s water crisis, but now it’s up to Reeves to act. 

A new study shows that carbon should cost 3.6 times more than it does in the U.S., suggesting we are vastly underestimating the harm from each additional ton of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Journalist, activist, and author of the bestselling investigation of the dark side of capitalism Nickel and Dimed (2001) Barbara Ehrenreich has passed away at 81.

Authorities in Argentina are investigating a Brazilian citizen who appears to have tried to assassinate the Vice President of Argentina. 

Extremist Israeli lawmaker Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has referred to his Arab colleagues “terrorists” and called for deporting his political opponents, is surging in polls ahead of Israel’s November elections.

Summer Boismier, a high school teacher in Oklahoma, resigned on August 24 after another teacher complained that Boismier gave students QR codes with access to the Brooklyn Public Library, which would allow them to borrow books banned by her district, Norman Public Schools, though she did not ask them to borrow any books in particular. School district officials met with her to discuss the complaint, but expected her to return in the fall. This week, Secretary of Education Ryan Walters (R-OK) wrote a letter to the State Board of Education erroneously claiming that Bosmier was fired and asking them to revoke her teaching license. The president of the Oklahoma Education Association responded to Walters’s letter in an official statement, saying: “The OEA is concerned about the action today of a statewide education political appointee demanding the State Board of Education revoke the certificate of a teacher. This is problematic because it is based on an inaccurate interpretation of the facts and state law. It is not only harmful to the target of his comments but also embroils him and others in unneeded controversy.” Revocation of a teaching certificate is reserved for extreme offenses including felony convictions, child abuse, inappropriate contact with a student or minor, violating the code of conduct, or violent crimes. Not, if you can believe it, giving kids additional library access for them to use optionally.

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Former Trump White House counsel Pat Cipollone appeared before a federal grand jury investigating the January 6 insurrection, spending two-and-a-half hours behind closed doors with jurors and prosecutors.

A new drug shows promise for autism-linked epilepsy, with phase 2 trial results suggesting it can reduce seizures in some children. 

The economy added 315,000 jobs in August, according to an initial Labor Department survey, which led the Dow Jones Industrial Average to jump 300 points. 

The National Labor Relations Board said it intends to throw out Amazon’s objections to the New York warehouse’s historic union victory. See you in hell, Bezos!