Author: Kara Hurvitz

Hi there! If you're reading this, you're probably wondering who I am and why you should listen to me. (It's a fair cop.) So here's a little about me: I'm an advocate, educator, and activist with degrees in law and social work. By day, I help people access needed health care and health care coverage. By night, I fight crime--nah, just kidding; I write the NNR and related essays. Why the NNR? Well, I want to do everything I can to help folks stay informed, connected, and empowered during this difficult time, and this project lets me put work I already do to good use. Plus, I get to snark about the news and current administration. Everyone wins!

Year 4, Week 2 (January 26–February 2)

February 3, 2020February 4, 2020 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

Another week, another set of messed-up impeachment proceedings. On the plus side, the rest of this week’s news looks a bit less dire, so that’s something–but I recommend comfort food nonetheless.

Standard standing reminders apply: I am no journalist, though I play one in your inbox or browser, so I’m mostly summarizing the news within my area of expertise. NNR summaries often contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not a caucus!–but all offroad adventures are marked with an asterisk. And, of course, for the things that are within my lane, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!

Constitutional Crisis Corner:

At the time that I type this, Whistleblowing Ukraine Biden Bingo is winding down in the Senate, which is not to anybody’s benefit except maybe Trump’s. Here’s what has happened since last week:

Q&A Quagmire. After two short days of opening statements from the President’s team, we moved into a question-and-answer phase on Wednesday–and it was, to use a technical term, a hot mess. Alan Dershowitz created new nightmare fuel by claiming that if Trump “does something he believes will get him elected in the public’s interest,” then “that cannot be the kind of quid pro quo that results in impeachment.” His colleague whom he cited, unsurprisingly, did not agree with his analysis. But many GOP Senators found it exactly the kind of cover they needed; by the end of the week they were arguing that Trump’s actions were bad but not impeachable. This in turn prompted the New York Times to run a thinkpiece entitled “L’Etat, C’est Trump,” and also prompted Democratic senator Joe Manchin to begin calling for a censure, since the GOP did concede the overall not-awesomeness of Trump’s actions.

Witnesses Fall Through. By far, the most disappointing point of this past week’s proceedings was the witness vote on Friday. The week started out with Mitch McConnell indicating that he didn’t have the votes to block Bolton’s testimony, and at least one Republican senator also asked for the manuscript of John Bolton’s book. But then more moderate GOP Senator Lamar Alexander indicated that he would not vote for witnesses, possibly in response to public pressure from Trump, and Lisa Murkowski followed suit. And that was all she wrote–we needed four Republicans, and we only got two. The final vote was 49-51, which means no witnesses will be called in this trial despite the high likely value of John Bolton’s testimony–in fact, all four of the Democrat’s amendments failed along party lines. This, in turn, makes acquittal likely when the Senate votes on Wednesday, which is extra disturbing given the information outlined below.

Bonkers Impeachment Updates.* A lot of completely bananas impeachment stuff happened this past week, and I would be remiss if I didn’t list it here: 1) More Lev Parnas evidence turned up as he sent McConnell an entire laundry list for testimony consideration; 2) The Administration admitted that it’s blocking release of twenty-four different emails that document Trump’s role in withholding aid to Ukraine; 3)McConnell openly coordinated the date of the final vote with Trump; and 4) Rand Paul outed an alleged whistleblower in a press conference because John Roberts wouldn’t let him do it in open impeachment proceedings.

Your “Normal” Weird:

2020 Election Weirdness.* Since it’s Monday, all eyes are on the Iowa caucus as I write this–which has an imperfect record, but nonetheless represents the first real primary results we’ll see this season. Since the process is a bit complicated, and I am by no means an expert on Iowan process, I decided to wait for final results to dive into how it went down–but rest assured, I will give a full summary next week!

Confounding Policy Updates.We saw a number of odd policy changes this week, some of which are standard issue Trumpian poor policy and one of which is odd simply because I’m suspicious of how non-terrible it appears. First up, Trump undid Obama’s restrictions on land mine use, presumably because he believes killing civilians is a selling point. And in enraging policy news, we have the Medicaid funding overhaul proposed this week, which takes a major step towards a block grant structure for the entitlement program. It’s a move that experts and even Congress pretty uniformly regard to be demonstrably bad policy–the weird thing here is that we’re still stuck in this Groundhog Day ACA repeal hell after literally years of failed attempts. Finally, there’s a new process for public loan forgiveness that is designed to make it simpler to apply–and on its face, appears to actually do the thing it sets out to do! Nobody check whether Betsy DeVos is now a pod person, please, because we could all use a break this week.

The Bad:

Coronavirus Creep.* The coronavirus situation continues to get worse, with the death toll in China now up to 425 and approximately 20,000 people diagnosed globally. We’ve also seen the first death outside of China and the first person-to-person transmission in the U.S. The World Health Organization has declared a public health emergency, and airlines all around the country are suspending flights to China. Experts note that the flu is a much more serious virus in the U.S. at this time, and that’s definitely true–and we should be thinking carefully about whether our responses are borne of racism rather than true public health concern. That said, we are underprepared for any pandemic in this country, and this is worth tracking.

Immigration Update. In addition to the public charge changes outlined last week–which we now know go into effect on February 24, by the way–the administration added six new countries to their travel ban list this week. Folks from Nigeria, Eritrea, Sudan, Tanzania, Kyrgyzstan and Myanmar now have restricted travel as well, particularly when it comes to getting visas issued for temporary travel. Though I’ve seen at least one think piece calling this change a win for China, we’re also now restricting banning the return of foreign nationals who have set foot in China in the past fortnight due to the coronavirus’s origins in Wuhan. When this is added to the proposed visa restrictions based on health insurance and the proposed visa restrictions based on pregnancy, a picture emerges of pretty restricted temporary travel.

Prison Condition Fatalities. Mississippi made the news this week due to its high number of inmate deaths since 2020 began, with thirteen total people passing away in a five-week period. The Southern Poverty Law Center has requested a federal investigation, and several rappers are suing. In separate but related news, a video taken in an Oklahoma jail showing an inmate begging for medical care while the staff mocked him made an appearance in the federal lawsuit over that inmate’s death. This is a major systemic issue in our penal system that definitely deserves our attention.

The Good:

Recent State Resilience.We have an odd array of good news on the state level this week, but I’m certainly not complaining! Virginia has repealed a law requiring mandatory ultrasounds for abortions which has been on the books for several years, and along with two other states also brought a lawsuit demanding the Equal Rights Act be added to the constitution. (It’s a good week to be Virginian, apparently!) And in New York, a state park in Brooklyn is being named after famous trans activist Marsha Johnson, which is an exciting milestone for LGBTQ representation in New York and elsewhere.

Border Wall Bluster. In schadenfreude news, parts of the border wall keep getting blown over by wind, requiring large storm gates to be kept open indefinitely. Needless to say, this somewhat limits the effectiveness of said barrier, since it will have giant gaping holes in it for the foreseeable future. Gosh, it couldn’t have happened to a nicer wall.

So that’s what I have for this week, and I’m sorry, there are no news refunds. For making it through, you deserve this day in the life of a baby bat and an eventual better government. I’ll be back next week with more (and hopefully better) news, and I hope you will be back as well–but in the meantime, feel free to ping the National News Roundup ask box, which is there for your constructive comments. Send me questions! Send me feedback! Send me more hours in the day!

Year 4, Week 1 (January 19-25)

January 27, 2020January 28, 2020 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

This week was mostly taken up by Senate trial proceedings, but there was some other pretty painful news as well. At this point, honestly, I’m starting to think we’d be better off being governed by the group of monkeys that accidentally wrote Hamlet. At least there would be less feces thrown everywhere.

Standard standing reminders apply: I am no journalist, though I play one in your inbox or browser, so I’m mostly summarizing the news within my area of expertise. NNR summaries often contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not a book promotion!–but all offroad adventures are marked with an asterisk. And, of course, for the things that are within my lane, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!

Constitutional Crisis Corners:

At the time that I type this, Whistleblowing Ukraine Biden Bingo has had a whole bombastic week of proceedings, and we’re nowhere near finished. It’s going to be a long summary this week, because it’s hard to boil down this many hours, but here’s my best stab at it:

The Process for Process. Since Senate Democrats were justifiably unimpressed with Senate Leader Mitch McConnell’s proposed kangaroo court rules, the week started with intense fighting about trial process. In the end, Dems gained some significant concessions: Opening arguments would be more spread out, and the full record from the House would be admitted. But on the most important topics, the GOP held firm: They refused to subpoena the White House for documents, and the entire question of witnesses got punted to sometime much later in the proceedings. So basically, the final ground rules will likely result in a weeks-long process that leaves nobody happy–but on the plus side, that includes Mitch McConnell.

The House’s Opening Arguments. Adam Schiff’s opening arguments on behalf of the House started out along tried-and-true lines, pointing to highlights in the existing body of evidence to argue that Trump was trying to cheat in the 2020 election. But as the House’s three days of opening argument progressed, they got increasingly colorful and creative, folding in video clips to bring in ‘testimony’ and eventually referencing apparent threats to GOP Senators who strayed from the party line. Unsurprisingly, Republicans grew increasingly contemptuous–with more than a third leaving the room at some points, and fidget spinners apparently distributed for use during the remarks. (The closest thing the Senate has to moderate Republicans, incidentally, criticized Schiff for referencing apparent threat to them, but it remains to be seen whether their votes will reflect their displeasure.)

The President’s Opening Arguments. The President’s opening statements began in earnest today after a brief preview on Saturday, and they’re as full of credibility and integrity as you might expect. Among the highlights: 1)Kennith Starr, who was instrumental in advancing the Clinton impeachment, complaining that ‘we live in the age of impeachment’ without a trace of apparent irony; 2)Lengthy diversions into the Bidens and Burisma to distract from the actual trial; 3) Calling Giuliani a ‘colorful distraction’; and 4) Scrambling to handle the Bolton bombshell that we’ll talk more about below.

Bonkers Parnas Evidence (Again).* While all of the above was going on, even more damning news about the Ukraine affair managed to come out through unrelated means, which is kind of a neat trick by this point. More specifically, video surfaced of Donald Trump at a state dinner with Lev Parnas–you know, the Lev Parnas he doesn’t know, that Lev Parnas?–telling staff to ‘get rid’ of then-ambassador Marie Yovanovitch. Outlets are assuming he was ordering underlings to fire her, which would be bad enough, but, uh… he concludes by saying “Take her out. Okay? Do it.” Having seen the text messages from last week, which more-or-less document stalking her, I’m… not convinced they stuck to the firing part.

The lines are pretty blurry between Ukraine and Disregard of Governing Norms this week, because so many stories are both. That said, these are the stories that I thought really highlighted our step back from recognizing norms on the Ukraine front:

Mike Pompeo Erupts.* After NPR interviewer Mary Louise Kelly aired an interview with Mike Pompeo that asked him about Ukraine, she disclosed that he launched into a profanity-laced tirade immediately after taping, at one point demanding that she point to Ukraine on a map. Secretary Pompeo responded by calling Kelly ‘unhinged,’ and Trump asked why NPR exists–which in our current atmosphere, can definitely be read as a threat, even before the administration started predictably limiting NPR journalists’ access to State Department affairs. The entire thing prompted NPR CEO John Lansing to come onto All Things Considered to defend Kelly, noting on-record: “We will not be intimidated.”

John Bolton’s Book Promo Testimony.* As John Bolton began his promotional tour of his new book, “The Room Where It Happened,” a leaked manuscript revealed that it undercuts a major pillar of Trump’s impeachment defense strategy, because the book claims that Trump told Bolton personally not to release funds to Ukraine until the Bidens were investigated. Incredibly, the White House was sent a copy of the book for review in December, which means that the team had notice that Bolton was about to say this publicly when they crafted the defense. For those of y’all playing the home game, intentionally lying to a tribunal is a huge no-no for attorneys, and Trump’s attorneys basically say the opposite in their arguments, which means Dershowitz and others could face some pretty serious censure if they know Bolton to be telling the truth. Naturally, Democrats are clamoring for his testimony again upon learning this, and since we haven’t settled the question of witnesses yet they might still get their wish. And all of this has been placed in the ‘Disregard of Government Norms’ bucket rather than the ‘Ukraine Biden Bingo’ one because nobody got any version of this information from Bolton until he published it in a book, and that’s so broken that I’m still not over it by the end of this paragraph.

Your “Normal” Weird:

2020 Election Weirdness. This was another weird week on the election circuit. Hillary Clinton made news for ripping into Bernie Sanders, reaffirming her earlier assessment that “nobody likes” him and noting that he “seems to be very much supporting” the toxicity of his followers. (Thanks, Hillary, now there will be no living with Bernie Bros on the Internet). That said, she did follow up to say that she’d still support him if he becomes the nominee. In more actual news, the Iowa caucuses are almost upon us, which is probably why the New York Times issued an endorsement this week. That said, that doesn’t explain why they endorsed both Klobuchar and Warren–but it’s a pretty good metaphor for 2020, so I’ll give them that.

Star Trek Space Force. This administration news isn’t so dire, but it’s plenty weird, so I figured we might as well touch on it: 45 tweeted a reveal of the proposed logo for his new Space Force this week via Twitter, and it looks suspiciously like that of Starfleet Command from Star Trek. George Takei had a lot to say about it, and certainly has more grounds to complain than I do, so I urge folks to just read his op-ed for more info on the irony here.

The Bad:

Immigration Update. We all got an unpleasant jolt today when the Supreme Court suddenly released an opinion on public charge in the middle of impeachment proceedings. The decision lifts an injunction put in place by district courts, reaffirmed only a few weeks ago by the Second Circuit, and allows the administration to go forward with a plan to dramatically reshape how they grant permission to immigrate. I’m seeing a lot of outlets call this a ‘wealth test,’ and I cannot overstate how accurate that is; though on its face, the policy is supposed to be about public benefits, it’s really just a back-door way to implement ‘merit-based immigration’ that looks at applicants’ age, wealth, and able-bodiedness (among other things). It also disproportionately punishes applicants of color, and leaves applicants afraid to access things they need to be healthy such as nutritional supports and health insurance. As if to punctuate the point, the decision was issued on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, highlighting that most survivors would be systemically blocked from entry under enforcement of this policy.

Forcible Birth Insult to Injury. Though the big immigration news is public charge, Trump sure did a lot of gross things involving women and pregnancy this week, and one of them was a new ban on visas for pregnant women if they are suspected of ‘birth tourism.’ Notably, the administration published this as a final rule with no comment period, which is counter to required process–presumably because they wanted to release it while Trump addressed the Pro Life March in a grotesque mockery of actual piety. And to add to the publicity, he also threatened to withhold funds from California at the same time because they have laws requiring insurance coverage for abortions. All told, the whole stunt is so malignantly asinine that my brain tried to escape out my ears as I wrote this paragraph.

Coronavirus Creep.* Many people, including myself, are watching the advance of a new coronavirus that is spreading from China to other locations. A coronovirus is broad classification and this one isn’t on the far-serious end of the spectrum; it’s generally nonfatal to healthy adults and there are only five documented cases in the U.S.. That said, the virus has claimed over a hundred lives worldwide due to particular risk to children, elderly, and those with weakened immune systems, and any epidemic under this administration would be an nightmare and a half. Since we’re already seeing a frightening lack of medical care for folks held in detention, I worry about vulnerable populations and am keeping an eye on this.

The Good:

Recent Court Resilience. This one is only borderline good, but it’s what I’ve got, so let’s roll with it: The Supreme Court declined to fast-track a challenge to the Affordable Care Act this week, meaning that the challenge will remain in place throughout the upcoming year until a decision is reached next term. This, of course, means that the question will still be unresolved during the 2020 election, but it also means the ACA won’t get immediately gutted by a Supreme Court that’s frankly not making awesome decisions of late, so I’ll take it.

So that’s what I have for this week, and I’m sorry, there are no news refunds. For making it through, you deserve these two golden retrievers’ veggie test trials and an eventual better government. I’ll be back next week with more (and hopefully better) news, and I hope you will be back as well–but in the meantime, feel free to ping the National News Roundup ask box, which is there for your constructive comments. Send me questions! Send me feedback! Send me more hours in the day!

Year 3, Week 52 (January 12-18)

January 20, 2020January 21, 2020 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

This week marks the pomp and circumstance leading into the Senate trial, and tomorrow we see the beginning of the Senate trial itself. I’m still not sure what kind of ride we will see, but we’re watching the GOP set up a circus and the House set up a courtroom, so there’s bound to be some clashing genres and a whole lot of inanity.

Standard standing reminders apply: I am no journalist, though I play one in your inbox or browser, so I’m mostly summarizing the news within my area of expertise. NNR summaries often contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not a manager!–but all offroad adventures are marked with an asterisk. And, of course, for the things that are within my lane, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!

Constitutional Crisis Corners:

At the time that I type this, Whistleblowing Ukraine Biden Bingo is transitioning into the trial stage of proceedings, which is going about as well as you might expect. Here’s a quick summary of the uncertainty:

Senate Trial Prep.The House voted to send along the articles of impeachment on Wednesday, and Nancy Pelosi picked House managers to prosecute–all legislators with legal experience, noting that her metric was “comfort in the court room.” Trump picked his team as well, which included…famous lawyers, I guess? Among the confusing picks: Kennith Starr, who famously prosecuted Clinton’s impeachment so hard that people compared him to Javert, and Alan Dershowitz, who was probably just ecstatic that someone believes he’s still relevant.) The Senate then took oaths of impartiality, even though several GOP Senators have informed us that they have zero intent to remain impartial, and appears to have agreed to Kamala Harris’s call for a halt in judicial review while the impeachment is pending. Today, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell released his proposed trial rules, which can more-or-less be summarized as “Who needs evidence, witnesses, or time to respond to motions? Let’s just get this over with in forty-eight hours, shall we?” All of this is particularly galling when you consider that the Government Accountability Office also released a report this week stating that the White House definitely broke federal laws when it withheld funds from Ukraine for a policy reason.

Bonkers Parnas Evidence.* As hinted above, the House released a bunch more information gleaned from Lev Parnas this week in waves, and most of it is incredibly damning–the documents hint at everything from stalking Ambassador Yovanovitch to the involvement of Devin Nunes. Rachel Maddow also had a completely bonkers interview with Parnas where he reiterated that “everybody was in the loop” (including Trump, Pence and William Barr) about all of the above. And information also leaked that Giuliani had requested a private meeting with President Zelensky, using Parnas as a broker.

We still have some Iran updates this week under Disregard of Governing Norms, but there are some new contenders as well. These are the updates:

Iran Updates.* Iran news is dying down, but we did get a few updates. Namely, the White House story shifted yet again, with Attorney General William Barr saying that the DOJ declared Soleimani a legitimate target when consulted before the bombing, and that said bombing was part of a larger strategey of ‘deterrence’ (which, frankly, is terrifying if true and terrifying if false, so we lose either way). Unsurprisingly, we also heard news that as many as ten GOP Senators may vote to limit this administration’s war powers with regards to Iran, because the White House clearly has abused the privilege.

Legalizing Bribery.* This week’s “I can’t believe I’m not making this up” award is something of a twofer, and to be fair involves news from 2017. First the Washington Post ran a story adapted from a new book about the administration titled ‘A Very Stable Genius,’ noting that Trump called our military brass “a bunch of dopes and babies” because they wouldn’t farm out our troops for money. Then other outlets took that torch and ran with it, noting that he also wanted to change laws to allow bribery of foreign officials overseas, which is kind of a fascinating precursor to the current Ukraine controversy.

Your “Normal” Weird:

2020 Election Weirdness.After Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders were in the news for an apparent rift about the electability of women in 2020, there was much to-do about how this played out on Tuesday’s debate–namely, with Elizabeth Warren pointing out that she and Klobuchar both have the most successful campaign histories of the six contenders, and with a declined handshake that everybody yelled about for way too long, given that Sanders is researching whether he could give her multiple positions in his hypothetical administration. The Iowa caucuses are coming upon us, which is probably why the New York Times issued an endorsement today–of Klobuchar and Warren, though many outlets seem to be forgetting the Warren part.

Fraught Russia With Love.* Current Russian President and all-around scary guy Vladimir Putin made some significant changes to how Russian politics work this week–namely, he replaced his resigning Prime Minister as he simultaneously changed the Russian Constitution to allow him to stay in power instead of running into a term limit in 2024. Some outlets are calling the one-two combination a January revolution, as it might allow Putin to remain in power for life, and nobody’s quite sure what his game is. That said, it definitely means nothing good for the United States.

The Bad:

Administration Attempts Governing. The administration did do some actual governing this week, and most of it was no great shakes. The biggest news as I type this is that Trump signed a partial trade deal with China, which doesn’t do everything he wanted but he’s calling it “a monumental step” anyway because the man literally lies fifteen times a day. (It does relax some sanctions, though several remain in place, and hopefully it will provide some relief for farmers and the manufacturing sector.) The administration also proposed relaxing rules about nutrition in school menus, Michelle Obama’s most significant achievement, so that fewer vegetables were required and more fast food was permitted. They did this on this past Friday, which just so happens to also be Michelle Obama’s birthday, because apparently we’re being governed by middle schoolers.

Gun Rally Rodeo. Virginia was in the news this week for a pro-gun rally to protest recently-proposed gun reform laws that caused a lot of fear and chaos before it even began. In the week leading up to the rally, the governor declared a state of emergency and the FBI arrested several men with ties to white supremacist militias who were planning to attend (some of whom were coming in from outside the country). The rally itself drew 22,000 people, many of whom were armed despite the governor’s instructions, though only one twenty-one-year-old unarmed woman was arrested.

The Good:

Equal Rights Amendment Resilience.Virginia ratified the Equal Rights Amendment this week, making it the thirty-eighth state to ratify since the legislation was passed in 1972. In fact, since the original proposal was so long ago, experts aren’t certain what happens next–we’ve reached the magic number for ratification, but there’s some disagreement about whether there was a time limit and this administration is trying to block it. We should definitely continue to watch this, but even just reaching the number for ratification is very exciting.

Recent Court Resilience.The Fifth Circuit declined to hear a case that would have reopened the question of whether fifteen-week abortions are legal in the state of Mississippi, which means the decision to strike down the law in the lower courts stands (at least for now). It’s not clear why the court declined to hear the case, but the outcome is a win, so I’m counting it nonetheless.

So that’s what I have for this week, and I’m sure next week will be bonkers. For making it through, you deserve this elephant’s impromptu gentle hotel tour and an eventual better government. I’ll be back next week with more (and hopefully better) news, and I hope you will be back as well–but in the meantime, feel free to ping the National News Roundup ask box, which is there for your constructive comments. Send me questions! Send me feedback! Send me good health for our household!

Year 3, Week 51 (January 5-11)

January 13, 2020January 14, 2020 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

Well, this week was… a little bit calmer? Not for me personally, sadly–but at least the news features less literal and figurative fire. We take progress where we can get it in this household.

Standard standing reminders apply: I am no journalist, though I play one in your inbox or browser, so I’m mostly summarizing the news within my area of expertise. NNR summaries often contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not a campaign staffer!–but all offroad adventures are marked with an asterisk. And, of course, for the things that are within my lane, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!

Constitutional Crisis Corners:

At the time that I type this, Whistleblowing Ukraine Biden Bingo is still paused in a tug-o-war but moving towards some kind of dissatisfactory resolution. Here’s a quick summary of the uncertainty:

Congressional Tug-o-War Slows.* Mitch McConnell made it clear this week that he was moving forward with an impeachment trial pretty much no matter what else was going on, prompting Nancy Pelosi to flinch first and signal that she’ll send the articles along this week. Given the larger mess here, the House won’t have much time to prepare for said trial, which might be why Adam Schiff doesn’t want to call John Bolton despite the latter’s offer to testify if subpoenaed. Then again, it might also be because Trump said he would block Bolton’s testimony. We’ll see whether we end up with any witnesses at all; since the motion for that only requires a simple majority, there may be truth to the rumor that Senate Democrats are pulling together the numbers to force the issue. Needless to say, we can expect an eventful week but none of it has happened yet.

I’ve decided to just file the entirety of Iran updates this week under Disregard of Governing Norms, because that’s more-or-less what we’re seeing here. These are the updates:

Iran Updates (cont).* After Trump threatened to bomb Iranian cultural centers at the top of the week, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper thankfully walked that back. Nonetheless, on Tuesday, Iran fired missiles at two U.S. bases in Iraq from inside Iran’s borders. It was a tense few days, but Trump was surprisingly sanguine in response, likely because he believed there were no U.S. casualties, and indicated by midweek that he would keep his response to economic sanctions. Then we just kept getting news about the bad actions of both parties. Iran was eventually forced to admit that it shot down a Ukrainian plane by mistake, resulting in the deaths of 176 people aboard. Meanwhile, Trump’s claim that he was stopping an ‘imminent attack’ lacked so much credibility that it stayed a moving target for the rest of the week–first he claimed that Iran was was going to attack four embassies. Then when Mark Esper made him walk that one back too, Trump graduated to saying that “it doesn’t really matter” whether there was an imminent threat or not. And to cap off the week, he talked about selling troops on Fox News and tweeted an image of Nancy Pelosi in a hijab.

Your “Normal” Weird:

2020 Election Weirdness. This week saw multiple people drop out of the 2020 Presidential race. First to go was Marianne Williamson, and the only surprise there was that she apparently was still in the race at all. But Cory Booker dropping out made more waves, because he was the third qualified candidate of color to drop out. And Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders were in the news for an apparent rift about the electability of women in 2020, though Warren is treating this like a non-story and I genuinely hope that it is. On the plus side, billionaire candidate Michael Bloomberg did say this week that he would fund whoever wins the primary in the fight against 45, even if it’s not him. So that’s something I guess.

But Her Emails (are Not Noteworthy).* The Justice Department is winding down its investigation into Hillary Clinton, having concluded for the zillionth time that there was no scandal there to prosecute. In other news, water is wet.

The Bad:

Earthquake in Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico suffered a severe earthquake on Tuesday–the second in two days–and the island was still suffering from the aftermath of Hurricane Maria when it happened. In the aftermath, over 300,000 homes and businesses are left without water, and frightening aftershocks mean people are still sleeping outside several days later. Folks over there are in a bad way, and know from their previous experiences that their crisis won’t be appropriately handled by this administration. If you want to help, the Hispanic Federation is taking donations, and the Chefs for Puerto Rico team run by World Central Kitchen can use help getting people fed as well.

Bad Immigration News. There are rumors this week that the administration plans to expand its travel ban to include seven more countries, presumably to capture that good old fashioned Islamophobia in the lead-up to November. I’m generally reluctant to share things at the rumor stage, but given our last few weeks with Iran I think this one is more likely to have legs, and I want to keep an eye on it. Meanwhile, Texas also became the first state to refuse refugees under Trump’s fall executive order, which gave states tacit permission to refuse resettlement. Thankfully, 42 states have already given permission for resettlement, so there’s a limit to how many states can follow suit.

The Good:

House Pushback.Given Trump’s obviously cavalier attitude about Iran, it’s comforting to report that the House advanced a war powers resolution this week that limits his official power to attack Iran further unilaterally. Multiple Republican senators, who are disgusted with the way he handled his briefing, are expected to vote for the resolution when it hits the Senate floor as well–so I’m cautiously optimistic on this front for now.

Recent Court Resilience.We did see some good court cases this week. The Second Circuit refused to set aside an injunction on the proposed new public charge rule this week, ensuring that immigrants can continue to safely access benefits without jeopardizing their applications for permanent residency. And another federal judge refused to dismiss E. Jean Caroll’s defamation suit, which Trump tried to dismiss on the grounds that he lives in DC and a lawsuit in New York was annoying–though admittedly, this might have been because they didn’t bother to write a motion on the topic.

So that’s what I have for this week, and I’m sorry about the mess. For making it through, you deserve this story about vultures taking over CBP’s radio tower and an eventual better government. I’ll be back next week with more (and hopefully better) news, and I hope you will be back as well–but in the meantime, feel free to ping the National News Roundup ask box, which is there for your constructive comments. Send me questions! Send me feedback! Send me good health for our household!

Year 3, Week 50 (December 29–January 4)

January 6, 2020January 7, 2020 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

On a scale of one to ten, I give the first week of 2020 a negative three–the news is so awful, in fact, that we’re enacting the NNR Really Bad Week protocol. You get your dessert good news first this week, and we’re closing with things you can do to feel less like you’re screaming into the wind. We will get through this, and I’m here if anyone needs anything.

Standard standing reminders apply: I am no journalist, though I play one in your inbox or browser, so I’m mostly summarizing the news within my area of expertise. NNR summaries often contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not an FBI raid!–but all offroad adventures are marked with an asterisk. And, of course, for the things that are within my lane, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!

The Good:

Cease-Fire in Afghanistan.*The Taliban agreed to a temporary cease-fire in Afghanistan this week, which is a relief against the larger backdrop of this week’s foreign policy news. If it’s finalized, this would be the first step towards a more permanent peace in Afghanistan, and though that’s certainly not my area of expertise it seems pretty good to me.

Christian Rebukes Continue. There was another open letter to Trump from the evangelical community this week, this time from a number of congregations in Florida. It doesn’t seem likely that much will come from it, but it’s still kind of edifying to watch pastors say things like, “As members of the Christian faith, we cannot stand idly by while you attempt to co-opt our religion for your political gain” and “you, sir, do not have the moral fortitude to deserve our support.”

Constitutional Crisis Corners:

At the time that I type this, Whistleblowing Ukraine Biden Bingo is slowly resuming, though of course we have no more settled than the last week’s update. Here’s a quick summary of the uncertainty:

Congressional Tug-o-War. At the time that I write this, we’re still firmly embroiled in Congressional back-and-forth, to the extent anybody is thinking about impeachment anymore at all. Nancy Pelosi isn’t sending along the articles of impeachment, which frankly seems pretty understandable given the week we’ve had, and Mitch McConnell has made it clear that he won’t proceed without them. But he also won’t call witnesses, even as John Bolton offers to testify. Meanwhile, the federal case about, among other things, whether officials can be forced to testify is the one thing that is moving forward, so we’ll want to keep an eye on that for sure.

Ukraine News Still Coming Out.*Rudy Giuliani was in the news yet again this week, this time for back channel talks with Venezuela via telephone (and given his awful performances on the news circuits, the idea of him being trusted with Venezuela is kind of terrifying). New emails also gave more evidence that Trump personally ordered the freeze of Ukrainian aid, adding to the already-considerable pile.

There’s not much in the way of Disregard of Governing Norms stories this week, but we did see one story I think is worth noting:

FBI Raid.* The FBI raided the home of another Trump ally this week, this time lobbyist and all-around sketchy guy Michael Esposito. Naturally Trump is claiming he doesn’t know him, but unlike most times when words come out of Trump’s mouth, this time he might be telling the truth. The whole story is strange, but the fact that we’ve hit raid o’clock makes me think it’s worth tracking.

Your “Normal” Weird:

2020 Election Weirdness.Despite the break, we did see some election news. Julian Castro announced that he’s dropping out of the 2020 race, then announced that he endorsed Elizabeth Warren a few days later–making folks speculate about a Warren/Castro ticket. (I’d vote for that in a hot second, not gonna lie.) Meanwhile, on the malarkey end of the spectrum, Joe Biden hedged that maybe he’d take a GOP running mate if he got the nomination, and he’s still in the running because 2020 is a rich and colorful tapestry.

The Bad:

Congress and SCOTUS. Two different Congressional groups approached the Supreme Court this week, and frankly I’m not excited about either of them. A group of Democrats have decided to cut to the chase and ask for a quicker ruling on the Affordable Care Act, creating a more certain scenario by the close of the term. This actually makes total sense in context–it would be worse to leave the insurance market uncertain indefinitely, and SCOTUS would weigh in eventually either way–but I’m pretty anxious about it anyway. Meanwhile, a GOP group filed an amicus brief on the case to overturn Roe v Wade, which will be heard in March; it’s a move both unnecessary and frankly terrifying, because they know as much about reproductive health as potatoes know about yoyos.

The Very Bad:

Fire in Australia.* Australia is currently fighting a totally unprecedented set of bush fires, which have already claimed 24 lives and set over 63 thousand square miles ablaze. Experts agree that the disturbing conditions are worsening because of climate change, particularly because the fires happen as a new study concludes that climate change is changing weather patterns everywhere. This type of devastation is hard to watch, and it has global implications.

Aggression Against Iran.* Bear with me, because this one isn’t remotely my area, but it’s important so I’m going to try to unpack it. In the day or two leading up to New Year’s, unrest grew around the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, with pro-Iran protesters setting fire to the reception building on the compound and trying to overtake it. Trump blamed Iran for the whole thing, and by Thursday evening had ordered an air strike on the Baghdad airport, intentionally causing the death of top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani and at least 25 others. This attack was a really big deal, because attacking a sitting general can be considered an act of war, and Nancy Pelosi says that Trump didn’t give any notice to Congress ahead of time. (He did provide a notification after, for whatever that is worth.)

Iran “Diplomacy” To Date.* The subsequent attempts at deescalation have been going about as well as you might expect from an administration that pretty much hates diplomacy, has half a State department, and thinks Twitter counts as a form of Congressional notice. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo immediately tried to claim that Soleimani was about to attack, while Mike Pence claimed that Soleimani was involved in 9/11 (spoiler: no he wasn’t). Iraq has threatened to expel all US troops, which we’re ignoring in favor of deploying 3,500 more troops in the Middle East. Meanwhile, Iran announced it would end its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal (which we had already walked away from, but renewing the threat of Iranian nuclear weapons maybe wasn’t our best move ever). And Trump has threatened to bomb 52 Iranian sites, including cultural centers, which would be a violation of international law and a war crime. The House, unsurprisingly, is handling all of this by introducing a war powers resolution that would limit Trump’s authorization to do anything of the kind.

What We Can Do:

Iran Action. Given the current activity in the House, this is a time when it really is helpful to call your representatives. As always, Celeste Pewter has helpful insights as well as scripts, and Indivisible has a page that helps connect you to your rep if you need it. You can also check out the work of groups like Win Without War and the Indivisible National Day of Action on Thursday, January 9.

Australia Action. If you live outside the outback, donations really help, though please note that donating cash is more helpful than donating supplies at this time.CNet has a good list of places you can donate if you live outside of the outback, with lots of in-depth information about who is doing what and why. Several other outlets have lists as well. If you live in Australia, WIRES also has good information about wildlife rescue on the ground in the area, and the NSW Office of Emergency Management has information about community recovery assistance opportunities.

So that’s what I have for this week, and I’m sorry, there are no refunds. For making it through, you deserve this parrot love storyandthis hair salon version of a Knives Out clip, as well as an eventual better government. I’ll be back next week with more (and hopefully better) news, and I hope you will be back as well–but in the meantime, feel free to ping the National News Roundup ask box, which is there for your constructive comments. Send me questions! Send me feedback! Send me a better immune system!

Year 3, Week 49 (December 22-28)

December 30, 2019December 31, 2019 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

It’s a quieter news week this time, especially compared to last week’s impeachment news. Frankly, I think we all needed a quiet moment, so I’m not sad about the calm–hopefully it’s not heralding a bigger storm.

Standard standing reminders apply: I am no journalist, though I play one in your inbox or browser, so I’m mostly summarizing the news within my area of expertise. NNR summaries often contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not a windmill!–but all offroad adventures are marked with an asterisk. And, of course, for the things that are within my lane, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!

Constitutional Crisis Corner:

Even with the relative peace and quiet we did see some Whistleblowing Ukraine Biden Bingo chaos, which I have separated out into wacky Dem proposals, GOP uneasiness, and Trump’s real-time witness tampering. Here’s what I have for you:

Democrat Planning Sessions.* As the cold war between Pelosi and McConnell stretches out another week, Democrats are coming up with contingency plans, and some of them are more out there than others. On the more traditional side, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer took one look at the giant pile of incriminating emails released last weekend and announced that he wants more of the House records released–and given how much obstruction we’ve seen already, it’s reasonable to assume he might not get witnesses. Meanwhile, counsel for the House in the Don McGahn case is raising the specter of a second impeachment if they end up with more incriminating evidence of obstruction of justice. Presumably this is also a general Plan B if Mitch McConnell successfully kills the Senate trial, but honestly we’re so far off the rails already that it’s hard to even know.

GOP Uneasiness.* As the week went on, we saw some interesting murmurings from the GOP side side of the aisle. GOP senator Lisa Murkowski went on the record as “disturbed” by Mitch McConnell’s cavalier coordination with the White House on the White House’s own impeachment, and some pundits and at least one Senate Democrat seem to think that where there’s disgruntled smoke, there’s concealed dumpster fires. And even Lindsey Graham appeared to walk back some of his deep-throated support of the White House in the past week, looking at recent articles about Rudy Giuliani’s sketchy back channels and publicly worrying that his information might be “Russian propaganda.” But it’s a giant jump to go from that to the idea that some GOP Senators would defect if they were allowed to vote in secret, particularly when Trump still wields so much power in the GOP itself. The GOP are like jockeys racing a rabid horse because the rabies makes it go faster–in the stable they may say, “This horse has a contagious disease and keeps trying to eat the stone floor,” but on the racetrack all we get is “Excuse me, how dare you inquire about Mouth Foam.”

Trump Witness Tampering. If the House Democrats were hoping for more obstruction of justice evidence, Christmas came more-on-less on time for them in the form of Trump’s twitter account. Over the week, his account featured everything from asking why the House was ‘allowed’ to impeach him to insulting Nancy Pelosi to retweeting a bot account sharing a December 3 Washington Examiner article claiming to out the whistleblower’s identity. (I will not be sharing any publications that include the article, by the way, because outing a whistleblower is not the NNR way.)

Your “Normal” Weird:

Trump Doesn’t Understand Wind.*This one technically happened at the very beginning of the week, when we were still being inundated by actual news, but it was too strange not to share today. In the middle of a rant about windmills delivered to conservative students, Trump informed the crowd, “I never understood wind.” (The Washington Post published an interesting article trying to analyze the bizarre speech, but even that author notes, “I was honestly a bit baffled despite priding myself on my ability to translate Trump’s energy-related rhetoric.”) I’m sure this will become a more streamlined soundbite eventually. But for now, it’s comforting to assume that much like the rest of us, wind never understood Donald Trump, either.

California Privacy Law Tango.* You may have seen several websites email you about new privacy policies this week and wondered what was up–when I got the same email from Groupon, Spotify, Patreon, Paypal, and Mailchimp, I certainly did. It turns out that there’s a new privacy law in California that goes into effect January 1, which ostensibly will let consumers see what data is collected and stop companies from selling it. But since it’s basically the first law of its type and also has been amended several times, nobody’s quite sure what it requires. So we may see some growing pains in nation-wide companies on this issue.

The Bad:

More Immigration Updates. Despite being a relatively slow news week, we still saw immigration news, because of course we did. News broke that ICE is already reopening Dreamer deportation cases, despite the fact that the Supreme Court only heard the DACA case last month and probably won’t issue a decision for another six months. This is horrifying, because DACA is still in effect while the opinion is pending, and literally the entire point of DACA is a promise of no deportation for its recipients. CNN also reports that a record number of immigration judges are quitting because the administration keeps trying to shove bad policy down their throats. Given the rate this administration is going, those judges probably can’t expect a new approach anytime soon.

Antisemitic Violence. Five people were stabbed in a rabbi’s home on Saturday in what appears to be a hate crime, the latest in a really rough time in the area for antisemitic violence. It has been a difficult year for antisemitic sentiment in general, in fact, with national incidents rising at an alarming rate since the Tree of Life shooting in late 2018. That said, I would be remiss if I did not address a statement issued by a Department of Homeland Security official, who complained that the perpetrator is “the U.S. citizen son of an illegal alien.” While violence generally has absolutely nothing to do with immigration status, and immigrants in fact commit crimes at lower rates than citizens, this type of statement connecting antisemitism to people of color and especially high-profile immigrants of color has seen a lot of use from the far right in the past few months-even in instances where the speaker is absolutely right and simply stating facts. It is compounded by recent high-profile antisemitic crimes involving perpetrators of color, which emboldens unfair targeting of other populations. The threat of violence against Jewish people is real, but using it to target immigrants of color is not acceptable, and we need to condemn it.

The Good:

Recent School Resilience. A district in Virginia became the first school district in the nation to give students one day off per year for civic engagement, which given our current political environment is likely very appreciated. The process involves filling out a form two days ahead of time, to discourage random skiving, and was inspired by student action after the Parkland shooting and the international climate change walkout. If done responsibly, it’s an excellent learning opportunity, and I hope more districts consider adopting it!

So that’s what I have for this week, even though it’s more bite-sized than normal. For reading during the holidays, you deserve this list of interesting (positive!) 2019 firsts and an eventual better government. I’ll be back next week with what will almost certainly be more news, and I hope you will be back as well–but in the meantime, feel free to ping the National News Roundup ask box, which is there for your constructive comments. Send me questions! Send me feedback! Send me your resolutions for 2020!

Year 3, Week 48 (December 15-21)

December 23, 2019December 24, 2019 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

At the time that I type this, Trump has officially been impeached by the House. A lot of people have asked me what I think of that news, but the truth of the matter is that I don’t know what to think, because nobody knows what will happen next–we’re all off the rails here, folks. We’ve never had a situation like this before.

Standard standing reminders apply: I am no journalist, though I play one in your inbox or browser, so I’m mostly summarizing the news within my area of expertise. NNR summaries often contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not a Christian magazine!–but all offroad adventures are marked with an asterisk. And, of course, for the things that are within my lane, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!

Constitutional Crisis Corners:

At the time that I type this, Whistleblowing Ukraine Biden Bingo has officially resulted in impeachment of President Trump, but it’s still chaos as usual and Congress has gone on break for the holiday. Here’s a quick summary of the uncertainty:

House Floor Vote.* On Wednesday evening, the House voted to impeach Trump on the basis of both abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The vote was almost entirely along party lines, but there were a few exceptions to the general voting trends–notably, Democratic 2020 Presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard voted ‘present,’ former GOP rep Justin Amash voted ‘yea,’ and two Democrats (Collin Peterson and Jeff Van Drew) voted ‘nay.’ Jeff Van Drew has since announced that he’s joining the Republican party.

Ukraine News Still Coming Out.* Somehow, we’re still getting fresh news about the original Ukraine-related malfeasance despite the fact that the investigation stage of the impeachment is ostensibly over. This week, Rudy Giuliani told multiple news outlets about how he ousted former ambassador Marie Yovanovitch because she would block an illegal Ukraine deal. Then newly-released documents revealed that the administration first froze aid to Ukraine only about 90 minutes after the infamous July phone call–drawing a clear line back to Trump and bribery. Needless to say, this has made next steps even more complicated, as I’ll talk about below.

So What Now? Even though Trump has officially been impeached, we have no idea when we’ll see a Senate trial, if we even do at all. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer are already getting embroiled in a Senate clash of wills–McConnell is promising “total coordination” with the guy they’re supposed to be have on trial, in direct contradiction to the pledge of impartiality he’s supposed to make when upon starting the trial. This quite understandably has Democrats pretty uneasy; Nancy Pelosi has strongly implied that she’s holding onto the impeachment articles until the Senate has set up something resembling an actual trial. Meanwhile, Trump has sent Pelosi six pages of personally-addressed vitriol and claimed that he’s not impeached because she hasn’t sent the articles, McConnell is lashing out at Pelosi too, and Democrats are pushing for witnesses again now that we’ve seen the new documents and Rudy Giuliani mess above. So what happens next is pretty much anybody’s guess.

We also saw a handful of miscellaneous Disregard of Governing Norms stories this week, though impeachment really had center stage. Here’s what I have for you:

Trump Christ Comparisons Abound. As part of the impeachment circus above, Republicans who were displeased with the proceedings compared Trump’s treatment to, among other things, the attack on Pearl Harbor and the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. That last one apparently riled up some people over at Christianity Today, who wrote in an article shortly after: “The impeachment hearings have illuminated the president’s moral deficiencies for all to see. . . . None of the president’s positives can balance the moral and political danger we face under a leader of such grossly immoral character.” Naturally, Trump’s camp responded by discrediting Christianity Today as “a far left magazine” and comparing Trump to Jesus again. (I’ve tried turning reality off and back on again, but it didn’t seem to help here.)

GOP Lowlights Reel.* Even without comparing Trump to Jesus repeatedly and refusing to impeach him, this was a real banner week for the GOP. A Trump advisor was caught on tape this week saying that the GOP “traditionally” uses voter suppression to win swing states and should try a “more aggressive approach” in 2020, which is honestly kind of scary to contemplate given what suppression tactics look like already. Then Trump insinuated that a recently deceased statesman who served for 59 years was watching impeachment proceedings from hell. (No, Trump, you’re thinking of the rest of us.) And on his way out the door, former Kentucky governor and apparent sociopath Matt Bevin pardoned over 400 people, including several people convicted of serious, violent crimes such as murder and child rape. One of the pardoned people convicted of homicide, by the way, was the brother of a major donor to Bevin’s campaign.

Your “Normal” Weird:

2020 Election Weirdness.Another Democratic primary debate happened this week, which the New York Times (correctly) called “the smallest and whitest debate yet”–seven candidates took the stage, and only one of them was a candidate of color. Biden, Sanders, and Warren continue to be front runner candidates, though Buttigieg isn’t far behind, and Warren got a good soundbite about gender in. All told, right now the race is remarkable for how unremarkable it is–at the close of the year, we still don’t seem to have made much progress.

Spending Bill Updates.The spending bill I mentioned last week did pass in the Senate, and Trump signed it on Friday, avoiding another government shutdown. But he was also in the news that day because he apparently leaned on the House to remove language requiring Ukrainian aid from an earlier draft–you know, the Ukrainian aid that was literally the subject of an impeachment investigation at the time, that Ukrainian aid?–and threatened to cause another shutdown with a Presidential veto if the clause wasn’t removed. I literally cannot make this stuff up, folks.

The Bad:

Painful Immigration Updates. This was another painful week for immigration. The DHS inspector general found no CBP misconduct in the recent deaths of two Guatemalan migrant children in custody, even as news also broke that one of the children was on the floor for many hours after passing away before anyone found him. Guatemala is expected to finalize an asylum deal with the U.S. in the near future, which will require people coming up from the northern triangle to first seek asylum there before they will be eligible for U.S. asylum. (To remind folks who are less familiar with the topic, this is a very dangerous proposition for folks seeking asylum from the northern triangle, and will likely result in a lot of deaths.) And in slightly gentler news, several states informed the administration that they would continue to accept refugees despite no longer being legally required, but it’s disturbing that they’re able to make that call in the first place.

ACA Uncertainty (Again). This remains a confusing and uncertain time for the Affordable Care Act, which weathered several swipes in the past week between tax repeals in the spending package and the Fifth Circuit finding the insurance mandate unconstitutional. The court stopped short of repealing the entire thing, and the California AG, who is leading the charge to defend the Act, has indicated he plans to appeal to the Supreme Court. Needless to say, we’ll need to keep an eye on this.

The Good:

Recent Court Resilience. The Supreme Court decided not to review a lower court decision this week that invalidated a law issuing criminal charges for sleeping in public places, finding it to be cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment. Since they aren’t hearing the case, the opinion remains good law, and it has some good language about the cruelty of punishing people for having no place to live. It’s a modest step for housing stability, but a step in the right direction nonetheless.

So that’s what I have for this week, and I think it was more than enough. For making it through, you deserve this mom yelling at her pundit sons on C-SPAN and an eventual better government. I’ll be back next week with more (and hopefully better) news, and I hope you will be back as well–but in the meantime, feel free to ping the National News Roundup ask box, which is there for your constructive comments. Send me questions! Send me feedback! Send me photos of your pets!

Year 3, Week 47 (December 8-14)

December 16, 2019December 17, 2019 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

Welp, another week of bonkers impeachment stuff, with some bonus other bizarre news while we’re at it. I would say the news is getting repetitive, but to be honest it remains so larger-than-life bizarre that it’s still kind of fascinating to watch. (Here’s hoping next week is quieter.)

Standard standing reminders apply: I am no journalist, though I play one in your inbox or browser, so I’m mostly summarizing the news within my area of expertise. NNR summaries often contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not a House floor vote!–but all offroad adventures are marked with an asterisk. And, of course, for the things that are within my lane, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!

Constitutional Crisis Corner:

We made it out the other side of the Judiciary Committee, which means Whistleblowing Ukraine Biden Bingo is headed to the main House floor. Here’s a quick summary of its pathway:

Tail End of Judiciary Committee.*After two articles of impeachment were issued on Tuesday, the Judiciary Committee began an extraordinary multi-day feud that showcased a staggering amount of GOP bad faith, some nasty ad hominem diversions on both sides, and more instances of the word ‘sham’ than I ever needed in my life. By 11:00PM on Thursday, at which point it became apparent that the GOP was trying to force a middle-of-the-night vote, the chairman adjourned the chamber and told everybody to try again Friday morning. Then on Friday morning the chairman immediately called a vote, and the committee passed both articles of impeachment along party lines. By Monday morning, apparently spurred by the repeated GOP arguments that Trump had committed no crimes and therefore couldn’t be impeached, the Judiciary Committee heads released a 658-page impeachment report for House review.

So What Now? At the time that I write this, a report has just been issued and the House floor vote is expected on Wednesday. (Given the current makeup of the House, it seems very likely to pass along party lines from there.) Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer are already getting embroiled in a Senate clash of wills, despite the fact that impeachment hasn’t landed there yet. McConnell is promising “total coordination” with the guy they’re supposed to be have on trial, which quite understandably has Democrats pretty uneasy; meanwhile, Schumer is creating a witness wish list. And Trump is apparently warming to the idea of a long trial, probably because he knows McConnell and the rest of the Senate GOP will allow him a full dog-and-pony show.

Giuliani Life Choice Coda. With everything in the mix above, you’d think that people under scrutiny would not, y’know, do more crime things in public. But common sense has apparently never met Rudy Giuliani, who did in fact continue to do the crime things in plain sight. After he returned from last week’s trip to Ukraine, Giuliani headed straight to the White House, presumably offering some more of his free legal advice to Trump (which was also in the news this past week). But he also apparently is making a documentary of his own crime times, which according to Trump he plans to give to Congress, so the visit could have been about that as well. You know, occasionally I think about the fact that Giuliani used to be a criminal prosecutor, and then my brain tries to eat itself.

We also saw a handful of miscellaneous Disregard of Governing Norms stories this week, though impeachment really had center stage. Here’s what I have for you:

To Russia with Love. Trump may not have met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky yet, but he sure met with top Russian diplomat Sergei Lavrov this week–and refused to let anybody else into the room for it. This is extra awesome, by the way, because the last time he met with Lavrov behind closed doors in 2017 he disclosed classified information. So that’s definitely not concerning as we gear up for an election Russia is trying to sabotage–although Lavrov says elections didn’t come up at all when they met.

Be Best, Greta Thunberg. Trump was also in the news this week for attacking sixteen-year-old Greta Thunberg again, presumably because she was named TIME’s 2019 Person of the Year and he is uncomfortable when we are not about him. Thunberg, illustrating why we stan royalty, immediately used his Twitter attack to clap back at him. Meanwhile, Melania Trump, who literally has a campaign about cyberbullying, publicly differentiated between Thunberg and her own child, noting that Thunberg “travels the globe giving speeches” like that somehow voids basic rules of Internet etiquette. As many outlets have noted, this is particularly annoying given her tweet about the Barron Trump non-controversy last week. But more to the point, the President of the United States is using a public platform to launch unprovoked attacks at international activists, and if we weren’t all living in the Trump Org Sponsored Bad Place that would be a major diplomatic misstep–especially with the recent United Nations climate change summit going as poorly as it did.

Your “Normal” Weird:

Disturbing Court Cases. There were several court cases that gained news attention this week for being, well, legally weird and disturbing (to use a technical term). The ACLU is trying to get the Supreme Court to hear a case involving a police officer in Louisiana who successfully sued the head of the Black Lives Matter movement–not for incitement or direct violence, but because the 5th Circuit decided merely being in charge of the movement meant he should be held liable for somebody else throwing a rock. This is pretty bizzonkers from a legal perspective, and I doubt it’s a coincidence that one of the three judges was a Trump appointee. Meanwhile, Wisconsin was in the news because a judge ordered the purge of over 200,000 voters because they didn’t respond to unsolicited and targeted mail asking them to reverify their address. (I’m not a voting rights expert, but that strikes me as pretty egregious.) And the Supreme Court made a lot of people nervous, including me, by agreeing to hear arguments on Donald Trump’s taxes in the upcoming year.

Boris Johnson Borealis.* The UK had an upset (and upsetting) election this past week, with Boris Johnson’s conservative Tory party celebrating a clear majority while Jeremy Corbyn’s more progressive Labour party suffered major losses. This is disturbing, particularly given Johnson’s recent incompetency and uncertain Brexit plans–but it can be partially contextualized by a first-past-the-post election structure, gains within the Scottish National Party and Green party, and growing dissent about Corbyn’s leadership. Unsurprisingly, Jeremy Corbyn is stepping down, and we may be looking at another bid for Scottish independence. Since the original Brexit vote was viewed as a bellwether for U.S. politics, it’s a disturbing and noteworthy development.

The Bad:

Painful Immigration Updates. We haven’t covered immigration issues in the roundup for a while, and there’s a fair amount to track, so I think it’s a good time to remind folks of some ongoing stories. The administration’s latest attack on indigent immigration, which attempts to price lawful permanent residents out of citizenship among other other major problems, is still pending–and the comment period has been extended to December 30th. If you believe this is unjust, I really encourage you to tell the government about it; there are some great click-to-comment resources out there that you can use if you’re unsure where to start! Border Patrol was also in the news for refusing to let doctors in to administer flu vaccines after several children died of flu in custody, which resulted in a three-day mass protest and four doctors’ arrests. And Buzzfeed ran an article about rampant medical negligence in ICE custody.

Americans Lack Running Water.* The Washington Post ran a story this week on the two million Americans who still don’t have running water, basing its reporting on a data analysis issued last month by the U.S. Water Alliance. It’s a civic planning issue that disproportionately impacts Native American people, who are nineteen times more likely to lack access than the general population, though Puerto Rico still has major infrastructure problems also. Though the report was issued last month, it’s encouraging to see it making its way to large outlets like the Washington Post, as it’s an issue that really should receive more attention.

The Good:

Recent Legislative Resilience. There was some decent legislative news this week. Kentucky reinstated voting rights to people who have completed nonviolent felony sentences, leaving us with only one remaining state in the country that enforces lifetime disenfranchisement for this issue. And Congress appears to have finalized an actual spending deal, four whole days before a shutdown would commence–and the bill includes $25M in gun research, which is an issue that hasn’t seen funding in over 20 years. Nothing is final until the signed version is on Trump’s desk, so there’s still plenty of time for this to go awry, but we look to be in much better shape than we were this time last year.

So that’s what I have for this week, and I think it was more than enough. For making it through, you deserve Sesame Street characters’ impressions of each other and an eventual better government. I’ll be back next week with more (and hopefully better) news, and I hope you will be back as well–but in the meantime, feel free to ping the National News Roundup ask box, which is there for your constructive comments. Send me questions! Send me feedback! Send me more hours in the day!

Year 3, Week 46 (December 1-7)

December 10, 2019December 11, 2019 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

As predicted, this week was ten pounds of misinformation in a five-pound bag–the NNR will be a bit longer than normal to unpack it all. There’s a fair amount outside impeachment, though impeachment is definitely moving forward as well, and a lot of it is no fun at all to read. On the plus side, there’s room in my desk fort for everybody.

Standard standing reminders apply: I am no journalist, though I play one in your inbox or browser, so I’m mostly summarizing the news within my area of expertise. NNR summaries often contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not an impeachment article!–but all offroad adventures are marked with an asterisk. And, of course, for the things that are within my lane, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!

Constitutional Crisis Corner:

This past week featured the entire trajectory of the Judiciary Committee, with every step from the report to the articles themselves–which means yet another full card of Whistleblowing Ukraine Biden Bingo. Here’s what I have for you:

Timeline of the Launch.* So much happened so quickly this week that it can be helpful just to have a timeline! Kicking off the week, the Intelligence Committee released their official report on Tuesday afternoon (as well as a completely bananas and unofficial Republican version, but I’m giving that one the consideration it deserves). The report focused on both the Ukraine scandal itself and the administration’s attempts to stall the impeachment investigation. This was quickly followed by the first Judicial Committee hearing on Wednesday, an official instruction by Nancy Pelosi on Thursday to draft impeachment articles, and a final Judicial Committee hearing on Monday. At the time that I type this on Tuesday evening, the Judiciary Committee has officially released their articles of impeachment–nine pages on ‘abuse of power‘ and ‘obstruction of Congress’ that follow the same basic format as the House Intelligence Committee report.

Judiciary Kangaroo Court.* The Wednesday and Monday hearings were, simply put, pretty nuts–so it’s not surprising that Judiciary Committee head Jerry Nadler only put up with two sessions before he stuck a fork in his own arm and called the whole thing done. The important big picture highlights: a) Three out of four legal experts (and later by letter, another 500 more) agreed that Trump had committed impeachable offenses; and b) Democrats provided a large bevy of evidence to support this conclusion. Among the GOP’s bad faith parade: a) Insisting nobody let Trump launch a defense, despite the administration’s refusal to do exactly that–twice; b) A completely made-up controversy that accused one of the legal experts of attacking Barron Trump because she said that Trump was allowed to name his son ‘Barron’ but not make him nobility under the Constitution; c) Repeated statements that there was no evidence despite the giant pile of evidence presented on Monday; and d) some of said evidence involving Devin Nunes, who was among those conducting the investigation on the House Intelligence Committee. It’s not a coincidence, by the way, that the nonsense in this paragraph is way longer than the actual hearing summary–the committees have a very clear-cut case and this laundry list of distraction is how the GOP is choosing to counter that.

So What Now? Now that we have existing articles of impeachment, the Judiciary Committee will vote whether to release them to the House for a final floor vote–which may happen before Christmas. We also may or may not see them make adjustments, such as folding in official response to Giuliani’s trip to Ukraine, which inexplicably happened this week while all of this was going on. Either way, next week is likely to be another whirlwind of activity, as Congress scrambles to get this locked down before the break. After that, the articles go to the Senate, where Mitch McConnell wants a rocket-fast trial but Trump wants a full dog-and-pony show. It’s kind of anybody’s guess what happens from there.

Moreso than any other week in recent memory, we had some really major Disregard of Governing Norms outside of the impeachment circus–most notably, there were some really serious developments around the FBI. Here’s what I have for you:

Fake Spying Claims Aftermath. As predicted, a Department of Justice inspector general report was issued this week finding that the FBI properly opened an investigation into the Trump campaign and Russia without evidence of political bias. (That said, the report also found a lot of procedural missteps that were apolitical in nature, resulting in a call for more FISA oversight.) A lot of people, myself included, were prepared to declare this report the new “water is wet” and call it a day. But the report has spawned an ongoing misinformation campaign that is truly staggering. First William Barr discredited his own IG before the report even dropped, and doubled down on that criticism once we finally had a report. White House lawyers started literally claiming the report said the opposite of what it actually said. And then Barr graduated to accusing the FBI of ‘bad faith’ and ‘gross abuses’ (again, despite a lengthy report saying the exact opposite) around the same time that Trump started started attacking the head of the FBI, going so far as to call him ‘the current Director’ (which is not exactly a great sign for Wray’s political health). This type of attacking people for accurately reporting obvious facts is disconcerting, and it appears to be the current GOP strategy for just about everything.

NATO Nonsense. While everything else above was going on, we also had some inane excitement at NATO–first President Macron used reverse psychology to keep Trump in line, calling NATO ‘brain-dead’ so that the other man would double down on preserving it. Then Trump called Trudeau ‘two-faced‘ and canceled a press conference on his way out because the Canadian Prime Minister had laughed at him on a hot mic. Apparently the summit otherwise went well, which is something I guess.

Recent Trump Antisemitism. Despite Trump’s bizarre alliance with Bibi, his overt antisemitism spiked dramatically this week, and I doubt it’s a coincidence that it happened on the same week as impeachment hearings led by a guy named Nadler. Early in the week, he drew some headlines for horrifying comments to the Israeli American Council in Hollywood Florida, which were sort of a stunning tour-de-force of classic antisemitism. (Among the lowlights: telling a room full of Jewish people that “you are not nice people at all” and “you have no choice, you have to vote for me” because “you’re not gonna vote for the wealth tax” while asserting that other American Jewish people “don’t love Israel enough.”) The latter appears to have been laying groundwork for an executive order he is preparing to sign this week, which will combat the BDS movement on college campuses by, among other things, redefining Judaism as a national origin instead of a religion. (Needless to say, this is making a lot of Jewish observers very nervous, because it echoes early Nuremberg laws from the 1930s.)

Your “Normal” Weird

2020 Campaign Weirdness. Election news is trending weird/bad this week, but there’s still a lot of it: 1)Kamala Harris dropped out of the 2020 race, leaving no candidates of color qualifying for the December debates; 2)Joe Biden called a member of the crowd a “damn liar” and challenged the man to an IQ test on his own campaign trail in Iowa; 3) Mike Bloomberg had to apologize for calling fellow 2020 candidate Cory Booker “well-spoken”; 4)Pete Buttigieg turned out to have worked for three years for the McKinsey group, a conservative consulting firm recently in the news for helping engineer current deportation policy; and 5) Joe Biden telling Republican voters to ‘stay a Republican,” because “no party should have too much power,” which is a truly startling thing for a member of the Democratic Senate minority to say in 2019.

The Bad:

Painful Policy Updates. The Trump administration announced this week that it is finalizing changes to our national food security benefits, properly called ‘SNAP benefits’ but commonly known as ‘food stamps,’ to eliminate access for about 700,000 current recipients. The proposed change, which will go into effect on April 1, would require able-bodied adult recipients to work 20 hours per week in any state that has lower than 6% unemployment, rather than allowing states to seek waivers (as is the current rule). Then, as if to punctuate the point, the Supreme Court followed up by declining to hear arguments on a Kentucky law that requires women to get an ultrasound and listen to their fetus’s heartbeat before permitting an abortion. So… not a great week for health-related policy updates.

Multiple Gun-Related Tragedies.* This was a devastating week regarding gun violence. At the top of the week, a shooter at our Pearl Harbor Navy base killed two civilian State employees before fatally shooting himself. Later in the week there was another Navy base shooting, this time in Pensacola and ending in three people dead and eight more wounded. There was also an incident in Southern Florida that involved a hijacked UPS truck and the death of two civilians when police engaged the hijackers in a public shootout. And just today, there was a similar incident in Jersey City, when a police shootout resulted in three civilian deaths.

The Good:

Orange You Glad To Know? The Washington Post released a story based on the personal accounts of 48 undocumented former employees of the Trump Organization, which were as bleak as you might expect but reflect incredibly bravery on the part of the employees. The news also brought to light an unexpected ridiculous detail: the article names 45’s preferred shade of makeup, which turns out to be a color-correcting concealer he’s smearing all over his face. The manufacturer struggled to keep up with their new popularity after the article’s release but rolled with it enough to market said color as, amusingly, “orange.”

Recent Congressional Resilience. We had some significant Congressional resilience in both the House and the Senate this week, and they were developments entirely separate from the impeachment circus. The Democratic-controlled House passed a bill that would restore several components of the Voting Rights Act and preserve racial integrity in voting. And on the Senate side, we passed a bill to fund historically black colleges and universities.

The Theys Have It. Once again at the forefront of the institutional resistance, Merriam-Webster announced that 2019’s Word of the Year is ‘They‘, noting that the word’s usage has increased and formally changed considerably in the past year. This resulted in a great deal of very polarized buzz, but also some decidedly nonbinary-pronoun-friendly articles from the mainstream media. Progress!

So that’s what I have for this week, and I’m sorry, there are no news refunds. For making it through, you deserve this cat saying hi and an eventual better government. I’ll be back next week with more (and hopefully better) news, and I hope you will be back as well–but in the meantime, feel free to ping the National News Roundup ask box, which is there for your constructive comments. Send me questions! Send me feedback! Send me antibiotics!

Year 3, Week 45 (November 24-30)

December 2, 2019December 3, 2019 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

This week had unusually little active news, comparatively speaking, and it makes me nervous–I know we had a holiday, but that doesn’t always slow things down these days. Given the upcoming impeachment schedule, it seems safe to conclude this is the calm before the storm. Let’s enjoy it while we can, before we’re all back in the desk fort.

Standard standing reminders apply: I am no journalist, though I play one in your inbox or browser, so I’m mostly summarizing the news within my area of expertise. NNR summaries often contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not a tax return!–but all offroad adventures are marked with an asterisk. And, of course, for the things that are within my lane, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!

Constitutional Crisis Corner:

Most of this week’s Whistleblowing Ukraine Biden Bingo was about anticipated deadlines, which are just not as exciting as live testimony. That said, there are still several things to know:

Existing Impeachment Updates.* Despite the slow week, there were a few updates worth noting. Notably, the New York Times reminded us that Trump knew about the whistleblower complaint before his administration released aid to Ukraine. This is important because it implies that he already knew what he was being accused of when he had his “no quid pro quo” phone call, which was his main defense to the allegations. (Of course, Trump denies this fact, but since he literally lies twelve times per day, that isn’t exactly persuasive.) There were also deposition transcripts released that point a major finger at the Office of Management and Budget, where two officials apparently resigned because the office was withholding aid to Ukraine and there were all kinds of structural shenanigans in play.

Administrative Anger Synopsis.* Speaking of Trump lies, he’s spent a lot of time this week apparently forgetting every order he ever gave Guiliani as more damning Ukraine information comes to light, going so far as to point-blank answer questions with “You know, Rudy has other clients, other than me…” This, of course, makes perfect sense read alongside the Republican report issued this week, which asserts that Trump did order an investigation but it was legal because Ukraine is sketchy. Meanwhile, our current Secretary of State is spreading the debunked theory that Ukraine hacked our 2016 election, so that’s encouraging.

Upcoming Schedule Notes.* This past week may have been a bit quiet, but there’s a lot to watch in the upcoming week as we enter a more public phase of investigation. The House Judiciary Committee is scheduled to hold its first impeachment hearing on Wednesday, after the Intelligence Committee report circulates internally today and votes on the report’s release tomorrow. The Judiciary Committee is giving the administration until December 6 to decide whether they want to present defending evidence. Since an appeals court has agreed to stay enforcement of the executive immunity case, there’s nothing forcing them to participate–so it’s not surprising that the administration has already declined in the most obnoxious way possible by the time I write this, a full six days before the deadline.

This week’s Disregard of Governing Norms were not impeachment-flavored for the first time in months, but they were still deeply annoying. Here’s what I have for you:

Fake Spying Claims. It’s not due out for another week, but news outlets are reporting that a forthcoming Department of Justice inspector general report is expected to find that the FBI never spied on Trump during his campaign. This, of course, does raise the question of why current Attorney General William Barr testified otherwise to Congress, if it never happened. Needless to say, this doesn’t inspire confidence in Barr, as last time I checked it is in fact against the rules of professional conduct to straight-up lie to tribunals.

Trump Oddities. We had a lot of off-the-wall behavior from Trump and Co this week that wasn’t quite constitutional crisis territory, but was plenty obnoxious. First there were Trump Jr’s instructions to the GOP base that they should pick fights with liberals at the Thanksgiving table, which wasn’t a thing in our house but my condolences if it showed up in yours. Then there was Trump’s strange trip to Afghanistan over Thanksgiving, where he claimed to be reopening talks with the Taliban and posed for selfies with stationed troops. Finally, more Stephen Miller emails got leaked, reminding people that we should maybe not have a white supremacist setting immigration policy.

Your “Normal” Weird:

2020 Campaign Weirdness. There was a lot of campaign strangeness this week, but for once, it was mostly Republican candidates in the news: 1)The Texas GOP accidentally sent the Democrats their talking points (which, embarrassingly, is not even the first time this year this has happened); 2) Trump intimated he wants his pardoned war criminals to campaign with him, apparently seeking that “I’m not just the President, I’m also a client” vibe; 3)Ilhan Omar’s GOP opponent got banned from Twitter for suggesting that Omar should be hanged; and 4) Trump has announced he won’t let Bloomberg News into his events because Mike Bloomberg announced he’s running in 2020.

The Bad:

Tax Return Stall. Shortly before the holiday, the Supreme Court issued a very short opinion that stayed implementation of a recent appeals court order regarding Trump’s tax returns. The decision effectively maintains the status quo while the Trump administration prepares a brief due Thursday, which will either convince SCOTUS to hear the case or make them toss it out the door. The interim decision isn’t designed to be any kind of final decision, and is just a pause while SCOTUS decides next steps–it ends immediately if they skip over the case, or ends when the judgment issues if they do decide to hear it. That said, the pause might be an early indication that SCOTUS wants to hear this case.

The Good:

Recent Court Resilience. Despite the iffy news above, we did have at least one good case this week. The House Oversight and Reform Committee is suing William Barr and Wilbur Ross over their 2020 census shenanigans, trying to get the subpoenas for information enforced. If this seems delayed to you, that’s because it is–the committee is using the lack of absolute immunity determined by the recent case brought by Don McGahn as a new basis for suit.

So that’s what I have for this week, and I swear I double-checked that there wasn’t more. For making it through, you deserve this video of a man and his raven and an eventual better government. I’ll be back next week with more (and hopefully better) news, and I hope you will be back as well–but in the meantime, feel free to ping the National News Roundup ask box, which is there for your constructive comments. Send me questions! Send me feedback! Send me your leftover pie!