Joe Biden has a good day

From CNN -

Biden calls on New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to resign after report details sexual harassment allegations

President Joe Biden said Tuesday that he believes New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo should resign after a report by the New York attorney general's office found that Cuomo sexually harassed multiple women.

"I think he should resign. I understand that the state legislature may decide to impeach. I don't know that for a fact," Biden said in response to a question from CNN's Kaitlan Collins.

From NPR -

The Biden Administration Issues A New Eviction Moratorium After A Federal Ban Lapsed

Days after a national eviction moratorium expired, the Biden administration on Tuesday issued a new, more limited freeze that remains in effect through Oct. 3.

Like the previous order, the two-month moratorium issued Tuesday comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

From the NY Times -

Biden Has Blunt Words for Republican Governors on Vaccines: ‘Get Out of the Way’

President Biden signaled a new level of frustration on Tuesday with Republican leaders in states where the highly contagious Delta variant is surging, telling governors in Texas and Florida to help fight the pandemic or “get out of the way.”

While he praised leaders in other states for offering cash and other incentives to entice reluctant Americans to get vaccinated, Mr. Biden singled out Florida and Texas, where cases have risen sharply, for criticism. As cases rise, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida has signed an executive order allowing children to attend school without a mask, and Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas has barred mask and vaccination mandates.

Dear Mark Kelly: In the future, avoid Lindsay Graham

 Actually, avoid all Republicans...and Joe Manchin.  I'd recommend avoiding Kyrstem Sinema, but as both of you are US Senators from Arizona, that might hard to pull off.

Pointed to this by Taegan Goddard's Political Wire.

From Punchbowl News -

The Capitol has once again been sent into a Covid frenzy. But this time, it’s in the middle of the Senate’s push to pass a massive bipartisan infrastructure bill.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who belongs to the 22-senator bipartisan infrastructure group -- tested positive for Covid-19 this morning. Like most every other senator, Graham has been walking around the Capitol without a mask. The South Carolina Republican has been vaccinated, but he started feeling sick on Saturday and tested positive for the virus this morning in the Capitol. 

[snip]

→ Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) was on the boat. From his office: “Senator Kelly came into contact with Senator Graham during a bipartisan gathering this weekend hosted by Senator Manchin. Senator Kelly is fully vaccinated and following CDC guidelines and the advice of the Office of the Attending Physician.” 

As if his support for the armed insurrection of 1/6 wasn't convincing enough, Kevin McCarthy announces his violent tendencies to the world

The fact that violence is something McCarthy thinks is so funny that it should be joked about proves two things:

1. There's a reason that Gosar, Biggs, et. al. refer to him as "Leader".

2. Keeping the House controlled by Democrats is imperative.

From CNN -

McCarthy jokes 'it will be hard not to hit' Pelosi with gavel if he becomes House speaker

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy joked at a Saturday night event that it "will be hard not to hit" House Speaker Nancy Pelosi with the speaker's gavel if Republicans take control of the chamber in the 2022 midterms and he becomes speaker.

"I want you to watch Nancy Pelosi hand me that gavel. It will be hard not to hit her with it," McCarthy said in audio posted to Twitter by a Main Street Nashville reporter.

Of course, McCarthy was only promising to do what the insurrectionists wanted to do anyway.

From the Atlantic -

It Was Supposed to Be So Much Worse

On the West Lawn of the Capitol Wednesday, a man in a pom-pom beanie clamored for blood. “Execute the traitors!” he shouted into a megaphone. “I wanna see executions!”

The man got the deaths he wanted, if not the executions. Four rioters died as a result of Wednesday’s insurrection at the Capitol.* Some of them had bigger plans too: Before the protest, pro-Trump radicals had posted online about their intentions to kill Vice President Mike Pence. They brought zip ties and wore Kevlar vests. Rioters erected a wooden gallows next to the Capitol Reflecting Pool, and police discovered two pipe bombs on Capitol Hill.

Gaetz' partners may be asking if it can be treated with penicillin

Of course, Gaetz' partners may be so young that they don't know what penicillin is.

Pointed to this by Taegan Goddard's Political Wire.

From Twitter -

Probably not something to boast about/campaign on when Florida is setting bad records.

From CBS News - 

Florida reports highest number of new COVID-19 cases in a single day since the start of the pandemic

Florida on Friday reported 21,683 new cases of COVID-19 — the most infections in a single day since the start of the pandemic, according to data released Saturday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

Over the last seven days, Florida saw a 50% weekly increase in new cases, reporting 110,477 cases from July 23 to July 29, according to the Florida Department of Health. In July, Florida was one of four states that accounted for 40% of the country's total infections, according to White House COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients. During that time, the Sunshine State recorded one out of every five of the nation's new cases, he said.

1. Wear a damn mask.

2. Get vaccinated.

Of course, the less religious Americans are less likely to believe that intelligent life exists *here*

That balances, right? :)

From PEW Research -

Religious Americans less likely to believe intelligent life exists on other planets

Religious and secular thinkers alike have long discussed what the implications for religion would be if humans discovered intelligent life on other planets. In the United States, highly religious adults are much more skeptical about the possibility of extraterrestrial life compared with those who are less religious, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey.

This is evidenced by a variety of measures of religious engagement. For example, U.S. Christians are far less likely than religiously unaffiliated Americans to say that their “best guess” is that intelligent life exists on other planets (57% vs. 80%). And U.S. adults who attend religious services on at least a weekly basis are considerably less likely than those who seldom or never attend services to say that intelligent life exists elsewhere (44% vs. 75%).

I won't say that I absolutely believe that there is intelligent life on other planets, but I really hope that we're not the pinnacle of intelligence in the universe.

I'm guessing that Ron DeSantis is smiling right about now

 From AP -

Florida breaks record with more than 21,000 new COVID cases

 Florida reported 21,683 new cases of COVID-19, the state’s highest one-day total

 

since the start of the pandemic, according to federal health data released

 

Saturday, as its theme park resorts again started asking visitors to wear

 

masks indoors.

The state has become the new national epicenter for the virus, accounting for

 

around a fifth of all new cases in the U.S. as the highly contagious delta

 

variant of the coronavirus continues to spread.

From the Tallahassee Democrat -

Florida Gov. DeSantis signs executive order making masks in schools optional

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he will sign an executive order to issue emergency rules for "protecting the rights of parents," making face masks optional across the state in schools and leaving it up to parents.

The governor made the announcement Friday in Cape Coral at an Italian restaurant, where he also presented parents who oppose masks. 

Apparently, to "pro-life" types like DeSantis, life itself is optional.

Masks are mostly for those around you, so if you want to live in society,

1. Wear a damn mask for the folks around you.

2. Get vaccinated for yourself.

Otherwise, walk out to the desert, find your rock, and crawl back under it.

Federal committees update

 From the website of the FEC - 

Norton is a political newbie who is mounting a primary challenge to David Schweikert.  As Norton is a direct marketing guy, I expect his campaign to come down to "Same stuff, different name."

Lindberg's desire to run is not new; the federal committee is.

Lowell looks to be a doctor who has signed up for a seat on the clown car of Rs running for AZ02 (sometimes, it seems that the Rs who aren't running for that seat are running for governor.  Not completely true, I know, but there are a LOT of both.)

State (AZ) committee update

 From the website of the Arizona Secretary of State -

McWhirter is a failed 2020 candidate for Maricopa County Attorney.

Cobb is a sitting legislator.

While the committees are new (hence their inclusion here), they're not real news - both McWhirter and Cobb have made their electoral intentions clear before this.

Not sure about Neely; he appears to be a political newbie.

The MSM shows its cluelessness about human nature. Again.

 From CNN -

Tensions in the House of Representatives boil over after 1/6 hearing and mask rule

Democratic Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut did not want to lose his cool, but he said this week he couldn't help it.

Himes was at the residence of an ambassador with two Republican lawmakers on Tuesday for dinner, just hours after police officers gave explosive testimony about fearing for their lives on January 6 during the Capitol Hill insurrection, when the ambassador asked the group what it was like to be in Congress during the insurrection.

"I'm not going to sit here and say anything other than what we all know happened," Himes added. "I just said, you know, I will never forgive the President for so damaging our democracy and it's been very, very hard to watch my Republican colleagues collude in this big lie."

What?!?  People who work with the likes of Paul Gosar, Andy Biggs, and others, who (allegedly) aided and abetted armed insurrectionists who wanted to kill most of those people and overturn democracy and who still show their desire to kill those around them by not wearing masks feel "tense"?

{start sarcasm]

Quelle surprise!

{/end sarcasm]

The Arizona fraudit has issues. Is anyone not in the national MSM surprised?

From AP via Yahoo! News - 

'Botched': Arizona GOP's ballot count ends, troubles persist

 Arizona Republicans’ partisan review of the 2020 election results got off to a rocky start when their contractors broke rules for counting ballots and election experts warned the work was dangerous for democracy.

When the auditors stopped the counting and returned the ballots this week, it hadn't gotten better. In the last week alone, the only audit leader with substantial election experience was locked out of the building, went on the radio to say he was quitting, then reversed course hours later. The review's Twitter accounts were suspended for breaking the rules. A conservative Republican senator withdrew her support, calling the process “botched.” And the lead auditor confirmed what was long suspected: that his work was almost entirely paid for by supporters of Donald Trump who were active in the former president’s movement to spread false narratives of fraud. 

[snip]

On Wednesday night, Logan ended months of silence about who was paying him when he said a whopping $5.7 million had been contributed by political groups run by prominent Trump supporters including Michael Flynn, Sidney Powell, Patrick Byrne and correspondents from One America News Network. The figure dwarfs the $150,000 to be paid by the Senate. 

Apparently, not only was it always an effort to overturn democracy, it was a grift.

Considering Cheeto was involved, not a shock.  On either count.

The Georgia Secretary of State has a, ummmm, "creative" definition of "gone".

 From the Daily Beast - 

Georgia Secretary of State Declares Pandemic ‘Gone’ and Expanded Voting Access Over

Georgia’s top election official said he believes the COVID-19 pandemic is “gone,” making the efforts enacted last year to expand voting access no longer necessary—and it’s one reason he’s opposing a Justice Department lawsuit against his state’s new voting law.

“It was a once-in-a-century event. We are now back to a situation where more Georgians will want to return to vote in person,” Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger told The Daily Beast on Friday.

Ummmm - From the Georgia Department of Public Health (an agency that Raffensperger is familiar with) - 

There are real world effects of Raffensperger's beliefs and statements.

From CNN -

Atlanta students in quarantine after 9 students and 5 staffers test positive for Covid-19

 

More than 100 students at Atlanta's Drew Charter School are in quarantine after nine students and five staff members tested positive for Covid-19, the head of school said Friday.

The school had informed parents in a letter Thursday that two staff members and a student had tested positive. The school said it was "working closely with local public health officials to ensure we follow the proper recommendations to quarantine."

Wearing masks or violating the civil rights of immigrants. Which is worse?

If you're a Republican, you'll come to the wrong answer.

From Texas Tribune -

Gov. Greg Abbott draws criticism for ordering state troopers to pull over vehicles with migrants, saying it will stem COVID-19 risk

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered state troopers on Wednesday to begin pulling over vehicles whose drivers are transporting migrants who pose a risk of carrying COVID-19, escalating his hardline approach on immigrants and eliciting outrage from advocates calling the order a ticket to racial profiling.

The executive order allows Texas Department of Public Safety troopers to reroute those vehicles back to their origin point or a port of entry, or seize the vehicles if the driver does not comply.

Blaming the "other" is nothing new for Republicans.

In 2006, I was at a community meeting in south Scottsdale where State Rep. John Kavanagh blamed immigrants for leprosy.

Edit on 7/30 to add: I was wrong.  Not about Kavanagh and his bigotry.  Nope.  It was in 2007 or 2008.

Apologies to readers for the error.

End edit.

Deep philosophical question: can someone be called a "leader" if no one follows?

Ask Ron DeSantis...

From Politico -

Florida officials defy DeSantis as infections spike

Florida’s Covid wars are starting again.

Local officials across Florida are bucking Gov. Ron DeSantis and his anti-mandate coronavirus strategy as infections soar in the state and nation. They’re imposing vaccine and mask requirements for government workers and even declaring states of emergency. In a sign of how worrisome the new Covid-19 surge is, Disney World is ordering all guests over 2-years-old to wear masks indoors at its Florida theme park, regardless of vaccination status.

The new pandemic regulations were announced Wednesday, a day after Florida reported over 16,000 new cases — the highest one-day total since mid-January when the vaccine was not widely available. The local mandates also came as DeSantis reiterated that the state will resist any pandemic-related regulations, even as it remains one of the worst hotspots in America.

Kathy Hoffman, defending Arizona's schools, calls out Arizona's governor

From KTAR- 

Arizona’s schools chief slams Ducey for limiting COVID mitigation policies

Arizona’s schools chief didn’t mince words Wednesday criticizing Gov. Doug Ducey limiting the ability for schools in the state to enforce COVID-19 mitigation measures, including requiring face masks.

“You can tell that he’s not asking our school leaders what would help them have in-person instruction, he’s just making big political moves to get on national TV,” Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Kathy Hoffman told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Gaydos and Chad.

Pic courtesy the AZ Department of Education

Kyrsten Sinema hangs America out to dry

I was pointed to most of this by Taegan Goddard's Political Wire.

Being a Massachusetts guy, I would most liken Kyrsten Sinema to Billy Bulger, another pol who seemed to become a Democrat only because it was the shortest path to power, not because of any affinity for Democratic ideals.

Hey!  This is nice; I could have said she was shamelessly auditioning for the 2024 or 2028 Republican presidential ticket.

From the Arizona Republic -

Sinema doesn't support Democrats' $3.5T bill, clinches bipartisan infrastructure deal

Yvonne Wingett Sanchez

Arizona Republic

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema does not support Democrats' $3.5 trillion budget plan that aims to deliver major components of President Joe Biden’s economic agenda that Democrats hope to pass after moving a separate bipartisan infrastructure deal that Sinema negotiated.

Sinema, D-Ariz., told The Arizona Republic on Wednesday she had reviewed the Senate Budget Committee’s spending framework and has told Senate leadership and Biden that she supports many of its goals, including job growth and American competitiveness. 

Needless to say, some members of the more liberal wing of the Democratic Party expressed their disagreement with her position -

Of course, her positions are situational.  To whit: her current defense of the Republican-friendly filibuster.

From Business Insider -

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema slammed 'false pressure' to reach a filibuster-proof 60 votes in unearthed 2010 video

In comments to supporters 11 years ago, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, an Arizona Democrat, criticized the "false pressure" to reach a 60-vote supermajority to pass legislation, a 2010 video unearthed by the progressive media organization More Perfect Union showed.  

Sinema, an Arizona state representative at the time, told the audience that she supported Democrats using reconciliation to pass major legislation, including healthcare reform, with just 51 votes. She also criticized Sen. Joe Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut who caucused with the Democratic Party, and Sen. Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat, for being too moderate. 

Sinema's action made Mitch McConnell happy - 

Making Mitch happy probably is not in the job description of any (allegedly) Democratic senator.

Sinema may have displayed some power today, but she didn't make any friends; we'll see what that means when/if she's up for reelection.