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The spotlight wont shine for long on the story of Texas flyaway Democrats. The novelty will wear off. The cable TV networks will have other top stories before you know it, and this will become another of those insider fights of only passing interest to Texans who dont have regular business in the state Capitol.

Voting rights are important to voters, but most people only pay attention to the particulars at election time. Where do I go? What do I have to do? Who and what is on the ballot? Who are all of these people, and which ones are in my way and which ones can I ignore?

But the next big elections in Texas arent until March at the earliest and those, the party primaries, could easily be delayed until May or later because of delays in the 2020 U.S. census, and the resulting delays in drawing new political maps to fit new details of where Texans live and how many of them live there.

For now, its enough to know that the state government in Texas is dysfunctional, but not in a way that has any immediate effect on the lives of everyday Texans.

Thats a particular problem for the wandering Democrats whose political play depends, to some extent, on public attention. They decamped on Monday, faced with the prospect of showing up to watch Republicans approve a bill with new restrictions on voting that they cannot abide.

The Republicans call it an election integrity bill and say its needed to bar practices they fear leave elections open to fraud, though there is no evidence of the kind of widespread chicanery that would change election results. Democrats say the changes would amount to voter suppression, making it harder for people of color and Democrats to vote.

The political lines had hardened even before the special legislative session that has now been interrupted by the Democrats flight to Washington, D.C. The Texas House cant conduct business unless at least 100 of its 150 members are present, and enough Democrats left the state to bust that quorum requirement.

Their aim is to change the voting bill, kill it or preempt it. Maybe the Republicans left behind will soften their stand, a prospect that seemed unlikely even before Gov. Greg Abbott told public radios Texas Standard that, because of the quorum bust, Republicans are in no mood for additional compromise.

The reason most of the decamped Democrats are in Washington is to try to get a voting bill they like one that would preempt state law from Congress. That requires some public attention, too, to get enough voters interested to draw members of Congress away from what they were doing to what the Texans hope theyll do.

But the Texas Democrats arent the only politicians looking for public attention and support. Texas Republicans are promoting other legislation on the special session agenda that might get more public interest.

An example: Abbott put a 13th check for retired teachers on the list a move to give a bonus check to teachers who get monthly retirement payments, because their retirement fund is relatively flush right now. Those teachers are an important constituency for Democrats, and getting them a check, the Republicans hope, is a way to lure the Democrats back to Austin.

The governor, in that same radio interview, was pushing his overhaul of the bail bond system in a way that might appeal to voters, or at least spook them.

There are dead people today because the Democrats have refused to step up and reform our broken bail system that lets very dangerous criminals back out on the streets, Abbott said. So the Democrats have blood on their hands for failing to step up and do their job. We dont know how many Texans may lose their lives until the Democrats finally return to the Capitol and step up and pass bail reform policies in the state of Texas that do not let dangerous criminals back out onto the street.

The first week of this legislative drama got a lot of attention from the news media and from voters. Everyone in the fight grabbed for it, because theyre playing for public favor and also working to prevent their foes from gaining public support.

Barring some new drama, the spotlight wont last for long. Eighteen years ago this month, Texas Senate Democrats were bivouacked in Albuquerque, New Mexico, trying to use a quorum break to stop Republican redistricting plans. It lasted long enough to fall off the front pages of the papers, and they eventually decided to come home to Texas.

And the Republicans in the Legislature got the maps they wanted.

Continued here:
Analysis: Texas Democrats race against time, and flagging public attention - The Texas Tribune

In the long war between Iran and its rivals in the Middle East, most of it occurring beneath the surface, Tehran is increasingly using remotely piloted drones to mount attacks. In May and June the Iranians were behind at least five such attacks against American bases in Syria and Iraq.

Earlier, on May 18, while Israel was deep in the air war with Gaza, an Iranian drone was launched from Iraq, passed over Jordan and entered Israeli airspace before being downed over the Beit Shean Valley in the north.

Israel released few details on the downing of the aircraft, though both then-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces, Aviv Kochavi, mentioned the stymieing of the drone in speeches at the end of the fighting with Gaza. Netanyahu views the incident as proof that Iran is the true patron of terrorism in the Middle East.

Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, Jr., the head of U.S. Central Command, warned in April that the region is becoming a proving ground for drones, most of them Iranian-made. Iran isnt the only player in the region that covets these weapons. For Hamas, which employed them liberally before and during the fighting in May, drones let the group, to some degree, respond to Israels vast air superiority a cheap substitute for an air force.

The moment that transformed the regions perception of drones occurred in September 2019, when Iran attacked Saudi oil facilities. The attack caused huge damage to a site of Saudi Aramco, the worlds biggest oil company, and disrupted oil exports from the kingdom for several months.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guards big success a coordinated strike of drones and cruise missiles on targets about 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) away stunned military experts in Israel and the West. To the Iranians, it didnt matter that many of their drones apparently didnt reach their target. The impact on the consciousness was more important.

The IDF believes that the choice to massively develop drones makes sense for Iran. It jibes with the old Iranian ethos linking scientific and technological progress, independent manufacturing and self-reliance within what Spiritual Leader Ali Khamenei likes to call the resistance economy.

The Iranians specialize in making replicas, good or less so, of advanced weapons systems produced in other countries, based on reverse engineering of these weapons. Some of the final products dont meet Western standards, but Iran believes the results are sufficient.

Operational and strategic constraints also play a part. For many years Iran invested in developing rockets and missiles of various ranges. The trouble is that a ballistic missile is heavy, awkward and inflexible. True, its an important deterrent, but its noisy, as it were, and doesnt allow for deniability as drones do. When Iran launched missiles at American bases in Iraq, after the assassination of the Guards Quds Force chief Qassem Soleimani, the Americans reacted fiercely.

But with a drone, a military source in Israel says, its easier to dream. The Iranians use of drones is influenced by what the Americans and especially the Israelis did with them earlier, in the so-called war between the wars.

From the operational angle, a chisel is sometimes preferable to a hammer. Drones are relatively easy to operate, require small launch crews and are easy to move between sectors and organizations. Its easy to train soldiers to operate them, and the drones can be launched in various ways and from a variety of platforms.

From the strategic angle, the adversary can be harassed without prompting a harsh response that will lead to war. Organizations that dont actually exist claimed responsibility for some of the drone attacks in Iraq, though it can be surmised that Shiite militias run by Iran were behind these efforts. Drones are also an alternative to Iranian fighter planes, which simply dont exist except for ancient American Phantoms dating to the shahs time.

According to a survey published this year on the website Iran Primer, in 2004 the Iranians started transferring drones and spare parts to their partners in at least four parts of the Middle East: Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen and the Gaza Strip. Drones were also smuggled to Venezuela, whose government is friendly with Iran.

The Iranian drones are divided between intelligence-collecting missions and attack/suicide missions. They have different ranges, from hovercraft with a range of 15 kilometers to drones that can fly 1,700 kilometers.

The attacks have targeted the United States, Israel, Saudi Arabia and extremist Sunni organizations in Syria and Iraq. In an article for the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, the analyst Fabian Hinz describes the drone deliveries to the militias as part of Irans asymmetric strategy designed to offset the countrys military weaknesses. Hinz discerns an Iranian approach that combines arms smuggling, manufacturing in the target countries and the installation of precision kits to improve rockets.

In tweets at the beginning of July, Hinz discussed Khameneis visit to a Revolutionary Guards weapons exhibition in 2014 where new drones and missiles were on display. It turns out that some of these weapons were used in the attack on Saudi Arabia five years later. Hinz concludes that some of the systems are actually made by the Revolutionary Guards and not by Irans military industries.

The impression gleaned by the IDF is that the Iranians have completed the whole production chain in developing drones. Theyre developing all the basic components themselves the body of the aircraft, the engine, the navigation systems, the ability to ensure a low radar signature and to maneuver between the flight range and the weight of the load, a military source says.

The Iranians have sewed themselves a comfortable suit, with an effective means that can be used both in the war between the wars and in wartime. Theres no tiebreaker here: Drones are intended for harassment, collection and deterrence, not for victory. But their progress has been significant. Its no wonder the Americans, like us, are worried about it.

The next big thing

The urgent need for an enhanced response to drones and hovercraft has been raised in all the recent security meetings between Israel and the United Sates, including the Washington visits by Gantz and Kochavi. At the same time, intelligence and radar cooperation has been upgraded between Israel and Centcom, whose units are scattered throughout the region. It cant be ruled out that this was linked to the interception of the Iranian drone over northern Israel in May.

In addition, adjustments have been made to the Iron Dome system, which originally wasnt intended to battle drones, which fly at modest speeds. During the fighting in May, tweaks let Iron Dome intercept drones for the first time.

The challenge that the drones of Iran and its satellites pose to us is constantly increasing, a senior General Staff officer told Haaretz. Were working to improve our capability, but we arent yet sure that the response is complete.

Another officer added: The problem isnt only the meager radar signature that the drones leave, its that so many organizations operated by Iran already possess them. Along with improving our defense, we need to develop the possibility to identify Iranian responsibility for attacks.

At the moment, theyre under the mistaken impression that they have ... room for deniability that will blur their responsibility and prevent a response against them. That might have worked on the Saudis; it must not be allowed to work on us.

Drones great power was illustrated in the past year in two offensives that Israel took part in, one of them directly. The first was the Nagorno-Karabakh war between Azerbaijan and Armenia during the fall, the second was the fighting with Gaza.

In the six weeks of the war in the Caucasus, the Azerbaijanis had the upper hand, largely thanks to their massive use of Israeli- and Turkish-made drones. The Armenians had to ask for a cease-fire.

Military experts in the West believe that the drone attacks provided the Azerbaijanis with an immense advantage; they systematically hit Armenian infantry, armor and artillery. That success will likely step up the production of drones around the world, along with small hovercraft that fly lower.

As they did with the Iranians, the drones gave the Azerbaijanis a simple and cheap way to use precision munitions. Azerbaijan also published footage of its hits on Armenian troops.

The Washington Post wrote that the Nagorno-Karabakh war provided the most vivid illustration of drones ability to change a campaign hitherto dictated by planes and ground forces. The war also showed that even advanced weapons, from radar to tanks, are exposed to destruction from the air in the absence of a specific defense.

The Armenians aging Soviet antiaircraft systems couldnt cope, and the drone attacks opened a path for ground advances. According to various estimates, about a third of the Armenian tanks were destroyed in these attacks.

Israel took the use of drones and hovercraft one step further in the fighting in May. For the first time, swarms of drones attacked Hamas after rocket launchers were spotted. This method is based on a rapid analysis of information received via artificial intelligence to identify launch sites.

The swarms were set in motion with the drones communicating and coordinating among one another. Part of Israels progress will be presented to foreign air forces in a first international exercise of its kind that the air force will soon host.

Originally posted here:
Irans drone revolution takes off - Haaretz

Updated at 1:30 p.m. with fresh comments from the runaways

WASHINGTON After eight nights in a hotel a half-mile from the White House, the Texas Democrats who fled Austin over a voting rights dispute had grown a bit impatient for an invitation to meet with President Joe Biden.

We know the president is watching and were waiting for him to call, said state Rep. Ina Minjarez, D-San Antonio. We are willing and ready to meet with him whenever he would like that.

But that possibility grew remote Tuesday when an aide to Speaker Nancy Pelosi who had chaperoned the Texans at the Capitol last week tested positive for COVID-19.

So did a White House aide who may have spent time with the runaway legislators, six of whom have tested positive since Friday, three days after they spent an hour with Vice President Kamala Harris.

There has not been a meeting planned, and there hasnt been a change to that, said White House press secretary Jen Psaki, confirming that a fully vaccinated White House official tested positive on Monday and is experiencing mild symptoms.

Contract tracing showed no exposure for the president, vice president or senior officials, though news of a breakthrough case, afflicting someone who had been vaccinated, was worrisome.

As for the presidents message to the Texans, she added: Thanks for standing up for voting rights and the rights of Americans to have our voices heard at the voting booth, and we appreciate your efforts in that regard.

And, implicitly: Keep your distance.

Everyone stricken so far the six Texas lawmakers and the aides to Pelosi and Biden was fully vaccinated. That should confer protection against any serious illness and mute the potential for contagion. So far, Reps. Donna Howard and Celia Israel of Austin and Trey Martinez Fischer of San Antonio have said they tested positive.

Were still working diligently through the COVID protocols that weve already set in place, said state Rep. Ron Reynolds, referring to daily tests for lawmakers and aides since Saturday, when the first three tested positive.

But the White House takes the health of the 78-year-old president very seriously.

The president is vaccinated, and that means he is protected, Psaki said, adding that Biden is tested every two weeks. Im tested twice a week. Many are tested twice a week. Some are tested once a week. Were all vaccinated.

Rapid tests are mandatory for journalists and others who enter the Oval Office or other meeting rooms with Biden or Harris. Until June 7, testing was required for anyone entering the White House complex, whether they might be in proximity to the president or not.

That requirement has since been lifted for people who are fully vaccinated.

But White House protocols still aim to keep out anyone recently exposed. And the 55 Texas Democrats have become potential vectors since fleeing Austin. Republicans point to photos of them aboard a flight to Washington, none wearing a mask technically allowed because it was a chartered flight, but a violation of CDC guidelines.

The White House is prepared for breakthrough cases with regular testing. This is another reminder of the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines against severe illness or hospitalizations and of course we wish our colleague, a speedy recovery, Psaki said.

The Republican National Committee labeled the Texans visit to Washington a superspreader event and urged the lawmakers to go back to Texas after self-isolating long enough for the risk to pass.

The Democrats fled Austin to break quorum in the Texas House, halting an elections bill demanded by Gov. Greg Abbott that they view as voter suppression.

If a sit-down with Biden isnt possible, Obviously wed welcome the opportunity to meet with the president virtually, said Rep. Chris Turner of Grand Prairie, who chairs the Texas House Democratic caucus.

He acknowledged that a Pelosi aide spent time with his caucus last week but said he cant be sure if thats how that person or anyone else caught COVID-19. We have no way of knowing, he said.

Of course we would love to visit with the president, Minjarez told reporters. We had the opportunity to meet with the vice president, and we have made our concerns known, the sense of urgency involved.

MSNBC devoted an hour Monday night to the fugitives. In deference to the outbreak, they appeared remotely rather than in-studio as planned, and a Tuesday meeting with U.S. House Majority Whip James Clyburn was also done virtually.

Even though were not doing as many in-person visits, were still having many meetings via Zoom, Reynolds said. Were being very creative and innovative.

U.S. Rep. Al Green of Houston led a letter to Biden last week signed by all 13 Texas Democrats in Congress, asking for him to meet with the runaways from the Legislature. Reynolds noted that Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, another Houston congressperson, has also been prodding the White House to set that up.

We are optimistic that we will get a meeting with President Biden very, very soon, Reynolds said.

The Texans have used their time in Washington to lobby senators for stalled federal legislation that would supersede state-level elections laws and reimpose Justice Department scrutiny before Texas and other states with histories of discrimination could move a polling site, redraw district lines or make other changes that might impede minority voters. The Supreme Court ended that scrutiny in 2013, ruling that Congress would have to update the formula used to assess whether prior sins still justified such federal oversight.

The Texas Democrats argue that Senate Bill 7, which they killed with a walkout in the regular session in late May and the updated version that Abbott and allies are pushing, are precisely the sort of attacks that the landmark Voting Rights Act was intended to protect against.

These bills are the fire hoses and unleashed dogs of today, said state Rep. Ramon Romero Jr., D-Fort Worth. They give a green light to insurrectionists to become poll watchers.

The Democrats have been sharpening their attacks on Abbott, accusing him of a relentless focus on whittling away minority voters rights while ignoring a failing electric grid, underpaid teachers and an underfunded foster care system until he needed political cover for this special session.

Donald Trumps party chose not to call a special session during a pandemic. Instead, they forced voters to go out during a pandemic and vote, said state Rep. Ana-Maria Ramos, who represents parts of North Dallas, Addison and Richardson. But when it comes to bathroom bills and ... limiting the vote, they want to call a special session.

Ramos called the current special session nothing more than a monthlong campaign commercial for his re-election.

For the second day in a row, the Texans spent their morning hearing from advocates for minority and voting rights.

Thomas Saenz, president and general counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, or MALDEF, recounted President Donald Trumps efforts to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census to deter, if not eliminate, minority participation. When courts shot that down, Trump sought to create a nationwide database and subtract non-citizens from state tallies when it came time to reapportion U.S. House seats.

The follow-up to that attempt at statistical genocide is what youre seeing today in these efforts across the country to limit participation in voting, Saenz said.

See original here:
Texas Democrats may have infected Pelosi and White House aides, dimming prospects for Biden meeting - The Dallas Morning News

Lisa Desjardins:

Right.

Tomorrow, the majority leader, Chuck Schumer, has said the Senate will vote to begin debate on the infrastructure deal. That's one of those Senate votes that needs 60 votes. Now, this is plan A for the Democrats. The hope that they want is that they will get those 60 votes and that they would have a bipartisan infrastructure deal written by Thursday. But, right now, those 60 votes are not there.

So, let's talk about what plan B is if this vote fails tomorrow. The vote fails. And then Leader Schumer could just move that deadline. Some Republicans tonight are asking him to move it to Monday, saying they will vote no tomorrow, but perhaps they would be ready by Monday.

Now, what if even then the infrastructure deal doesn't come together? That's a possibility. Now we're talking about plan C. Then there would be no bipartisan deal. And many Democrats now, including the budget chairman, Senator Sanders of Vermont, says that the infrastructure deal could go into or some sources near him infrastructure deal could go into a large reconciliation bill.

That's my reporting tonight, is that many Democrats expect that would be sort of like the fallout the fallback plan, if all of this infrastructure talk, if it all falls apart. But the timing is very important here.

Link:
Why the bipartisan infrastructure deal may be in jeopardy - PBS NewsHour

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei delivers a televised speech in Tehran, Iran, January 8, 2021. (Official Khamenei Website/Handout via Reuters)

On the menu today: Not only is Iran plotting to kidnap American citizens, but on a wide variety of fronts, the regime in Tehran is biting the Biden administrations outstretched hand; the U.S. may have taken a worthwhile action against Russian hackers; and Andrew Cuomo is still lying about how many New Yorkers died from COVID-19 not by a handful of cases or a rounding error, but by more than 10,000 deaths.

The More Things Change, the More Iran Stays the Same

At some point, the Biden administration will have to stop letting the Iranians urinate on its shoes while its inviting them to further negotiations about their nuclear program. Tehran is not interested in making concessions, and it is not interested in changing its behavior. The mullahs think the Biden administration is a bunch of nave suckers, and they dont really hide their contempt.

For starters, the U.S. must not make concessions to regimes that plot to kidnap American citizens who dare criticize that regime:

In an indictment unsealed in federal court in Manhattan, four Iranians were charged with conspiring to kidnap the journalist and author, Masih Alinejad.

. . . The four defendants all live in Iran and remain at large, the prosecutors said, identifying one of them, Alireza Shavaroghi Farahani, 50, as an Iranian intelligence official and the three others as Iranian intelligence assets. A fifth defendant, accused of supporting the plot but not participating in the kidnapping conspiracy, was arrested in California.

The indictment describes a plot that included attempts to lure Ms. Alinejad, an American citizen, to a third country to capture her and forcibly render her to Iran. The intelligence official, Mr. Farahani, and his network used private investigators to surveil, photograph and video record Ms. Alinejad and members of her household in Brooklyn, the government said.

The extensive surveillance that Mr. Farahanis network procured included the use of a live, high-definition video feed depicting Ms. Alinejads home, prosecutors said.

This is not some far-fetched movie plot, William F. Sweeney Jr., the head of the F.B.I.s New York office, said in a statement.

. . . Another of the agents, Kiya Sadeghi, researched a service offering what the government described as military-style speedboats for a self-operated maritime evacuation out of Manhattan; and maritime travel from New York to Venezuela, whose leadership has friendly relations with the Iranian government.

Meanwhile, beyond New York City:

When the Iranians take actions such as those, the Biden administration looks foolish for removing Iranian oil-company officials from financial blacklists, lifting sanctions on Iranian energy companies, and contemplating lifting sanctions on Irans ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Why are we making life easier for a regime that keeps trying to kill or otherwise harm our citizens and our allies?

The International Monetary Fund just released new figures indicating that the Trump administrations maximum pressure campaign had dramatically reduced Irans Gross Official Reserves that is, its holdings of gold and foreign currencies by official monetary institutions from $122 billion in 2018 to $4 billion in 2020. Between sanctions and the problems of COVID-19, the Iranian regime was quickly going broke*. Elliot Abrams observes that, Whenever we hear that the maximum pressure campaign failed, we ought to recall that IMF statistic: Irans reserves almost disappeared between 2018 and 2020. By unilaterally relieving some sanctions in hopes of some future concessions, the Biden administration is grabbing defeat from the jaws of victory.

Yes, the Biden policy hasnt been total appeasement so far. Late last month, U.S. military forces launched airstrikes against operational and weapons-storage facilities at two locations in Syria and one location in Iraq, where Iranian-backed militias were launching drone attacks against U.S. forces. And I dont know if a recent cyberattack against Irans rail network was the work of the U.S. government; it doesnt really fit our methods or goals. Its a civilian target, and the U.S. doesnt really gain much by lousing up the commutes of ordinary Iranian citizens:

Irans railroad system came under cyberattack on Friday, a semi-official news agency reported, with hackers posting fake messages about train delays or cancellations on display boards at stations across the country.

The hackers posted messages such as long delayed because of cyberattack or canceled on the boards. They also urged passengers to call for information, listing the phone number of the office of the countrys supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Okay, that last detail is funny.

Foreign policy can be complicated, but in the end, it boils down to incentives, deterrents, and consequences. Right now, the Iranians dont even fear the consequences of launching a plot to kidnap an American citizen off the streets of New York for being an outspoken critic of the regime.

And speaking of tough rhetoric not matching up with the administrations actions . . .

Earlier this week, former assistant attorney general Jack Goldsmith reached the point of exasperation with the Biden administrations warnings to Vladimir Putin about Russian hackers:

On July 9, President Biden warned Russian President Vladimir Putin that the United States will take any necessary action, including imposing unspecified consequences, if Russia does not disrupt ransomware attacks from its soil. The problem with this warning is that the United States has been publicly pledging to impose consequences on Russia for its cyber actions for at least five years usually, as here, following a hand-wringing government deliberation in the face of a devastating cyber incident. This talk has persisted even as adverse cyber operations have grown more frequent and damaging. It is ineffective and, in the aggregate, self-defeating . . .

Amazingly, the United States is in exactly the place it was five years ago when the Russians interfered in the 2016 election. It still has not figured out how to impose costs on the Russians that outweigh the Russians perceived benefits from these cyber operations. Whatever combination of public and secret sanctions it has been imposing clearly is not doing the trick.

The good news is that maybe U.S. cyberdefense is finally adding up to, as Elvis would put it, a little less conversation and a little more action:

A Russian-based hacker group blamed for a massive ransomware attack earlier this month has gone offline, sparking speculation about whether the move was the result of a government-led action.

The webpages of the group known as REvil disappeared from the dark web on July 13, cybersecurity researchers said. Both its data-leak site and ransom-negotiating portals were unreachable.

The researchers said that it was unclear whether the outage was the result of actions taken by law enforcement or whether REvil had voluntarily taken down its sites.

The situation is still unfolding, but evidence suggests REvil has suffered a planned, concurrent takedown of their infrastructure, either by the operators themselves or via industry or law enforcement action, John Hultquist of Mandiant Threat Intelligence said in a statement quoted by AFP.

The White House and U.S. Cyber Command declined to comment, according to the Associated Press.

Lets hope REvil becomes permanently REmoved from the Internet.

Yes, Andrew Cuomo Is Still Lying about New Yorks COVID-19 Death Toll

Remember how lots and lots of progressive activists, and their allies in the media, were absolutely convinced that the state of Floridas death records had been altered and falsified to hide a terrible death toll because of the decisions of Ron DeSantis? And to this day, they still insist thats the case, even though every medical official in the state says its a bunch of nonsense?

It turns out that the story is somewhat close to true, except its not DeSantis in Florida, its Andrew Cuomo in New York State:

The federal governments count of the COVID-19 death toll in New York has 11,000 more victims than the tally publicized by the administration of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, which has stuck with a far more conservative approach to counting virus deaths.

The discrepancy in death counts continued to widen this year, according to an Associated Press review, even as the Democrat has come under fire over allegations that his office purposely obscured the number of deaths of nursing home residentsto protect his reputation.

New York states official death count, presented daily to the public and on the states Department of Health website, stood at around 43,000 this week. But the state has provided the federal government with data that shows roughly 54,000 people have died with COVID-19 as a cause or contributing factor listed on their death certificate.

Its a little strange, said Bob Anderson, chief of the Mortality Statistics Branch at the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions National Center for Health Statistics. Theyre providing us with the death certificate information so they have it. I dont know why they wouldnt use those numbers.

Yes, strange is one word for it. Shameless, appalling, and disqualifying from high office would be others. It would be nice to live in a world where the true allegation about Cuomo generated as much anger and denunciation as the false allegation about DeSantis.

*Irans dire state isnt that far away from the grim portrait envisioned in the first chapters of Hunting Four Horsemen.

ADDENDA: Dan McLaughlin is right; if Time wants to run an op-ed column entitled The Conservative Case Against Banning Critical Race Theory, they should not select a former clerk for Ruth Bader Ginsburg who recently wrote a report entitled, On the Origins of Republican Violence.

Phil Klein is right; if Democrats are determined to pass a $3.5 trillion wish-list spending bill through reconciliation, theres no good reason for Republicans to sign on to the other, smaller infrastructure bill.

Ramesh Ponnuru is right; President Joe Biden says the U.S. is facing a crisis of democracy, but hes not acting as though he believes it.

And finally, Vox was spectacularly, laughably wrong, a few years back, when it sneeringly disputed one of my tweets and claimed that, China is tackling climate change with all guns blazing. The US, not China, is the laggard in this relationship.

See the rest here:
Irans Giant Middle Finger to the Biden Administration - National Review