An Emboldened Extremist Wing Flexes Its Power in a Leaderless G.O.P.

New York Times logo

As more far-right Republicans take office and exercise power, party officials are promoting unity and neutrality rather than confronting dangerous messages and disinformation.

WASHINGTON — Knute Buehler, who led Oregon’s Republican ticket as the candidate for governor in 2018, watched with growing alarm in recent weeks as Republicans around the nation challenged the reliability of the presidential election results.

Then he watched the Jan. 6 siege at the United States Capitol in horror. And then, to his astonishment, Republican Party officials in his own state embraced the conspiracy theory that the attack was actually a left-wing “false flag” plot to frame Trump supporters.

The night after his party’s leadership passed a formal resolution promoting the false flag theory, Mr. Buehler cracked open a local microbrew and filed to change his registration from Republican to independent. “It was very painful,” he said. Continue reading.

Senate confirms Biden’s DHS pick after GOP delay

The Hill logo

The Senate on Tuesday voted to confirm Alejandro Mayorkas after a Republican effort stalled confirmation of President Biden’s pick to lead the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Mayorkas was one of the first of President Biden’s Cabinet nominees to gather significant pushback from Senate Republicans.

He was confirmed by a 56-43 vote. Continue reading.

Trump Supporter’s Delusions About A Stolen Election Make Him More Dangerous: Judge

Couy Griffin’s belief in conspiracy theories hurt his case to be released ahead of his trial linked to the Capitol insurrection.

A federal magistrate judge ordered a defendant charged in connection with the Capitol insurrection to be held until trial, in part by finding that the man’s delusional beliefs about a stolen U.S. election make him unlikely to recognize the government’s authority.

Federal Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui ordered on Monday that Couy Griffin ― a New Mexico commissioner and founder of an organization called “Cowboys for Trump” ― be held until trial.

Faruqui found that Griffin’s lack of belief in the United States government “as it sits today,” along with his rhetoric endorsing violence against Democrats, indicated that there was no way to release him and still assure the safety of the American public and his future appearances in court. Continue reading.

U.S. unemployment rate to remain above pre-pandemic level through decade, CBO says

Washington Post logo

The nation’s unemployment rate will not return to its pre-pandemic levels through the rest of this decade, meaning millions could be out of work even after vaccines are widely distributed, according to a projection released Monday by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

The nonpartisan budget office also projected a faster-than-expected rebound in economic growth as the nation’s economy recovers more quickly than analysts had initially expected.

The U.S. economy is expected to grow by 4.6 percent this year before returning to more typical growth levels of slightly above 2 percent by 2023. Last year represented the worst year for gross domestic product since World War II, with the pandemic leading to a 3.5 percent contraction in the economy. Continue reading.

McConnell says Taylor Greene’s embrace of conspiracy theories a ‘cancer’

The Hill logo

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Monday blasted Georgia GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s embrace of “loony lies and conspiracy theories” as a “cancer for the Republican Party.” 

“Somebody who’s suggested that perhaps no airplane hit the Pentagon on 9/11, that horrifying school shootings were pre-staged, and that the Clintons crashed JFK Jr.’s airplane is not living in reality,” McConnell said in a statement first shared with The Hill. “This has nothing to do with the challenges facing American families or the robust debates on substance that can strengthen our party.”

McConnell didn’t mention Greene by name in his three-sentence statement, but his rare, scathing remarks about a freshman GOP lawmaker from the other chamber suggests he recognizes the potential damage her violent rhetoric and bizarre conspiracy theories could inflict on congressional Republicans as they try to take back both the House and Senate in next year’s midterms. Continue reading.

New diabetes cases linked to covid-19

Washington Post logo

Researchers don’t understand exactly how the disease might trigger Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes, or whether the cases are temporary or permanent. But 14 percent of those with severe covid-19 developed a form of the disorder, one analysis found.

Mihail Zilbermint is used to treating diabetes — he heads a special team that cares for patients with the metabolic disorder at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, Md. But as the hospital admitted increasing numbers of patients with covid-19, his caseload ballooned.

“Before, we used to manage maybe 18 patients per day,” he said. Now his team cares for as many as 30 daily.

Many of those patients had no prior history of diabetes. Some who developed elevated blood sugar while they had covid-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus, returned to normal by the time they left the hospital. Others went home with a diagnosis of full-blown diabetes. “We’ve definitely seen an uptick in patients who are newly diagnosed,” Zilbermint said. Continue reading.

State prescription drug purchasing program wins narrow approval in health committee


By changing how prescription drugs are purchased for Medical Assistance and MinnesotaCare enrollees, the Department of Human Services could save money and provide more transparency to the process, Rep. Tina Liebling (DFL-Rochester) told the House Health Finance and Policy Committee Monday.

She sponsors HF8, which would move all drug purchasing for public health care programs to the department.

The department currently handles drug purchasing for fee-for-service patients, who make up about 25% of enrollees. The other 75% are in programs whose drug purchasing is handled by managed care organizations and pharmacy benefits managers, she said. Continue reading.

Atlanta U.S. attorney, appointed by Trump amid post-election pressure campaign, resigns

Washington Post logo

The federal prosecutor tapped by President Donald Trump to lead the Atlanta U.S. Attorney’s Office during Trump’s failed bid to overturn the election has resigned from that post, a spokesman confirmed Monday.

Bobby Christine, a former local prosecutor and magistrate court judge, had been appointed by Trump as the acting U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia after fellow Trump appointee Byung J. “Bjay” Pak suddenly resigned Jan. 4.

The move raised questions of possible political interference, as Trump bypassed Pak’s deputy — who would otherwise have taken over as acting U.S. attorney by default — to install an official who was leading the U.S. attorney’s office in the Southern District of Georgia. At the time, Trump was pressing officials in the state to support his unfounded claims of voter fraud, and Christine brought with him to Atlanta two prosecutors who had been assigned to monitor election malfeasance. Continue reading.

A Harvard professor argues the Trump mob’s siege fits the Framers’ ‘paradigmatic case of treason’

AlterNet logo

Former President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial is set to begin next week, and senators will be asked to decide whether or not he committed “incitement to insurrection.” While Trump has previously been accused by various commenters of “treason” on multiple fronts, in uses of the term usually dismissed by experts, the charge of treason has been largely absent from the debate around the Capitol attack. But in a recent piece of The New Yorker., Harvard University law professor Jeannie Suk Gersen, discussing Trump’s impeachment and the events of Jan. 6, argued that the term may be more apt than ever.

Gerson cited the work of Carlton F. W. Larson, a law professor at the University of California at Davis, who has argued that there are many unethical acts and impeachable offenses that don’t qualify as treason. Certain corners have frequently accused Trump of “treason” in the Russia investigation, the Ukraine impeachment, and other matters, but Larson has been reticent to apply that label as a technical, legal, and historical matter.

Gersen wrote: “But the insurrection of Jan. 6 changed his answer, at least with regard to Trump’s followers who attacked the Capitol in an attempt to stop Congress’ certification of the election.” Continue reading.

In the Know: February 3, 2021


Governor Tim Walz
Walz raises $1.7 million for likely 2022 re-election bid, Pioneer Press 
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz signs new law to ‘carry over’ unemployment insurance tax rates, Grand Forks Herald 
Walz visits vaccine distribution site in Brooklyn Center, Sun Post 
Over 1 million Minnesotans opt-in to exposure notification system, COVIDaware MN, KSTP 

Minnesota Legislature
Minnesota Senate advances bill to give Legislature voice in federal COVID aid appropriations, West Central Tribune 
Minnesota Democrats outspent GOP while losing ground in battle for legislative control, Star Tribune 
Minnesota groups seek to bust ‘crushing’ cost of child care with tuition cap, The Bemidji Pioneer 
Bill would end commercial turtle harvesting in Minnesota, Bring Me The News 

Continue reading “In the Know: February 3, 2021”