Political Wire

Nancy Mace Becomes Target of Anti-Abortion Group

July 21, 2022 at 11:41 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) “has become a focus of an anti-abortion group, as well as a fellow Republican lawmaker, following a speech where she advocated for rape and incest exemptions to a proposed abortion ban making its way through the state legislature,” Newsweek reports.

Said Mace, referring to her own rape at age 16: “Rape is not a partisan issue. A rapist is not a father. And I hope and pray any women or teenager who is raped or assaulted or a victim of incest would choose life. But I’m not going to take that decision away from anybody else. You have no idea what a woman or child goes through who is a victim of rape or incest.”

What Does It Mean to Be Conservative Now?

July 21, 2022 at 11:29 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Tom Nichols: “The conservatives, in any case, have become completely un-conservative. The traditional conservative emphasis on law and order and on limited government has not held the GOP’s theocratic-nutball wing in check. The same people who decried the growth of executive power now worship a sociopathic real-estate con man as a demigod. The party that prided itself on its national-security cred is now voting against admitting Sweden and Finland into NATO like some early–20th century isolationist know-nothings.”

Watchdog Orders Secret Service to Stop Investigation

July 21, 2022 at 11:19 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The Department of Homeland Security inspector general has directed the Secret Service to stop its internal investigations into what happened to text messages related to January 6 that may have been deleted,” CNN reports.

“The inspector general wrote that the Secret Service should stop investigating the matter because it could interfere with the inspector general’s own investigation into what happened to the agency’s text messages.”

January 6 Committee Calls Bluff of Key Witness

July 21, 2022 at 11:16 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The January 6 Committee subpoena of Phil Waldron, the retired colonel who was working with Donald Trump’s outside lawyers to overturn the 2020 presidential election, seeks some interesting information:

“All documents supporting the claim that Italian satellites were used to hack voting systems…”
“All documents supporting the claim that voting machines were manipulated through the use of smart thermostats controlled by the Chinese government…”

What Computer Models Say About Modern Warfare

July 21, 2022 at 11:00 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The Economist: “Warfare is complex—and, as those who start wars often discover to their chagrin, unpredictable. Anything which promises to reduce that unpredictability is thus likely to attract both interest and money. Add the ability of modern computers to absorb and crunch unprecedented amounts of data, and throw in a live, data-generating war in the form of the conflict now being slugged out between Ukraine and Russia, not to mention the high level of tension across the Taiwan Strait, and you might assume that the business of trying to forecast the outcomes of conflicts is going into overdrive. Which it is.”

“One piece of software dedicated to this end is the Major Combat Operations Statistical Model… based on data about 96 battles and military campaigns fought between the closing year of the first world war and the present day. When fed information about Russia’s initial push to seize Kyiv and subjugate Ukraine, which began on February 24th, the model predicted, on a scale of one to seven, ‘operational success’ scores for the attacker and defender, respectively, of two and five.”

“That pretty much nailed it.”

Biden Tests Positive for Covid-19

July 21, 2022 at 10:25 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The White House announced President Biden has tested positive for Covid-19.

He is experiencing “very mild symptoms” and has begun taking Paxlovid, an antiviral pill that can reduce the risk of hospitalization for people who test positive.

Biden will work in isolation until he tests negative for the virus and will hold all of his planned meetings remotely Thursday.

Environmental Policy Joe Manchin Can Support

July 21, 2022 at 10:24 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and his wife, an appointee in the Biden administration, together directed over $15 million in federal funding to protected wetlands where the couple owns property, The Intercept reports.

Trump Has Paid Millions for Witness Lawyers

July 21, 2022 at 10:11 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Daily Beast: “Trump’s latest Federal Election Commission report indicates that payments from his political committees to firms representing Jan. 6 witnesses are now approaching $2 million.”

“Some of those witnesses sat for interviews with the committee as the investigation was heating up this spring. And according to a disclosure filed last week, around that same time, Trump’s old campaign committee made a curious, and major, payment—a flat $1 million to a law firm called Elections, LLC.”

“Elections, LLC was founded by three Trump alums. Two of them have given testimony that the Jan. 6 panel aired in public videos, and the third has represented a star witness against the president—former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson.”

Pence Steps Up Campaigning by Touting Abortion Stance

July 21, 2022 at 10:07 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

NBC News: “Wherever he goes, Pence urges support for conservative candidates running in the midterm elections, often by highlighting their anti-abortion credentials. But he’s also considering a presidential run of his own and his shadow campaign is well underway, fueled by a long conservative record that often diverges from Trump’s.”

“Pence made the barest mention of Trump in his appearance at the church here: a passing reference to the ‘Trump-Pence’ administration’s anti-abortion policies.”

“Now that Roe v. Wade is overturned, he said, states hold great sway over whether abortion is legal. He urged a nationwide ban on the practice — something that requires ‘a movement in every state in the country.'”

The 53 Fragile Emerging Economies

July 21, 2022 at 10:00 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The Economist: “Squeezed by the high cost of food and energy, a slowing global economy and a sharp increase in interest rates around the world, emerging economies are entering an era of intense macroeconomic pain. Some countries face years of difficult budget choices and weak growth. Others may sink into economic and political crisis.”

“All told, 53 countries look most vulnerable: they either are judged by the IMF to have unsustainable debts (or to be at high risk of having them); have defaulted on some debts already; or have bonds trading at distressed levels.”

‘Canyon of Fire’ to Slam Into Earth

July 21, 2022 at 9:58 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Live Science: “Solar winds from the snapping of a gigantic ‘canyon of fire’ filament on the sun are set to slam into the Earth today (July 20) or tomorrow (July 21), triggering a weak G1 geomagnetic storm.”

Republicans Fret as Walker Stumbles

July 21, 2022 at 9:02 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Anxiety is setting in among Republicans over Herschel Walker’s bid to oust Sen. Raphael Warnock (D) in Georgia after a series of unforced errors and negative headlines that have rocked the former football star’s general election campaign,” The Hill reports.

GOP Lawmaker Who Led Tour Wants to Investigate Panel

July 21, 2022 at 9:00 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The House Republican who led a tour of the Capitol complex on Jan. 5, 2021, that further fueled Democratic worries of pre-riot “reconnaissance” could end up leading the GOP’s investigation of the Jan. 6 select committee,” Politico reports.

“Rep. Barry Loudermilk found himself in the select panel’s crosshairs over his Jan. 5 tour, where participants took photos of stairwells and other elements of the Capitol complex not typically of interest to visitors. The Georgia Republican denied any connection between the tour and the following day’s riot — and he may get a chance to offer his side of the story with a gavel in hand if Republicans take back the House next year, as expected.”

Greenland Is Being Transformed by Climate Change

July 21, 2022 at 8:58 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

CNN: “The amount of ice that melted in Greenland between July 15 and 17 alone – 6 billion tons of water per day – would be enough to fill 7.2 million Olympic-sized swimming pools.”

“Put another way, it was enough to cover the entire state of West Virginia with a foot of water.”

Russia’s Iran Drone Deal Shows Military Weakness

July 21, 2022 at 8:56 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The head of the US Central Intelligence Agency said Russia’s interest in buying drones from Iran for its war in Ukraine reveals the poor state of its military,” Bloomberg reports.

Said CIA Director William Burns: “They need each other, they don’t really trust each other, in the sense that they’re energy rivals and historical competitors. It’s important to remind ourselves that it’s a reflection, in some ways, of the deficiencies of Russia’s defense industry today, and the difficulties they’re having after significant losses so far in the war against Ukraine.”

Confidence in Elections Has Faded Since January 6

July 21, 2022 at 8:27 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new CNN poll finds about half of Americans, 48%, say they think it is at least somewhat likely that in the next few years, some elected officials will successfully overturn the results of a US election because their party did not win.

GOP Begins to Look for New Candidates

July 21, 2022 at 7:45 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“A growing number of Republicans are openly cheering for a competitive primary field in 2024 and encouraging candidates to jump into the race, as some in the GOP get increasingly anxious about the idea of Donald Trump becoming their presidential nominee again – especially amid damning revelations about his actions during the January 6, 2021, insurrection,” CNN reports.

The Liz Cheney Show

July 21, 2022 at 7:43 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The chairman of the House Jan. 6 committee is out with Covid-19. So after giving opening remarks by video when the panel convenes its final scheduled prime-time hearing of the summer on Thursday night, he will turn the gavel over to Representative Liz Cheney. But for all intents and purposes, it has been the Liz Cheney show all along,” the New York Times reports.

“Through six weeks of televised hearings in this season of reckoning, she has emerged as the lead narrator and chief accuser, coaxing reluctant former officials to come forward, issuing stern warnings against witness tampering and drawing out the story one damning fact at a time to argue that former President Donald Trump betrayed the Constitution out of hunger for power.”

Said Cheney: “I believe this is the most important thing I’ve ever done professionally and maybe the most important thing I ever do.”