The diminishing risk of defiance

benfell

Donald Trump

Text in the last entry has been moved, edited, and expanded in a new blog post entitled, “How much does Donald Trump’s profanity against Binyamin Netanyahu matter?”

I’m pretty sure and I’m pretty sure that a lot of other people must be thinking that, as Donald Trump’s prospects for the 2024 election improve and as Republican prospects for taking over the House of Representatives in 2022 improve, that subjects of the January 6 investigation will be further emboldened to resist the committee. A Republican takeover would likely end the committee altogether[1] and Trump will have pardon power and has demonstrated a proclivity for using it.

Times of Israel, “Don’t make us choose — you or Israel: Evangelical warns Trump over Netanyahu rift,” December 15, 2021, https://www.timesofisrael.com/dont-make-us-choose-between-you-and-israel-evangelical-warns-trump-over-bibi-rift/

David Rohde, “Is There a Smoking Gun in the January 6th Investigation?” New Yorker, December 15, 2021, https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/is-there-a-smoking-gun-in-the-january-6th-investigation

Matt Zapotosky, “Meadows referral creates new legal, political challenge for Garland and DOJ,” Washington Post, December 15, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/meadows-garland-trump-justice/2021/12/15/9c7e8508-5db1-11ec-8665-aed48580f911_story.html

Pittsburgh

Vegan restaurants

Franktuary is a vegan-friendly restaurant. It’s closing, but apparently D’s Six Pax and Dogz is back open after a long hiatus.[2]

Paul Guggenheimer, “Franktuary becomes latest Pittsburgh hot dog shop to close,” Pittsburgh-Tribune Review, December 16, 2021, https://triblive.com/lifestyles/food-drink/franktuary-becomes-latest-pittsburgh-hot-dog-shop-to-close/

White supremacist gangs

A proposal to stop Pittsburgh police from making traffic stops for minor and secondary violations[3] has been refined and will soon be ready for a final vote.[4] I have endorsed this measure with some reluctance.[5] In present form:

The legislation, introduced by City Councilman Ricky Burgess in early November, would prohibit police from pulling over a motorist for minor, secondary offenses, such as:

  • Having a burned-out brake light or headlight.
  • Having an improperly placed license plate or temporary tag, as long as it visible.
  • If their registration, inspection sticker or emissions sticker was expired by less than two months.[6]

Julia Felton, “Proposal to stop Pittsburgh police from making minor traffic stops moves forward,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, December 16, 2021, https://triblive.com/local/proposal-to-stop-pittsburgh-police-from-making-minor-traffic-stops-moves-forward/

Pennsylvania

Evictions

Gotta tell you, I’m not hearing about very many programs like Philadelphia’s to avoid evictions, even if “[t]he federal government has cited the program as a model for other cities.”[7]

Michaelle Bond, “Philly’s program that prevents evictions will continue through 2022,” Philadelphia Inquirer, December 16, 2021, https://www.inquirer.com/real-estate/housing/rental-assistance-philadelphia-eviction-diversion-20211216.html

Abortion

The Food and Drug Administration action to ease access to mifepristone does not supercede state-level restrictions. Prescribers will still have to register with manufacturers and stock the drug themselves.[8]

Laurie McGinley and Katie Shepherd, “FDA eliminates key restriction on abortion pill as Supreme Court weighs case that challenges Roe v. Wade,” Washington Post, December 16, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/12/16/abortion-pill-fda/

Pandemic

Mark Honigsbaum details a history of vaccine refusal, even dating to its predecessors in the 18th century, and notes that modern anti-vaxxer claims are unfalsifiable, a key requirement for positivist truth. What’s curious is that having documented a history of relentless resistance, he concludes, “Perhaps we have reached the limits of empiricism. Perhaps the time for reasoning with anti-vaxxers is over.”[9] I agree.[10]

Lolita C. Baldor, “Navy Commander Fired After Refusing to Get COVID Vaccine,” Military.com, December 11, 2021, https://www.military.com/daily-news/2021/12/11/navy-commander-fired-after-refusing-get-covid-vaccine.html

Associated Press, “US air force discharges 27 service members for refusing Covid vaccine,” Guardian, December 13, 2021, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/dec/13/us-air-force-discharges-27-service-members-for-refusing-covid-vaccine

Mark Honigsbaum, “The Deep Roots of Vaccine Hesitancy,” New York Review of Books, December 14, 2021, https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2021/12/14/the-deep-roots-of-vaccine-hesitancy/

Heather Hollingsworth, “US COVID death toll hits 800,000, a year into vaccine drive,” Associated Press, December 15, 2021, https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-united-states-41fd85092ef5571515afbb923b8a06ef

Lolita C. Baldor, “Across services, troops face discipline for refusing vaccine,” Sacramento Bee, December 16, 2021, https://www.sacbee.com/news/article256645827.html

Climate crisis

Maria L. La Ganga, Gabrielle LaMarr LeMee and Ian James, “A frenzy of well drilling by California farmers leaves taps running dry,” Los Angeles Times, December 16, 2021, https://www.latimes.com/projects/california-farms-water-wells-drought/

Democrats’ list of shame

I now have a URL for the climate crisis:

  1. [1]Matt Ford, “The Dark Side of Steve Bannon’s Contempt Case,” New Republic, November 17, 2021, https://newrepublic.com/article/164444/steve-bannon-contempt-january-6; Quinta Jurecic, “Why the January 6 Investigation Is Weirdly Static,” Atlantic, December 11, 2021, https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/12/january-6-committee-investigation/620973/; Daniel Strauss, “It’s Officially Time to Start Worrying About the January 6 Committee,” New Republic, December 9, 2021, https://newrepublic.com/article/164672/january-6-committee-meadows-pence↩
  2. [2]Paul Guggenheimer, “Franktuary becomes latest Pittsburgh hot dog shop to close,” Pittsburgh-Tribune Review, December 16, 2021, https://triblive.com/lifestyles/food-drink/franktuary-becomes-latest-pittsburgh-hot-dog-shop-to-close/↩
  3. [3]Julia Felton, “Proposal would prevent Pittsburgh police from pulling over drivers for minor, secondary violations,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, November 8, 2021, https://triblive.com/local/proposal-would-prevent-pittsburgh-police-from-pulling-over-drivers-for-minor-secondary-violations/↩
  4. [4]Julia Felton, “Proposal to stop Pittsburgh police from making minor traffic stops moves forward,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, December 16, 2021, https://triblive.com/local/proposal-to-stop-pittsburgh-police-from-making-minor-traffic-stops-moves-forward/↩
  5. [5]David Benfell, “Will Pittsburgh deprive its white supremacist gangs of one tool for harassing the poor, especially of color?” Not Housebroken, November 9, 2021, https://disunitedstates.org/2021/11/09/will-pittsburgh-deprive-its-white-supremacist-gangs-of-one-tool-for-harassing-the-poor-especially-of-color/↩
  6. [6]Julia Felton, “Proposal to stop Pittsburgh police from making minor traffic stops moves forward,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, December 16, 2021, https://triblive.com/local/proposal-to-stop-pittsburgh-police-from-making-minor-traffic-stops-moves-forward/↩
  7. [7]Michaelle Bond, “Philly’s program that prevents evictions will continue through 2022,” Philadelphia Inquirer, December 16, 2021, https://www.inquirer.com/real-estate/housing/rental-assistance-philadelphia-eviction-diversion-20211216.html↩
  8. [8]Laurie McGinley and Katie Shepherd, “FDA eliminates key restriction on abortion pill as Supreme Court weighs case that challenges Roe v. Wade,” Washington Post, December 16, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/12/16/abortion-pill-fda/↩
  9. [9]Mark Honigsbaum, “The Deep Roots of Vaccine Hesitancy,” New York Review of Books, December 14, 2021, https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2021/12/14/the-deep-roots-of-vaccine-hesitancy/↩
  10. [10]David Benfell, “What we owe anti-vaxxers in a life-threatening pandemic,” Not Housebroken, November 19, 2021, https://disunitedstates.org/2021/09/28/what-we-owe-anti-vaxxers-in-a-life-threatening-pandemic/↩
  11. [11]Chris Arnold, “Evictions rising even as rental help from Congress reaches millions of people,” National Public Radio, November 11, 2021, https://www.npr.org/2021/11/11/1053540080/evictions-rising-even-as-rental-help-from-congress-reaches-millions-of-people↩

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