The Full Belmonte, 12/20/2023
Colorado Supreme Court removes Trump from 2024 ballot based on 14th Amendment’s ‘insurrectionist ban’
“In a stunning and unprecedented decision, the Colorado Supreme Court removed former President Donald Trump from the state’s 2024 ballot, ruling that he isn’t an eligible presidential candidate because of the 14th Amendment’s ‘insurrectionist ban.’
The ruling was 4-3.
The ruling will be placed on hold pending appeal until January 4.”
Read More at CNN
Hostages in Gaza were sexually assaulted. Chilling details emerge
“At gunpoint, she is dragged by her long brown hair into the vehicle. That is the last time, captured in a video taken on Oct. 7, that Naama Levy, 19, was seen alive. She is among 17 female hostages still held by Hamas somewhere in Gaza. Their families fear the worst. There is mounting evidence of rape, sexual violence and mutilation during the Hamas attacks in Israel on Oct. 7. But sexual assault appears not to have been confined to that day. Two Israeli doctors and an Israeli military official confirmed to USA TODAY that some released hostages revealed they suffered violent sexual assaults in captivity. Read more
•U.N. Security Council vote on Gaza resolution delayed; most U.S. voters disapprove of Biden's handling of war.” [USA Today]
Illustration by Veronica Bravo
Veronica Bravo
Senate confirms top military nominees, ending Tuberville’s hold over promotions
“The Senate confirmed nearly a dozen nominees for top military posts on Tuesday night, marking the end of Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s remaining holds over senior promotions.”
Read the latest at POLITICO
Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) embraces Jesse Foster, a member of the House Sergeant at Arms staff, as the former Speaker of the House holds a photo line on his last day in Congress. | J. Scott Applewhite/AP
“THE RETIREMENT PARTY — Kevin McCarthy’s exit became official today. The House clerk read the former Speaker’s resignation letter during a brief pro forma session, which indicated his final day as a member of Congress is Dec. 31.
He’s one of a slew of House members to announce their departures in the past two months, spotlighting the frustration and dysfunction gripping the chamber, but also calling attention to the narrow margin in the battle for control of the House next year.
One thing is all but certain: there are more retirements to come.
So far, nearly three dozen members have announced they are either retiring or running for other office next year — in November alone, there were 10 House retirements, the most in any month in almost a decade. An additional five have resigned or are leaving before their term is up (not including Rep. George Santos (D-N.Y.), who was expelled from Congress).
But those numbers will likely grow after the holidays, when members use their time back home with their families to reevaluate their priorities and their level of motivation for another grueling election cycle.
The first two months after the recess typically see a spike in retirements because that’s when the window for departing begins to close — there are looming filing deadlines and a need to allow the party to come up with a suitable replacement candidate. Particularly in competitive districts, the later the retirement announcement, the greater the risk of handicapping your party.
In 2022 and 2018, twelve members announced their retirement announcements in January and February. In 2020, there were four — over the past decade, the pattern has been less retirements in presidential election years than in midterm years.
There’s plenty for wavering members to mull over before the House comes back to work on Jan. 9. It’s been a particularly chaotic session so far, marked by a three-week speakership battle that brought Congress to a standstill, deep polarization and a record low number of bills passed.
Meanwhile, threats of violence against public officials are rising: a recent UMass Amherst poll of nearly 300 former members of Congress reported that 47 percent said they or their families received threats while in Congress. Another 84 percent said they were concerned about the possibility of violence related to the 2024 presidential election.
Then there’s the grind. Aside from campaigning, there’s the regular travel to Washington — which for many members requires cross-country flights and thousands of miles in the air.
This time, when the House returns in early January, members will have 10 days — including a long weekend in between — to pass spending levels for the year, a task normally completed before Christmas. As of now, there is no clear path forward on finding consensus within the Republican majority to pass them. All of this will come after spending almost a month in their districts — the longest period of time that members have been home since September.
As for the Senate, the list of retirements is likely set already: Six senators are calling it quits at the end of 2024. That’s not including Sen. Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.), who was appointed this year but announced she won’t run for a full term next year.
Add up the known retirements in the two chambers from 2023, the House retirements to come in 2024, and it could be a recipe for large House and Senate freshman classes in 2025.” [POLITICO]
“ACLU sues Texas over controversial immigration law: The American Civil Liberties Union sued Texas today to block a controversial law that would allow police to detain migrants who illegally cross the U.S. border and authorize judges to order their deportation. The lawsuit, filed in a federal district court, alleges that the bill is unconstitutional and that it runs afoul of federal immigration law. The legislation is the latest in a series of efforts by Texas Republicans to test the limits of the state’s authority to tighten border security and stem illegal immigration.” [POLITICO]
The FDA found ‘extremely high’ levels of lead in an applesauce ingredient.
“What to know: An inspection of a plant in Ecuador found cinnamon samples containing lead levels over 2,000 times as high as proposed limits in food, the FDA said this week.
Why it matters: It’s part of an investigation into at least 125 cases of lead poisoning in children in the U.S. linked to contaminated cinnamon-flavored applesauce pouches.”
Read this story at Washington Post
Minnesota unveiled its new flag design yesterday.
The submission that was the basis for the new flag design. (Glen Stubbe/Star Tribune/AP)
“What it shows: The navy part on the left forms an abstract shape of the state and the eight-pointed star is a feature in Indigenous art. If approved, the design will debut in May.
Why it’s needed: The current flag has been deemed offensive. It shows a White settler, a rifle leaning on a tree stump and an Indigenous man riding away on horseback.”
Read this story at Washington Post
Choppy Waters
Houthi military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree delivers a statement on recent attacks against two commercial vessels in the Red Sea in Sanaa, Yemen, on Dec. 15.Mohammed Huwais/AFP
“Yemen’s Houthi militants vowed to continue their ‘military operations’ in the Red Sea on Tuesday after the United States announced a multinational operation hours earlier to combat attacks against commercial shipping in the busy waterway. The Iranian-backed group has threatened to target alleged Israeli-linked vessels to protest military actions in the Gaza Strip against Hamas, another Iranian-supported organization.
‘Our war is a moral war, and therefore, no matter how many alliances America mobilizes, our military operations will not stop,’ Houthi spokesperson Mohammed al-Bukhaiti told the Washington Post.
In the past few weeks, the Houthis have conducted ballistic missile and drone strikes against at least 10 merchant vessels and a U.S. Navy ship, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said. To counter such actions, Washington—along with Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles, Spain, and the United Kingdom—established a joint maritime task force on Tuesday to ensure ‘freedom of navigation for all countries” and bolster “regional security and prosperity.’
Called Operation Prosperity Guardian, the initiative will be aided by Task Force 153, a Bahrain-based unit formed last year and led by the U.S. Navy to help safeguard the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. Austin visited Bahrain on Tuesday to discuss Middle Eastern instability amid the Israel-Hamas war.
As countries work to combat Houthi assaults, private companies are suspending their operations in the area. BP halted oil and gas shipments through the Red Sea indefinitely on Monday after two more Houthi strikes hit the Panama-flagged MSC Clara and the Norwegian-owned Swan Atlantic. BP is the first oil corporation to suspend its own tankers’ trips in the Red Sea. Global shipping firm Evergreen also suspended all journeys through the Red Sea for the foreseeable future on Monday.
Five major shipping companies from Hong Kong, Denmark, France, Germany, and Taiwan, as well as the Italian-Swiss-owned Mediterranean Shipping Company, all halted their operations in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, diverting many of their vessels to instead go around the Cape of Good Hope off South Africa’s coast.
The need to reroute shipping is fueling global trade disruptions, FP columnist Elisabeth Braw explained. Delaying access to this vital thoroughfare will cause mass delays, putting supply chains at risk of collapse ahead of the holiday season and placing companies under growing economic stress. ‘Forces keen on disruption have decided that shipping is an extremely attractive target, and it’s even more attractive because some of the world’s most convenient shipping lanes are in geopolitically choppy Middle Eastern waters,’ Braw wrote.” [Foreign Policy]
E.U. agrees on landmark deal to overhaul migration policy in sign of hardening attitudes across the continent
“The deal, struck after years of debate, will change how the European Union handles migration. It comes amid an uptick in arrivals and as anti-immigrant sentiment powers far-right victories across the 27-member bloc.”
Read more at Washington Post
“Delayed cease-fire vote. The United Nations Security Council on Tuesday delayed a vote for the second time on a resolution calling for some form of cease-fire in Gaza as the council’s members continue to struggle to come up with language that the United States would support. Earlier this month, Washington vetoed a Security Council resolution calling for an ‘immediate humanitarian cease-fire,’ and it said it still opposes the inclusion of the word ‘cease-fire.’ Diplomats are now trying to find wording that the White House can accept, such as ‘suspension of hostilities.’ The vote is now scheduled for Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Israeli officials told Qatar that Israel would entertain a weeklong truce if Hamas releases around 40 captives. Qatar has positioned itself to be the main mediator for hostage negotiations and helped secure the war’s weeklong cease-fire in late November.
The U.N. voting delay and Israel’s truce suggestion came as Israeli forces raided one of the last functioning hospitals in northern Gaza on Tuesday. Airstrikes in the south also killed at least 28 Palestinians, highlighting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s pledge to not end Israel’s war against Hamas until the militant group is completely defeated. International rights groups continue to condemn Israel’s alleged indiscriminate killing of civilians.” [Foreign Policy]
“Natural disasters. A 6.2-magnitude earthquake killed more than 120 people and injured hundreds more in northwestern China just before midnight on Monday, local officials said. Emergency forces rushed to Gansu province, one of the nation’s poorest regions, to conduct search and rescue efforts as landslides and sub-zero temperatures wreak havoc on the area’s outdated infrastructure. This is the country’s deadliest earthquake since 2014, when more than 600 people were killed in southwestern Yunnan province.
Iceland’s long-anticipated volcanic eruption also arrived late Monday. What started as a few cracks in the ground quickly became miles of spewing lava southwest of the capital, Reykjavik. The city’s nearby international airport remains open. Authorities evacuated the almost 4,000 residents of the town of Grindavik, located just a few miles from the eruption, last month in preparation for the impending event.” [Foreign Policy]
“New cyber warfare. Iranian fuel pumps returned to operationality on Tuesday following a cyberattack on Monday that shuttered nearly 70 percent of Tehran’s petrol services. An alleged Israeli-linked hacking group named Gonjeshke Darande, or Predatory Sparrow, claimed responsibility for the attack in a post on X, formerly Twitter, saying it was done ‘in response to the aggression of the Islamic Republic and its proxies in the region.’
‘Khamenei, playing with fire has a price,’ the group wrote, addressing Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The group said it had the ability to cut off all fuel operations but chose not to out of concern for civilian safety. Following the attack, only 40 percent of the nation’s stations were able to accept fuel cards for payments on Tuesday, locals reported.” [Foreign Policy]
A shortage of U.S. air-traffic controllers is leading to delayed flights and adding potential safety risks.
“The FAA has about 1,000 fewer fully certified controllers than it did a decade ago and is on track to gain fewer than 200 more controllers over the next decade, according to an agency-commissioned report. The National Transportation Safety Board and controller union have expressed alarm about mandatory overtime, fatigue and distractions. The NTSB is examining staffing issues while it investigates serious near-collisions on the tarmac over the past year. The FAA said it slows down air traffic to maintain safety when there aren’t enough controllers, is pushing to train and hire new ones, and encourages more employee reporting.” [Foreign Policy]
Apes appear to remember old friends and family for decades.
“How we know: Researchers tracked apes’ eye movements as they were shown photos of one ape they used to live with and one they didn’t know. Most lingered on their friends.
It’s pretty amazing: The results, from a study published this week, amount to some of the longest-lasting memories ever recorded in the animal kingdom.”
Read this story at Washington Post
SPORTS
“N.B.A.: The Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant scored a game-winning layup at the buzzer in his first game back after a 25-game suspension. His team beat the New Orleans Pelicans, 115-113.” [New York Times]
“N.F.L.: The Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers said he probably wouldn’t returnto the field this season after all.” [New York Times]
ARTS AND IDEAS
At Luna Luna. Chantal Anderson for The New York Times
“A revival: Luna Luna, an art carnival that first appeared in Hamburg, Germany, in 1987, has been revived in a warehouse complex in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles. Its attractions include a Ferris wheel designed by Jean-Michel Basquiat, a Keith Haring merry-go-round, and installations by David Hockney and Roy Lichtenstein. One snag: The rides are off-limits.” [New York Times]