The Full Belmonte, 2/5/2023
US downs Chinese balloon, drawing a threat from China
“WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military on Saturday shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the Carolina coast after it traversed sensitive military sites across North America. China insisted the flyover was an accident involving a civilian aircraft and threatened repercussions.
President Joe Biden issued the order but had wanted the balloon downed even earlier, on Wednesday. He was advised that the best time for the operation would be when it was over water, U.S. officials said. Military officials determined that bringing it down over land from an altitude of 60,000 feet would pose an undue risk to people on the ground.
China responded that it reserved the right to ‘take further actions’ and criticized the U.S. for “an obvious overreaction and a serious violation of international practice.”
In its statement Sunday, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that ‘China will resolutely uphold the relevant company’s legitimate rights and interests, and at the same time reserving the right to take further actions in response.’ China’s Ministry of Defense echoed the statement later in the day, saying it ‘reserves the right to take necessary measures to deal with similar situations.’…” Read more at AP News
China crashes Biden's State of the Union
The balloon drifts toward the ocean off the coast of Surfside Beach, S.C., after being shot down. Photo: Randall Hill/Reuters
“China will be an uninvited guest at President Biden’s State of the Union address Tuesday night, as he takes credit for a resilient economy, celebrates record-low unemployment, and previews a broader domestic agenda, writes Axios' Hans' Nichols.
Why it matters: The stakes are high for Biden as he emphasizes a series of accomplishments and tries to control the narrative about his administration as it faces investigations by House Republicans.
Now, a balloon from China has complicated that.
What we're watching, via Axios' Bethany Allen-Ebrahamian in Taipei:
The spy balloon incident has derailed months of careful planning between Washington and Beijing to reach some kind of diplomatic detente.
In recent months, Chinese leader Xi Jinping has adopted a softer tone in his dealings with western countries, in what appears to be a strategic turn away from direct confrontation as he faces serious domestic challenges.
Sending a spy balloon directly over the continental U.S. is a remarkable provocation and would seem to fly in the face of this new strategy.
Biden and his speechwriters are prepared to be nimble — and likely rewrite — the China sections of the speech, as officials weigh Beijing's response to the U.S. military's downing of the surveillance balloon after it drifted across North America.
The president's challenge is to signal to Beijing that violating America’s airspace won’t be tolerated, while also convincing Americans — and skeptical Republicans — that he did enough to protect U.S. airspace.
Biden said that on Wednesday he ordered the balloon to be shot down and that national security officials thought it safest to wait until it was over water. China insisted the flyover was an accident involving a civilian aircraft and threatened repercussions, AP notes.
The president also wants to preserve his administration’s ability to cooperate with China on everything from the global economy to climate change.” [Axios]
Koch network to oppose Trump in primary after sitting out recent cycles
The return of one of the biggest spenders in American politics to the presidential primary field poses a direct challenge to the former president’s comeback bid
“The network of donors and activist groups led by conservative billionaire Charles Koch will oppose Donald Trump for the 2024 Republican nomination, mounting a direct challenge to the former president’s campaign to win back the White House.
‘The best thing for the country would be to have a president in 2025 who represents a new chapter,’ Emily Seidel, chief executive of the network’s flagship group, Americans for Prosperity (AFP), wrote in a memo released publicly on Sunday. The three-page missive repeatedly suggests that AFP is taking on the responsibility of stopping Trump, with Seidel writing: ‘Lots of people are frustrated. But very few people are in a position to do something about it. AFP is. Now is the time to rise to the occasion.’
The move marks the most notable example to date of an overt and coordinated effort from within conservative circles to stop Trump from winning the GOP nomination for a third straight presidential election. Some Republicans have grown increasingly frustrated with Trump after disappointing midterm elections in which he drew blame for elevating flawed candidates and polarizing ideas. But absent a consolidated effort to stop Trump, many critics fear he will be able to exploit GOP divisions and chart a course to the nomination as he did in 2016.
While the memo didn’t name a spending target, AFP’s affiliated super PAC spent more than $69 million in the 2022 cycle, according to Federal Election Commission disclosures. The Koch network now joins the Club for Growth, another of the largest outside spenders, and several of the party’s biggest individual donors such as finance billionaires Kenneth C. Griffin and Stephen A. Schwarzman in signaling their opposition to Trump’s current campaign. Others are holding back for now.
The salvo from one of the biggest spenders in American politics marks a reversal after sitting out the past two presidential primaries. The Koch network has stayed on the sidelines since 2015, when it identified five approved presidential candidates, all of whom fell to Trump.
To avoid a repeat of that outcome, the network plans to endorse a single candidate by the end of this summer, according to a person familiar with the discussions, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the talks were confidential. ‘AFP Action is prepared to support a candidate in the Republican presidential primary who can lead our country forward, and who can win,’ Seidel wrote in the memo.
The memo indicated that AFP will get involved earlier and more aggressively in congressional races, in addition to the presidential primary.
The plan was unveiled to donors this weekend at a meeting of the Koch network in the resort city of Palm Springs, Calif. Elected officials present included Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) and Rep. Andrew Ogles (R-Tenn.), whose campaigns the AFP super PAC supported in 2022. (Schmitt recently endorsed Trump.)
The memo pledged to marshal resources, including a million grass-roots activists across all 50 states, data targeting technology known as i360, and the Latino outreach organization Libre. The memo said that in last year’s races, AFP and its affiliated super PAC knocked on more than 7 million doors, delivered more than 100 million pieces of mail and contacted millions more voters by phone and email.
‘The American people have shown that they’re ready to move on, and so AFP will help them do that,’ Seidel said in the memo.” Read more at Washington Post
Biden barrels ahead with '24 changes
Biden, with Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), after winning South Carolina's 2020 primary. Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images
“The DNC voted in Philadelphia yesterday to barrel ahead with President Biden's plan to give Democrats' first 2024 primary slot to South Carolina, and to boot Iowa from the list of early contests.
Why it matters: Biden's plan has faced fierce resistance from New Hampshire Democrats. They fear his makeover could single-handedly put the blue-leaning state in play, by upending a calendar tradition that has put Iowa and the Granite State up front for 48 years, Axios' Josh Kraushaar and Andrew Solender report.
Here's how the switch-up could change the 2024 race:
It empowers Black voters — in South Carolina and Michigan, another new early primary state — and sidelines one of the most homogeneous states on the map, Iowa, where 90% of 2020 caucus voters were white.
It creates two different maps for the two parties. Iowa and New Hampshire are still key for the Republicans. Case in point: Nikki Haley is headed to both states after she kicks off her campaign.
President Biden proposed the new calendar in December, saying the order of Democratic primaries should be adjusted to allow states with racially diverse populations to have more of a say in early presidential contests, which can set the tone for the rest of a campaign.
Between the lines: Biden is polling poorly in New Hampshire and could have been vulnerable to a primary challenger exposing some of his weaknesses.
‘Black Democrats narrowly prefer nominating Biden (47%) over someone else (41%), while 64% of white Democrats want someone other than Biden,’ per a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.
But keep in mind we may never see this map in action if Biden runs and doesn’t face a credible primary challenger.” [Axios]
Record-setting winds
Photo: Robert F. Bukaty/AP
“Arctic sea smoke rises from the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Portland, Maine, on Saturday.
Dangerously cold sub-zero temperatures swept the Northeast yesterday, and the summit of Mount Washington in New Hampshire hit a new record low wind chill of minus 108 degrees Fahrenheit.” [Axios]
Election skeptics slow to get sweeping changes in GOP states
By TOM DAVIES, CHRISTINA A. CASSIDY and MEAD GRUVER2
“INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Republicans in some heavily conservative states won their campaigns for secretary of state last year after claiming they would make sweeping changes aimed at keeping fraud out of elections.
So far, their efforts to make good on their promises are mixed, in some cases because their rhetoric has bumped up against skepticism from members of their own party.
Voters in politically pivotal swing states such as Arizona, Michigan and Nevada rejected candidates seeking to oversee elections who had echoed former President Donald Trump’s false claims about the 2020 presidential election. But newly elected secretaries of state in Alabama, Indiana and Wyoming who had questioned the legitimacy of that election won easily in those Republican-dominated states.
They are now facing the task of backing up their campaign pledges in states where Republicans have already set strict election laws….” Read more at AP News
Selling Trump Isn’t What It Used to Be
Donald Trump has reunited with a former business partner to sell online trading cards, hoping to recreate a once-profitable mix of hype and celebrity. Initial sales hint at how difficult that will be in 2023.
“When Donald J. Trump announced his foray into NFTs late last year, capitalizing on public interest in his presidential campaign to sell cartoonish virtual trading cards depicting him as a superhero, he was derided for retreating to his huckster impulses.
Anyone seeking insight into Mr. Trump’s decision need look no further than his partner in the enterprise.
The online trading cards are the brainchild of Bill Zanker, a serial entrepreneur who has sold back rubs, gym equipment, self-help courses and, at times, Donald Trump himself. Before Mr. Trump’s political rise, Mr. Zanker co-wrote a book with him, teamed up in a crowdfunding business and, for several years, made Mr. Trump the centerpiece of a real estate road show that sold out sports arenas. Mr. Zanker once boasted in ads of paying Mr. Trump $25,000 a minute to speak.
Times have changed for both men. Mr. Zanker’s best-known business, a for-profit education company called the Learning Annex, has gone dark, and a recent foray into fitness equipment hasn’t taken off. Mr. Trump, who is facing several investigations into his conduct, including his attempts to overturn a fair election, has become far less a symbol of American prosperity than of the nation’s polarizing politics.
In business together again for the first time in more than seven years, the two are seeking to resuscitate a once-dependable formula blending celebrity with unabashed hype. Early sales results hint at just how difficult that project really is.
Mr. Zanker first approached the former president with the idea last year, telling him that the enterprise could bring in as much as $100 million, according to a person with knowledge of the discussions who asked for anonymity to reveal private conversations. In exchange for licensing his name and likeness, Mr. Trump would receive a significant portion of any revenues from sales of what would become known as Trump Cards.
Mr. Trump agreed, much to the disappointment of those around him who wished he had been focused on his 2024 presidential campaign. On Dec. 14, Mr. Trump used social media to promote what he called a ‘major announcement’: the sale of thousands of digital cards showing him dressed, variously, as a cowboy, an astronaut, and a superhero shooting laser beams out of his eyeballs. The cards looked strikingly similar to images of Sylvester Stallone that Mr. Zanker had commissioned for a separate NFT project last year.
The venture was an unusual step into brash commercialism at a time when politicians typically streamline their finances: Mr. Trump formally announced his new campaign just 30 days before the NFTs were issued for sale. For Mr. Trump, who in the past has sold frozen steaks, vodka, deodorant, eyeglasses, perfumes, vitamins, shirts and mattresses, it was a shift back into branding and licensing.
Some Trump advisers worried that the enterprise would come across as a tacky marketing gimmick. Of even greater concern was the idea that every dollar spent by his supporters on the NFTs might translate into a dollar not contributed to Mr. Trump’s campaign, according to two people familiar with internal conversations who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter….” Read more at New York Times
Marjorie Taylor Greene faces backlash for saying her salary is ‘too low’
Extremist Republican who makes $174,000 annually according to public records says ‘I’ve lost money since I’ve gotten here’
“The far-right US congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene is facing backlash after complaining that her elected position’s salary is ‘too low’.
Earlier this week, the Republican representative from Georgia appeared on journalist Glenn Greenwald’s podcast and expressed concern about her congressional salary, which according to public records is $174,000 annually.
Greene told Greenwald: ‘Becoming a member of Congress has made my life miserable. I made a lot more money before I got here. I’ve lost money since I’ve gotten here.’
‘It’s not a life that I think is like something that I enjoy because I don’t enjoy it,’ added Greene, who had previously owned a CrossFit affiliate gym in Georgia before being elected to Congress in 2020.
Additionally, Greene complained about the amount of time her congressional work consumes, saying: ‘The nature of this job, it keeps members of Congress and senators in Washington so much of the time, too much of the time … that we don’t get to go home and spend more time with our families, our friends … or maybe just be regular people because this job is so demanding. It’s turned into practically year-round.’
She continued: ‘For those of us in the House of Representatives, we have to run for Congress every two years. So you’re practically campaigning nearly the entire time that you’re here serving as a representative.’
Greene’s comments have faced swift backlash online.
‘Feel free to step aside if it isn’t too cushy of a job for you @RepMTG. Millions of us won’t mind. #stopwhining,’ one Twitter user wrote, tweeting at her account.
Someone else tweeted: ‘Griping Greene you don’t get to serve the Constitution and its people expecting to profit. Get a part time job or better yet, just quit.’
Another user added: ‘Really? Being in Congress isn’t supposed to be about money. And I guarantee you make more per year than most of your constituents. If you don’t like the life and job, stop running for office.’
Greene – who has previously voiced support for the far-right conspiracy group QAnon and made racist, antisemitic and anti-Muslim remarks – also told Greenwald that people have harassed her since working on Capitol Hill.
The congresswoman said: ‘I have people come up to me and say crazy things to me out of the blue in public places that they believe because they read it on the internet or saw it on some news show about me.’” [The Guardian]
Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan martial ruler in 9/11 wars, dies
By JON GAMBRELL and MUNIR AHMED
“ISLAMABAD (AP) — Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who seized power in a bloodless coup and later led a reluctant Pakistan into aiding the U.S. war in Afghanistan against the Taliban, has died, officials said Sunday. He was 79.
Musharraf, a former special forces commando, became president through the last of a string of military coups that roiled Pakistan since its founding amid the bloody 1947 partition of India. He ruled the nuclear-armed state after his 1999 coup through tensions with India, an atomic proliferation scandal and an Islamic extremist insurgency. He stepped down in 2008 while facing possible impeachment.
Later in life, Musharraf lived in self-imposed exile in Dubai to avoid criminal charges, despite attempting a political comeback in 2012. But it wasn’t to be as his poor health plagued his last years. He maintained a soldier’s fatalism after avoiding a violent death that always seemed to be stalking him as Islamic militants twice targeted him for assassination….” Read more at AP News
Grammys could make history with Beyoncé, Bad Bunny wins
“LOS ANGELES (AP) — Will Beyoncé emerge from the Grammy Awards as its most decorated artist ever?
That’s one of the main storylines heading into Sunday’s ceremony, where the superstar is the leading nominee and needs four wins to make history.
Several of music’s biggest names, including Beyoncé, are in the running for the night’s top honors — Harry Styles, Mary J. Blige, Kendrick Lamar, ABBA and Lizzo are all among the nominees in for album of the year. Adele joins them in the record of the year competition.
Trevor Noah will host the telecast live from downtown Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern on CBS and Paramount+. The show will include performances by Bad Bunny, Mary J. Blige, Sam Smith, Lizzo as well as special musical tributes to the late musicians Takeoff, Loretta Lynn and Christine McVie.
But with 91 Grammy categories, most of the awards are given out during the Recording Academy’s livestreamed Premiere Ceremony. It is during that show that Beyoncé could pass Hungarian-British composer Georg Solti as the artist with the most Grammys. (Solti won his record-breaking 31st Grammy in 1997.)….” Read more at AP News
No. 22 Indiana's upset of No. 1 Purdue highlights busy day of men's college basketball
“It's the first weekend of February ... which means March Madness is right around the corner.
The race for the men's NCAA Tournament heated up Saturday with six matchups of ranked teams going head-to-head – and that didn't include the year's first edition of the sport's biggest rivalry, Duke vs. North Carolina at the Blue Devils' Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The highlight of the day was No. 22 Indiana's upset of No. 1 Purdue at the Hoosiers' Assembly Hall. Indiana fans stormed the court after the victory over their rival, which marked the Hoosiers' first win against the nation's top-ranked team since 2013, when they took down Michigan.
Here's everything you need to know about Saturday's biggest men's college basketball games, as told by the USA TODAY Network:
No. 22 Indiana 79, No. 1 Purdue 74
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. − Purdue had no answer.
No answer for Indiana's in-your-face defense.
No answer for Trayce Jackson-Davis.
And no answer for Assembly Hall's hostile environment.
At least not for the first half and by the time the No. 1 Purdue got to the second half, it was down 15 points in what proved to be just a big enough cushion in a 79-74 loss to the 22nd-ranked Hoosiers.
The Boilermakers (22-2, 11-2) turned the ball over 11 times, leading to 10 fast-break points for the Hoosiers in the opening half, including Indiana swiping the ball away from David Jenkins Jr. and Kaleb Banks scoring a layup to close the first half that put IU ahead 50-35.
Purdue made it interesting, getting within 71-70 with two minutes left, but the Hoosiers (16-7, 7-5) notched a huge win.
Trey Galloway made two free throws with 12.7 seconds left and Jalen Hood-Schifino put a stamp on the upset with a dunk in the final seconds to end Purdue's nine-game win streak and send the fans storming the court.
— Sam King, Lafayette Journal & Courier
No. 2 Tennessee 46, No. 23 Auburn 43
Tennessee and Auburn played a basketball game at Thompson-Boling Arena on Saturday. Or maybe the Vols and Tigers played a game on the carnival rims that make it nearly impossible to make a shot.
It could go either way.
There were 3-pointers that went all the way in but fell out. There were missed layups. There was miss after miss after miss preceding final-minute insanity.
After it all, there was a Tennessee win. The Vols edged Auburn 46-43, winning despite shooting 27% from the field and 2-for-21 on 3-pointers thanks again to its defense.
Josiah-Jordan James led No. 2 Tennessee (19-4, 8-2 SEC) with 15 points and 14 rebounds, his first double-double of the season. Santiago Vescovi converted a four-point play with 2:33 to play that provided the biggest shot of the afternoon against No. 23 Auburn (17-6, 7-3). Vescovi's made 3-pointer was UT's second after it was 1-for-17 on 3-pointers.
— Mike Wilson, Knoxville News Sentinel
No. 13 Iowa State 68, No. 8 Kansas 53
AMES, Iowa – Iowa State would like to remind you how formidable Hilton Coliseum can be.
The 13th-ranked Cyclones shrugged off a two-game losing streak after back-to-back poor performances on the road to obliterate No. 8 Kansas, 68-53, on Saturday afternoon in their home gym.
Iowa State (16-6, 7-3 Big 12) stayed within a game of league-leading Texas with the victory and calmed any concerns about a second-half slide after they were blown out by Missouri and blew a 23-point lead to Texas Tech in the last week.
‘From a mental focus standpoint, this is as strong as we’ve been,’ said Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger.
The Cyclones are now a perfect 12-0 at home this season.
— Travis Hines, The Des Moines Register
No. 9 Texas 69, No. 6 Kansas State 66
MANHATTAN, Kan. — The Bramlage magic finally wore out for Kansas State, and Texas took full advantage.
The No. 9-ranked Longhorns rallied from an 11-point halftime deficit and held off a late charge by K-State to escape Bramlage Coliseum with a 69-66 victory Saturday afternoon in front of a sellout crowd of 11,000. It was the first home loss for the No. 6 Wildcats, who fell to 18-5 overall, 6-4 in the Big 12.
Texas (19-4, 8-2) remained in the conference lead by one game over Iowa State, which knocked off Kansas at home earlier in the day.
Texas got a big lift from its bench with Sir'Jabari Rice and Christian Bishop each scoring 14 points to lead the way. Keyontae Johnson had 16 points, Desi Sills 11 and Markquis Nowell 10 for K-State.
K-State had a chance to tie the game, trailing by three points with nine seconds left, but Ismael Massoud's 3-point attempt fell short.
— Arne Green, Topeka Capital-Journal
No. 21 Miami 78, No. 19 Clemson 74
CLEMSON, S.C. – Clemson basketball lost its second straight but still leads the ACC.
The Tigers dropped a Top 25 matchup to Miami, 78-74, Saturday afternoon at a sold-out Littlejohn Coliseum. But they’re still all alone at the top of the standings because Virginia lost at Virginia Tech, 74-68.
Clemson (18-6, 10-3) leads fourth-ranked Virginia (17-4, 9-3) and Pitt (16-3, 9-3) by a half-game. Miami improved to 18-5, 9-4.
Miami led from the opening minute of the second half. The Hurricanes went up 54-44 and the Tigers could get only as close as three at 61-58, 68-65 and 70-67 until Alex Hemenway made a 3-pointer with one second remaining to make it 76-74.
PJ Hall led Clemson with 19 points and Brevin Galloway added 15. Hunter Tyson had 13 points and nine rebounds.
Clemson is off until Feb. 11 in a 2 p.m. ET game at North Carolina. The Tigers have two remaining home games, Feb. 15 against Florida State and Feb. 22 against Syracuse.
— Todd Shanesy, Greenville News
No. 18 Saint Mary's 78, No. 14 Gonzaga 70 (OT)
MORAGA, Calif. – Aidan Mahaney scored 18 points and took the game over in crunch time, leading No. 18 Saint Mary’s to a 78-70 overtime win over No. 14 Gonzaga on Saturday night for the Gaels’ 12th straight victory.
Mahaney scored or assisted on 19 of 21 points in a stretch that started with the Gaels (21-4, 10-0 West Coast Conference) trailing by four points with five minutes to play in regulation.
The freshman put Saint Mary’s in control in overtime when he banked in a 3-pointer and then found Mitchell Saxen with a no-look pass for a layup that made it 70-64.
The Bulldogs (19-5, 8-2), who didn’t trail for the final 37 minutes of regulation, couldn’t catch up and fell two games behind in the conference race.
Drew Timme scored 23 points to lead Gonzaga, but got little help offensively from the rest of his team.
— Associated Press
Duke 63, North Carolina 57
DURHAM, N.C. – Duke men's basketball and coach Jon Scheyer drew first blood against North Carolina as the storied rivalry began its next chapter without Mike Krzyzewski.
Saturday's 63-57 win gave Scheyer his first career win over the Tar Heels and offered a slight reprieve from the angst of last year's losses in the national semifinal and Coach K's final game at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Jeremy Roach, the lone starter returning from last year's Duke team, dealt the final blow, scoring the final four points in the win.
It was the first time since 1957 that neither Dean Smith nor Mike Krzyzewski roamed the sidelines of this rivalry. But this game always seems to deliver.” [USA Today]
— David Thompson, The Fayetteville Observer
Legend Lauren Jackson suffers career-ending injury 62 seconds into tribute game
Jackson, 41, suffered Achilles injury in first minute of game
WNBA and Opals superstar was to retire at end of season
“Lauren Jackson’s unrivalled basketball career appears to have ended on a heart-breaking note after the Opals legend suffered a likely Achilles injury in her WNBL tribute match.
The round 13 encounter between the Southside Flyers and Sydney Flames was being played to honour Jackson who will retire at the end of the season and had drawn a WNBL-record 7,681 fans to John Cain Arena.
But Jackson’s farewell was just 62 seconds old when she and Flames forward Jocelyn … clashed knees, causing Jackson’s to twist awkwardly. She hobbled up the tunnel, and later emerged on crutches. The team later confirmed it was an Achilles injury that ended her night.
In tears as she left the court, the 41-year-old Jackson returned to the bench early in the second quarter on crutches. Warmed by the WNBL record crowd and their reaction to a pre-game highlight reel of her epic career, Jackson put on a brave face….” Read more at The Guardian