The Full Belmonte, 4/8/2023
Texas judge suspends FDA approval of abortion pill; second judge protects access
Federal lawsuit by conservative groups followed the Supreme Court’s elimination of the constitutional right to abortion last June
“The status of a key abortion medication was cast into uncertainty Friday night when rulings from two federal judges reached contradictory conclusions, with one jurist blocking U.S. government approval of the drug while the other said the pill should remain available in a swath of states.
The dueling opinions — one from Texas and the other from Washington state — concern access to mifepristone, the medication used in more than half of all abortions in the United States and follow the Supreme Court’s elimination of the constitutional right to the procedure last year. It appears inevitable the issue will move to the high court, and the conflicting decisions could make that sooner rather than later.
The highly anticipated and unprecedented ruling from Texas puts on hold the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone, which was cleared for use in the United States in 2000. It was the first time a judge suspended longtime FDA approval of a medication despite opposition from the agency and the drug’s manufacturer. The ruling will not go into effect for seven days to give the government time to appeal.
U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk, a nominee of President Donald Trump with long-held antiabortion views, agreed with the conservative groups seeking to reverse the FDA’s approval of mifepristone as safe and effective, including in states where abortion rights are protected.
‘The Court does not second-guess FDA’s decision-making lightly,’ Kacsmaryk wrote in the 67-page opinion. ‘But here, FDA acquiesced on its legitimate safety concerns — in violation of its statutory duty — based on plainly unsound reasoning and studies that did not support its conclusions.’ He added that the agency had faced ‘significant political pressure’ to ‘increase ‘access’ to chemical abortion.’
In a competing opinion late Friday, a federal judge in Washington state ruled in a separate case involving mifepristone that the drug is safe and effective. U.S. District Judge Thomas O. Rice, who was nominated by President Barack Obama, ordered the FDA to preserve ‘the status quo’ and retain access in the 17 states — along with D.C. — that are behind the second lawsuit, which seeks to protect medication abortion.
Within hours of the Texas ruling, the Justice Department and drug manufacturer Danco Laboratories filed their notice of appeal. Attorney General Merrick Garland said the government would ask the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit to allow the FDA to maintain approval of the pill pending the outcome of the case. Garland said in a statement that the department was still reviewing the decision out of Washington state.
President Biden criticized the Texas ruling in a statement Friday, saying the court had ‘substituted its judgment for FDA, the expert agency that approves drugs. If this ruling were to stand, then there will be virtually no prescription, approved by the FDA, that would be safe from these kinds of political, ideological attacks.’
He called the decision ‘another unprecedented step in taking away basic freedoms from women and putting their health at risk.’
The conflicting and complicated decisions will likely put pressure on the FDA and the Biden administration to determine how to enforce the new mandates set by these rulings.
The judge’s decision in Texas to pause his own ruling for a week while the administration seeks review in the 5th Circuit, and the contrary ruling in Washington state, means no immediate change in the status quo. But the Biden administration might not want to wait for the 5th Circuit to act before bringing the issue to the Supreme Court.….” Read more at Washington Post
Justice Dept. will investigate leak of classified Pentagon documents
The materials outline a wealth of information about the Ukrainian and Russian militaries, and include highly sensitive analyses about China and other nations
“The Justice Department has opened an investigation into the leak of classified Pentagon documents appearing to detail Ukraine’s combat capabilities, its potential vulnerabilities and NATO’s broad efforts to help repel Russia’s invasion, the agency said Friday, as the U.S. government raced to determine how the material surfaced online and what value it may hold for the Kremlin.
In a statement, the department said it was in communication with the Pentagon and had begun an investigation, but that it had no further comment.
Confirmation of the investigation came as senior U.S. officials realized the scope of leaked material was much more expansive than initially thought.
Earlier Friday, The Washington Post obtained dozens of what appeared to be photographs showing classified documents, dating to late February and early March, that range from worldwide intelligence briefings to tactical-level battlefield updates and assessments of Ukraine’s defense capabilities. They outline information about the Ukrainian and Russian militaries, and include highly sensitive U.S. analyses about China and other nations. The materials also reference highly classified sources and methods that the United States uses to collect such information, alarming U.S. national security officials who have seen them….” Read more at Washington Post
Justice Clarence Thomas Defends Luxury Travel Paid for by Billionaire GOP Donor
Supreme Court justice says hospitality ‘from close personal friends’ didn’t have to be reported
Justice Thomas said he consulted with other judges years ago and determined that he didn’t need to disclose the gifts on his annual financial disclosure forms. PHOTO: J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE/ASSOCIATED PRESS
By Jan Wolfe
“WASHINGTON—Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas on Friday defended his decision not to disclose years of lavish vacations and private-jet travel paid for by a billionaire friend, calling the trips personal hospitality that federal judges in the past haven’t been required to report.
The statement, issued through the court’s spokeswoman, came in response to an investigative report by ProPublica on Thursday. The ProPublica article documented how Justice Thomas and his wife, conservative activist Ginni Thomas, have gone on several luxury trips involving travel subsidized by and stays at properties owned by Republican Party megadonor Harlan Crow. The report prompted calls from Democratic lawmakers for legislative action to strengthen ethical standards for Supreme Court justices….” Read more at Wall Street Journal
Majority of Nashville Metro Council to vote to reinstate expelled member
BY JARED GANS
Former Rep. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, Rep. Gloria Johnson, D-Knoxville, and former Rep. Justin Pearson, D-Memphis, raise their hands outside the House chamber after Jones and Pearson were expelled from the legislature Thursday, April 6, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn.
“A majority of the Nashville Metro Council plans to vote to reinstate former state Rep. Justin Jones (D) after he was expelled Thursday from the state House over his participation in a protest against gun violence on the chamber floor.
At least 22 members of the 40-seat city council have tweeted to declare their support for reappointing Jones to his seat since he was removed by the GOP-dominated state House. The members have denounced the effort from Republicans to oust him and asserted that his constituents want him back to represent them.
NBC News reported that 23 members confirmed online or to the outlet that they will vote to reappoint Jones, while The Tennessean reported that at least 28 members support Jones’s return.
Jones and state Rep. Justin Pearson (D) were kicked out of the House after they participated in a gun violence protest on the House floor in the days following last week’s shooting at a Nashville elementary school where three students and three staff members were killed.
State Rep. Gloria Johnson (D) also participated in the protest, but the House fell short of the votes necessary to remove her.
Republicans alleged that the three members were engaging in ‘disorderly conduct’ and disrupting the business of the body in leading chants with a bullhorn.
Jones said during debate over his expulsion that he was only trying to push for steps to keep children safe and the effort to remove him is undemocratic.
‘To those who here will cast a vote for expulsion, I was fighting for your children, too, to live free from the terror of school shootings,’ he said.
Nashville Vice Mayor Jim Shulman reportedly scheduled a meeting for Monday for the council to discuss filling the vacancy.
The Tennessean reported that at least four weeks are usually needed for the council to choose an interim representative, but a vote to suspend the rules could move the vote up to during the Monday meeting. But just two no votes on suspending the rules could reportedly stop that effort.
The interim officeholder will serve until a special election is held for someone to complete the term.” [The Hill]
Two Black state lawmakers in Tennessee are expelled: Five takeaways
NASHVILLE, TN – APRIL 06: Democratic state Reps. Justin Pearson (C) of Memphis and Justin Jones (R) of Nashville attend the vote in which they were expelled from the state Legislature on April 6, 2023 in Nashville, Tennessee. Pearson, Jones and fellow Democratic Rep. Gloria Johnson of Knoxville were brought up for expulsion for leading chants of protesters from the floor in the wake of a mass shooting at a Christian school in which three 9-year-old students and three adults were killed by a 28-year-old former student of the school on March 27. Pearson and Jones were expelled while the vote against Johnson, who is white, fell one vote short. (Photo by Seth Herald/Getty Images)
“Nashville has suddenly become the center of the political world, after the GOP-led Tennessee House of Representatives expelled two Black Democrats on Thursday.
State Reps. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson were expelled for breaking House rules as they protested in favor of gun control on March 30.
Jones and Pearson had marched to the well of the chamber without having permission to speak and, using a bullhorn, joined in with chants from protestors in the public galleries.
A third lawmaker who stood in support of them but did not use the bullhorn, state Rep. Gloria Johnson (D), survived her expulsion vote.
Jones and Pearson are Black. Johnson is white.
The original protests followed a March 27 mass shooting at Nashville’s Covenant School, in which three adults and three children were killed. The three children were all nine years old.
Given the scale of the human tragedy, it’s not surprising that political emotions are running high.
Here are the main takeaways from the expulsions.
Tennessee Republicans overplayed their hand
GOP lawmakers in the Tennessee statehouse claim they needed to act to nip any further acts of disorder in the bud. According to the Associated Press, one member, state Rep. Gino Bulso (R) said that the Democrats had ‘effectively conducted a mutiny.'
Other Republicans accused the Democrats of an ‘insurrection’ — an inflammatory charge and a largely specious one, at least if it was meant to evoke a meaningful comparison with the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Republicans outnumber Democrats by more than three-to-one in the Tennessee House chamber. If their objective was simply to thwart a push for greater gun control and instead focus on school security and mental health, they could easily have done so, without even attracting much national attention.
Instead, they have made political stars out of ‘the Tennessee Three,’ sparked cries of authoritarianism, catapulted the story to national prominence and — in their more lenient treatment of Johnson over Jones and Pearson — left themselves wide open to the charge of racism.
By any reasonable measure, Tennessee Republicans have scored a sizable political own goal.
National Democrats are seizing on the story
The biggest names in Democratic politics have rushed to condemn the expulsions. Their outrage might well be sincere but it is another sign of how advantageous they consider the politics of the story to be.
In a Thursday night statement, President Biden described the expulsions as ‘shocking, undemocratic and without precedent.’
Vice President Harris headed to Tennessee on Friday, altering her schedule to meet with Jones and Pearson. Harris, who arrived in Nashville late in the afternoon, was expected to try to focus media attention on the White House’s desire for tighter gun laws as well.
Even former President Obama, who is careful not to speak out on each and every political controversy, called the events ‘the latest example of a broader erosion of civility and democratic norms.’
Noone really knows if this will shift the politics on gun control
The sheer scale of the controversy has led some advocates for gun control to claim a greater momentum for their cause.
Shannon Watts, the founder of Moms Demand Action, a prominent pro-gun control group, told The Hill, ‘The moment isn’t ending.’
Watts added: ‘I think the gloves are off on our side. And [I’m] also hearing from so many Republican women who are becoming single issue voters. They are watching lawmakers say their kids are collateral damage and they’re not having it.’
There is a strong case to be made that legislators across the country are out of step with public opinion on the issue.
An Economist/YouGov poll this week found an overwhelming 82 percent of Americans favoring universal background checks, 74 percent backing so-called ‘red flag’ laws, and 63 percent — including 42 percent of Republicans — even in favor of an assault weapons ban.
But that doesn’t come anywhere close to guaranteeing action either in Tennessee or at the federal level.
In Washington, there was some surprise that a modest gun safety measure passed Congress last June.
But Republicans on Capitol Hill don’t seem enthused about going any further than that.
Expulsions are rare — but they may not stay that way
Thursday’s expulsions were only the fourth time since the Civil War that such a step had been taken in the Nashville statehouse, according to The Tennessean.
The two other most recent examples were in 2016, when a Republican member was expelled over allegations of misconduct with women, and back in 1980 when another Republican was booted over a bribe.
The Tennessee state Senate did, however, vote to expel a Democratic member last year after her conviction for wire fraud.
Thursday reportedly marked the first time in the state’s history that lawmakers had been expelled simply for violating rules of decorum.
The question is whether this week’s events will set a precedent for similar expulsions in the near-future across the country — or whether lawmakers, looking at the furor in Nashville, will balk at taking similar steps in their states.
The expelled lawmakers will likely be back
It is highly improbable that the expulsions will end the political careers of Jones or Pearson.
Both men are vowing to fight on, and their political profiles have risen exponentially. On Friday alone, they did numerous television interviews.
The rules around expulsions in Tennessee are also idiosyncratic. A special election is called — but there is nothing barring the expelled lawmaker from running again. Moreover, it is possible for local authorities to appoint the expelled person as an interim member until that election takes place.
On Friday, NBC News reported that a majority of members of the Nashville Metropolitan Council would vote to reinstate Jones to his seat. Pearson, who represents a Memphis-area district, could get similar treatment.
One way or another, Jones and Pearson have emerged stronger than they were before any of this happened.” [The Hill]
Biden’s trans athlete ‘compromise’
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
“The Biden administration has proposed a rule that would in some cases allow bans on transgender student athletes joining teams consistent with their gender identity.” [Vox] [Associated Press / Collin Binkley]
“Under the rule, schools and universities receiving federal funding would have to consider age, sport, and other factors before banning trans players. If they fail to do this, they would face penalties.” [Vox][NPR / Sequoia Carrillo]
“The proposal comes as Republican-led states are passing legislation to prevent trans people from participating in sports and receiving gender-affirming care.” [Vox / Nicole Narea and Fabiola Cineas]
“This week, Kansas became the 20th state to bar trans athletes from participating in girls’ and women’s sports after Republicans overrode a veto from Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly.” [Vox] [Washington Post / Laura Meckler]
“Also, the Supreme Court decided not to enforce a West Virginia law that bases sports eligibility on “reproductive biology and genetics at birth,” amid a challenge from a 12-year-old trans girl.” [Vox] [Reuters / Andrew Chung]
“Biden’s proposal will undergo a 30-day public comment process before going into effect in July.” [Vox] [Axios / Sareen Habeshian] [NPR / Sequoia Carrillo]
Leak torments McCarthy
Kevin McCarthy (right) and Steve Scalise in the House chamber during the speakership fight. Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
“Some GOP lawmakers warn that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is facing blowback after a report he privately blamed members of his leadership team for Republican chaos over the budget, Axios' Juliegrace Brufke reports.
Multiple House Republicans argued McCarthy's criticism of Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) and Budget Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) undermines GOP messaging, and opens the floodgates for public infighting earlier than necessary.
Several GOP House members said McCarthy seemed to be using Scalise and Arrington as scapegoats in case budget and debt-ceiling negotiations implode.
‘The members I've spoken with are just stunned by his rebuking of his budget chair, and certainly of our leadership,’ one House Republican, insisting on anonymity to critique the leader, told Axios.
What's happening: McCarthy told colleagues he lacks confidence that Arrington can deliver a budget proposal, according to an explosive New York Times article by Jonathan Swan and Annie Karni.
The speaker ‘has told colleagues and allies that he cannot rely on Mr. Scalise, describing the majority leader as ineffective, checked out and reluctant to take a position on anything,’ The Times reported.
McCarthy didn’t deny the conversations, but said in a statement that he rejects the idea of splits existing among leadership. He called Scalise ‘an essential partner of the entire leadership team.’
Between the lines: House conservatives say they aren’t ready to pull the trigger on a motion to vacate that could oust McCarthy as speaker.
But this has ramped up angst with McCarthy that has simmered since his brutal fight for the gavel.
Behind the scenes: The report has reopened old wounds between McCarthy and Scalise — who was previously seen as a potential rival for speaker.” [Axios]
Same world, different planet: Trump’s arrest lays bare US polarization
Reactions to the former president’s court appearance on hush money charges were diametrically opposite depending on political persuasion
“If the US needed a reminder that a rather large group of Americans completely disagree with another very large group of Americans, it got one this week.
Donald Trump’s arrest in New York City on Tuesday, when he was charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records in relation to hush money payments to Stormy Daniels, was marked by diametrically opposed rallies, commentary and media coverage.
For those on the right, the charges were an outrage, a sham, a witch-hunt: evidence of an abuse of political power and proof that the system was attempting to silence their man.
For non-Trump supporters, it was justice: recompense, at last, for a man who was dogged by accusations of illegality throughout his presidency, and indeed for decades before that.
As Trump was fingerprinted and read his rights on Tuesday, a neat illustration of the divide was on show outside the court.
A group of Trump supporters, who had gathered to support their man, chanted: “Fuck Joe Biden.” Yards away, behind a metal barrier, came the opposite chant from people gathered to cheer Trump’s arrest. “Fuck Donald Trump,” the non-Trump voters shouted.
As Trump and his lawyers begin to prepare for a trial in the Stormy Daniels case – and brace themselves for other looming lawsuits – some academics believe the country has not been this politically polarized since two sides literally went to war with each other in 1861.
‘When I look at the numbers that are coming in when we do the polling, I don’t see any daylight in the distance as far as polarization melting away,’ said Tim Malloy, polling analyst at the Quinnipiac university poll.
‘And that’s not opinion, that’s just looking at the numbers – they really never change.’
A recent Quinnipiac survey found that reaction to Trump’s legal travails differed widely between Democrat and Republican voters. Among Democrats, 89% thought the charges against Trump were very serious or somewhat serious. Just 21% of Republicans felt the same.
Some 88% of Democratic voters thought that criminal charges being filed against Trump should disqualify him from running for president again. Only 23% of Republicans were of the same view.
It mirrors the wider divide over Trump, who retains his unique knack of completely alienating some people, and utterly captivating others. Among Republicans, 73% think the one-term, twice-impeached, criminally charged former president has had a positive impact on the Republican party.
Democrats disagree: 93% think Trump’s influence has been negative.
It presents a continuing problem for a country that has recently seen its main seat of democracy attacked by thousands of Trump supporters, but in electoral terms, it isn’t great for the Republican party, either.
‘That the fact that if the election were held today, Biden would beat Trump fairly handily has got to be a huge red flag for Republicans,’ Malloy said.
The division has worked for Trump previously. From the moment he announced his first presidential campaign, in June 2015, he set out to paint politics as us v them: branding elected officials “losers” who were “morally corrupt”, and would-be immigrants “rapists”.
Little has changed.
In a rambling speech in Florida on Tuesday, hours after he had been charged, Trump lashed out against basically everyone who doesn’t own a Make America Great Again hat, claiming ‘our country is going to hell’ and accusing ‘radical left lunatics’ of trying to interfere in his run for president.
On Truth Social, Trump’s eccentric and misleadingly named social media platform, his followers also received an interpretation of the trial that was completely different from the one in the rest of the world. Democrats have ‘weaponized our system of laws’, Trump posted, in an effort to drive him out of the 2024 presidential race.
A problem for the US is that people listen, and believe him. Outside the Manhattan court on Tuesday, it was no surprise to hear his supporters parrot Trump’s talking points.
‘This is all just a bunch of BS so that Trump doesn’t run for president,’ Shaun Lloyd, a Trump supporter, told the Guardian. ‘The American people are waking up more than ever, every day, to the truth, and the lies and the Democrats are telling them.’
It also doesn’t help that the rightwing media continues to channel lies and misinformation about elections and rival politicians’ behavior. This week some went as far as to hint at violence, with Tucker Carlson, the Fox News host, telling his audience it was ‘probably not the best time to give up your AR-15s’, the semi-automatic rifle that has been used in multiple mass shootings.
It is difficult to see a path out of the deep polarization in the country, in part because the divide goes to issues that run to race, identity and culture, said Marjorie Hershey, professor emeritus of political science at Indiana University Bloomington.
‘There is increasing evidence that the best predictor of support for Trump in 2020 (and continuing), in addition to one’s party identification, is not feelings about the economy but racial resentment among white voters,’ she said.
‘For that reason, it seems unlikely that this polarization will decline any time soon. Feelings about race in the US have been continually whipped up by stories of police conduct toward Black people and by a number of Republican Trump supporters, such as Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz, who find it to their electoral advantage to keep making controversial statements that imply race-baiting.’
The divide represents real dangers in the US, beyond the already evident destruction of faith in election integrity, the political gridlock and the inherent unsavoriness of a society at odds with itself.
In the two years since Trump left office, polls have shown that one in three Americans – including 40% of Republicans – believe violence against the government is sometimes justified: a number that is at a two-decade high.
‘We are a nation filled with guns, many of them capable of blasting bodies to pieces,’ Hershey said.
‘A society that’s roiled by conflict can loosen some of those people’s inhibitions. Let’s hope people remember that you can’t kill an idea by killing an individual; ideas can’t be shot.’” [The Guardian]
“Finland Joins NATO as Defense Alliance Expands Northward
Finland became NATO’s 31st member, completing a tumultuous process of accession after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine upended the European security landscape, Kati Pohjanpalo and Natalia Drozdiak write. Sweden is still waiting to join.
Finland’s outgoing Prime Minister Sanna Marin said she’ll step downas leader of her Social Democratic Party and abandon other leadership roles following the loss in parliamentary elections.” [Bloomberg]
“Germany’s Ultimate Fighting Machines Are Racking Up Orders
Germans have a deep suspicion of military force and weapons exports that’s rooted in their nation’s 20th century history of aggression, Alan Crawford reports. But as governments rearm in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Germany’s weapons suppliers are experiencing a bonanza, regardless of public sentiment.” [Bloomberg]
“Russia Blames Ukraine as Suspect Held in War Blogger’s Death
Russia accused Ukraine of plotting the assassination of a pro-war blogger at a St. Petersburg cafe. Maxim Fomin, whose Telegram channel under the pseudonym Vladlen Tatarsky had more than 570,000 followers, was killed when a bomb exploded inside a statuette presented to him at an event at the cafe. Ukraine didn’t comment.” [Bloomberg]
Tatarsky speaks at the cafe before the explosion that killed him on Sunday. Source: AP Photo
Ukraine Has Decimated Its Oligarchs But Now Fears New Ones
In the opening scene to Servant of the People, the popular 2015 TV series that helped catapult Volodymyr Zelenskiy from comedian to president, three oligarchs bargained for control of Ukraine as they looked out over its sleeping capital, sipping champagne and brandy. Marc Champion and Daryna Krasnolutska report that, eight years later, the tables have turned.
Ukraine said it would take new measures to prevent potential leaks of its war plans.
“Images of purported highly classified U.S. government documents were published online by pro-Kremlin war commentators on Telegram and the 4chan messaging board. At least one document was altered to lower estimates of Russian losses and inflate Ukrainian casualties. U.S. defense officials said they believe at least some of the other images were leaks of documents produced by the Joint Chiefs of Staff. They have yet to determine how the documents appeared online or what military installation they could have come from.” [Wall Street Post]
WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich was formally charged with espionage, Russian state media reported.
“He pleaded not guilty, according to news agency TASS. Moscow’s Federal Security Service didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on whether it had formally charged the reporter, how the allegations were transmitted to him or the next steps in the investigation. A State Department spokeswoman declined to comment on the report of formal charges. The WSJ vehemently denies the allegations. In a joint statement, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) said they ‘strongly condemn the wrongful detention’ of Gershkovich.” [Wall Street Journal]
Tesla on the cheap
Model 3, the cheapest Tesla. Photo: Sjoerd van der Wal/Getty Images
“Tesla cut prices of all models for the second time this year after a price drop led to a sales bump in the last quarter, Bloomberg reports.
By the numbers: The Model 3 is now $41,990, 11% cheaper after this year's changes. And the Model S is $84,990, 19% cheaper.
The big picture: ‘CEO Elon Musk has said he’s willing to sacrifice Tesla’s profitability to keep growing in the face of rising interest rates and a possible recession,’ Bloomberg notes.
Data dive: Tesla loses market share, by Axios' Joann Muller.” [Axios]
GAME OF THE WEEKEND
The Australian golfer Cameron Smith.Andrew Redington/Getty Images
“The Masters golf tournament: Last year, golf was ripped in two. LIV, an upstart league funded by Saudi Arabia, offered big-name players boatloads of money. The PGA Tour punished players who joined, and its members spent months sniping at their carpetbagging competitors. The drama comes to a head this weekend at one of golf’s most prestigious events, which includes players from both leagues. Everyone has been cordial so far, but make no mistake: Both leagues really want to win this one.” [New York Times]
Augusta National takes big gamble after trees crash down at Masters, letting fans back Saturday
Thankfully, no one was hurt Friday when three trees fell near spectators at the Masters. But with rain and high winds in the forecast, should Augusta National let fans return for the weekend?
“AUGUSTA, Ga. — Augusta National Golf Club and the Masters got very lucky Friday afternoon when the three trees that crashed to the ground near the 17th hole missed dozens of fans gathered nearby.
The videos of the trees falling were stunning; the stories of those who were there were harrowing.
‘I was sitting, looking, waiting for the next group to come up to the tee and it fell maybe 8-10 chairs to our left,’ spectator Megan Hill told the USA TODAY Network. “I stood up and screamed and thought, ‘Is it going to fall on me?’ It fell to the left of us and it was so scary.’
‘Pinecones were hitting us in the back, we turned around and looked up and heard a huge cracking noise and the tree basically crushed 10 chairs that were sitting there,’ said another fan, Deshey Thomas.
Yet no more than 90 minutes after the incident, the Masters announced that ticket gates for spectators would open as scheduled Saturday morning at 7 and play would begin at 8.
In other words, fans will be back on the grounds in droves and it will be business as usual at the first men’s major golf tournament of the year….” Read more at USA Today
Green with victory
”The Masters is on, so here's some fun green jacket lore to interject into any golf talk. As you probably know, the winner of the Masters Tournament gets to wear a coveted green jacket. The origins of the tradition began in the town of Hoylake in northwest England when a player in the British Open Championship in 1930 wagered his red jacket to a fellow player if the latter were to win the tournament (he did). Fast forward, and in the mid-1930s, members of the Augusta National Golf Club, where the Masters is held, were wearing green jackets on the grounds to identify themselves. In 1949 it was decided that year’s victor, Sam Snead, and all the previous champions, would be issued their own version too. However, there are some unexpected caveats to green jacket glory: Winners don't actually keep the jackets! Well, they can for a year, but then they have to bring them back to Augusta National. There's only one champion who skirted the rule: South African legend and three-time Masters champ Gary Player, who became the first international player to win in 1961. Somehow, his jacket just ... didn't make it back the next year.” [CNN]
THE WEEK IN CULTURE
HBO
“You can bet on how ‘Succession’ will end.
Do you love Picasso or loathe him? Fifty years after his death, the Times critic Deborah Solomon reflects on her feelings toward him — with essays for both admirers and haters.
Can you tell which of these photos is real?
A storied British soccer team is having one of its most remarkable seasons. But its competitor is getting more attention, thanks to the documentary series ‘Welcome to Wrexham.’
The Netflix series ‘Beef,’ a dark comedy about a road-rage episode, is one of the best new shows of the past year, the Times critic James Poniewozik writes.
The first trailer for ‘Barbie,’ directed by Greta Gerwig, set the internet ablaze.
‘Shucked,’ a musical about corn that opened on Broadway, pelts the audience with puns, dad jokes, one-liners and double entendres.
The comedian Alex Edelman is bringing his one-man show, ‘Just for Us,’ to Broadway this summer.
A night of 1,000 Kates: Fans paid tribute to the singular Kate Bush.
The former Times restaurant critic Mimi Sheraton was a true omnivore, deeply curious well beyond the dinner table. She died at 97.
TikTok has outgrown its label as the ‘dance app.’ But in the dance world, its influence is everywhere.
Angela Gheorghiu, one of opera’s few remaining old-school divas, is returning to the Met in ‘Tosca.’” [New York Times]