The Full Belmonte, 5/21/2023
Biden says Republicans must move from 'extreme positions' in debt ceiling talks
Joey Garrison
USA TODAY
“WASHINGTON − President Joe Biden on Sunday lambasted proposals put forward by Republicans in debt ceiling negotiations as ‘unacceptable’ and said he ‘can't guarantee’ Republicans won't force a default after talks deteriorated sharply over the weekend.
‘Now it's time for the other side to move from their extreme positions because much of what they've already proposed is simply, quite frankly, unacceptable,’ Biden said at a press conference in Hiroshima, Japan.
In his most blunt remarks so far on stalled negotiations, Biden said he won't accept a deal that protects a ‘$30 billon tax break for the oil industry,’ targets Medicaid, jeopardizes the jobs of teachers and law enforcement officers and ‘protects wealthy tax cheats and crypto traders’ while putting food assistance at risk for low-income Americans.
‘It's time for Republicans to accept that there is no bipartisan deal to be made solely on their partisan terms. They have to move as well,’ Biden said.
Biden to call McCarthy
Biden said White House negotiators introduced a proposal that cuts spending by more than $1 trillion but said House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Republicans have balked at Democratic proposals to increase revenue through increased taxes on the wealthiest Americans and corporations. The White House wants to end some of the tax cuts passed in 2017 during the Trump administration.
‘We are willing to cut spending as well as raise revenue so people start paying their fair share again,’ Biden said.
The White House is racing to secure a deal on spending so that Republicans in Congress will agree to raise the debt ceiling to avert a potential default that could happen as early as June 1, when the U.S. is projected to run out of money.
Biden, who is set to return to the White House later Sunday, said he plans to call House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Air Force One during his return flight to Washington.
‘I'm hoping that Speaker McCarthy is just waiting to negotiate with me when I get home,’ Biden said, adding: ‘I don't know whether that's true or not. We'll find out.’
Will Biden use the 14th amendment to raise debt ceiling?
Sticking points in negotiations include Republican proposals for expanded work requirements for welfare recipients, permitting reform for oil and gas projects, caps on future discretionary spending and rescinding unspent COVID-19 rescue funds.
In a new proposal Saturday, Republicans also called for an increase to defense spending, which the White House said would result in further cuts to domestic programs in education and health care.
Several Democratic allies in Congress have urged Biden to invoke the 14th Amendment to work around the debt ceiling and avoid a government default without action from Congress.
‘I think we have the authority,’ Biden said of bypassing Congress through the 14th Amendment. But he added that ‘the question is’ whether it could be invoked in time to withstand potential litigation that could compromise the June 1 deadline.
‘I can’t guarantee that they wouldn’t force a default by doing something outrageous,’ Biden said of Republicans in Congress, but pointed to commitments from McCarthy and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell that the U.S. won't default. ‘I'm assuming that we mean what we say, and we'll figure out a way to not have to default.’
But Biden questioned the motives of ‘MAGA Republicans’ in Congress, accusing them of trying to benefit politically from the economic devastation of a default.
‘Because I am president, and a president is responsible for everything, Biden would take the blame and that's the one way to make sure Biden's not reelected,’ he said.” [USA Today]
Wagner Chief Says Bakhmut Is Taken; Ukraine Rejects Claim
The head of the Russian paramilitary group said his forces had captured the eastern city, a claim Ukrainian officials were quick to deny even as they called the situation ‘critical.’
By Marc Santora
Reporting from Kyiv, Ukraine
May 20, 2023
“The head of Russia’s Wagner paramilitary group said his mercenaries had captured Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine on Saturday, a claim the Ukrainian military denied even as their soldiers have been forced into an ever shrinking patch of land inside the ruined city.
Senior Ukrainian military officials acknowledged that the situation inside the city was ‘critical,’ with soldiers facing an unrelenting barrage of artillery fire and powerful aerial bombardments. Nevertheless, they said, the Ukrainian forces were still engaged in combat operations.
The Russian Ministry of Defense and the Kremlin released a statement confirming the city had been ‘liberated,’ hours after the declaration by the Wagner chief, Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, that the fight for the city was over. After nearly a year of fighting, Bakhmut has taken on an outsize importance: a symbol of Ukrainian defiance and of Russian leaders’ determination to blast their way to a small victory in a little-known corner of eastern Ukraine….” Read more at New York Times
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meets with US President Joe Biden during the G7 Summit in Hiroshima, Japan.
“Group of Seven talks culminated today with a series of dramatic, in-person appeals from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as he pressed leaders gathered in Japan to remain united against Russian aggression. The meeting came as Russia’s Wagner mercenary group claimed to have finally taken the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, the scene of bitter fighting for months. Zelensky denied the city had been taken but said little remained.
President Biden again called on congressional Republicans to move toward a deal to raise the US borrowing limit and characterized GOP proposals as ‘extreme,’ as he prepared to return to Washington with the possibility of an unprecedented financial default looming.
A Nebraska bill combining a ban on most abortions after 12 weeks and restrictions on gender-affirming care for transgender Nebraskans under 19 is poised to become law after the state’s unicameral legislature voted for its passage.
A Washington, DC, metro police officer was arrested on federal charges of misleading investigators about his communications with Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio – including when the officer allegedly tipped off Tarrio about his impending arrest.
At least 12 people were killed and dozens injured in a crush at a soccer stadium in the capital of El Salvador, the National Civil Police said. About 90 people, including minors, are being treated for injuries.
MONDAY
Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina is expected to formally announce he's entering the 2024 GOP presidential primary race after filing paperwork with the Federal Election Commission. Scott — the only Black Republican in the Senate — has been testing the waters for months and has made frequent visits to Iowa.
At some point this week, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis also will enter the Republican presidential race, two Republicans familiar with the matter told CNN, initiating his much-anticipated bid to wrestle the future of the party away from former President Donald Trump. DeSantis is expected to file paperwork declaring his candidacy with the Federal Election Commission, followed by a soft launch of his campaign before a formal announcement in his hometown of Dunedin.
TUESDAY
Warner Bros. Discovery will launch Max, its new streaming service that unites some of the company’s most storied brands under one roof and aims to aggressively compete in the streaming marketplace as the traditional linear television business rapidly declines. Max will offer consumers access to a large library of programming across WBD’s sprawling portfolio: Warner Bros., HBO, HGTV, Food Network, Cartoon Network, TLC and others. Warner Bros. Discovery is also the parent company of CNN.
WEDNESDAY
May 24 marks one year since a gunman opened fire in Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, killing 19 children and two teachers.
THURSDAY
Virgin Galactic, the suborbital space tourism company founded by British billionaire Richard Branson, hopes to launch its final test flight at the company's spaceport in New Mexico. This would be the company's first flight in nearly two years since Branson flew to the edge of space in July 2021, and its last before beginning commercial service.” [CNN]
Former Trump Lawyer Describes Conflict Inside Legal Team
Timothy Parlatore, who withdrew this past week from representing the former president in the special counsel investigations, said he stepped aside over differences with a Trump adviser, Boris Epshteyn.
By Alan Feuer and Maggie Haberman
May 20, 2023
“A conflict inside former President Donald J. Trump’s legal team erupted into public view on Saturday as one of his former lawyers went on television to attack one of his current lawyers, who has been the focus of ire from others on the team.
The former lawyer, Timothy Parlatore, withdrew this past weekfrom representing Mr. Trump in the special counsel’s investigations into his handling of classified documents and his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. But Mr. Parlatore did not explain the reasons behind his departure at the time, saying only that it was not related to the merits of the inquiries.
Appearing on CNN on Saturday, Mr. Parlatore disclosed that his departure had been spurred by irreconcilable differences with Boris Epshteyn, another lawyer who has been working as something akin to an in-house counsel for the former president, hiring lawyers and coordinating their efforts to defend Mr. Trump.
Mr. Parlatore described how Mr. Epshteyn had hindered him and other lawyers from getting information to Mr. Trump, leaving the former president’s legal team at a disadvantage in dealing with the Justice Department, which is scrutinizing Mr. Trump’s handling of classified documents after leaving office and his efforts to remain in office after losing the 2020 election….” Read more at New York Times
Long-hidden ruins of vast network of Maya cities could recast history
In Guatemala, scientists map well-organized network of 417 cities dating to circa 1,000 B.C.
By Charlotte Lytton
May 20, 2023 at 7:00 a.m. EDT
“Beneath 1,350 square miles of dense jungle in northern Guatemala, scientists have discovered 417 cities that date back to circa 1,000 B.C. and that are connected by nearly 110 miles of ‘superhighways’ — a network of what researchers called “the first freeway system in the world.”
Scientist say this extensive road-and-city network, along with sophisticated ceremonial complexes, hydraulic systems and agricultural infrastructure, suggests that the ancient Maya civilization, which stretched through what is now Central America, was far more advanced than previously thought.
Mapping the area since 2015 using lidar technology — an advanced type of radar that reveals things hidden by dense vegetation and the tree canopy — researchers have found what they say is evidence of a well-organized economic, political and social system operating some two millennia ago.
The discovery is sparking a rethinking of the accepted idea that the people of the mid- to late-Preclassic Maya civilization (1,000 B.C. to A.D. 250) would have been only hunter-gatherers, ‘roving bands of nomads, planting corn,’ says Richard Hansen, the lead author of a studyabout the finding that was published in January and an affiliate research professor of archaeology at the University of Idaho….” Read more at Washington Post
After their Pride Night reversal, the Dodgers face a new backlash
“Several prominent LGBTQ+ groups will not participate in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ annual Pride Night after the organization announced Wednesday that it would no longer honor an advocacy group with a community service award.
The decision, which came after outcry from the Catholic League and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), inspired a more widespread backlash in defense of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, whose members often dress in brightly colored habits and call themselves ‘a leading edge Order of queer and trans nuns.’
The Dodgers declined to comment beyond their initial statement, which cited “the strong feelings of those who have been offended by the sisters’ inclusion” as potentially distracting from ‘the great benefits’ of Pride Night, set for June 16. But their decision and the ensuing reaction threatened to eclipse any other intentions.
‘The disappointment is that they caved, not under immense pressure but at the first sign of pressure from a minority group of loud extremists from way far away and well outside our city and the state,’ said Sister Unity, a member of the Los Angeles chapter of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. ‘That disappointed us greatly.’
The Los Angeles LGBT Center, the ACLU of Southern California and LA Pride withdrew from Pride Night in the wake of the Dodgers’ decision.
The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence were founded in San Francisco in 1979 as an LGBTQ+ advocacy and fundraising group. It has since opened chapters across the country and includes straight, gay and nonbinary members who dress in brightly colored habits and cloaks, paint their faces and, as the Los Angeles chapter’s website puts it, ‘make people happy, stamp out guilt brought on by a judgmental society and help various organizations and charities.’
Catholic League President Bill Donohue wrote a public letter to MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred claiming the Dodgers were “rewarding hate speech” by including the group in Pride Night.
“By rewarding anti-Catholicism, the Dodgers have broken bread with the most despicable elements in American society today,” he wrote.
Sister Unity said the group strongly denies that it is anti-Catholic and is not trying to mock Catholic traditions but rather is stepping into a long-standing tradition of religious satire.
“It is true that we borrow from the look of medieval Catholic nuns and that we use religious language as part of our shtick,” she said. “We employ it both because comedy is based on surprise and you don’t expect hairy-chested, bearded men to appear as nuns. We banked on that humor. Gay humor is often iconoclastic. But we’ve never said we’re against the Catholic Church. We are not.”
Sister Unity did note that the group harbors criticisms of the Catholic Church but does not advocate against it. Instead, she said, it advocates for LGBTQ+ rights and fundraises for less visible queer causes that need help. And until this past week, she added, it had done so in almost surprising anonymity.
Despite their fondness for eye-catching garb, the sisters do not normally garner the same attention as bigger LGBTQ+ advocacy groups in the Los Angeles area. So when the Dodgers informed them that they would be honored with a Community Hero Award on Pride Night, they were pleasantly surprised. And while the sisters were accustomed to pushback, they also were surprised to see Rubio, a politician who represents a state across the country, mentioning them at all.
Rubio, a former presidential hopeful, wrote a public letter to Manfred in which he argued that the Dodgers’ inclusion of the sisters in their Pride Night celebration meant MLB was not being as inclusive to Christians as it was trying to be to other groups.
‘I write to ask whether your League wants to be ‘inclusive and welcoming’ to Christians, and if so, why you are allowing an MLB team to honor a group that mocks Christians through diabolical parodies of our faith?’ he wrote. Last year, Rubio sent a letter to Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall asking him to cancel a ‘Drag Queen Story Time’ event for children of service members, one of several attacks on drag events in recent months staged by Rubio and his Republican colleagues.
Soon after the letters became public, a Dodgers official called Sister Bearoncé — a lifelong Dodgers fan and Los Angeles resident — to inform the group of the decision to exclude it from Pride Night, according to Sister Unity. She spread the word to the rest of the group.
Asked for comment, MLB again made clear that such calls are left to its teams. Although Manfred moved the 2021 All-Star Game out of Atlanta because of Georgia’s restrictive voting laws, MLB allows teams to make their own decisions regarding LGBTQ+ community outreach.
Los Angeles has long been considered a hub of LGBTQ+ activism. And the Dodgers have a history of being active and welcoming to gay fans, something the sisters and Los Angeles LBGT Center noted in statements about the team’s decision.
‘We are deeply disappointed that the Dodgers, an organizational partner that has made significant strides towards dismantling anti-LGBTQ+ bias in sports and long-standing supporter of our mission, has decided to revoke their invitation to honor the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence at their upcoming Pride Night,’ the LGBT Center of Los Angeles wrote in a statement as it announced it was removing itself from the Dodgers’ Pride Night festivities.
Sister Unity said the organization had been ‘well allied’ with the city’s LGBTQ+ community for at least a decade but that the team’s statement seemed written to cast them as villains.
‘If the publicity is too hot, we can understand that you need to protect your organization,’ she said. ‘It may be that our activities carry a political patina that is inappropriate for you. But to use that language casting us in a negative light and have that negativity come from places intentionally generating negative PR using inaccurate critiques, that is disappointing.’” [Washington Post]
Martin Amis, Acclaimed Author of Bleakly Comic Novels, Dies at 73
In books like “Money” and “The Information,” he created “a high style to describe low things,” as he put it. He found more renown as a critic, and a measure of unease as his famous father’s son.
May 20, 2023
“Martin Amis, whose caustic, erudite and bleakly comic novels redefined British fiction in the 1980s and ’90s with their sharp appraisal of tabloid culture and consumer excess, and whose private life made him tabloid fodder himself, died on Friday at his home in Lake Worth, Fla. He was 73.
His wife, the writer Isabel Fonseca, said the cause was esophageal cancer — the same disease that killed his close friend and fellow writer Christopher Hitchens in 2011.
Mr. Amis published 15 novels, a well-regarded memoir (“Experience,” in 2000), works of nonfiction, and collections of essays and short stories. In his later work he investigated Stalin’s atrocities, the war on terror and the legacy of the Holocaust.
He is best known for his so-called London trilogy of novels — “Money: A Suicide Note” (1985), “London Fields” (1990) and “The Information” (1995) — which remain, along with his memoir, his most representative and admired work….” Read more at New York Times