Monday Reading

As always, please go to the links for the full articles/ op eds.

Happy (?) Earth Day 2019!  It's the day we (at best) take stock of the past 364 days during which we seemed to be doing everything we could to wreck our precious world.  So, this year's theme is "Protect Our Species:"

Nature’s gifts to our planet are the millions of species that we know and love, and many more that remain to be discovered. Unfortunately, human beings have irrevocably upset the balance of nature and, as a result, the world is facing the greatest rate of extinction since we lost the dinosaurs more than 60 million years ago. But unlike the fate of the dinosaurs, the rapid extinction of species in our world today is the result of human activity.

The unprecedented global destruction and rapid reduction of plant and wildlife populations are directly linked to causes driven by human activity: climate change, deforestation, habitat loss, trafficking and poaching, unsustainable agriculture, pollution and pesticides to name a few. The impacts are far reaching.

If we do not act now, extinction may be humanity’s most enduring legacy...

Until we get people in power around the globe who will act forcefully, especially in countries with the largest carbon footprint, future Earth Days will be increasingly somber events (click on table to enlarge):

(Source: Union of Concerned Scientists)

Every country on the list is a participant in the Paris Agreement, except the United States -- and we know who's responsible for that.

Speaking of that existential threat (Donald "Not Exonerated" Trump, that is), the self- dealing fat cats of the rotted out Republican Party are all in on his re-election:

Deep-pocketed Republicans who snubbed Donald Trump in 2016 are going all in for him in 2020, throwing their weight behind a newly created fundraising drive that’s expected to dump tens of millions into his reelection coffers.

The effort involves scores of high-powered businessmen, lobbyists and former ambassadors who raised big money for George W. Bush, John McCain and Mitt Romney — and who are now preparing to tap their expansive networks for Trump after rebuffing his first presidential bid.  [snip]

The push illustrates how Trump, who once took a sledgehammer to rivals for their supposed fealty to big donors, has come to rely on a GOP establishment he once repudiated. And it’s a sign of just how closely the lean, ragtag operation that stunned the political world in 2016 now resembles a traditional presidential campaign. Yet it also underscores how the elite Republican money class, which waged an aggressive, but ultimately unsuccessful effort to stop Trump in the 2016 election, has come to accept and accommodate a president it once scorned.  (our emphasis)

Accepting and accommodating the greatest threat to American democracy in our history.  But, those Republicans are the "real Americans!"  Funny, that.  The Washington Post's Tom Toles sums up the quid pro quo:



Speaking of taxes,

Did you know that if you make less than $66,000 a year, you can prepare and file your taxes for free?

No? That’s no accident. Companies that make tax preparation software, like Intuit, the maker of TurboTax, would rather you didn’t know.

Intuit and other tax software companies have spent millions lobbying to make sure that the IRS doesn’t offer its own tax preparation and filing service. In exchange, the companies have entered into an agreement with the IRS to offer a “Free File” product to most Americans — but good luck finding it.

ProPublica takes you down the rabbit hole looking for that "free filing service."  They get away with it because the IRS (and Congress) lets them get away with it.

Now that the (redacted) Mueller report is out, detailing the corruption and unfitness for office of Putin's puppet, the issue of what comes next lands in the laps of House Democrats.  Here's E.J. Dionne, Jr.'s suggestion on "threading the needle" on how to proceed:

Those demanding impeachment are right to say Mueller’s report can’t just be filed away and ignored. But being tough and determined is not enough. The House also needs to be sober and responsible.

This needle needs to be threaded not just for show, or for narrow electoral reasons. Trump and Barr have begun a battle for the minds and hearts of that small number of Americans (roughly 10 percent or a little more) who are not already locked into their positions. Barr’s calculated sloth in making the report public gave the president and his AG sidekick an opportunity to pre-shape how its findings would be received. The uncommitted now need to see the full horror of what Mueller revealed about this president. A resolute but deliberate approach is more likely to persuade them.

When House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) joins her caucus on a conference call Monday, she will reiterate her “one step at a time” strategy. The bottom line is that rushing into impeachment and ruling it out are equally foolish.

This means the House Judiciary, Intelligence, and Oversight and Reform committees should and will begin inquiries immediately. Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) took the first step on Friday by subpoenaing the full, unredacted Mueller report, which the administration immediately resisted. Mueller himself has rightly been asked to appear before both Judiciary and Intelligence.

A precipitous rush to impeachment based on the Mueller findings alone might hamper other work, such as, for example, finding out what Trump's trying to hide in his tax returns, the continuing investigations by the Southern District of New York and the New York Attorney General, and the 12 criminal referrals made by Mueller whose targets we yet don't know.  Trusting the acumen of Speaker Pelosi is always a good bet.

As always, we conclude by recommending the excellent blog link round- up by Infidel 753.  Don't take our word that it's the best, most eclectic spotlight on goings- on around the internutz, see for yourself.