What A Day: It's a Vlad world

BY BRIAN BEUTLER, PRIYANKA ARIBINDI

& CROOKED MEDIA

Friday, May 3, 2019

—Bernie Sanders talking to kids back in the day

A STERNLY WORDED LETTER TO A GUN FIGHT

House Democrats seem unable to accept that they can’t afford to be conciliatory in their current power struggle with the Trump administration -- one where the integrity of U.S. democracy is at stake.

This week alone, Attorney General William Barr:

Flouted a subpoena from the House Judiciary Committee for the unredacted version of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report.

Cancelled his appearance at a House Judiciary Committee hearing about the Mueller report.

Was discovered to have lied to Congress about Mueller's displeasure with the way Barr had mislead the public about the contents of his report—displeasure Mueller documented in an extraordinary letter that Barr kept concealed from Congress. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rightly described Barr's false statement as a "crime.

In response, Democrats have:

Dialed back their demand for the full Mueller report.

Not subpoenaed Barr to compel his testimony without conditions.

Threatened—but taken no steps—to hold Barr in contempt

Brought some fried chicken to the hearing Barr no-showed (because Barr chickened out—get it?!)

Barr, of course, doesn't care about being called a chicken. He probably doesn't care about being held in contempt, and he will draw out a legal fight over a subpoena for months.

But even if Barr blinks—if he gives over more of the Mueller report, or agrees to testify on Democrats' terms—he can't erase the well documented public record.

Donald Trump obstructed an investigation of a foreign attack on our election that he encouraged. He now claims vindication, and has suggested that he may use the Justice Department to investigate his political opponents. (He even had a friendly chit chat with Vladimir Putin today about what he called the “Russia hoax.”) William Barr continues to provide Trump legal and political cover for these dirty deeds, and lied to Congress.

Those bells can't be unrung. Congress can either take official steps toward seeking the proper punishment for those crimes, or not. It can’t negotiate its way out of that choice.

A Trump administration rule allowing health professionals to refuse to perform procedures like abortions, sex reassignment surgeries, and assisted suicides on religious or “conscience” grounds will take effect in 60 days. The rule extends beyond simply performing these procedures—it allows any “provider, individual, or health care entity” to refuse providing, assisting, covering, or even referring patients for these procedures, regardless of the patient’s wishes or their best interests, and applies to all health-care facilities that receive federal funding.

This reverses an anti-discrimination policy put in place by the Obama administration, and will have a terrible effect on the health care outcomes among women and people in the LGBT community, especially those in already underserved areas.

Florida’s House and Senate have each passed bills to require people with felony records to fulfill “all financial obligations ordered by a judge” before getting their right to vote restored. If implemented, the law would disenfranchise 500,000 of the 1.4 million former prisoners Florida just voted to re-enfranchise. The silver lining here is that this is an unconstitutional poll tax and courts should—read, should—strike it down.

The Trump administration reduced safety regulations on offshore drilling that the Obama administration imposed after the Deepwater Horizon explosion, which killed 11 people and caused the worst oil spill in American history in 2010. Former oil lobbyist turned Interior Department Secretary David Bernhardt announced the plan on Thursday. Drain the swamp! [Then fill it back up with light, sweet crude.]

A federal court in Ohio has ruled that the state’s congressional map is unconstitutionally gerrymandered to favor Republicans, and ordered new maps to be drawn by June 20, before another election takes place.

Cyclone Fani, the strongest storm to hit India in 20 years, threatens more than 28 million people who live in its path. Over one million people have already evacuated, with millions more expected to follow.

The House has passed a bill meant to force President Trump to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. and rejoin the Paris climate agreement, which sets global targets to reduce emissions. This is the first time in a decade that Congress has advanced legislation addressing climate change, though it is expected to die in the Republican-controlled Senate because the GOP is the only major political party in the world made up of climate deniers.

Over 200 of the world’s best women’s hockey players will boycott professional hockey leagues this year to protest for the salaries and resources they deserve. Despite stipends and sponsorships for top players who join national teams, some are paid as little as $2,000 per season, and are forced to pay for their own health insurance. Many players have called on the NHL to support a women’s league the way the NBA supports the WNBA.

Former White House Chief of Staff/all-around trash human being John Kelly has joined the board of the company that operates the largest facility the government uses to jail—sorry, “detain”—migrant children in the country.

Ramadan, a holy month of fasting from sun-up to sun-down for Muslims worldwide, begins on Sunday in the U.S. and U.K., and on Monday in most Muslim countries.

The new Miss USA Cheslie Kryst is a lawyer from North Carolina who does free legal work for people in prisons.