Gutarjoe: November 2021

Tuesday, November 30, 2021

Greece will mandate the COVID-19 vaccine for anyone over 60, or make them pay fines - NPR

Patients queue to get vaccinated against COVID-19, in Aristotelous Square, in the center of the Greek city of Thessaloniki on November 26, 2021. Sakis Mitroldis /AFP via Getty Images

Sakis Mitroldis /AFP via Getty Images

Facing a surge in coronavirus infections and stalled vaccination drives, two nations in the European Union are giving their citizens an ultimatum: take the COVID-19 vaccine or face the financial consequences.

Greece announced Tuesday that everyone 60 and older must be vaccinated by mid-January or face monthly fines of 100 euros (roughly $114).

Earlier this month, Austria said it would require its entire adult population to be vaccinated by Feb. 1. Those who refuse are set to pay up to 3,600 euros, or just over $4,000, in fines.

"It's not a punishment," Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told his cabinet in a televised meeting. "I would say it is the price for health. It is also an act of justice for the vaccinated. It's not right that they are deprived of health care services because others stubbornly refuse to do the obvious."

Greece is the first EU country to target an age group with a vaccination mandate. Citing government data, Mitsotakis said about 83% of older Greeks are vaccinated. Those who are not — more than 500,000 people — are more likely to get seriously ill and die. Greece recorded more than 7,500 infections, hundreds of hospitalizations and 88 deaths on Tuesday alone, according to Greece's National Organization for Public Health.

The monthly fine for refusing the vaccine is substantial for retirees. The average pension is 730 euros a month.

Both Greece and Austria turned to compulsory vaccinations after a series of measures — including banning the unvaccinated from indoor venues — failed. Both countries have anti-vaccination movements, fueled by conspiracy theories, religion and anti-authoritarianism. In Austria, an unvaccinated far-right politician has promoted the use of the horse deworming drug ivermectin to treat COVID-19. His party joined thousands who took to the streets to protest lockdown measures and the vaccine mandate.

"Society should be sticking together, taking care of each other, in times like these but instead we are splitting into two worlds, the vaccinated and the unvaccinated," said Christine Bertl, a biochemist from Vienna who supports the mandatory vaccination effort. "And the unvaccinated think only about themselves."

Bertl added that they are refusing vaccines procured by the EU that could have gone to nations who cannot afford them.

More than 61% of Greeks and 67% of Austrians are vaccinated, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, though those numbers could soon increase. Some reports show that mandates are pushing the unvaccinated to get their shots.

The vaccine mandates come as the world scrambles to respond to the new omicron variant. Scientists say omicron appears to be highly transmissible, though researchers still have limited information about the variant. Infections have already appeared in several EU nations, including Austria. Mitsotakis say he expects the variant will likely reach Greece as well.

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Greece will mandate the COVID-19 vaccine for anyone over 60, or make them pay fines - NPR
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UN says global tourism losses to barely improve over 2020 as pandemic drags on - NPR

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Arriving South Korean tourists receive flower garlands at Phu Quoc international airport on November 20, 2021, as the island welcomes its first international tourists to arrive after a Covid-19 coronavirus vaccine passport scheme kicked off this month in Vietnam. NHAC NGUYEN/AFP via Getty Images

NHAC NGUYEN/AFP via Getty Images

A new report paints a bleak picture of the global tourism industry's ongoing recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, predicting that revenues in 2021 will only slightly improve on last year's historic losses.

The United Nations World Tourism Organization estimates that the contribution of tourism to the world economy this year will be $1.9 trillion — a slight improvement over last year's $1.6 trillion but still far lower than the $3.5 trillion the industry earned in 2019.

Among the reasons for the slow recovery is the continuing pandemic, and the recent emergence of the highly transmissible omicron variant presents another potential hurdle as the industry prepares for the upcoming winter holiday season.

"[W]e cannot let our guard down and need to continue our efforts to ensure equal access to vaccinations, coordinate travel procedures, make use of digital vaccination certificates to facilitate mobility, and continue to support the sector," Zurab Pololikashvili, Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization, said in a statement.

Global lockdowns and severe travel restrictions caused international tourism to nosedive by 73% in 2020, with about one billion fewer people traveling abroad than the year before.

But even as vaccines have become more widely available this year, the roll-out has been uneven, and the global tourism industry has struggled to bounce back amid the spread of variants and high infection rates in some parts of the world.

Through September of this year, there were still 76% fewer international tourists than in 2019, and the U.N. forecasts that the global tourism economy will end the year about 70% to 75% below 2019 levels.

The recovery of the tourism industry is regional, and some areas are faring better than others. Southern and Mediterranean Europe and North and Central America all saw international tourism through September increase over last year, and the Caribbean recorded a 55% jump in arrivals. But Asia and the Pacific saw 95% fewer international tourists compared to 2019.

There were some bright spots in the report. Domestic tourism is way up, as travelers are taking shorter trips closer to home. Also, both international and domestic travelers are spending more money per trip because of larger savings and pent-up demand, though that could also be due to longer stays and higher prices.

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Bob Blitz Held the NFL to Task Over the Rams' Relocation - The New York Times

How an N.F.L. insider turned into St. Louis’s best weapon against the league in the battle over the Rams’ relocation.

The ultimate fix-it man in his native St. Louis, Bob Blitz was once a key facilitator for the N.F.L.: He helped lure the Rams to St. Louis from Anaheim in 1995 and represented the operators of the stadium where the team played for 21 years. When the lease came up, he was asked to co-chair a task force to keep the Rams from leaving town.

But while Blitz and others amassed the financial commitments to build a new riverfront stadium, Rams owner E. Stanley Kroenke broke St. Louis residents’ hearts by sniffing out a new location in California. When the league gave Kroenke the greenlight to move, Blitz fought it in the way most disheartened Rams fans could only wish: in court.

For the past four years, the country’s most powerful league has found itself mired in a legal cage match with the city, the county of St. Louis and the operators of the Rams’ former stadium over the departure of the franchise, which left for Los Angeles in 2016. With a trial looming, the N.F.L. and Kroenke lost a foreboding number of motions that led the league to settle the case last week for $790 million, in a move that could create a precedent-setting legal road map for other spurned cities.

At the center of the fight over whether the league bent its own relocation guidelines to streamline the Rams’ exit, and deceived St. Louis in the process, stood Blitz.

Like most inside men, Blitz is an enigma, even in his hometown where high school affiliation and country club memberships are calling cards among the area’s elite. Outside of his day job, the extravagant Christmas party he throws each year at a fancy steakhouse and watching the occasional local wrestling tournament, Blitz is rarely seen on the social circuit in town.

Blitz, other lawyers involved in the case, and former officials who worked to keep the Rams in St. Louis declined interview requests, citing the litigation and a gag order. Blitz also did not respond to interview requests once the case had been settled.

Jeff Roberson/Associated Press

The N.F.L. declined to comment for this story.

Blitz, a longtime plaintiffs lawyer, typically represents workers, unions and consumers, not entire cities. But he’s earned a reputation for doggedness even though he does not crow about his victories in front of the television cameras.

He has also been involved with sports since his youth. Blitz played football and baseball and wrestled at University City High School. His father, Morris Blitz, was a school superintendent who introduced wrestling to students and in 1977 was part of the inaugural class inducted into the Missouri Wrestling Hall of Fame.

Morris Blitz taught that successful wrestling revolved around earning leverage, and that the little guy is just as important as the big guy.

They are characteristics the N.F.L. has learned were transferred to Bob Blitz, first as a friend and now as a foe.

The city of St. Louis, the county and the St. Louis Regional Convention and Sports Complex Authority — which operates the team’s former stadium and spent more than $17 million on the failed effort to keep the Rams in the city — accused the league and owners in 2017 of violating their own relocation guidelines when they voted to return the franchise to California, despite St. Louis coming up with plans for a new, $1.1 billion stadium.

“I’m going to be polite and just say that their proposal and the facts contained in there are inaccurate,” Blitz told Missouri Lawyers Media in 2016. “And that’s the polite word. If I were just a fan, I’d be irate.”

The legal team representing the plaintiffs featured lawyers from Dowd Bennett, one of the city’s most prominent firms that included Jay Nixon, the former governor of Missouri, who asked Blitz and Dave Peacock, a former top executive at Anheuser-Busch, to lead the task force to keep the team in the state.

“In spite of his presidential look based on the pictures that I’ve seen of him on the internet, he could walk into my office right now and I wouldn’t know who he is,” Eric Banks, a former St. Louis city counselor, said of Blitz.

Those who have worked with him describe him as a workaholic who gains energy from drawn-out courtroom battles against larger foes.

“Bulldog doesn’t really capture Bob,” said Catherine Hanaway, a former U.S. attorney and Missouri House Speaker, who has opposed Blitz in court. “He’s a bull. He is a physically strong, imposing, aggressive lawyer and the other adjective I’d use to describe him is connected.”

Hanaway and others say he works behind the scenes to bridge big gaps. They point to his work on the task force in 2014 and 2015, when he persuaded an array of public officials in a conservative state to pass financing for a new stadium.

“He plays a very insider’s game,” Hanaway said. “He has close relationships with governors, with mayors, but it’s a real trusted adviser kind of a relationship and if you have that with those kinds of decision makers, you also have to be somewhat discreet or they’re not going to trust you.”

Kyusung Gong/Associated Press

Blitz’s deep knowledge of the Rams’ tenure in St. Louis, and the team’s maneuvering that led to its departure, made him an unusual weapon for the city as the N.F.L. embarked on an uncharacteristic losing streak after batting down a similar lawsuit filed by the city of Oakland in federal court against the Raiders after that team relocated to Las Vegas.

After the league lost requests to have the case thrown out or moved into private arbitration, which would have prevented dragging N.F.L. business into the public record, it sought to have the trial transferred out of St. Louis to a more neutral jurisdiction. That request was also denied.

In July, St. Louis Circuit Judge Christopher McGraugh ruled that several owners had to disclose financial information about their teams because they could be personally liable for punitive damages, a decision that did not rest well with the oligarchs.

Last month, McGraugh fined Kansas City Chiefs owner Clark Hunt, New York Giants owner John Mara, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft all between $5,000 and $8,000 and threatened to hold them in contempt for failing to comply with his ruling.

The ruling that the N.F.L. did win may have ultimately been a tactical blunder. The league successfully petitioned to have Blitz removed from the case as a lawyer, but the change meant that he could have been called as a witness at trial, with his wealth of insider’s knowledge on full display from the witness chair.

Blitz had already made his impact on the case as a litigator.

Acutely aware of the league’s inner workings and personally invested — and presumably irate over their decision-making — he deposed some of the league’s most influential kingmakers, including Kroenke.

The two Missouri natives faced off, each born in 1947, and each having attended the University of Missouri. The one accused of turning his back on the city answered to the other, who was charged with extracting some revenge.

During their exchange, Blitz asked Kroenke if he had spoken to other owners about relocating to Los Angeles as early as 2013, a key factor in determining whether the league had negotiated in good faith with the St. Louis bundlers who were putting together a stadium proposal.

“Before October of 2013, did I ever talk to anyone, any owner about the opportunity or the option to move to L.A.?” Kroenke said. “I think I probably did.”

Kroenke said he did not recall how many team owners he had spoken with about a potential move.

Kevork Djansezian/Associated Press

In a separate deposition in October 2020, N.F.L. Commissioner Roger Goodell was pressed repeatedly on the question at the heart of the lawsuit: Did the N.F.L.’s team owners ignore their own relocation guidelines when they voted to allow the Rams to move? Goodell gave elusive responses on whether the owners had considered each of 12 predetermined factors or if they’d voted merely because a Los Angeles deal was available.

“And I will say it again that I think the ownership was very responsible in considering all of the various factors and really understanding the key issues and ultimately made a decision which is in the best interest of the N.F.L.,” Goodell said, according to a partial transcript of the deposition.

The realization that an answer like that was unlikely to satisfy a jury of Missouri residents, combined with the prospect of several N.F.L. owners being called to testify, made settling the case a more pragmatic option than opening a trial on Jan. 10, just weeks before the Super Bowl is scheduled to be played at SoFi Stadium, the splashy $5 billion venue in Inglewood, Calif., that Kroenke built after moving the team west.

In deciding to settle for $790 million, the N.F.L. closed its responsibility to Blitz and a city that has lost not just the Rams, but also the Cardinals, who left for Arizona after the 1987 season. But the league provided precedent for other scorned cities.

“The host cities may actually begin to gain leverage back,” said Daniel Wallach, a sports and gambling lawyer who has tracked the case.

For the N.F.L., the agreement ensures that a public rendering won’t happen and keeps private the juicy details of league business contained in the many documents pertaining to the lawsuit. It also ensures that the backbiting between team owners stays in house.

Before the league opted to settle, Kroenke and the other team owners appeared to be at each others’ throats as he, according to multiple news outlets, attempted to free himself of the indemnification agreement that held him liable for legal expenses and potential damages related to relocation litigation.

Now, Kroenke may have to pay for most or all of the settlement.

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Bob Blitz Held the NFL to Task Over the Rams' Relocation - The New York Times
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FTC Investigating Major Retailers Over Supply Chain Backlog - Nextgov

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GOP Reps. Mace, Greene spar over Rep. Boebert's Islamophobic comments - NBC News

WASHINGTON — Republican Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Nancy Mace of South Carolina threw jabs at each other on Tuesday after Mace condemned Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado for making anti-Muslim comments about a Democratic member.

In a tweet Tuesday morning, Greene called Mace "the trash of the GOP Conference."

"Mace you can back up off of @laurenboebert or just go hang with your real gal pals, the Jihad Squad," said Greene in the same tweet, following an interview Mace did on Sunday where she criticized Boebert for suggesting that fellow Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn. — who is Muslim and wears a hijab — was mistaken for a terrorist in an elevator both were riding in the U.S. Capitol.

Nov. 26, 202101:18

"I have time after time condemned my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for racist tropes and remarks that I find disgusting and this is no different than any others," said Mace on CNN.

Mace responded to Greene's tweet with a profane series of emojis to call her crazy without actually using the words.

In another tweet, Mace said, "What I’m not is a religious bigot (or racist). You might want to try that over there in your little “league"."

Boebert, who is known for incendiary rhetoric, recounted the elevator scene in a video in which she appeared to be addressing a group of supporters, referring to Omar as a member of the "jihad squad." Omar said such a moment never occurred.

Boebert later apologized "to anyone in the Muslim community I offended" and said she reached out to Omar's office to speak with her directly. However, when the two later spoke on the phone, Boebert refused to publicly apologize and Omar abruptly ended the call.

"There is only so much grace we can extend to others as humans before we must learn to cut our loses or hang up on someone in this case," she said in a tweet.

Teaganne Finn

Teaganne Finn is a political reporter for NBC News.

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GOP Reps. Mace, Greene spar over Rep. Boebert's Islamophobic comments - NBC News
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Lululemon Sues Peloton Over Patent Infringement - The New York Times

The athletic apparel retailer Lululemon filed a lawsuit against the fitness company Peloton on Monday, accusing it of patent infringement over the designs of a new line of leggings and sports bras.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, accuses Peloton of trade dress infringement, false designation of origin and unfair competition. Lululemon is seeking an injunction against Peloton as well as a jury trial, damages and other monetary relief.

Peloton and Lululemon ended a co-branding relationship this year, a split that Peloton described as amicable, according to court documents. Peloton introduced a new apparel brand in September.

In its suit, Lululemon said that five Peloton-branded women’s bra and legging products, including the Strappy Bra, the Cadent Laser Dot Bra and the Cadent Laser Dot Legging, “were infringing” on six Lululemon patents.

Lululemon also claimed that a Peloton product labeled One Luxe Tight was an imitation of one of Lululemon’s best sellers, the Align Pant.

“We are confident in our position and look forward to properly resolving this case through the courts,” Shannon Higginson, senior vice president, general counsel and chief compliance officer at Lululemon, said in a statement.

Lawyers for Peloton did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Tuesday.

“Unlike innovators such as Lululemon, Peloton did not spend the time, effort and expense to create an original product line,” Lululemon said in its complaint. “Instead, Peloton imitated several of Lululemon’s innovative designs and sold knockoffs of Lululemon’s products, claiming them as its own.”

The suit is the latest escalation in a dispute between the two popular brands. On Nov. 24, Peloton filed a complaint in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, asking for a court declaration that it had not infringed on any of Lululemon’s patents.

Peloton said in its complaint that its merchandise “has clear and obvious differences that allow the products to be easily distinguished” from Lululemon’s products.

On Nov. 11, lawyers for Lululemon sent a cease-and-desist letter to Peloton saying that the company would sue unless Peloton stopped selling “copy-cat products” that infringed on Lululemon’s “design patent and trade dress rights.”

In its complaint, Peloton said that Lululemon’s “allegations lack any merit,” adding that the companies’ “brands and logos are also distinctive and well-recognized, making confusion between products a virtual impossibility.”

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Covid looms over Biden’s presidency, once more and always - Politico

The White House can’t shake Covid-19.

President Joe Biden was elected a year ago to manage an out-of-control pandemic, and he secured some undeniable early triumphs by steering a massive Covid relief bill through Congress while ramping up a vaccine distribution program to get shots into the arms of tens of millions of Americans.

But right as the president was celebrating progress in the pandemic fight over the summer, the Delta variant sent cases surging, rattling the nation’s economy, and sending the president’s poll numbers tumbling. Now the sudden emergence of the Omicron variant has sparked fears of another devastating wave of the virus, one that could endanger the White House’s plans to focus on Biden’s legislative agenda and efforts to battle inflation and a bottlenecked supply chain.

Hoping to avoid some of the toll that Delta took, the administration is moving quickly to respond. But little is yet known about the new variant, first identified just days ago in South Africa, complicating exactly what they can say or do.

The early signs are ominous, compelling nations across the globe — including the United States — to curtail travel and urge citizens to hurriedly receive their vaccinations and booster shots. Outwardly, Biden on Monday tried to tamp down the sense of growing dread about the Omicron variant even as the United Nations warned that the level of risk was “very high” and could have “severe consequences.”

"This variant is a cause for concern, not a cause for panic. We have the best vaccine in the world, the best medicines, the best scientists,” Biden told the nation on Monday after meeting with his top health officials at the White House. “We will fight this variant with scientific and knowledgeable actions and speed, not chaos and confusion.”

But within the walls of the West Wing, there was recognition of the political peril that looms, along with an implicit recognition that the public may not be willing to stomach the more dramatic measures to combat the new variant, even if Biden asked them to.

“We’re still in the middle of fighting a pandemic and people are sick and tired of that,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said. “We are, too.”

White House aides are also grappling with the best means to deliver their message around Omicron, as frustration long ago set in among the president and his inner circle about how masks and vaccinations have grown politicized. Anthony Fauci, the president’s chief Covid adviser, has long been a trusted, go-to voice on public health, but he has become a villain among many on the right, leading aides to weigh whether he should cut back on appearances. But Fauci has been empowered to set his own media schedule and his National Institutes of Health supervisor, Francis Collins, another favored voice in the West Wing, has announced he will be stepping down, making the need for trusted communicators even greater.

Biden’s advisers blame the pandemic for most of the setbacks that have befallen his administration over the past several months, from soaring inflation to the struggle by many businesses to hire workers. And they blame the pandemic’s staying power on an intransigent minority resisting vaccinations, which has kept hospitals busy and forced even those who have diligently followed public health guidelines to remain masked up.

Poll after poll reflects a sense of unease within the nation, as people gear up for another holiday season shadowed by a surge in virus cases. Americans are frustrated and antsy and increasingly they have taken to blaming the man behind the Resolute Desk.

“He probably would not have been elected without the virus and now he has to contend with the difficulties it brings,” said David Axelrod, former senior adviser to President Barack Obama. “These are sobering thoughts heading into the holiday season: Part of what he’s coping with is a sense that things are out of control and he was elected to get things under control.”

“From a political standpoint, Biden’s ability to put the virus in the rearview mirror is paramount,” Axelrod added. “Any scenario in which Dems escape a catastrophe in 2022 relies on people feeling better about the pandemic and the economy.”

In Biden’s first months, his administration moved swiftly to manage the pandemic. Gone were the scattershot briefings and tweets that defined then-President Donald Trump’s coronavirus response, replaced by somber experts and disciplined messaging. For Biden, who made leading the nation out of the pandemic the central plank of his presidency, the result was strong poll numbers as cases fell, the country reopened and society unmasked.

The Fourth of July was meant to be the moment when the nation was to “declare our independence from a deadly virus,” as Biden said then. The president and first lady hosted 1,000 first responders and military families for a barbecue on the South Lawn.

But the celebration was premature and the White House event is now looked upon with regret by many in the West Wing.

Though the Delta variant had been simmering overseas, the administration was caught flat-footed and was slow to react to both the revitalized virus and the reluctance of many Americans to get vaccinated. Biden only resorted to vaccine mandates after cases soared across much of the nation. His rhetoric also toughened. He called out social media companies for not fighting vaccine disinformation and placed blame for the virus on the unvaccinated and the Republican governors who enabled them.

While vaccination rates have ticked up and cases have gone down, they remain at worrisome levels, especially as the Omicron variant emerges. Some reporting suggests the new variant could be significantly more transmissible than even Delta — though experts caution that a fuller picture of the new strain won’t be possible for another week or two.

“The speed with which it has taken off in South Africa is concerning and even from people who tend to be very sober and not freak out, there is real concern about the effectiveness of the vaccines against it,” said Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health.

“The White House does need to think about worst-case scenarios,” Jha continued. “But the president should also publicly communicate to Americans that this is not March 2020, and that we have a lot of tools we did not have before. We can manage our way through this.”

Questions also loom as to whether the Omicron variant can evade the vaccines’ protections. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday recommended that all adults get a booster shot. But that only raised questions as to whether the administration was too sluggish to recommend those third shots in the first place. There had been finger-pointing internally about the pace of recommending boosters, with some states and cities — including municipalities run by Democrats — opening up eligibility ahead of guidance from Washington.

“It’s been a frustrating moment, and there has been misinformation and many Americans have been confused as to what to do. And we do have a cumbersome federal system,”said Zeke Emanuel, the vice provost for global initiatives at the University of Pennsylvania. “But the focus can’t just be on boosters, it needs to be on getting more Americans vaccinated in the first place.”

Erin Banco contributed to this report.

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Covid looms over Biden’s presidency, once more and always - Politico
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Sen. Ron Johnson is pushing Wisconsin lawmakers to take over elections system - NPR

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The Wisconsin state Capitol in Madison is shown in 2017. Scott Bauer/AP

Scott Bauer/AP

Debate over the 2020 presidential election rages on in the political swing state of Wisconsin, where a prominent Republican lawmaker wants to strip the state's bipartisan elections agency of its power — and give it to the Republican-controlled Legislature.

Wisconsin U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson first surfaced the idea of state lawmakers taking over control of federal elections in the state. He cites part of the U.S. Constitution that says state legislatures can set the "times, places and manner" of federal elections.

"I think it's imperative that we restore confidence in our election system for everybody," Johnson told Wisconsin Public Radio last week.

Johnson said he has "completely lost confidence" in the Wisconsin Elections Commission following a nonpartisan report on how the 2020 election was run in Wisconsin. The report, which was released late last month, found no widespread voter fraud or wrongdoing that would have changed the outcome of the 2020 election, but made dozens of recommendations for updating elections commission policies and state laws related to elections. It also outlined some ways the elections commission didn't follow some state laws in 2020.

"I think the state Legislature needs to reassert its authority [and] make sure that, in the federal elections, our election clerks follow state law, not guidances that are contrary to state law," Johnson said.

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Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington in April. T.J. Kirkpatrick/AP

T.J. Kirkpatrick/AP

Several of the transgressions outlined in the report stemmed from elections commission guidance to local officials during the COVID-19 pandemic. Those included:

Guidance that officials may adjourn before completing the counting of ballots on election night "as a result of unforeseen circumstances." State law makes no such allowance.
Guidance that officials may move polling places, under certain circumstances. State law makes no such allowance.
Guidance that officials should not send special voting deputies — individuals deputized by clerks to help with voting — into nursing homes and care facilities because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which conflicts with state law.

The guidance allowing for polling place relocation flexibility was in response to a state public health order that closed many polling places on short notice ahead of the April presidential primary.

Regarding nursing homes, commissioners who supported the proposal — five of the body's six bipartisan appointees — said they feared special voting deputies would be turned away from facilities because of pandemic restrictions. They called for absentee ballots to be used instead, a move they contend preserved residents' right to vote.

However, a sheriff in southeastern Wisconsin has alleged the nursing home guidance allowed eight residents at a local care facility to be inappropriately influenced by staff during voting. He alleged nursing home staff, who had no specialized training in helping residents to vote, encouraged vulnerable residents to vote, or to vote a certain way.

At a press conference last month, Sheriff Christopher Schmaling, who has publicly supported former President Donald Trump, called for the five members of the Wisconsin Elections Commission who voted for the policy to be charged with felonies.

"This is a law that was broken, and everybody who votes ought to feel the pain of that," Schmaling said.

The local district attorney hasn't pursued any criminal charges following the allegations — for members of the elections commission or nursing home staff.

The head of the elections commission faces calls to resign but says she won't

Since the election report and the nursing home allegations, the head of the Wisconsin Elections Commission, Meagan Wolfe, has faced calls from state GOP leaders to resign. Wolfe has said she won't step down, and argues Republicans are inappropriately targeting her.

"I do think that this is partisan politics at its worst," she said earlier this month. "But, at the same time, I have an obligation as the state's nonpartisan chief election official to rise above it."

If Wolfe were to step down, the Republican-controlled Legislature would likely get to name her replacement.

While the top two GOP leaders in Wisconsin have been sharply critical of the elections commission in recent weeks, they seem cool to Johnson's idea for state lawmakers to take over federal elections. They recently met with the senator, but state Assembly Speaker Robin Vos told reporters in Madison they didn't talk about Johnson's proposal.

"The idea that somehow that we're going to take over the elections and do all those things ... I've never studied that," Vos said. "I don't know about it."

The state Senate majority leader has cited legal concerns with Johnson's proposal

State Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu has said he's not sure how a state legislative takeover of elections would work. He has also pointed out the elections agency has expertise lawmakers do not.

"I am not sure how that would be accomplished," LeMahieu told a Milwaukee TV station. "We have a state [elections] agency for a reason, to look at nomination signatures, to help candidates along the way, and to make sure clerks around the state know how to administer elections."

LeMahieu also cited some legal concerns with moving forward with the plan. Opponents have argued decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court and Wisconsin Supreme Court would bar the Legislature from taking such action. Others have contended there would be confusion if, amid legal battle over who has proper constitutional and legal authority, state lawmakers and the elections commission both issued elections guidance to clerks.

Johnson has acknowledged that possibility, but said he hopes it wouldn't come to that.

"I think that would be a very tragic result," he said. "I would imagine some counties would follow the state Legislature's guidance, which is what I believe they should do, and some might follow what [the elections commission] says."

For his part, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers has called the proposal a vast overreach by Republicans. All this year, Evers has stymied GOP-backed election bills, including new limits on absentee voting passed by the Legislature over the summer.

"As long as I'm governor of this great state, anti-democracy efforts like this will never see the light of day," the governor said at the time.

But Evers is up for reelection next year, and his top GOP challenger, former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, has joined the chorus of Republican criticism of the elections commission. Kleefisch filed a lawsuit against the commission over its 2020 guidance with the state Supreme Court earlier this month.

If Kleefisch is elected and Republicans maintain control of the Legislature, they would have a wide open road to change elections in Wisconsin — including who controls them.

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Sen. Ron Johnson is pushing Wisconsin lawmakers to take over elections system - NPR
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2021 NFL season, Week 12: What we learned from Washington's win over Seahawks on Monday night - NFL.com

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This game was won in the trenches. Washington's focus on its offensive line -- even amid injuries -- paid off Monday night for a Football Team intent on running the ball relentlessly, helping them rack up 152 total rushing yards, with Antonio Gibson (29 carries, 111 yards) serving as the bell cow. J.D. McKissic enjoyed a nice revenge game against his former team, running seven times for 30 yards and a touchdown and catching five passes for 26 yards, which included a reception on a screen for Washington's first touchdown of the night. Washington was unafraid of challenging Seattle up front, repeatedly bashing into the defense with the belief it would produce positive plays. It did, and on one drive in particular -- an 11-play, 73-yard march driven by healthy gains on the ground -- punctuated the difference in ability up front. Washington ran it down Seattle's throat on a key scoring drive and rode the run late, taking marginal gains while bleeding clock, finishing with a dominant win in time of possession and a two-point victory.
Even without Chase Young and Montez Sweat, Washington's defense still brings the juice. The Football Team only recorded two sacks Monday, but stuffed the run all night and created enough havoc up front on pass rushes to make Russell Wilson frequently uncomfortable, undercutting Seattle's passing attack. A complete lack of a rushing attack -- Wilson finished as the Seahawks' leading rusher with 16 yards on two carries -- put the Seahawks in long down-and-distance situations, leading to a conversion rate of 4 of 12 from the NFL's worst team on third down, and it was statistically worse than that until the final drive. It wasn't until Washington spent a final possession in prevent that Seattle finally found consistent success through the air, and after losing the time of possession battle by a massive margin (41:10 to 18:20), the Seahawks didn't have enough time to take the lead. They could only hope for a touchdown and a game-tying two-point conversion, and Kendall Fuller ruined those dreams with an interception on the conversion attempt. Keep-away worked for Washington, and so did its stifling efforts up front.
Russell Wilson deserves better, but so do his pass-catchers. First in line for an apology or an explanation is DK Metcalf, who was essentially nonexistent for a half of football and recorded his first reception in the game's final minute (on four total targets). Wilson can pass the buck to his offensive line, which failed to adequately protect him well enough to give him time to find open targets, turning the offense into one of two outcomes: quick passes underneath or deep shots to Tyler Lockett in one-on-one situations, but without advantageous positioning. One early deep completion to Lockett inspired hope, but the Seahawks proved it was unsustainable by the time the game ended. After Wilson spent an offseason publicly requesting more help up front, then missed a month with a finger injury suffered by getting hit while throwing, he's right back where he was a year ago. Even worse, the Seahawks are miles behind where they were last season and could be headed for an offseason of significant change.
Game reps are helping Taylor Heinicke's growth. Heinicke isn't an elite quarterback by any means, but he's spurred a conversation about his viability as Washington's quarterback beyond 2021 because of how he's improved with the more time he's spent on the field. Heinicke completed 27 of 35 passes for 223 yards, one touchdown and one interception (off a deflection), and largely avoided the colossal mistakes that would have hindered Washington's chances. Instead of pushing the ball downfield in risky fashion, Heinicke was content with taking the open man underneath. With seven minutes left to play, 11 of Heinicke's 20 completions were to running backs. One -- a screen pass to McKissic -- went for a touchdown, and Heinicke repeatedly found open targets underneath Seattle's at-the-sticks zone coverage to keep Washington on or near schedule. A key fourth-down completion might have been his best, when Heinicke sat in the pocket, held two defenders (one being Bobby Wagner) at an underneath target with his eyes, then threw it over both of them to DeAndre Carter for a crucial conversion. Washington is very much in the playoff hunt because of wins like Monday night's, one that wouldn't have happened if Heinicke didn't lean on his team's rushing attack and accept short completions are sometimes more valuable than highlight-reel plays.
Hats off to Michael Dickson. Seattle is 3-8 and headed nowhere but to the land of frustration, but the Seahawks' punter had an excellent night. Thanks to Seattle's inability to convert on third down and maintain possession, Dickson was tasked with punting eight times and racked up 400 yards, averaging 50 yards per punt and dropping three inside the 20. It made for long fields for Washington (which the Football Team used to its advantage in the time of possession battle) and kept the game within reach, which is precisely a punter's job.

Next Gen stat of the game: Taylor Heinicke completed 23 of 25 passes of fewer than 10-plus air yards, gaining 166 yards and scoring one touchdown.

NFL Research: With his return of a blocked point-after attempt for a two-point conversion, the 279-pound Rasheem Green became the heaviest player to score a defensive two-point conversion since rule changes made the play possible in 2015. Green covered 94 yards of total distance and reached 18.4 miles per hour on the return, per Next Gen Stats.

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Monday, November 29, 2021

Republicans stall defense bill over amendment dispute - Politico

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell warned that he'll oppose a vote to cut off debate on the Senate version of the annual National Defense Authorization Act, citing GOP calls for more amendment votes. | J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo

Must-pass defense policy legislation hit a fresh snag in the Senate on Monday as Republicans blocked the bill from advancing, with no clear path to resolving a partisan dispute over amendment votes.

An effort to cut off debate on the Senate version of the annual National Defense Authorization Act resulted in a 45-51 vote, well short of the 60 votes needed to move the legislation forward.

It’s the latest setback for the major defense policy legislation, which has little margin for error as House and Senate leaders aim to send a compromise bill to President Joe Biden’s desk before the end of the year. Debate on the measure had hit an impasse before Thanksgiving, when several Republican senators objected to amendment votes in protest of their proposals being left out.

Majority Leader Chuck Schumer criticized Republicans for “halting the process” over a handful of GOP senators not getting votes.

“For a while now Republicans have claimed they wanted to pass the National Defense Authorization Act immediately,” Schumer said following the vote. “But a few moments ago, Republicans just blocked legislation to support the troops, support our families, keep Americans safe. Republican dysfunction has again derailed bipartisan progress.”

Ahead of Monday’s procedural vote, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell vowed to oppose advancing the bill further without progress on amendments, citing GOP calls for votes on measures such as sanctions over Russia's Nord Stream 2 pipeline to Germany.

"Considering sanctions on the pipeline that fuels [Russian President Vladimir] Putin's encroachment over Europe, including provisions from Senator [Jim] Risch, that closely mirror language that the House added unanimously is certainly worth the Senate's time," McConnell said.

All Republicans except Maine Sen. Susan Collins voted to filibuster the measure. A handful of Democrats opposed advancing the legislation, while Schumer voted no in order to bring up a procedural motion to reconsider the vote at a later time.

The failed vote means senators will need to work out their dispute to advance the defense bill, though it’s not immediately clear what that compromise might be. It will also consume floor time during a week in which Congress also needs to clear another government funding patch to avoid a shutdown at midnight on Friday.

McConnell criticized Schumer on the floor for delaying debate on the bill for months after it was approved by the Armed Services Committee and for moving to cut off debate without additional amendment votes. But it was objections from GOP senators that scuttled votes on nearly 20 amendments from senators in both parties before the Thanksgiving recess.

A deal forged by Senate Armed Services Chair Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and ranking Republican Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma to hold roll call votes on an array of amendments collapsed the week before Thanksgiving as seven Republicans objected to protest the exclusion of their proposals.

Among the objectors, Risch, the top Senate Foreign Relations Republican, and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) called for a vote on their Nord Stream 2 sanctions proposal.

Despite bipartisan backing for punitive actions against Russia, the Biden administration opposes further sanctions on the pipeline, arguing it would alienate European allies.

With votes torpedoed, Democrats shelved the bill until after the holiday and set up votes to end debate and move to final passage this week, to be followed by negotiations with the House.

But the impasse remained Monday evening, as McConnell hit Democrats over the pipeline sanctions issue, noting similar language was adopted in the House defense bill that passed in September.

On the Senate floor, Reed lamented the impasse, noting the bipartisan process that produced the bill and saying the Senate “demonstrated irresponsibility” in holding up the bill, arguing the holdups were “not central to the purpose” of the bill.

“It will be done. … And we’ll have to use procedures that are appropriate to get it done,” Reed said. “But we just missed an opportunity to send a clear message that we support this legislation, we support our troops, we’re going to go to final passage.”

With the clock ticking, Risch, who objected this month in order to force a vote on his pipeline sanctions proposal, openly wondered about the path forward.

"I’m just astounded by where we are, on the cusp of December. I don’t know how this gets done,” Risch said. "What’s the path forward? I don’t know. I truly don’t."

Andrew Desiderio contributed to this report.

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Wisconsin GOP lawmakers want the state legislature to take over federal elections - NPR

Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin is pushing state lawmakers to consider stripping the bipartisan state elections agency of its control over federal elections.

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

In the swing state of Wisconsin, debate over the 2020 presidential election rages on. Investigations into the election continue there. And now GOP lawmakers want to strip the state's bipartisan elections agency of its power and give that power to the Republican-controlled state legislature. Wisconsin Public Radio's Laurel White reports.

LAUREL WHITE, BYLINE: The idea came from Wisconsin U.S. Senator Ron Johnson. The Republican cites part of the U.S. Constitution that says state legislatures can set the times, places and manner of federal elections. He says it's time for the Wisconsin legislature to, quote, "reassert its power."

RON JOHNSON: I think it's imperative that we restore confidence in our election system for everybody.

WHITE: Johnson says that confidence isn't possible while the Wisconsin Elections Commission is running things. Last month, a nonpartisan audit of the 2020 election found some guidance issued by the agency last year conflicted with state law. Because of the pandemic, many polling places had been shuttered ahead of the presidential primary, and the guidance let clerks set new locations on their own. But Johnson says the agency was out of line by giving clerks that leeway.

JOHNSON: The election commission issued these guidances that were contrary to state law. And so, no, I've completely lost confidence in the Wisconsin Election Commission.

WHITE: Other guidance told clerks to stop sending specialized workers into some nursing homes to help with voting, which is also required under state law. The homes were locked down because of the pandemic. A sheriff in southeastern Wisconsin says the nursing home guidance allowed eight residents at a local care facility to be inappropriately influenced by staff during voting. Sheriff Christopher Schmaling, who has publicly supported former President Donald Trump, has called on five members of the Wisconsin Elections Commission who voted for the policy to be charged with felonies.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

CHRISTOPHER SCHMALING: This is a law that was broken, and everybody who votes ought to feel the pain of that.

WHITE: The commissioners feared workers would be turned away and called for absentee ballots to be used instead. They said that preserved residents' right to vote. The local district attorney hasn't pursued any criminal charges following the allegations for members of the elections commission or nursing home staff. Meagan Wolfe is the commission's administrator. Since the election report and the nursing home allegations, she's faced calls from state GOP leaders to resign. She says she won't do it.

MEAGAN WOLFE: I do think that this is partisan politics at its worst. But at the same time, I have an obligation as the state's nonpartisan chief election official to rise above it.

WHITE: If Wolfe were to step down, the Republican-controlled legislature would likely get to name her replacement. While the top two GOP leaders in Wisconsin are critical of the elections commission, they seem cool to Johnson's idea for state lawmakers to take over federal elections. They recently met with the senator. But State Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says they didn't talk about Johnson's proposal.

ROBIN VOS: The idea of somehow that we're going to take over the elections and do all those things - I've never studied that. I don't know about it. But that was not our discussion.

WHITE: For his part, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers has called the proposal a vast overreach by Republicans. All this year, Evers has stymied GOP-backed election bills.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

TONY EVERS: As long as I am governor of this great state, anti-democracy efforts like this will never see the light of day.

WHITE: But Evers is up for reelection next year, and his top GOP challenger has joined the chorus of Republican criticism of the elections commission. If she's elected, and Republicans maintain control of the legislature, they would have a wide-open road to change elections in Wisconsin, including who controls them. For NPR News, I'm Laurel White in Madison.

(SOUNDBITE OF THE TEMPER TRAP'S "DRUM SONG")

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

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Oklahoma 'surprised, disappointed' over Lincoln Riley's move to USC, but excited for future - ESPN

6:26 PM ET

A day after being shocked by Lincoln Riley's abrupt departure for the USC job, Oklahoma president Joe Harroz and athletic director Joe Castiglione held a news conference to discuss Riley's exit and reintroduce a familiar face in interim coach Bob Stoops.

"We're here today, surprised by yesterday, but with unlimited excitement for tomorrow," Castiglione said.

All three spoke of their disappointment in Riley's decision, but indicated there was nothing he said that led them to believe he was leaving because of any dissatisfaction at Oklahoma or with the impending move to the SEC.

"He made a personal decision," Harroz said. "Were we disappointed? Absolutely. And that disappointment lasts until you realize you've now got to move forward. I mean, we'd like more notice."

Castiglione said that when Riley was told of the SEC move, he didn't share any reservations.

"He was engaged in our thoughts about it. He was definitely on board with it. And in many conversations since that announcement was made, he continued to be very much on board with it," Castiglione said, adding that he and Harroz had been discussing an enhanced contract for Riley for some time. "There wasn't any mention of unrest."

Castiglione said the process of Riley's departure went as quickly for them as it did for fans.

"On Sunday morning I got a call from him that says he was considering and would speak to USC and then he will get back to us," Castiglione said. "He agreed to meet a couple hours later. And president Harroz and Lincoln and I met and he told us that he'd had a visit and he was making the decision to take a unique opportunity."

Despite the speed of the process, Castiglione indicated that he had no knowledge that USC had engaged with Riley during the season.

"I have absolutely no reason to believe based on the conversations I've had with him that there were any conversations prior to the time he informed us," Castiglione said.

Harroz said he and Castiglione then turned to Stoops, calling him to ask if he would be interested in serving as interim coach. Before they could complete the question, Harroz said, Stoops interrupted and said, "Of course I will. Anything I can do I'll do."

Stoops, meanwhile, said he was on the golf course when he got the call.

"I wasn't playing well. That's the only reason I answered," he said.

But Stoops wasted no time getting back into a familiar role as the face of the Oklahoma football program, selling the university and looking back at his first news conference in Norman 23 years ago. He acknowledged legendary Sooners coach Barry Switzer, who was in attendance, and said the Oklahoma program will be fine despite losing Riley.

"When I arrived here on December 1, 1998, there was something to be concerned about," Stoops said. "Four straight years without a winning record. No bowl games. Two years later, we were 13-0 and won the national [championship]. This place is in a hell of a lot better shape than it was in December 1, 1998. We're a perennial top 5, 10, 15 team every single year. We're playing that kind of football.

"This job is going to attract the very best in the coaching world. And they're already lined up and cold calling Joe. There's not one guy, one person in the history of this program that's bigger than the program -- coach Switzer, myself or Lincoln Riley."

Stoops said he already has been calling recruits, meeting with players and their families and working with several familiar faces on the coaching stuff. He even said he'd be out on the road recruiting on Monday night.

"I think it's great," he said. "My wife's glad I'm out of the house."

Castiglione, in turn, said the allure of the job is evident based on the reaction he's heard from other coaches.

"People are reaching out that some people would never believe have interest in it," Castiglione said. "That's Oklahoma for you."

Oklahoma has lost several star recruits since Riley's announcement, and several other players have indicated they will explore the transfer portal. Stoops said he understood that players have to examine their future, but added that he's there to counsel them, beginning with being in Sunday's meeting when Riley informed the team.

"They were, of course, blindsided -- they were in shock," Stoops said. "They were very respectful of coach Riley as he addressed them. Some even clapped for him as he left, but in shock."

As for a replacement, Castiglione declined to set a timetable or discuss the characteristics he's looking for in a head coach. Castiglione hired Stoops and Riley when they were both assistant coaches. Stoops was defensive coordinator at Florida and Riley took over after serving as Stoops' offensive coordinator for two years.

"Why would I change models?" Castiglione said, though he said he wouldn't rule out a sitting head coach over a rising-star assistant. "My benchmark is hiring the best coach for the University of Oklahoma and always has been."

"It's gonna be stealthy as usual," he added. "But we know the importance of time and timing. So we'll move it quickly."

The trio were upbeat about moving forward despite the initial shock. Stoops remarked that it was just five years ago that he stepped aside, and he delivered the same message now that he did then.

"It's Lincoln's choice to leave," Stoops said. "It's OK. You're the ones who are going to make all the plays or not make the plays. You guys win and lose. You're OU football. He isn't. I'm not. And any other coach who comes here isn't. OU football has been here a long time. And it isn't going anywhere else. It's going to be here and it's going to be at the top of college football and it's going to continue that way."

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Mark Esper sues the Pentagon over book redactions about Trump White House - NPR

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Then-Defense Secretary Mark Esper testifies during a House Armed Services Committee hearing in July 2020 in Washington, D.C. Greg Nash/Getty Images

Greg Nash/Getty Images

Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper has filed suit against the Pentagon, which he says has ordered him to redact portions of an "unvarnished and candid memoir" that he hopes to publish about his days in the Trump White House.

Esper, who was fired by then-President Donald Trump after the November 2020 election, says the Department of Defense, which he led for nearly 16 months, had "arbitrarily" redacted the manuscript for the book, A Sacred Oath.

"Significant text is being improperly withheld from publication ... under the guise of classification," claims the lawsuit filed Sunday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, as reported by The New York Times. "The withheld text is crucial to telling important stories discussed in the manuscript."

Balancing transparency and security

The lawsuit, obtained by NPR, describes Esper's short tenure leading the Defense Department as "an unprecedented time of civil unrest, public health crises, growing threats abroad, Pentagon transformation, and a White House seemingly bent on circumventing the Constitution."

Promotional copy on Amazon says the book will reveal "the shocking details of [Esper's] tumultuous tenure while serving in the Trump administration." The book is slated to be published in May by William Morrow.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told NPR in a statement that the department was aware of Esper's concerns. "As with all such reviews, the department takes seriously its obligation to balance national security with an author's narrative desire," he said, adding that since it is now a legal matter, there would be no further comment.

A high-level account of the Trump era

Esper was fired on Nov. 9, 2020, reportedly as a result of a number of policy differences — most notably his pushback on Trump's threats to use active-duty military personnel to respond to Black Lives Matter protests. Trump wrote in a tweet that Esper had been "terminated."

In a tweet on Sunday, Esper's lawyer, Mark Zaid, said that the former secretary of defense is the "highest-ranking official to ever sue" to challenge such redactions.

In an email to NPR, Zaid added that it was "highly unusual for someone as high as a cabinet official to not have sufficient opportunities to discuss any expressed [government] concerns."

The approval process

The suit says that Esper submitted the manuscript last May and that when he received a response last month, it contained redactions to parts of 60 pages.

The suit says that Esper emailed Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin this month after he was told "to not quote former President Trump and others in meetings [and] to not describe conversations between the former president and me, and to not use certain verbs or nouns when describing historical events."

Esper is bound by secrecy rules to give the Pentagon a first look at any potentially sensitive manuscript.

"For nearly six months, I patiently followed the formal process, only to have my unclassified manuscript arbitrarily redacted without clearly being told why," Esper said in his statement, adding that he was disappointed with the current administration for what he considers an infringement on his constitutional rights.

Book disputes like Esper's date back decades, with former officials at odds with current administrations balancing transparency and national security. In some cases, the books have gone on to publication despite objections, like in the case of former national security adviser John Bolton.

NPR national security correspondent Tom Bowman contributed to this report.

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Tuesday, November 30, 2021

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The state Senate majority leader has cited legal concerns with Johnson's proposal

2021 NFL season, Week 12: What we learned from Washington's win over Seahawks on Monday night - NFL.com

Monday, November 29, 2021

Republicans stall defense bill over amendment dispute - Politico

Wisconsin GOP lawmakers want the state legislature to take over federal elections - NPR

Oklahoma 'surprised, disappointed' over Lincoln Riley's move to USC, but excited for future - ESPN

Mark Esper sues the Pentagon over book redactions about Trump White House - NPR

Balancing transparency and security

A high-level account of the Trump era

The approval process

Beavers Clinch Series Over UC Irvine - OSU Beavers

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