New York Times: “The jurors in the Derek Chauvin murder trial in Minneapolis deliberated in April for 10 hours. In 1995, a jury in the O.J. Simpson trial delivered a verdict in less than four hours. The jury in the Kyle Rittenhouse case has been talking for 23 hours – and counting. After three days, the seven women and five men who are deciding Rittenhouse’s fate in a Kenosha courtroom have yet to reach a consensus, a strikingly long deliberation that suggests the jurors may have clashed on the weighty decisions before them. Mark Richards, a lawyer for Rittenhouse, seemed confounded by the length of the deliberations after court broke for the day on Thursday.”

“‘They’re either working to get a consensus – maybe they’re dead-even split,’ Richards said of the jury as he left the courthouse. Throughout the building, there were few certainties, but much speculation. Richards said that when he looked at the faces of the jurors as they sat in the courtroom at the end of the day, he thought, ‘They’re six-six split.'”

“After GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy delayed a final vote on the Build Back Better bill with an eight-and-a-half-hour speech, House Democrats both gave McCarthy what he wanted and denied him of his actual win. Instead of voting on the $1.75 trillion bill in the dead of night and making McCarthy the focus of every final passage story, Democrats recessed until Friday morning, intending to come back and pass the bill then. Curiously, McCarthy stopped talking shortly after surpassing the eight hour, seven minute record set by Nancy Pelosi in 2018 – yielding after eight hours and 32 minutes. Starting at 8:38 p.m., McCarthy took full advantage of the ‘Magic Minute’ – in which leaders from both parties are allowed to speak for as long as they want with it only counting as one minute against the time allocated for debate – and delivered a stemwinder of half-truths, outright lies, aggrieved arguments, unrelated tangents, and recycled rhetoric.”

“In doing so, McCarthy raised the temperature in an already steaming House chamber, with Democrats repeatedly interjecting and needling the California Republican, and with McCarthy seeming to stretch his speech even longer as punishment. As McCarthy began his lecture on the floor Thursday, the Democratic heckling started almost immediately. McCarthy told members he had ‘all night,’ to which Democrats responded, ‘So do we!’ And both sides really did. When McCarthy baselessly claimed the bill would cost $5 trillion, Democrats started yelling out increasingly large numbers. ‘$6 trillion!’ one shouted, before another topped him with ‘$7 trillion!’ – with more Democrats joining in with even more farcical projections. When McCarthy said, ‘If I sound angry, I am,’ Democrats chimed in with a prolonged ‘awww’ sound, like they were watching a baby do something cute. And when McCarthy finally wrapped up, Democrats, who’d quieted down and eventually left as the speech dragged on for hours, ending at 5:10 a.m” – Daily Beast

CNN:  “Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said Thursday she recognizes President Joe Biden as the 46th president of the United States, even as she claimed there were ‘lots of problems’ with the 2020 election that Republican candidates should address.

“‘Painfully, Joe Biden won the election and it’s very painful to watch. He’s the President. We know that,’ McDaniel said at a breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor in Washington, DC. While the RNC has for months criticized Biden in press releases and rapid response materials, McDaniel’s comments Thursday marked the first time the party chairwoman has clearly stated that Biden ‘won’ the 2020 election.

“Her comments also come as former President Donald Trump, who McDaniel said remains an overwhelming influence on the Republican Party, continues to push conspiracy theories about the 2020 election with the help of leaders across the GOP’s election apparatus. Earlier this year, the RNC unveiled a ‘Committee on Election Integrity,’ and, on Thursday, McDaniel declined to say whether Trump’s pressure campaign to convince then-Vice President Mike Pence to block congressional certification of Biden’s Electoral College victory was unconstitutional.
‘I’m not a constitutional scholar,’ McDaniel said.”

I must admit Kevin McCarthy has accomplished one thing. America is no longer woke.

— Rep. Jamie Raskin (@RepRaskin) November 19, 2021

Associated Press:  “The federal government said Thursday that it’s beginning the process of repealing a Trump-era rule that permitted road-building and logging harvesting in an enormous southeast Alaska rainforest that provides habitat for wolves, bears and salmon. The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that a proposed measure to repeal last year’s rule will be published for public comment next week, beginning a 60-day process.

“The previous rule exempted more than 9 million acres (36,421 square kilometers) in the Tongass National Forest from a 2001 rule that banned road construction, reconstruction and timber harvesting in roadless areas, with some exceptions. At 16.7 million acres (67,582 square kilometers), Tongass is the largest national forest in the country.

“Conservationist and native communities had opposed the exemption, arguing it threatened wildlife, old-growth rainforest and local economies that rely on tourism and fishing . They applauded Thursday’s announcement. ‘The Tongass is a priceless resource and a critical tool in the fight against climate change, and this action brings us one step closer to ensuring that our forest wildlands remain protected for good,’ Sierra Club Alaska Chapter Director Andrea Feniger said in a statement.”

Republican House Minority Leader (and guy trying real hard to get his caucus to like him) Kevin McCarthy took to the floor for more than an hour in a rambling screechfest, and he because a little testy when Democrats started getting bored with his propaganda. “Your side of the aisle has no problem removing people from committee,” McCarthy whines. “I want if people keep talkin’ they should be removed from the floor. (Sniffle).”

Washington Post:  “A group of crypto enthusiasts were unsuccessful in their attempt to buy a historic copy of the U.S. Constitution after raising millions from investors who jumped on board.  The group, called ConstitutionDAO, raised the equivalent of more than $40 million to purchase the document, which Sotheby’s said is one of 13 copies of the first printing of the Constitution. But the group confirmed it did not have the winning bid in a message to members Thursday evening.

“‘While this wasn’t the outcome we hoped for, we still made history tonight with ConstitutionDAO,’ a message from the group organizers said. ‘We are so incredibly grateful to have done this together with you all and are still in shock that we even got this far.’  In a tweet, Sotheby’s said the document sold for $43.2 million. The buyer is unknown.

“More than 17,000 people donated to the DAO group to buy the document, using a cryptocurrency called Ether. In exchange, they would have received governance tokens — or, essentially, a way to vote on where and how the copy of the Constitution should be displayed. On its website, the group said it ideally wanted to find a partner that would display the document free to the public.”

Washington Post:  “The location of early coronavirus infections in late 2019 in Wuhan, China, suggests the virus probably spread to humans from a market where wild and domestically farmed animals were sold and butchered, according to a peer-reviewed article published Thursday in the journal Science that is the latest salvo in the debate over how the pandemic began.

“The article, by University of Arizona evolutionary virologist Michael Worobey — a specialist in the origins of viral epidemics — does not purport to answer all questions about the pandemic’s origins, nor is it likely to quell speculation that the virus might have emerged somehow from risky laboratory research.

“Worobey has been open to the theory of a lab leak. He was one of the 18 scientists who wrote a much-publicized letter to Science in May calling for an investigation of all possible sources of the virus, including a laboratory accident. But he now contends that the geographic pattern of early cases strongly supports the hypothesis that the virus came from an infected animal at the Huanan Seafood Market — an argument that will probably revive the broader debate about the virus’s origins.  Worobey notes that more than half of the earliest documented illnesses from the virus were among people with a direct connection to the market, and he argues this was not merely the result of the early focus on the market as a potential source of the outbreak. He concludes that the first patient known to fall ill with the virus was a female seafood vendor at the market who became symptomatic on Dec. 11, 2019.”

Reuters:  “A New York trial judge on Thursday temporarily blocked the New York Times from publishing some materials concerning the conservative activist group Project Veritas, a rare step that the newspaper said violated decades of First Amendment protections for the process. The order by Justice Charles Wood of the Westchester County Supreme Court covers memos written by a Project Veritas lawyer and obtained by the Times.

“Wood scheduled a hearing for next Tuesday to consider a longer prohibition against publication, and whether the Times should remove references to privileged attorney-client information in a Nov. 11 article about Project Veritas’ journalism practices. ‘This ruling is unconstitutional and sets a dangerous precedent,’ Dean Baquet, the Times’ executive editor, said in an emailed statement. ‘When a court silences journalism, it fails its citizens and undermines their right to know,’ he added. ‘The Supreme Court made that clear in the Pentagon Papers case, a landmark ruling against prior restraint blocking the publication of newsworthy journalism. That principle clearly applies here. We are seeking an immediate review of this decision.’

“Baquet’s statement referred to the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1971 rejection of the Nixon administration’s bid to stop the Times and the Washington Post from publishing the Pentagon Papers, which detailed U.S. military involvement in Vietnam. Bruce Brown, executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, called prior restraint ‘among the most serious threats to press freedom,’ and said an appeals court should vacate Wood’s order if the judge does not.”

“The same reason wha-, when, when they boarded up storefronts in major metropolitan areas prior to the November ’20 election,” Senator Ron Johnson (Q-Moscow) said on the network which pretends the January 6th attack on the Capitol was done by BLM and antifa, during coverage of a mass shooter they’ve beatified.  “It wasn’t in the event that Joe Biden got elected.  So the, the, the threats of violence primarily–not all the time, but primarily–come from the left, and of course, the mainstream media won’t admit that.”

Associated Press:  “Hundreds of pastors both rallied and prayed Thursday outside the trial of three white men charged in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, gathering in response to a defense lawyer’s bid to keep Black ministers out of the courtroom.  As testimony resumed inside the Glynn County courthouse, with its four huge columns, arched windows and shaded lawn, a group of mostly Black ministers gathered outside — a sea of dark suits and white collars.

“Many carried signs reading, ‘Black pastors matter,’ and some wore buttons with Arbery’s picture and the hashtag they were using for the case, “#JusticeForAhmaud.” A vendor sold T-shirts under one tent while a woman under another offered water and snacks and asked people to put donations in a pickle jar.  The Rev. Al Sharpton announced the rally after a defense attorney intensified frustrations in the coastal Georgia community of Brunswick when he said he didn’t want “any more Black pastors” sitting in the courtroom with Arbery’s family.

“As the crowd grew outside, the Rev. Jesse Jackson once again joined Arbery’s family in the courtroom. Criticizing the failed attempt to keep black pastors out of court, Sharpton told the rally that no one had questioned who is sitting with the defendants’ families.  ‘No lawyer can knock us out. Because no matter where you are, God is there,’ he said. ‘We are going to keep coming until we get justice.'”

USA Today:   “The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office on Thursday released its full cost estimate of President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better bill, projecting the measure would add $367 billion to the national debt over the next decade.  The CBO reported the measure would raise more than $1.2 trillion in the form of increased IRS crackdowns on tax cheats, higher taxes and other increased revenues but that overall spending on a myriad of social and climate priorities would lead to a net cost. The projection covered the period from 2022 to 2031.

“The release of the CBO data is important to the House’s vote on the measure, a $1.85 trillion package of Democratic social spending priorities, including free preschool, climate change initiatives and expansion of affordable housing. Now that the estimate is out, a vote on the measure could take place as early as tonight.  The cost projection undercuts Boden’s long-standing pledge the bill is not only fully paid for but would decrease the deficit.  The CBO is an independent, nonpartisan referee that analyzes the budgetary impact of proposed legislation. It was created by Congress in 1974 and operates by rules and regulations set by the House and Senate Budget committees.

“The CBO broke down the costs by the House committee in charge of a particular section of the bill. Some of the areas that would add most to the deficit (and the actual amount) are Education and Labor ($454.1 billion); Energy and Commerce ($281.5 billion); Financial Services ($150.7 billion); and Judiciary ($115.1 billion).  The CBO also projected the revenue raised by increasing IRS enforcement would amount to about $207 billion, about half the $400 billion the White House estimated.”

“Congressman Paul Gosar has been a loyal supporter of our America First agenda, and even more importantly, the USA. Paul is a Congressman who is highly respected in Arizona, strong on Crime, Borders, our Military, and our Veterans. He continually fights for Lower Taxes, Less Regulations, and our great, but under siege, Second Amendment. Paul Gosar has my Complete and Total Endorsement!” says Former Guy in an oddly generic statement of endorsement, all things considered within the last week or two concerning the demented dentist.

Bill Palmer, editor-in-chief of the closest thing the left wing has to the Gateway Pundit (though, let’s be honest, Bill’s not even a tenth as unhinged as Jim Hoft) nagged Honda’s corporate account over Ron DeSantis’s use of a Brandon, Florida dealership for his Thursday ceremony to publicly sign the bills the state legislature passed to fight the national COVID-19 vax mandates:

Honda does not endorse political candidates, parties or events and out of respect to our customers we strongly discourage our independently-owned dealers from hosting political rallies at their dealerships.

— Honda (@Honda) November 18, 2021

Maybe it was the blue check that got them to react in such a timely manner, or the low risk of taking such a stance on a probably already existing policy, but the speed is impressive nonetheless. And of course it would be some cocksucker car dealership owner who would call DeSantis and sell him on the idea. “Come on down to Brandon Honda, family owned and operated since 1979, for a fantastic signing ceremony with Governor Ron DeSantis! And while you’re here, check out our competitive deals on the 2022 Honda Odyssey or the rugged 2022 Honda Ridgeline!”

Democratic Ohio Congressman Tim Ryan:  “I want to pull up the CSPAN video of all the Republicans in the Rose Garden, touting a big tax cut for the top 1% that blew a trillion-dollar hole in the economy. This place is ridiculous.”

Politico:  “A congressional committee investigating the Trump administration’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic issued a subpoena for former White House trade adviser Peter Navarro on Thursday for failing to respond to document and interview requests. The subpoena is the second issued by the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis since its formation last year. The committee is probing whether former Trump administration officials mishandled the federal response to the pandemic, specifically whether it interfered with its own health agencies’ work and how it attempted to change its messaging to downplay the threats posed by the virus.

“The committee issued its first subpoena to Steven Hatfill, a virologist and former adviser to Navarro, in September. The committee also sent a document request to Navarro that month. Thursday’s subpoena compels Navarro to produce documents by Dec. 8 and appear for a deposition by Dec. 15. In a statement to POLITICO, Navarro called the congressional investigation and the subpoena a ‘witch hunt.’ ‘I will be delivering a case of my new book “In Trump Time” to members of the committee which explains why this is indeed a witch hunt,’ he said.

“Navarro joined the administration at the beginning of President Donald Trump’s term as director of the Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy. When the pandemic hit, Navarro became an increasingly influential member of the White House team responding to the virus, advising the president on supply shortages and methods to keep the American economy running during lockdowns. His testimony and personal materials would help shed light on how the Trump administration reacted to early warnings about the virus, its potential economic consequences and how it went about securing goods such as masks, gowns and ventilators. Through prior testimony and document requests, the committee found that Navarro kept a daily journal about his time in the White House and used an encrypted personal email account to communicate with White House personnel between February 2020 and January 2021.”

Max Boot, Washington Post: “In early November, John Durham, a special counsel appointed by the Trump administration, indicted a Russian American analyst who had been a contributor to the Steele dossier of lying to the FBI about where he got his information. The now-notorious dossier, produced by a former British intelligence officer, alleged links between Donald Trump and the Kremlin. The analyst, Igor Danchenko, is accused of concealing, among other things, that one of his informants was a Democratic Party operative with links to Russia. Ever since then, Trump and his right-wing media chorus have been loudly proclaiming that the entire ‘Trump-Russia collusion narrative’ was ‘phony’ and that he was the victim of a ‘hoax’ perpetrated by the Democrats, the media and the FBI. Nice try – but it won’t fly. The Steele dossier is a sideshow. Like many raw intelligence reports, it was full of uncorroborated information – a lot of which doesn’t check out.”

“But the Steele dossier did not launch the FBI investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election, and discrediting it does not undermine the evidence that the Kremlin helped Trump win the election with his campaign’s eager encouragement and cooperation. You can debate whether this constituted ‘collusion,’ a word with no legal definition. You can’t deny that there was extensive collaboration – at least not without resorting to bald-faced lies. You don’t have to take my word for it. Simply read the bipartisan findings of the Senate Intelligence Committee report on Russia’s election interference. The committee, then led by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), issued last year its fifth and final volume detailing even more extensive links between the Kremlin and the Trump campaign than had previously been known.”

Washington Post: “A Pennsylvania teenager who was in the middle of a mental health crisis had his hands in the air when state police fatally shot him last December, according to new videos released Thursday. Christian Hall, a 19-year-old Chinese American who had been diagnosed with depression, was standing over the ledge of a highway overpass near Stroudsburg, Pa., when troopers with the Pennsylvania State Police tried to persuade him to come off the ledge. Troopers then backed away when they saw Hall had what appeared to be a firearm, which was later determined to be a realistic pellet gun.

“Videos obtained by Spotlight PA and NBC News, the first to report on the footage, show that Hall had his hands in the air for 14 seconds Dec. 30, 2020. The videos, which were also obtained by The Washington Post, show that Hall’s hands remained up, with one of them holding the pellet gun, when two state troopers began firing at him, causing the teen to crumple to the ground almost immediately. Footage previously released by the Monroe County District Attorney’s Office blurred the final seconds before Hall was killed. Monroe County District Attorney E. David Christine Jr. ruled that the fatal shooting of Hall was justified and that no one would be charged, saying the lives of the troopers were in danger. Michael Mancuso, an assistant district attorney, described Hall’s death at a March news conference as a “classic suicide-by-cop scenario.”

“Now, Hall’s parents and their attorneys are calling on the Justice Department and the Pennsylvania attorney general to launch an ‘unbiased’ investigation into a police shooting that has shattered the family and the northeastern-Pennsylvania community. Devon M. Jacob, an attorney who has joined civil rights lawyer Ben Crump in representing Hall’s family, told The Post that the unredacted police footage, which were recently released following a subpoena, ‘definitively establishes that Christian was shot in direct response to an order that “If he doesn’t drop it, take him.”'”

Grandmotherly Senator John Kennedy, sitting on a confirmation hearing for Biden currency comptroller nominee Dr. Saule Omarova, said “I don’t know whether to call you professor or comrade” simply because she was born in the Soviet Union to which Omarova responded “I’m not a communist. I do not subscribe to that ideology. I could not choose where I was born”.