Kansas City Star editorial:  “Missouri’s best-known insurrectionist, Sen. Josh Hawley, is still trying to accomplish what he could not pull off with his power-to-the-rioters raised fist on Jan 6.  You’re not going to believe this, but in a Senate floor speech, he called on President Joe Biden to resign.  It’s a difficult speech to watch, shamelessly exploiting as it does the deaths of U.S. servicemen and servicewomen for political gain.

“But despite its contradictions, hyperbole and misreading of history, we must watch, because Hawley’s threat to our republic is real and ongoing. The senator’s desire to overthrow the people’s choice for president has not abated.  ‘This president is a disgrace,’ Hawley intones. ‘He had dishonored this country with his shameful leadership in this crisis. And it is time for him to resign.’  Hawley is referring to our recent withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Let the record show what Hawley desperately wants us to forget: He was an enthusiastic supporter of abandoning Afghanistan — not on Aug. 30, when the final troops departed, but months earlier, in May.  ‘President Biden should withdraw troops in Afghanistan by May 1, as the Trump administration planned, but better late than never,’ he tweeted on April 13.  ‘It’s time for this forever war to end.’  Apparently, Hawley’s imitation of a peacenik has a sell-by date, which is whenever the Missouri Republican decides there are partisan points to be made.”

“The Michigan State Police is investigating a complaint involving Republican Rep. Steve Marino, an agency spokeswoman said Wednesday, as a Democratic colleague suggested he levied threats against her. Rep. Mari Manoogian, a Democrat from Birmingham, indicated in a Wednesday statement that she had a ‘volatile relationship’ with Marino of Harrison Township in neighboring Macomb County and ‘threats’ led to his removal as chairman of the House Commerce and Tourism Committee. ‘I can confirm that we received a complaint late yesterday that we are looking into,’ said Shanon Banner, a spokeswoman for MSP. ‘Because it is ongoing and in the very early stages, we will not be providing further comment.’ The statement by Manoogian of Oakland County came a day after House Speaker Jason Wentworth, R-Farwell, removed Marino from his committee assignments. House leadership initially remained quiet about the reason for the unusual disciplinary action. The situation changed Wednesday afternoon when Manoogian issued a press release, and Wentworth said a Michigan State Police investigation is occurring.”

“‘The unfortunate reality is that many people in our society have experienced domestic abuse, which often comes from someone we would never expect,’ Manoogian said. ‘None of us are immune to a volatile relationship, regardless of our career. ‘It can happen right here in our Legislature, where abuse of power and threats to ruin a colleague’s reputation, as well as threats of public shaming, can be used to intimidate fellow members of the Legislature.’ Marino has not responded to requests for comment about the situation. Manoogian had served on the Commerce and Tourism Committee with Marino, a 31-year-old lawmaker in his third and final term. Manoogian, a 29-year-old legislator in her second term, asked for privacy as she takes ‘steps to ensure my safety'” – Detroit News.

#NYCASP rules are suspended today, September 16 for Yom Kippur. Parking meters are in effect.

— NYC Alt Side Parking (@NYCASP) September 16, 2021

Politico: “The next few months will push President Joe Biden to wield every drop of his influence over Congress. Democrats are plunging into messy internal debates over social programs from child care to drug pricing as they try to beat back GOP resistance on voting rights while steering the United States away from economic catastrophe. And in order to avert a government shutdown, avoid a debt default and fight ballot access restrictions passed in some GOP states, Democratic lawmakers are urging Biden to get more directly involved.”

“Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin said that Biden, ‘more than anyone,’ maintains sway over his caucus’s 50 members: ‘There is no comparable political force to a president, and specifically Joe Biden at this moment.’ Biden appears to be answering the call. The president is getting increasingly involved in Congress’ chaotic fall session as he battles sagging approval ratings, heightened concerns around the pandemic and some internal criticism over his withdrawal from Afghanistan. Rebounding as the midterms draw nearer will depend on whether his big social spending ambitions are realized and if his party can dodge a government shutdown and credit default. But even if he has success on those fronts, he still needs to maintain momentum on Democrats’ elections legislation, which Republicans look certain to torpedo. ‘I have full faith and confidence in Joe Biden in all of this,’ said House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, who’s pressed Biden to endorse a filibuster carve out for voting rights legislation. ‘He is working this… and that’s how it should be.'”

“The ‘Justice for J6’ rally, to be held at noon on Saturday at the foot of Capitol Hill, has created a predicament for Republicans, who are caught between a hard-right base including many voters who consider the rioters righteous and a desire to distance themselves from the attack and its political fallout. In shunning the event, Republicans are following the lead of Trump himself, who has been uncharacteristically silent about it even though he has in the past defended the mob.”

“Trump, aides said, has little interest in engaging with the protest and has no plans to be anywhere near Washington on Saturday. Instead, his schedule includes a golf tournament at his Bedminster, NJ, club before he heads back down to Mar-a-Lago in Florida, according to people familiar with his schedule. Trump views the planned protest as a setup that the news media will use against him regardless of the outcome, according to people familiar with his thinking” – New York Times.

A Florida man who had a 20-year career in the United States Marines, including as a marksmanship instructor, pleaded guilty Wednesday to two felonies for his actions during the January 6th domestic terrorist attack on the Capitol, the Washington Post reports, becoming the second member of the Oath Keepers to take a plea deal.

Jason Dolan, 45, of Wellington, Florida pleaded guilty to two federal counts of conspiracy and aiding and abetting the obstruction of Congress, charges that have a recommended maximum sentence of 20 years.

A former security guard at the Four Seasons resort in Palm Beach, Dolan detailed to the court that he was a member of a column of Oath Keepers who attacked police and illegally entered the Capitol.  Dolan said he and other Oath Keepers kept rifles at an Arlington, Virginia hotel that they could retrieve as part of a so-called Quick Reaction Force.

Launched by former Infowars reporter Millie Weaver, the QUX raised over $170,000 on IndieGogo for its MAGA-ish branding and all the shit a $35 Chromecast or Amazon Firestick does (or doesn’t, who knows) but with a “don’t give Big Tech your data” edge – that is almost certainly meaningless in one way or another – to justify its $99 retail price when it hits in December. Approximately two days after that launch is when, in all likelihood, we’ll find out exactly which shitty, already-existing $20-ish Chinese Android box model was rebranded to the QUX for the MAGAmerican market.

California voters get what they deservehttps://t.co/CaxQFTK5xQ#WeveGotAStateToSave #WeveGotACountryToSave

— Larry Elder (@larryelder) September 15, 2021

New York Times: “John H. Durham, the special counsel appointed by the Trump administration to scrutinize the Russia investigation, has told the Justice Department that he will ask a grand jury to indict a prominent cybersecurity lawyer on a charge of making a false statement to the F.B.I., people familiar with the matter said. Any indictment of the lawyer – Michael Sussmann, a former federal prosecutor and now a partner at the Perkins Coie law firm, and who represented the Democratic National Committee on issues related to Russia’s 2016 hacking of its servers – is likely to attract significant political attention. Donald J. Trump and his supporters have long accused Democrats and Perkins Coie – whose political law group, a division separate from Mr. Sussmann’s, represented the party and the Hillary Clinton campaign – of seeking to stoke unfair suspicions about Mr. Trump’s purported ties to Russia.”

“The case against Mr. Sussmann centers on the question of who his client was when he conveyed certain suspicions about Mr. Trump and Russia to the F.B.I. in September 2016. Among other things, investigators have examined whether Mr. Sussmann was secretly working for the Clinton campaign – which he denies. An indictment is not a certainty: On rare occasions, grand juries decline prosecutors’ requests. But Mr. Sussmann’s lawyers, Sean M. Berkowitz and Michael S. Bosworth of Latham & Watkins, acknowledged on Wednesday that they expected him to be indicted, while denying he made any false statement. ‘Mr. Sussmann has committed no crime,’ they said. ‘Any prosecution here would be baseless, unprecedented and an unwarranted deviation from the apolitical and principled way in which the Department of Justice is supposed to do its work. We are confident that if Mr. Sussmann is charged, he will prevail at trial and vindicate his good name.’ A spokesman for Attorney General Merrick B. Garland, who has the authority to overrule Mr. Durham but is said to have declined to, did not comment. Nor did a spokesman for Mr. Durham.”

The prominent South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdaugh, who was allegedly shot in the head on a desolate highway on September 4th (but wasn’t actually shot, per a police report), the day after he quit his law firm to enter rehab under suspicion of having embezzled money, two months after his wife Margaret Murdaugh and son Paul Murdaugh were found dead on one of the family’s properties shot with an assault rifle and a shotgun, respectively, three years after Paul drunkenly crashed a boat into a bridge pylon, killing a 19-year-old female acquaintance and had been facing trial for felony charges related to her death, and six years after his other son Buster Murdaugh might have also kind of murdered another kid, will turn himself into police after his drug dealer was arrested Tuesday in a failed scheme to stage Murdaugh’s shooting so Buster could collect a $10 million life insurance payout and yes I copied and pasted most of the text here from the last single-run-on-sentence article about this shitshow because that’s easier than explaining the whole thing again.

La Nation pense ce soir à tous ses héros morts pour la France au Sahel dans les opérations Serval et Barkhane, aux familles endeuillées, à tous ses blessés. Leur sacrifice n’est pas vain. Avec nos partenaires africains, européens et américains, nous poursuivrons ce combat.

— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) September 15, 2021

“Adnan Abou Walid al Sahraoui, leader of the terrorist group Islamic State in the Greater Sahara was neutralized by French forces. This is another major success in our fight against terrorist groups in the Sahel. The Nation is thinking this evening of all its heroes who died for France in the Sahel in the Serval and Barkhane operations, of the bereaved families, of all of its wounded. Their sacrifice is not in vain. With our African, European and American partners, we will continue this fight” says French President Emmanuel Macron in a halfway decent automatic translation by Google.

Fox News host Lawrence Jones asks Republican Florida Congressman Byron Donalds, “Ah, Congressman, I don’t think you’re gonna shove the marbles up your ass,” to which the Congressman responds, “Nah, I’m not going to do that at all.”

Apparently, Fox News bookers felt this was a field of personal experience for TheHill contributor and defrocked media columnist Joe Concha.

“A federal judge on Thursday blocked part of a sweeping anti-protest bill enacted by Florida Republicans and Governor Ron DeSantis, writing that officials’ reaction to peaceful protests in the summer of 2020 is akin to the unlawful racist backlash seen during 1960s protests against Jim Crow laws. Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker in Tallahassee said that the governor made an embarrassing mistake – or worse – when his offices ‘conflated a community celebration of a federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery with a protest'” Reuters reports.

“He issued a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of the new definition of rioting under the Combating Public Disorder Act. DeSantis’ lawyers in defending the law had submitted to the court a Facebook post as evidence that Black Floridians continue to freely exercise their protest rights – except the flyer actually announced a ‘Black Joy’ event celebrating America’s first official Juneteenth holiday. Protesters’ fears about the law are ‘well-founded’ if DeSantis included the post ‘to imply that any gathering of Black people in a public space is a de facto protest,’ Walker said.”

Mecklenburg County, North Carolina suspended without pay 598 employees who have no proof of vaccination after they failed to upload the results of their required weekly coronavirus tests into the county’s human resources system as required, WSOC in Charlotte reports.

About 70% of all county employees have been vaccinated, according to the county.  Of those suspended, 290 are full-time employees.

“Unvaccinated Mecklenburg County Employees who have not submitted a negative COVID-19 test in the last seven days will receive suspension notices starting today, and will remain on unpaid suspension until proof of a vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test is confirmed,” the county said in a statement.  “With approximately 70 percent of all employees vaccinated, Mecklenburg County remains committed to providing a safe work environment for all employees, as well as a safe experience for our customers.  The County has enacted this process to meet the highest standard of COVID-19 prevention possible.”

AP: “Former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert and a man who accused him of child sexual abuse reached a tentative out-of-court settlement Wednesday over Hastert’s refusal to pay the man $1.8 million – the outstanding balance in hush money that the Illinois Republican agreed to pay the man in 2010. Lawyers would not release details of the settlement, arrived at just days before a civil trial in the case that was set to start. It would have focused on a novel legal issue about whether Hastert’s verbal agreement to pay $3.5 million to buy the silence of a man he abused as a teenager amounted to a legally binding contract. The man has been referred to only as James Doe in court papers since the breach of contract lawsuit was filed in 2016 in Illinois court in Yorkville, Hastert’s hometown just west of Chicago. Federal prosecutors said during a related criminal case that sent Hastert to prison for over a year that the agreement was voluntarily entered into and that the victim never sought to blackmail Hastert that he’d go public about the abuse. The abuse happened when the victim was a high school wrestler and the now 79-year-old Hastert was his coach.”

Los Angeles County supervisors voted to phase out oil and gas drilling in the county and bar any new drilling sites in the county’s unincorporated areas, meaning 1,600 sites will be systematically closed, the Associated Press reports.

The most-populous county in the United States, LA County’s ban passed unanimously by the five member board of supervisors.  The county acted months after a pipeline leak at the Inglewood Oil Field, a sprawling 1,000 acre drilling site that borders a number of traditionally Black neighborhoods.  The leak spread more than 1,600 gallons of oil on the field, and neighbors have complained about the odor and oil bubbling up from the sidewalks.

“There are tens of thousands of people who live in very close proximity to oil wells, 73% of whom are people of color,” Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell said in an interview before the vote. “So, for me, it really is an equity issue.”

Starting at sundown on Wednesday, September 15th, the Jews will begin atoning for their sins in the somber holiday of Yom Kippur, an article by WABC New York revealed. While information describing Yom Kippur to National Zero’s goy staff explained it as a somber, prayerful time of self-reflection, the “atonement” part lent it to a misleading headline designed to troll whatever MAGA and QAnon-loving Anti-Semites happened across it. G’mar chatima tovah to all of our readers of the Jewish faith, from your gentile friends at National Zero. Tonight we shall eat Chinese food and watch movies in solidarity with your traditional non-celebration of the holidays of others.

CNN panel praises AOC's bravery for her 'Tax the Rich' dress at the Met Galahttps://t.co/TqNmNt2rYN

— Fox News (@FoxNews) September 15, 2021

Charlotte News and Observer: “A North Carolina school system contacted a sheriff’s office after a report that U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn brought a knife to a school board meeting that he attended to oppose the district’s COVID-19 mask mandate. On Monday, Cawthorn spoke to the school board in Henderson County. The next day, one of his political opponents released a photo that appears to show that he had a knife in a sheath attached to the bottom of his wheelchair. And a group opposing Cawthorn’s reelection to Congress reported him to local law enforcement.”

“‘I don’t really know anything about that,’ Cawthorn said when asked about the allegations after speaking at a school board meeting in Johnston County on Tuesday. ‘I’ll have to look into it, but I don’t know anything about it.’ Bringing knives onto school grounds is a class 1 misdemeanor in North Carolina. A spokesperson for Cawthorn did not respond to a request for further comment.”