Wildfires razed parts of Maui on August 8 and 9, but President Joe Biden waited until August 21 to visit the devastated area. Republicans used his wait to slam Biden for his lack of compassion, and some of the media followed their message, preferring to follow an indicted blowhard who constantly blusters about his personal problems instead of covering the tireless, behind-the-scenes work to make people’s lives better. Pundits demand the excitement of braggadocio while making hay out of a photo to Biden on the beach during his annual vacation. Overlooked is the chaos that a Biden visit would have caused in the already shattered island, reeling from the deadliest fire in recent U.S. history.
After notice of a brush fire on the first day, Biden started monitoring events through frequent briefings. The next day he sent his “deepest condolences to the families of those who lost loved ones in the wildfires in Maui” sending them prayers from himself and his wife, Jill Biden. He added that he had ordered federal assets to the island, including the Navy’s 3rd Fleet and the U.S. Coast Guard, and directed the Transportation Department to coordinate evacuation on commercial airlines. On August 10, he opened a speech in Salt Lake City about the PACT Act by reporting he had “approved a major disaster declaration” for aid to Hawaii. Biden also provided information about what he had already done and promised to make every possible “available to them.” He also signed a disaster declaration and ordered federal aid, including assistance for temporary housing, home repairs, property losses, debris removal, and hazard mitigation.
Within the next five days, Biden had deployed almost 1,000 federal personnel to Maui along with meals, water, cots, blankets, and shelter supplies. FEMA’s approval of $700 per household without housing provides funds for essential items such as medication. Affected businesses and non-profits could receive low-interest federal disaster loans, and the Agriculture Department and HHS provided SNAP (food stamp) and healthcare benefits. On the island, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers cleared roads and worked on the electrical grid and removal of hazardous waste. The U.S. Forest Service coordinated with state officials to put out fire and stop outbreaks. The Department of Defense moved supplies.
During Biden’s meeting with Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida and South Korea president Yoon Suk Yeol at Camp David beginning on August 17, he targeted his announcements to that important summit while he continued to work behind the scenes. Pro-Russian people in the U.S. grabbed that shift to claim that Biden was ignoring the U.S. to help Ukraine. Elon Musk’s X, formerly Twitter, spread that myth to support Russia and China, as Deposed Donald Trump (DDT) wants. Congressional members from Hawaii, however, understand the work that Biden and the federal government has done. Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) said:
“We in Hawaii have been through hurricanes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions—but we have never seen such a robust federal response. Thank you.”
On Monday, when the Bidens visited, Maui County Council Chair Alice Lee said:
“The thousands of people who were in our emergency shelters are no longer there. I think there’s nine people left as of today. Thousands have been moved to transitional quarters like the hotels, who are taking very good care of the people, as well as individual homes and short-term rentals.
“So, I’m sure, as you’re talking to various people, you will hear stories of disappointment, of course, because they have lost a lot. You can’t blame them for being disappointed. But there are many success stories as well.”
Biden assured officials that the recovery effort would respect local traditions.
In an attempt to smear Biden, Fox network began the rumor, based on a low resolution video, that the president of fell asleep at the Maui fire memorial. A higher resolution video from C-SPAN shows Biden sitting at a table where he watches a speaker and coughs. He then looks downward for about ten seconds and then nods in agreement with the speaker.
White House spokesperson Andrew Bates wrote:
“It’s unfortunate they feel the need to lie. Instead, they should join him in supporting the people of Maui.”
The conservative media also blasted Biden for petting a dog, saying it “distracted” him. The dog is a cadaver dog with the job of searching for bodies.
David Ingram wrote that unchecked posts spreading on the country’s largest social media platforms—including Elon Musk’s X—use low-quality videos to publish misinformation that researchers call “cheap fakes misleading people with simple techniques.
Back on the U.S. mainland, almost half the people hit the third day of an unprecedented heat wave throughout the Midwest and the South, shattering records for both daytime and nighttime highs. Sixteen states from Minnesota to Louisiana face excessive heat warnings where heat indexes, the air temperature combined with relative humidity, goes as high as 120 degrees, even 130 degrees by Wednesday.
Defendants in the Fulton County (GA) RICO case are also heating up. Former chief of staff Mark Meadows asked for an intension to the August 25th noon self-surrender for processing at the Atlanta jail; DA Fani Willis replied to Meadows’ attorney:
“Good Morning Mr. Moran, I am not granting any extensions. I gave 2 weeks for people to surrender themselves to the court. Your client is no different than any other criminal defendant in this jurisdiction. The two weeks was a tremendous courtesy. At 12:30 p.m. on Friday I shall file warrants in the system. My team has availability to meet to discuss reasonable consent bonds Wednesday and Thursday.”
The first of the 19 indicted defendants have started surrendering. Bail bondsman Scott Hall arrived on August 21, followed by DDT’s lawyer John Eastman. His disciplinary trial before California’s state bar was delayed by two days to allow for his trip to Atlanta and return to Los Angeles. The process reportedly takes several hours. DDT has repeatedly said he plans to appear on Thursday for his processing.
Meadows and Jeffrey Clark think they’re so special that their parts in the RICO case should be moved to federal court. Clark, shortly DDT’s acting director of the DOJ’s Civil Division, filed an “emergency” request to assert he has immunity from state prosecution and gave the judge a 5:00 pm deadline to rule on it. When DDT considered making Clark acting AG in after the 2020 election, the goal being the election’s change to DDT’s favor, DOJ officials had threatened to resign en mass. According to the request, Clark explained he needed an immediate decision to avoid “the choice of making rushed travel arrangements to fly into Atlanta or instead risking being labeled a fugitive.” The legal world is amused by Clark’s demand for entitlement and delay of a week to make an appeal.
Another defendant, former Georgia GOP chair David Shafer, provided documents showing that DDT’s attorneys, his campaign, and the local GOP urged him to organize the fake electors in the midst of the RICO case. Shafer is charged with racketeering, “impersonating a public officer, forgery, false statements and writings, filing false documents, and violation of oath by a public officer.
If you lose government services in October, blame the House far-right “Freedom” Caucus. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) wants a short-term funding measure to avoid a shutdown, but ultraconservative Republicans say they won’t vote for one if he doesn’t satisfy their demands of right-wing immigration policies, further curtailment of federal law enforcement “weaponization, and blocks unidentified “cancerous woke policies” in the Pentagon. And no “blank check” for Ukraine. No matter what happens, the House will make McCarthy’s life miserable.
In an effort to satisfy his far-right members, McCarthy told Larry Kudlow that the House could start impeaching Biden as soon as September—evidently forgetting that the House has only 12 days to pass 11 appropriations bill that the Senate will find acceptable. For a reason, he talked about Biden not giving him documents for evidence that prove Biden and his son Hunter accepted bribes form Ukrainian officials, proof that they haven’t been able to find for years.
McCarthy is complaining about the White House not providing documents that Republicans haven’t requested, but he has been vague about what documents he wants. The GOP is still pursuing an assertion about a bribe coming from an unverified tip to the FBI now denied by Burisma owner Mykola Zlochevsky. McCarthy’s complaint contradicts a statement from House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-KY) who said in late June that the committee had received “100 percent” of documents requested through subpoenas “whether it’s with the FBI or with banks or with Treasury.”
In Texas, “RuPublicans” are fighting Gov. Greg Abbott’s drag ban, which the GOP calls “sexually oriented performances.” Having hit over their crowd-funding $10,000 goal, the group is using AI reimagining anti-LGBTQ+ Republicans as drag queens on billboards, earning over $16,000. Here’s one sample of their visuals using former VP Mike Pence.
Wednesday night is the first GOP primary presidential candidate debate among eight candidates who promised to support the primary winner—even if he’s indicted. Fox will broadcast it from 9:00 pm to 11:00 pm EST. DDT may be watching it: he’s already taped his interview with Tucker Carlson to be broadcast at the same time.
Nel's New Day 