Today’s edition of quick hits.
* Ukraine’s offensive: “Ukrainian forces surged forward in the country’s east Friday after punching through Russian defenses in a surprise counteroffensive that could prove a decisive turning point in the war. Kyiv said its military had recaptured swaths of territory in a thrust centered on the region around Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city.”
* In Ohio: “President Biden on Friday celebrated the start of construction of a $20 billion project that aims to reassert the United States as a major technology manufacturer after decades of offshoring, with the building of two giant semiconductor factories that could deliver thousands of jobs in coming years.”
* More Jan. 6 fallout: “The founder of the Hawaii Proud Boys chapter and a Texas man who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and posed for a picture in front a door on which one of them had written ‘Murder the Media’ each pleaded guilty Friday in federal court to a felony charge in connection with the riot.”
* Again? “A threat was called in to Boston Children’s Hospital on Friday, less than two weeks after the hospital received a bomb threat, police said…. Earlier in August, doctors and other Children’s Hospital staff who treat transgender children began receiving threats and harassment after the hospital’s pediatric and adolescent transgender health program was targeted on social media by right-wing groups, the Globe has reported.”
* Quite a statistic on Covid fatalities: “In 2020, Biden-voting counties (overall) had 8 percent more deaths than Trump-voting ones, once you adjust for population. In 2021, Trump-voting counties had more than 50 percent more population-adjusted deaths. In 2022, the toll has been about 40 percent higher per resident in Trump counties.”
* Stories like these will be worth watching closely in the coming months and years: “Dozens of bipartisan business executives signed an open letter that warns Georgia’s anti-abortion law and other Republican policies will risk the state’s pro-business reputation.”
* As I keep saying, these circuit court confirmations are extremely important: “The Senate on Thursday narrowly confirmed Tennessee lawyer Andre Mathis as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit. Mathis is the second Black man to be seated on that court, the first coming 24 years ago, according to the White House.” * This has long been a weird story: “A unanimous bipartisan vote this summer by the Federal Election Commission has undercut fantastical claims about Mark Zuckerberg’s role in the 2020 election that have taken hold among GOP leaders, candidates and activists decrying ‘Zuckerbucks.’” * At least he was caught: “A former soldier who is federally charged with lying in his application for a security clearance said he enlisted in the Army so he’d be ‘more proficient in killing’ Black people, prosecutors allege. Killian M. Ryan, who was stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, held the rank of specialist and served in the Army until Aug. 26, a spokesperson with the XVIII Airborne Corps said in a statement Thursday.” Have a safe weekend.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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