Today’s edition of quick hits:
* I believe this is the third U.S. workplace mass shooting in 24 hours: “Three people were shot dead and another three were injured after an employee opened fire at a Rite Aid distribution center in Maryland on Thursday morning, law enforcement officials said.”
* Look for more on this on tonight’s show: “Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who has accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when they were in high school, ‘wishes to testify’ before the Senate Judiciary Committee next week ‘provided that we can agree on terms that are fair and which ensure her safety,’ her lawyer said Thursday.”
* A story we’ve been following: “The Department of Health and Human Services is diverting millions of dollars in funding from a number of programs, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health, to pay for housing for the growing population of detained immigrant children.”
* This seems monstrous: “Federal officers have arrested dozens of undocumented immigrants who came forward to take care of undocumented immigrant children in government custody, and the Trump administration is pledging to go after more.”
* Virginia: “The Department of Homeland Security’s investigative office in Hampton Roads is ‘clearly rife with offensive and racially hostile behavior,’ the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said in a decision obtained by The Virginian-Pilot.”
* New Jersey: “Gov. Phil Murphy is calling for the resignation of Bergen County Sheriff Michael Saudino after WNYC obtained a secret recording of the sheriff making racist remarks about black people and Attorney General Gurbir Grewal, the first Sikh in the country to hold such an office.” * The 3-D printed gun guy: “Cody Wilson, the Austin, Texas, man who set off a national debate over plastic guns by posting plans online for making them with a 3D printer, has been charged with sexual assault, according to Austin police…. Wilson was not yet in custody and his last known location was in Taiwan, police said Wednesday afternoon at a news conference.” * The future of the Fed: “President Trump nominated economist Nellie Liang to fill the final open seat at the Federal Reserve on Thursday evening after he returned from a trip to survey the damage from Hurricane Florence. Liang will need Senate confirmation to become a Fed governor, a process that could take months.” Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
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." Recommended
