Asian and Dead, California Recall
Thursday, March 18, 2021
Vol. 10, No. 67
Sex and Hate: Although the Atlanta area massage parlor killings were first thought to be racially motivated, the 21-year-old suspect told investigators that he had a sexual addiction he was trying to eradicate.
Six of the eight victims Tuesday night were Asian women, but Capt. Jay Baker of the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office told reporters “He apparently has an issue, apparently what he considered a sexual addiction and sees these locations as something that allows him to go to these places and it’s a temptation for him that he wanted to eliminate.
Robert Aaron Long, 21, has been charged with eight counts of murder. Baker said, “It’s still early but he does claim that it was not racially motivated.”
At a time when hate crimes against Asians are rising, Baker’s comments set off doubt and outrage, particularly in response to his remark that Long was “pretty much fed up and kind of at the end of his rope. Yesterday was a really bad day for him and this is what he did.”
Casting further doubt on Baker, reporters dug up Baker’s Facebook posts promoting t-shirts that called the novel coronavirus an “IMPORTED VIRUS FROM CHY-NA.” One Twitter user posted, “I think Capt. Jay Baker is going to have a really bad day.”
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms told CNN, “This is a man who murdered eight people in cold blood. All of the victims in Atlanta were Asian. … It is very difficult to ignore that the Asian community has once again been targeted and it’s happening all over the country.”
Instant Recall: Organizers of a campaign to recall California Gov. Gavin Newsom over his handling of the pandemic say they have gathered nearly 2 million petition signatures. Backed by big name Republicans Newt Gingrich and Mike Huckabee, the recallers claim Newsom was too strict in his efforts to fight spread of Covid-19.
“Well, the reality is it looks like it’s going on the ballot, and so we’re ready to go,” Newsom said at a news conference. “We will fight it. We will defeat it.”
Newsom is a career politician who’s previously been Mayor of San Francisco and Lt. Governor. He’s presidential material.
The recall needs a vote of 50 percent to remove the governor. Polling at the moment has 42 percent in favor of keeping Newsom, 38 percent to remove, and 14 percent undecided.
Trying to recall the governor is kind of a thing in California, like roller skating at the beach. This is the sixth attempt to recall Newsom and many of his predecessors faced it as well. Ronald Reagan, Edmund Brown, George Deukmejian, Pete Wilson, and Gray Davis all had to deal with recall campaigns, some of them multiple times. Only Davis was removed to be replaced by actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, proving that in California, a lot of roller skaters vote.
New Tax Day: Bogged down by the pandemic, the Internal Revenue Service has pushed the income tax filing deadline to May 17th. A lot of IRS people have been working from home, like everyone else. They have 24 million returns from 2019 that they still have not processed. The delays also threaten delivery of some forms of relief under the American Rescue Plan.
Be Not Proud: In a crackdown on extremists, FBI agents have arrested two more leaders of the right wing Proud Boys and filed new counts against two more who had already been accused in connection with the January 6th Capitol insurrection. The four come from Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Florida, and Washington State.
Prosecutors have now brought charges against 13 people identified in court as members of the Proud Boys, a group that is believed to be one of the primary instigators of the Capitol riot in which five people died.
The Spin Rack: More than two dozen tornadoes touched down in Mississippi and Alabama. Dozens of homes were damaged or destroyed. — President Biden said it would be “tough” to meet the May 1st deadline to pull all remaining US troops out of Afghanistan, an indication that he might extend the presence of American troops. About 3,500 are still there. — The Federal Reserve predicts that unemployment will fall to 4.5 percent this year and inflation will rise.
The Obit Page: James Levine, the conductor of New York’s Metropolitan Opera for 40 years until allegations of sexual abuse and harassment of younger men ended his career, died on March 9 in Palm Springs, Calif. He was 77. Peter Gelb, the company’s general manager, said in a statement. “He raised the Met’s musical standards to new and greater heights during a tenure that spanned five decades.” — Carmel Quinn, the red-haired Irish singer and storyteller who was discovered on “Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts” and used to play Carnegie Hall on St. Patrick’s Day, has died at 95. Her Irish standards were included “The Whistling Gypsy,” “Isle of Innisfree,” and the sentimental favorite, “Galway Bay.”
From Russia With Chill: Vladimir Putin is unhappy that President Biden said he believes the Russian president is a “killer.” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters today that “there hasn’t been anything like this in history.”
In an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, Biden said Putin will “pay a price” for undermining the US elections. Asked whether he thinks Putin is a killer, Biden said, “Mhmm. I do.”
Biden told Stephanopoulos, “I said, ‘I Looked in your eyes and I don’t think you have a soul.’ And looked back and he said, “We understand each other.”
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