April 10, 2026

Splashdown coverage on the news networks starts tonight at 7:00 pm ET. 

SO MUCH WINNING!

Marie: Jimmy Kimmel reports some news I missed on today's page (AND of course he's a lot funnier than I am: ~~~

~~~~~~~~~~ 

Wherein Bibi Rolls Trump Again. The New York Times' live updates of developments in the Iran war are here. From the pinned item at 5:15 am ET: “The Israeli military said early Friday that it was striking Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, the latest attacks in a campaign that is straining diplomacy three days into a shaky cease-fire between the United States and Iran. The Israeli strikes against the Iran-backed militia have exposed divergences between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and ... [Donald] Trump, who appears eager to strike a deal with Iran to end the war. The Iranian foreign ministry spokesman, Esmail Baghaei, said delegates from the country would not attend peace talks in Pakistan scheduled to begin on Saturday if the cease-fire was not extended to Lebanon. On Thursday, Mr. Trump said he had asked Mr. Netanyahu to scale back Israel’s operations in Lebanon. The Israeli leader later said his country would start talks with the Lebanese government to disarm Hezbollah. But, hours later, he vowed to continue strikes on the group....

“Israeli airstrikes have killed hundreds of people in Lebanon since the cease-fire took effect, according to the Lebanese authorities. European leaders have urged Israel to stop the attacks.... They have also demanded that Lebanon be included in the cease-fire. But any talks between Israel and Lebanon would face enormous hurdles, in part because the Lebanese government has no direct control over Hezbollah, which has resisted disarming.”

Starmer Is Fed Up with Trump. Michael Shear: “Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain ... [said] he was 'fed up' with Trump and President Vladimir Putin of Russia for causing the price of energy to jump. 'I’m fed up with the fact that families across the country see their bills go up and down on energy, businesses’ bills go up and down on energy, because of the actions of Putin or Trump across the world,' he said in an interview Thursday with the ITN news service. The comment was [a] rare eruption of frustration by the prime minister, who rarely criticizes Trump by name in public.” ~~~

~~~ Here's CNBC on Starmer's remarks. ~~~ 

~~~ They're All Fed Up with Trump. Serge Schmemann of the New York Times: “'When we’re serious, we don’t every day say the opposite of what we said the day before,' President Emmanuel Macron of France said last week, adding, cuttingly: 'And, maybe, one shouldn’t speak every day.' It sounded like a grown-up speaking down to an obstreperous child, and that was probably what the French president intended. The target of his admonition was, of course, Donald Trump. Mr. Macron was speaking shortly after the American president had issued another boorish rant that included rude comments about the French president and his wife. Mr. Macron's ... transition from initial deference and feigned friendship to very public rebuke reflects the degree to which respect for the American president has fallen among European leaders and their publics.... More than a year into Mr. Trump’s return to the White House, the Europeans, and much of the world, have concluded that no amount of bowing or scraping will win more than fleeting approval from him.... Mark Rutte, NATO’s secretary general [and former Dutch prime minister], who is considered something of a Trump whisperer, may be one of the very few — if not the last — European leaders still clinging to the policy of flattery.” ~~~

     ~~~ Here are the remarks Trump made about the Macrons, via the Guardian. ~~~

     ~~~ Victor Jack, et al., of Politico: “... Donald Trump unloaded his frustration with NATO allies in a bad-tempered meeting with Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Wednesday — and indicated he was considering reprisals for lack of support over the war in Iran. Rutte met Trump behind closed doors as part of a long-scheduled visit that quickly turned into a life-support mission after the U.S. president repeatedly threatened to quit the alliance because countries like Spain and France refused to back the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Tehran.... According to two European officials, and a person familiar with the matter..., Trump used the White House meeting as a venting session for the president to air out his frustration about Europe's refusal to participate in the Iran operation. 'It went shit,' said the first European official. 'The conversation was nothing but a tirade of insults.' Trump 'apparently threatened to do just about anything.' That official and the person familiar with the matter said Trump also signaled he was considering options for reprisals, but didn't go into detail.... A White House official said that the president made no demands of the alliance in his conversation with Rutte.” Read on. MB: I find it amusing the way different people characterize the same Trump meltdowns, each for their own purposes, of course.

Barak Ravid & Alex Fitzpatrick of Axios: Donald "Trump on Thursday demanded Iran stop charging tolls for tankers to cross the Strait of Hormuz, as Iran's supreme leader promised the country would control the crucial waterway.... Sultan Al Jaber, head of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, posted on LinkedIn Thursday morning: 'This moment requires clarity. So let's be clear: the Strait of Hormuz is not open.'... A U.S. official ... said the strait is 'wide open,' but at the same time admitted ships are not moving through it because they are intimidated by the Iranians.... Hundreds of tankers carrying oil and other vital commodities are still waiting to transit Hormuz, the New York Times reports."

Barak Ravid of Axios: "On Wednesday, after pressure from the White House — which is concerned the crisis in Lebanon will lead to the collapse of the ceasefire with Iran —[Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu changed course.... Netanyahu said on Thursday that he has instructed his Cabinet to launch direct negotiations with Lebanon as soon as possible. However, an Israeli official told Axios that Israel would not observe a ceasefire in Lebanon.... Netanyahu's statement follows Wednesday calls with ... [Donald] Trump and White House envoy Steve Witkoff. Senior U.S. officials said Witkoff asked Netanyahu to 'calm down' the strikes in Lebanon and open negotiations. It was also a shift for Trump, who gave Netanyahu a green light to continue the war in Lebanon shortly before announcing the ceasefire with Iran on Tuesday."

Amy Wang & Mariana Alfaro of the Washington Post: “... Donald Trump said this week that the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran over the past six weeks were a 'total and complete victory' for the United States, a declaration that came just a few hours after a tenuous, two-week ceasefire was reached. Over the course of the war, the goals set by Trump and members of his administration appeared to shift. The president laid out some of the rationales in a video message at the start of the strikes, in which he said 'Operation Epic Fury' aimed to ensure Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon, destroy the country’s navy and pave the way for Iranians to oust their government.... Experts weighed in on some of the objectives Trump outlined and what the president actually accomplished....” The writers outline the progress on five goals named by the Trump administration. MB: It looks like they accomplished one out of five -- destroying Iran's navy -- but that hasn't made a lot of difference because Iran has used other means to control waterways, specifically the Strait of Hormuz. 

Soldiers Accuse Hegseth of Lying about Preparedness. Jonah Kaplan & Michael Kaplan of CBS News: "Survivors of the deadliest Iranian attack on U.S. forces since the war began have disputed the Pentagon's description of events and said their unit in Kuwait was left dangerously exposed when six service members were killed and more than 20 wounded. Speaking publicly for the first time, members of the targeted unit offered CBS News a detailed account of the attack and its harrowing aftermath from the perspective of those on the ground. The members CBS News spoke to disputed the description of events from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who described the drone as a 'squirter' — in that it squirted through the defenses of a fortified unit inside Kuwait. 'Painting a picture that "one squeaked through" is a falsehood,' one of the injured soldiers told CBS News. 'I want people to know the unit … was unprepared to provide any defense for itself. It was not a fortified position.' That service member, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity because of rigid media restrictions within the military, said that in spite of the carnage that ensued, those inside the charred and splintered compound responded with swiftness, ingenuity and valor that saved lives." (Also linked yesterday.)

Scott Wong, et al., of NBC News: “House Democrats unsuccessfully attempted to pass a resolution to halt Donald Trump’s war with Iran on Thursday — a response to the president’s shocking threat two days earlier to annihilate 'a whole civilization.' House and Senate lawmakers are at the tail end of a two-week spring recess, but Rep. Glenn Ivey, D-Md., and other Democrats returned to Washington for a routine 'pro forma' session to try to pass the resolution by unanimous consent. However, the Republican lawmaker presiding over the session, Chris Smith of New Jersey, gaveled out of the brief session without calling on Ivey. Democrats howled in protest, with some shouting 'Shame!' Outside the Capitol, the Democrats slammed Trump for vowing to strike civilian infrastructure targets and blast Iran back to the 'Stone Age' unless its leaders agreed to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the critical shipping lane connecting the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman. And Democrats beseeched Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to cut short the recess and call the House back into session to take up a war powers vote. Johnson has ignored Democrats' pleas.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Jeff Cox of CNBC: "Consumer prices spiked in March as the Iran war sent energy costs soaring and took the Federal Reserve further from its inflation target, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. Underlying inflation, however, was relatively tame. The consumer price index increased a seasonally adjusted 0.9% for the month, putting the annual inflation rate at 3.3%, pushed by a 10.9% surge in energy costs. Both numbers were in line with the Dow Jones consensus. The annual rate was the highest since April 2024 and up from 2.4% in February."

Wherein Mr. & Mrs. Trump Lose It (although Melanie's version of "losing it" is stone-cold control-freak scripted perfection).   

Tim Balk of the New York Times: Donald “Trump on Thursday assailed Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly and two other leading conservative podcasters who oppose the war in Iran in a blistering 482-word Truth Social post that insulted his critics in starkly personal terms. The president reserved some of his sharpest attacks for Candace Owens and Alex Jones, two conspiracy-minded conservatives who in recent days have called for Mr. Trump to be removed from office. The president had faced weeks of criticism from all four media figures, but had largely ignored them until Thursday. 'They have one thing in common, Low IQs,' the president said of the four media figures. 'They’re stupid people...!... 'As President, I could get them on my side anytime I want to,' Mr. Trump wrote..., 'but when they call, I don’t return their calls because I’m too busy on World and Country Affairs.'... Separately on Thursday, Mr. Trump criticized the editorial board of The Wall Street Journal after it accused him of a 'premature' declaration of victory in Iran. The Journal has 'one of the worst and most inaccurate “Editorial Boards” in the World,' the president wrote.” Update: the link has been fixed; it now appears to be a gift link. An ABC News report is here.

Melanie Speaks! Shawn McCreesh of the New York Times: “Melania Trump summoned reporters to the White House Thursday afternoon to give a surprising statement about Jeffrey Epstein. She said she had no relationship with him, was not a victim of his and had no knowledge of his crimes. She said she wanted to clear 'my good name' and address rumors about the origin story of how she met her husband, the president of the United States.... She talked about numerous fake images and statements about Epstein and me that have been percolating for years now.' It was not clear why she chose to speak out now, or to what reports she was referring. A spokesperson for Mrs. Trump said that the president was aware that his wife was going to make the statement. The first lady ended her appearance by calling on Congress to give a hearing to the victims.” (Also linked yesterday.) The AP's report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ You can listen to her remarks on this YouTube video. (Also linked yesterday.) Here's the White House transcript of Melania's remarks. Of course by only reading the transcript and not hearing the delivery, you'll miss the flavor of Melania's thick Yugoslavian accent, one she has not overcome during the past 30 years in which she has lived in the U.S. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Speculation is that Melania made these remarks to get ahead of a big, negative story, but that's just a guess. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), the ranking member on the House Oversight Committee, said on MS NOW that his committee is not aware of any as-yet unreleased documents or other info regarding Melania. As to the White House claim that Donald Trump "was aware that his wife was going to make the statement," Donald himself refutes that. He told Jackie Alemany of MS NOW after Melania's remarks that he had no prior knowledge of the topic Melania would be raising in her statement. ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Julianne McShane & Jacqueline Alemany of MS NOW: “First lady Melania Trump denied any ties to convicted sex offenders Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell on Thursday in remarks that even ... Donald Trump told MS NOW he was not aware of beforehand.... In a brief phone call following her remarks, the president told MS NOW he did not know about the first lady’s statement ahead of time, adding that 'she didn’t know [Epstein].' A White House official ... told MS NOW that many White House staffers were caught off guard by the first lady’s statement.” MB: If you've followed the Trumps/Epstein story at all, you already know that yesterday both Trumps lied about the matter. Of course Melanie "knew Epstein" -- she is photographed with him numerous times over a period of years, and of course she had more than a "casual" relationship with Maxwell -- you don't sign a note to someone you barely know, "Love, Melania." ~~~

~~~ Robert Reich on Substack: “... who’s even been thinking about Melania and her potential relationship with Epstein or Maxwell in the midst of Melania’s husband’s threat to obliterate 90 million Iranians? Who cares about Melania and Maxwell when the price of gas is through the roof? Why would anyone be interested in such 'unspecified allegations' when Iran still possesses 970 pounds of highly-enriched uranium and now has more motive than ever to turn it into nuclear weapons? Besides, there hasn’t been the faintest whiff of scandal about the relationship between Melania and Maxwell, let alone Epstein.” So Reich proposes three possible reasons for the speech: (1) the White House wanted her to change the subject from the disastrous Iran war; (2) Amazon wanted her to drum up business for the fake docudrama 'Melania,' the box office bomb; and/or (3) “Melania is pissed off at Trump for any number of things....”

Judge Keeps Insisting Drunk Pete Abide by First Amendment. Erik Wemple of the New York Times: “A federal judge on Thursday rejected an attempt by the Pentagon to impose a new set of restrictions on journalists who hold credentials to cover the military complex, in another blow to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s attempts to control the media. The order, from Judge Paul Friedman of U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, declared that the new policy was essentially unconstitutional. With its new rules, the Pentagon changed the wording of a provision barring journalists from seeking confidential information from government sources. Judge Friedman added that the Pentagon had “failed” to reinstate the press passes of several New York Times reporters. It was the second time that Judge Friedman had tossed parts of the Pentagon’s press policy. He ruled last month that major parts of the previous policy, which also sought to restrict certain journalistic activities, were unconstitutional in a case brought by The Times.” Update: the link has been changed to one that appears to be a gift link. An AP story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: BTW, if you're wondering how Pete comes up with all those angry faces, Akhilleus cracked the case at the end of yesterday's Comments thread. 

A Job with Benefits! Aram Roston of the Guardian: “A high-profile US defense department official who oversees the agency’s artificial intelligence efforts made a profit of up to $24m selling a private investment he held in Elon Musk’s AI company earlier this year, according to government ethics records released this month. The value of his stake totaled a maximum of a million dollars when he joined the department. Emil Michael, who is the Pentagon’s under secretary for research and engineering under the Trump administration, oversees negotiations with AI companies and has been pushing the defense department to rapidly increase the widespread use of AI.... xAI, which is the company behind Musk’s Grok chatbot, is not publicly traded, so it is unclear how Michael obtained his position, how it was priced or to whom he sold it. During the period that Michael owned the xAI stock the Pentagon announced two separate agreements with the firm.” See Catherine Rampell's column, linked below.

Nicholas Nehamas, et al., of the New York Times: “The Trump administration has systematically pressured the nation’s immigration judges, threatening them with disciplinary action if they do not deport more people and firing those seen as insufficiently supportive of the president’s aggressive enforcement agenda, a New York Times investigation has found. The overhaul of the immigration courts has been far less visible than the militarized deportation raids that ... The effort has helped reshape a hugely consequential, if little-known, corner of the government that the administration is harnessing to advance its mass-deportation policies. Although they ... are required by law to exercise 'independent judgment,' immigration judges ... work for the Justice Department, under Mr. Trump’s ultimate command, and can be fired....

“So far, the Trump administration has dismissed more than 100 immigration judges out of about 750 in place when Mr. Trump returned to power, an unprecedented purge. At the same time, the administration has ... announc[ed] the appointments of 143 permanent and temporary judges, including many who previously worked as immigration prosecutors for the Department of Homeland Security or as military lawyers. By many measures, the administration is achieving its goals. The number of people being ordered deported has risen sharply, while judges have approved asylum claims in fewer than 10 percent of cases this year, the lowest rate for which data is available....”

Noah Hurowitz & Austin Campbell of the Intercept: “Federal prosecutors in Minnesota are being forced to turn over critical information on the shooting of Renee Good by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Jonathan Ross in relation to a separate case involving Ross.... The materials could shine light on the killing of Good, an observer who died after Ross shot her during a January 7 confrontation.... The order came in response to a motion from the defense attorneys for Roberto Carlos Muñoz-Guatemala, a man who Ross attempted to apprehend in a separate confrontation in June. After Ross broke a window in Muñoz-Guatemala’s car and fired his Taser, Muñoz-Guatemala drove away and was later convicted of dragging Ross with his car. Muñoz-Guatemala’s defense attorney Eric Newmark praised the ruling as key to defending the rights of his client, but also important for public understanding of what transpired in the shooting of Good.... 'Ultimately, we’re seeking dismissal of the charges against my client. This information is important because it will help me provide a full and complete defense[,' Newmark told the Intercept].”

Apoorva Mandavilli of the New York Times: “The Trump administration published on Thursday a new charter for the federal vaccine advisory committee that would allow Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to reclaim his changes to national vaccine policy, despite a ruling last month by a federal judge blocking them. The ruling, in a lawsuit brought by several medical organizations against Mr. Kennedy, froze the committee and reversed many of the decisions the health secretary and the panel had made in the last year to rescind longstanding recommendations for childhood vaccines. The judge also said the committee’s members were not qualified to recommend shots for Americans. The new charter, posted on the website of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, revises the makeup and purpose of the panel.... The changes may allow Mr. Kennedy to reconstitute the committee with some or all of its previous members and resuscitate at least some of their decisions. The move is the latest in a whiplash-inducing series of decisions, reversals and revisions to vaccine policy by Mr. Kennedy and his department.”

Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: Donald “Trump met privately on Thursday with leaders of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s 'Make America Healthy Again' movement as part of a high-level White House strategy session to keep disenchanted MAHA voters in the fold ahead of the midterm elections. Neither the White House nor Mr. Kennedy’s office would provide details of the meeting. Top White House officials including Susie Wiles, the chief of staff, and Stephen Miller, the deputy chief of staff, spent nearly two hours soliciting the activists’ ideas on messaging and other matters during a round-table discussion in the West Wing, according to two participants. Mr. Trump also invited them into the Oval Office.... The attendees also included President Trump’s pick for surgeon general, Dr. Casey Means, whose nomination has stalled on Capitol Hill.... That Mr. Trump had the meeting at all reflects the fragility of his alliance with the so-called MAHA Moms, many of them former Democrats or independents, who took a leap of faith in supporting Mr. Trump in 2024 after Mr. Kennedy endorsed him.” MB: It sounds as if Bobby Junior wasn't there.

Rebecca O'Brien of the New York Times: “Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer is the subject of three civil rights complaints inside her agency, people familiar with the filings said, adding to the pressures on an embattled member of ... [Donald] Trump’s cabinet. The complaints were filed in recent weeks by three women who have worked at the top of the Labor Department, including in the secretary’s executive office. They contain a range of allegations and, taken together, describe a hostile work environment under Ms. Chavez-DeRemer, including claims of sexual harassment by her husband, retaliation for taking part in an official investigation and abuse of official resources. Separately, all three of the women have been interviewed by the department’s inspector general’s office as part of a wide-ranging fraud and misconduct investigation into Ms. Chavez-DeRemer and her top aides. The investigation is in its final weeks....” An MS NOW story is here.

Marie: Oh, don't you worry. the Labor Secretary is still working hard -- for the wolves of Wall Street: ~~~

~~~ Michelle Singletary of the Washington Post: “With millions of workers lacking access to workplace retirement plans, the Labor Department has decided that a more pressing matter is giving Wall Street firms access to a lucrative market — your 401(k). A proposed rule would encourage the addition of alternative assets, such as private equity, private credit and cryptocurrency, to 401(k) menus. Companies can already offer these assets. But employers have a fiduciary responsibility to act in the best interest of their workers.... If finalized, this rule — open for public comment — would add protection against lawsuits.... It essentially creates a legal shield that makes it much harder for you to hold your company accountable if they choose to offer riskier investments. 

“This proposal comes directly from an executive order that ... Donald Trump signed in August, instructing the Labor Department to change the rules so that 401(k) plans can include 'alternative' investments. Trump’s order argued that 'burdensome lawsuits' have 'denied millions of Americans opportunities to benefit from investment in alternative assets.'... It’s a massive greed grab for Wall Street firms looking to tap into the money workers are trying to save for retirement.”

~~~ "Trump's Economy: You're Either an Insider or a Chump." Catherine Rampell of the Bulwark: "A lot of people are getting rich off the Trump presidency. Donald Trump himself tops the list, of course, but it also includes his kids and in-laws; other grifting nepo-babies; cabinet members (as well as their staff and children), senior aides; and other well-connected friends, investors, and firms. You know who isn’t on that list? You.... In virtually every way imaginable, Trump has made it easier for all those insiders to profit and, in turn, rip you off.... If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu." Rampell runs down the dirty laundry list; she includes the Labor Department's proposed gift to Wall Street scammers. 

Michael Phillis & Alexa St. John of the AP: “The Trump administration on Thursday proposed weakening rules for the disposal of ash produced by burning coal that can contain hazardous heavy metals and contaminate groundwater. Those regulations were strengthened under the Biden administration as part of a wider crackdown on pollution from coal-fired power plants. The Trump administration proposed easing standards for monitoring and protecting groundwater near some coal ash sites, and rolling back rules that require the cleanup of entire coal properties rather than just the sites where ash was dumped. The revisions would also make it easier to reuse coal ash for other purposes. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said the proposal reflects the agency’s 'commitment to restoring American energy dominance, strengthening cooperative federalism, and accommodating unique circumstances at certain (coal) facilities.'” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I'm just waiting for Zeldin to say that the 1952 Great Smog of London was a good thing because it kept all the White people from getting sunburned. (Never mind that thousands of Londoners [and animals] died from respiratory illnesses.)

Liam Scott of the Washington Post: “After more than two years of stalled contract negotiations, ProPublica journalists walked off the job Wednesday in a newsroom-wide strike. An unexpected issue is at the heart of the dispute: How much of ProPublica’s work can be off-loaded to artificial intelligence.... The newsroom’s inclusion in the battle over AI is a sign of the issue’s resonance throughout the journalism industry as the technology spreads and editors in big and small newsrooms come under pressure to find ways to work more efficiently. ProPublica’s union asked the outlet to commit to not replacing jobs with AI and to allow staffers to have a say in how AI is used in the newsroom, said Mark Olalde, a ProPublica reporter and member of the union’s bargaining committee.” 

~~~~~~~~~~ 

Louisiana. Jack Brook & Sara Cline of the AP: “A man imprisoned for nearly 30 years before being exonerated won a landmark election in New Orleans promising to fix a judicial system that failed him. Now, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry and the GOP-controlled Legislature are racing to eliminate his job before he can be sworn in. Calvin Duncan won 68% of the vote last November to become the Orleans Parish clerk of criminal court after pledging to reform the justice system based on his own experience fighting to access court records while in maximum security prison. Duncan rebuilt his life, in part by running for and winning the clerk’s office. But Louisiana Senate Republicans on Wednesday voted to scrap Duncan’s new job as part of a broader GOP effort to streamline the judiciary in New Orleans, a Democratic hub with a predominantly Black electorate. The state Legislature is largely Republican and white, and the deeply red state has been leading efforts to gut the Voting Rights Act. [Duncan] told The Associated Press he believes he’s being retaliated against by Louisiana officials who have long denied his innocence....” Read on.

Maine Senate Race, Etc. Liz Goodwin & Dan Merica of the Washington Post: “Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D) is facing second-guessing and intense pressure to come up with a new political plan in Maine, where his top recruit to unseat Sen. Susan Collins (R) has struggled to gain traction ... against her upstart rival. Gov. Janet Mills, 78, is just one of several of Schumer’s favored candidates who are struggling to catch fire in Democratic primaries from Iowa to Minnesota to Michigan.... Mills has lagged behind her upstart liberal rival, Graham Platner, 41, in the polls since Schumer urged her to enter the race last fall. As Platner surged, Mills launched a raft of negative ads against him last month.... But the ads — which resurfaced Platner’s deleted Reddit comments that were dismissive of sexual assault — have not appeared to help her in recent polls, which still show her lagging far behind Platner.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Who exactly is it who thinks Chuck Schumer has brilliant political instincts and should be choosing Senate candidates? When a 75-year-old leader chooses a 78-year-old Congressional neophyte (Mills has extensive experience as an in-state leader) to run against a seasoned but politically-vulnerable senator (aged 73), it's obvious the "decider" is unable to plan ahead or even think rationally. This is like Joe Biden picking himself for president in 2024. How'd that work out? 

~~~~~~~~~~  

Ukraine & Russia Call Easter Cease-Fire. Valerie Hopkins &  Constant Méheut of the New York Times: “President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, have both called for a brief cease-fire in the war to coincide with the Orthodox Easter holiday. The measure could bring a rare pause in the fighting even as peace talks remain stalled. The cease-fire should begin on Saturday at 4 p.m. in Moscow, and last until the end of the following day, according to the Kremlin announcement on late Thursday night. The Kremlin said it assumed that 'the Ukrainian side will follow the example of the Russian Federation.' Mr. Zelensky responded in a post on social media that Ukraine had already proposed an Easter cease-fire, and that it 'will act accordingly.' But it was not immediately clear whether Ukraine had agreed to the exact timeline proposed by the Kremlin.”