‘Thank God you are not on the Supreme Court’
| Build back better?  Maybe it's time to rename President Joe Biden's "Build Back Better" plan the "Are We Ever Going to Agree to Build Anything at All" bill.
On another day of brinkmanship, Democrat-on-Democrat feuding, blown presidential capital and busted deadlines, Biden failed again to get his social spending and infrastructure repair program through Congress. He landed in Rome on Thursday night looking like an American leader who can't solve his own problems, let alone the global environmental and economic woes that he will confront this weekend.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had pleaded with Democrats earlier in the day not to "embarrass" Biden by voting down his infrastructure bill as he arrived in the Eternal City. In the event, it was Pelosi herself who was embarrassed after pulling the vote yet again because she couldn't get progressives to back it — a sign of her own diminished authority.
The problem is the same as it was two weeks ago: The most liberal House Democrats won't vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill — a huge Biden priority — without first getting a guarantee on the language of a sweeping health care, climate and social safety net package. They don't trust two moderate Democratic senators, Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Arizona's Kyrsten Sinema, who have pulled some of the liberals' favorite programs from the measure and cut its value from $3.5 trillion to $1.75 trillion.
Even Biden's trip up to Capitol Hill before he climbed the stairs of Air Force One didn't get them to budge — an act of defiance that makes you wonder if the White House is frittering away its political capital.
The two bills will probably get passed in the end. The credibility of Biden's presidency depends on it. But the absolute mess on Capitol Hill risks draining his eventual victory of its political potency. Meanwhile, Americans are suffering under high gasoline prices, spiking inflation, a slowing economy and empty shelves in some stores amid a supply chain crunch.
The world that Biden hopes to lead during his trip abroad has plenty of problems. But things aren't exactly going great for him back home, either. The world and America China, the world's biggest polluter, gave a "disappointing" new climate pledge to the UN.
'You should resign in disgrace'  Republican Sens. Josh Hawley and Tom Cotton on Wednesday, October 27, 2021.
The Republican Party put on a potent show for right-wing media this week.
The conservative entertainment complex was roaring on Wednesday during a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee that roasted Attorney General Merrick Garland. GOP senators say they're angry that Garland called on the FBI to liaise with local law enforcement over threats of violence and intimidation aimed at public school board members. The bodies that set policy for school districts have seen furious protests by parents lately over mask mandates and the teaching of race.
Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn asked Garland whether he was drawing a comparison between parents and the Oklahoma City bombers who killed 168 people in 1995. "My God, absolutely not," replied Garland, who as a Justice Department official prosecuted the bombers. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz accused him of using the law as "political retribution." Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley said Garland had "weaponized" the Justice Department and demanded his resignation. Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton staged an epic tantrum and told a bewildered Garland, "Thank God you are not on the Supreme Court" — a reference to the then-GOP-led Senate's blockade of his nomination in 2016.
There is nothing wrong with Garland facing scrutiny. But the senators have conflated Garland's memo with an inflammatory letter to the Justice Department by the National School Boards Association, which has since been withdrawn, which compared threats to "domestic terrorism." Garland's memo makes no such claim; it says protests and interruptions by parents at school board meetings are protected as spirited debate under constitutional free speech protections.
Were these Republicans confused? Probably not. For all their populist anti-elite crusades, these are the best and the brightest. Cruz went to Princeton and Harvard Law. Cotton is also a Harvard Law man. Hawley got his law degree at Yale. Their outrage is a pantomime with a cynical purpose: drumming up screeds for conservative news shows and websites.
Painting the moderate Garland as a raging partisan also has another purpose: He will ultimately decide whether former President Donald Trump's political guru Steve Bannon will be prosecuted for refusing a subpoena from the Capitol insurrection probe.  'To make sure we have something for the menu' As families across the US deal with the impacts of a congested supply chain -- from delayed furniture to rising car prices -- others are struggling to find enough to eat. CNN's Gabe Cohen reports that American schools and non-profits -- primary distributors of food to the needy -- are facing price hikes and shortages due to shipping and labor issues. The Philadelphia School District, for example, is missing different items needed for school lunches each week. Right now, it's running out of paper trays, and its food staff is down more than 20%.
"It's actually vendors not producing products," said Amy Virus, the district's manager of administrative and support services. "We are really working behind the scenes to make sure we have something for the menu for students to have." Thanks for reading. On Friday, Biden will meet Pope Francis in Vatican City. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visits the Netherlands. British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss visits India. Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu addresses the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China in Rome.
On Saturday, the G20 summit kicks off in Rome. Expect mass protests in Sudan over its recent military coup.
And Sunday is Halloween 🎃. Japan will hold general elections. The United Nations COP26 climate summit kicks off in Glasgow. NASA's SpaceX Crew-3 mission lifts off to the International Space Station. View in browser | All CNN Newsletters
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