The Conversation -- October 22, 2024

Presidential Race

Nick Corasaniti of the New York Times: “With two weeks until Election Day, more than 15 million people have already cast their ballots, the clearest sign yet that voting habits were forever changed by the coronavirus pandemic and that early voting has become a permanent feature of the American democratic process.... Many states have set records for the first day of early voting.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Very nice. But I haven't voted early because New Hampshire, the Backward State, doesn't offer early voting.

It's a Secret Ballot. Erica Green & Reid Epstein of the New York Times: “Vice President Kamala Harris made a concerted effort on Monday to appeal to Republican women in the nation’s suburbs, using former Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming as her ambassador to conservatives during events in well-to-do suburbs of the biggest cities in three important battleground states. Stumping together in town-hall-style settings before intimate crowds at small theaters in the Detroit, Milwaukee and Philadelphia suburbs, Ms. Harris and Ms. Cheney presented a united front against ... Donald J. Trump.... On abortion rights, national security and foreign policy, Ms. Cheney painted Mr. Trump as irresponsibly dangerous while describing Ms. Harris as the safer, reasonable choice to maintain the stability of the country and protect women’s health.... In effect, Ms. Cheney told Republican women that they could back Ms. Harris with a clean conscience.... 'I certainly have many Republicans who will say to me, “I can’t be public.” They do worry about a whole range of things, including violence, but they’ll do the right thing. And I would just remind people, if you’re at all concerned, you can vote your conscience and not ever have to say a word to anybody.'”

Saint Donald of Queens. Michael Gold of the New York Times: “... Donald J. Trump on Monday used the language of persecution to make a sweeping claim that only he could protect Christian voters, darkly warning religious communities that they would come under legal, cultural, political and global assault if he lost in November. Mr. Trump, a former tabloid fixture who was once caught on tape boasting of grabbing women by their genitals, spoke of himself at the 11th Hour Faith Leaders Meeting in Concord, N.C., as not just a champion of Christian causes and values but as a member of the faithful. Two days after he made a crude remark at a rally about a famous golfer’s penis size and used profanity to insult Vice President Kamala Harris, Mr. Trump spoke on Monday of the importance of religion in his life, recalling going to church as a child and framing his survival of an assassination attempt in Butler, Pa., as an act of divine intervention....

“He began the day with a news conference in storm-battered western North Carolina, where he criticized the Biden administration’s response to Hurricane Helene and made false claims about the federal response. Later, he traveled to Greenville, N.C., for a rally where he continued to hammer the federal response to the hurricane, lobbed repeated personal insults at Ms. Harris and stoked fear around illegal immigration. He also revived his calls to use the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport criminal gang members without due process. 'Think of that, 1798,' Mr. Trump told the crowd. 'That’s when we had real politicians that said we’re not going to play games. We have to go back to 1798.'” ~~~

~~~ Trump Receives McDonald's Medal of Fried'em. Isaac Schorr of Mediaite: “After making some remarks, Trump ceded a podium set up in Swannanoa, North Carolina to Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-NC), who thanked Trump 'for taking the time to come to western North Carolina. We’ve seen other folks do a fly over. It is so heartening to see you here with some dust on your shoes, actually seeing what’s taken place.... For those of you who who did not get to see it, I offered, because you know, I also own McDonald’s restaurants, I know that you perfected your skills behind the counter a day or so ago. And it was my honor to present ... Trump with the French Fries Certification Pin,' announced Edwards as Trump held up his pin for the cameras to see.” Thanks to Akhilleus for the link. See also his commentary (x 3) at the end of yesterday's thread.

Philip Bump of the Washington Post: “On his social media platform, Trump claimed that his campaign had obtained proof that [Vice President] Harris’s assertions [that she had briefly worked at McDonald's in 1983] were false. ;We have checked with McDonald’s, and they say, definitively, that there is no record of Lyin’ Kamala Harris ever having worked there,' he wrote Sunday afternoon. 'In other words, she never worked there, and has lied about this “job” for years.'... The restaurant chain — obviously not unhappy at the attention — sent a message to its employees that ... indicates that no records of Harris’s employment exist, but makes clear that this is not an aberration and not a reason to think that she didn’t.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Is it chutzpah or what to tell a lie that your opponent is lying? Or should we give Trump the benefit of the doubt and assume his mental capacity is so diminished that he doesn't know the difference between "no record" and "proof"? If so, OMG, don't give him the nuclear codes, please. Don't give him control of the DOJ, for Pete's sake.

McDonald’s does not endorse candidates for elected office and that remains true in this race for the next President. We are not red or blue — we are golden. -- McDonald's Corporation ~~~

~~~ Francisco Velasquez of Quartz: “McDonald’s is distancing itself from ... Donald Trump after his headline-grabbing stop at a Pennsylvania location, where he pretended to work during a closed event attended by pre-screened supporters. The fast food giant clarified that it did not facilitate Trump’s visit.... The [corporation] said it has invited [Vice President] Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, to visit one of its restaurants to showcase how McDonald’s creates opportunities and supports local communities.” ~~~

     ~~~ Let's Clarify That. Dee-Ann Durbin of the AP: “McDonald’s Corp. agreed to host ... Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania store over the weekend but said it isn’t endorsing a candidate in the U.S. presidential race. In a message to employees obtained Monday by The Associated Press, McDonald’s said the owner-operator of the location, Derek Giacomantonio, reached out after he learned of Trump’s desire to visit a Pennsylvania restaurant. McDonald’s agreed to the event. 'Upon learning of the former president’s request, we approached it through the lens of one of our core values: we open our doors to everyone,' the company said.... The Chicago burger giant said franchisees have also invited Vice President Kamala Harris ... and her running mate, Gov. Tim Walz, to their restaurants.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This is a good example of why we have to take reports from even fairly reliable sites with a grain of salt. I'm not 100% certain that the AP reporter is right and the Quartz reporter is wrong, but it appears that Quartz did not properly distinguish between the corporation & the franchisee. Quartz attributed the "open to everyone" remark to the franchisee; the AP said it came from the corporation. And Quartz claimed the corporation "did not facilitate" Trump's stunt. But the AP said the corporation "approved" it; that sounds pretty close to "facilitating" to me. None of this is going to matter a whit in your life, but we are reminded that even well-meaning journalists don't always get it right. Unless I've read or heard something in several reliable media outlets or maybe heard it myself, I tend to preface many of my "statements of fact" with something like, "I read in the Times that...." ~~~

~~~ Ha Ha. Matthew Chapman of the Raw Story: "The McDonald's restaurant in Feasterville-Trevose, Pennsylvania, where ... Donald Trump posed for a photo op over the weekend has gotten slammed with negative reviews on Yelp, Newsweek reported Monday. Many of the reviews appeared to be tongue-in-cheek, referencing the former president's various legal problems and his recent rants about celebrities' genitals. 'Customer service was a joke. Senile old man got bronzer on my fries, didn't wear gloves,' one reviewer, 'Karen S', stated. 'Repeated himself several times, something about Ronald McDonald in the showers at the golf club? … 0 stars. Do not recommend.'... 'Christopher F' complained his fries had 'a long strand of disgusting yellow hair among them' and a 'creepy old man' working the drive-through window 'offered to pay me some hush money to keep this story quiet.' 'Usually I hold high praise for a company that employs the mentally impaired but this one seemed more off then usual, stated 'Chuck P.'" ~~~

~~~ Say, maybe Christopher F. wasn't kidding about the hair in his fries: ~~~

   ~~~ Kelly Rissman of the Independent: “Donald Trump’s obsession with questioning Kamala Harris’ work experience at McDonald’s peaked over the weekend when he worked the fry cooker at a Pennsylvania branch — without a hairnet or gloves.... A health inspection in March at the Feasterville-Trevose location resulted in four violations, including citing employees not having their 'hands clean & properly washed'.... The report also noted a lack of hairnets.” Emphasis added.

On the Edge of the City of Brotherly Love. Shawn McCreesh of the New York Times: “On Sunday afternoon..., Donald J. Trump dropped by a McDonald’s in Bucks County, Pa.... A few hundred Trump supporters were lining the shoulder of the road and holding a tailgate party in the parking lot of a strip mall right where Philadelphia ends and the suburbs begin. Another group of locals — maybe 50 people — had turned up to protest Mr. Trump’s visit. People on the two sides spent the sunny autumn afternoon screaming into one another’s faces while filming the skirmishes on their iPhones. The parking lot throbbed with hatred, fear and neighbor’s suspicion of neighbor. It became a microcosm of this year’s election, vicious and absurd.... 'They’re the party of hate,' said one Trump supporter, Stephanie Inselberg, 49.... She seemed to genuinely feel that way. A moment later, she began fighting with a Harris supporter....

“The parking lot continued to whip itself into a partisan frenzy while Mr. Trump hammed it up inside the McDonald’s. His aides filmed him as he toddled around the establishment, working the fryer. At one point, he stuck his head out of the drive-through window and chirped: 'I’m having a lot of fun here, everybody!'”

Ashley Parker of the Washington Post: “Since [Vice President] Harris emerged on the top of the Democratic ticket in July, Trump has repeatedly attacked her intelligence — deriding her as 'dumb,' 'mentally unfit,' 'slow,' 'stupid' and an 'extremely low IQ person,' among other similar pejoratives.... Trump’s attacks on her intelligence happen on an almost daily basis — and sometimes more than once a day.... For many voters, as well as experts, Trump’s sneering dismissiveness of Harris’s intellect reeks of racism and sexism.... The attacks are particularly striking given Harris’s deeply accomplished résumé.... The Trump campaign rejected the notion that Trump’s questioning of Harris’s intelligence is in any way racist or sexist. 'Only dumb and low IQ individuals would be offended by that, expressing faux outrage because they need every excuse to explain away their insecure, miserable, and pathetic existence,' Trump spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: One cannot be intellectually honest and deny that the basis for Trump's attacks must be either racist or sexist -- and likely both. What else can it be when he asserts that she “was born ... mentally impaired”? That is to say, there is something about Harris that has made her innately impaired. Trump says he is “a very stable genius” because he has “good genes.” Why isn't Harris a very stable genius, too? If it's not because of her race or her sex -- if it's the city where she was born or her astrological sign, say, -- then Trump should explain that.

Paul Krugman of the New York Times: “Something is clearly happening with Donald Trump. Even a year ago I don’t think he would have begun a rally with 12 minutes of rambling remarks about the late golfer Arnold Palmer, concluding with a discussion of the size of Mr. Palmer’s penis.... But ... Trump’s most disturbing remark over the past few days may have been his unprompted comment about Abraham Lincoln ...: 'Lincoln was probably a great president. Although I’ve always said, why wasn’t that settled, you know? I’m a guy that — it doesn’t make sense we had a civil war.'... As Abraham Lincoln explained in his landmark 1860 Cooper Union address, which set him on the path to the Republican nomination and eventually the presidency, the reason that the Union was facing an existential crisis was a demand by the South — namely, that the North not only let slavery continue unimpeded but also protect the practice from criticism....

“To a large extent, Trump’s campaign is being kept afloat financially by a handful of aggrieved billionaires, Elon Musk in particular.... Trump and many of those around him are hypersensitive to criticism, and if he wins, you can expect them to punish critics, whoever they are, and demand affirmations of loyalty across the board.”

Perry Stein of the Washington Post: “Former Republican lawmakers, advisers and Justice Department officials have called on Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate tech billionaire Elon Musk for awarding cash prizes to voters in swing states if they sign his political organization’s petition, according to a letter obtained by The Washington Post and sent to Garland on Monday. The letter argues that the large prizes set up by Musk, a vocal supporter of Republican nominee Donald Trump, violate federal voting laws that prohibit paying people to register to vote.... The former officials who signed the letter to Garland and Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry argue that Musk’s petition is a disguised voter drive in which he is essentially bribing people to register.... Among the people who signed the letter: Donald Ayer, deputy attorney general under President George H.W. Bush; Trevor Potter, former chairman of the Federal Election Commission; Christine Todd Whitman, former governor of New Jersey; and Olivia Troye, who was special adviser to Vice President Mike Pence.”

Sarah Ellison of the Washington Post: “... Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson (D) accused billionaire Elon Musk of spreading 'dangerous disinformation' about voting in her state after Musk ... shared a post suggesting falsely that the state’s voter rolls, swelled by large numbers of inactive voters, were likely to result in widespread fraud. Benson and Musk exchanged heated messages after he used his powerful platform to spread a popular Republican talking point Saturday night that the state ... had more registered voters than eligible citizens and therefore was opening itself up for election-altering fraud. Musk ... has spent months promoting false and misleading claims about voting, which election officials previously told The Washington Post led to increased requests to purge voter rolls....” ~~~

    ~~~ Marie: Yo, Jocelyn. Quit squabblng with an arrogant, "dangerous" liar. It's like trying to reason with a bratty toddler. You're the secretary of state. Enlist the state's attorney general (also a Democrat) to issue Musk a cease-and-desist letter. And if he doesn't obey, she can arrest his golden butt.

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Marie: Just when I think maybe the New York Times is getting a little better, somebody like Steve M. comes along and snaps me back to reality. Steve got the goods on the Times' reporting Donald Trump's Arnold Palmer-has-a-big-dick story. After a reader called out Michael Gold for "reporting" the dick story as "telling Arnold Palmer golf stories," Gold wrote back that he did report the dick story in one of his posts but his editors removed the post (or that part of it). Gold suggested the reader complain to senioreditor@nytimes.com . May that happened, because the Times then published the full story, which led with the dick remark. Steve wonders, "Did reader complaints pressure the Times to run this story? Or was it the fact that most other media organizations, including The Washington Post, AP, CNN, USA Today, and even Fox, recognized the news value of the joke?" Thanks to RAS for the link. (See also Akhilleus's commentary below on the Times "equality of outcomes" standard.) ~~~

     ~~~ And let me just add here, the Times is quite all right with reporting dick jokes if Democrats tell them. Here's Peter Baker, reporting on President Obama's 2024 Democratic convention speech:

"Mr. Obama scorned his successor’s fixation with 'childish nicknames' and his 'crazy conspiracy theories' and 'this weird obsession with crowd sizes.' At that point, Mr. Obama held his hands together in a way that implied a certain concern over masculine proportions. When the crowd roared with laughter, he made an I-don’t-know-what-you’re-talking-about face of faux innocence."

     ~~~ Both Barack Obama and Donald Trump are former presidents, even if one of them was a president*. Why is it okay to report on Obama's joke but not on Trump's vulgar remark?

Katie Robertson of the New York Times: “The star political writer Olivia Nuzzi of New York magazine, who has been embroiled in scandal since she disclosed a personal relationship with the former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has left the magazine. New York Magazine said in a note to readers on Monday that an investigation by the law firm Davis Wright Tremaine had found 'no inaccuracies nor evidence of bias' in Ms. Nuzzi’s coverage of the 2024 campaign. 'Nevertheless, the magazine and Nuzzi agreed that the best course forward is to part ways,' the statement read. 'Nuzzi is a uniquely talented writer and we have been proud to publish her work over her nearly eight years as our Washington correspondent. We wish her the best.'”

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Arizona. Yvonne Sanchez of the Washington Post: “An Arizona Republican who helped inspire national concerns over county-level certification of the 2024 presidential election pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge Monday related to a 'failure or refusal' to perform her duty. Peggy Judd, who helps lead Cochise County, southeast of Phoenix, was indicted by a state grand jury a year ago, accused of flouting the state’s deadlines to formally accept the results of the 2022 midterm general election. Judd and another Republican supervisor, Thomas Crosby, were charged with conspiracy and interfering with an election officer after an investigation by Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes (D). Both supervisors initially pleaded not guilty. In a plea agreement signed by Judd, she acknowledged that she 'knowingly' refused to perform her duty to certify the election results by Nov. 28, 2022.... [Crosby's] case is ongoing.”

To keep it simple for the State of Florida: it’s the First Amendment, stupid. -- U.S. District Judge Mark Walker, in a temporary injunction prohibiting the state from sending threatening letters to broadcasters ~~~

~~~ Florida. Lori Rozsa of the Washington Post: “Letters that threatened Florida TV stations with criminal penalties if they aired a political ad backing a referendum that would repeal the state’s six-week abortion ban came directly from Gov. Ron DeSantis’s office, according to the attorney who signed and sent them. Attorney John Wilson said that he resigned as general counsel for the Florida Department of Health rather than “complying with the directives” of DeSantis’s executive staff to send more cease-and-desist letters to TV stations running the ad. 'I did not draft the letters or participate in any discussions about the letters prior to Oct. 3,' Wilson wrote in an affidavit filed in federal court Monday. Instead, he said, three attorneys on the governor’s staff gave him the letters to send. In an earlier letter, Wilson condemned the actions of the administration.'A man is nothing without his conscience,' Wilson wrote in a resignation letter on Oct. 10 obtained by the Miami Herald.”

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Israel/Palestine, et al. The New York Times' live updates of developments Tuesday in Israel's wars are here:  “The Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah on Tuesday said it had launched a missile attack at an Israeli military base near Tel Aviv, sending residents fleeing into shelters hours before Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken was due to arrive in the city for meetings with Israeli officials.”