;)
The Commentariat -- November 2, 2020
Afternoon Update:
From the WashPo's live election updates Monday: "A federal judge has rejected Republicans' attempt to invalidate tens of thousands of ballots cast via 'drive-through' voting in Harris County, which is home to Houston. But he also cautioned those who haven't yet voted to avoid using drive-through centers on Election Day because of outstanding questions about the method's legality. U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, found that the plaintiffs did not have standing to challenge the validity of the ballots. The decision follows a string of Republican attempts to limit the expansion of voting options in the Texas, particularly in Democratic-led Harris County, where local officials have spent tens of millions of dollars trying to making voting easier during the coronavirus pandemic." Mrs. McC: According to CNN on-air reporting, the plaintiffs plan to appeal the decision. Also linked below. Free to non-subscribers.
Stephanie Becker of CNN: "A Nevada judge rejected a GOP lawsuit seeking to halt early vote counting in Clark County, which includes Las Vegas, over stringency of signature-matching computer software and how closely observers can watch votes being counted. With less than 24 hours before Election Day, District Court Judge James Wilson denied the Nevada Republican Party and the Trump campaign their request challenging procedures for poll observation and mail-in ballot processing in heavily Democratic Clark County.... Donald Trump has consistently criticized Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak, a Democrat, for the decision to send ballots to all active voters because of the pandemic, and the battleground state is one of several where Republicans have tried to limit mail-in voting activity."
The New York Times live election updates for Monday are here. The Washington Post's live election updates Monday are here. The Post's updates are free to non-subscribers.
Alicia Parlapiano of the New York Times writes a general explanation of how votes will be counted, and how the early returns may be skewed one way or the other, then helpful state-by-state mini-analyses of when the polls close, the types of ballots that will be reported first, & the likely timing of unofficial reports. The Times will update the page as states release more information.
Paul LeBlanc of CNN: "Federal authorities are expected to put back into place a 'non-scalable' fence around the entire perimeter of the White House on Monday as law enforcement and other agencies prepare for possible protests surrounding the election.... Washington, DC, Metro Police Chief Peter Newsham warned the District's City Council last month there was wide expectation of some type of civil unrest following the election. And many businesses in the downtown DC area in the proximity of the White House have boarded up doors and windows in the last couple of days in anticipation of possible protests. During this past summer, some businesses saw their windows smashed and other property damaged by protesters." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: So maybe the reason Trump cancelled his plans to party at the Trump Hotel on Election Night was not that he needed to hole up with his aides at the White House to scheme to steal the election or that he planned to use the People's House as a party venue. Instead, maybe he just wanted to be sure he could get to his hidey-hole in the basement bunker toot sweet.
Antonia Farzan, et al., of the Washington Post have a sort of round-up of world news, centering on the U.S., on the status of the coronavirus. This is a bit different from their usual updates, in that it is not broken into several discrete items. The article is free to non-subscribers.
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Presidential Race, Etc.
Michael McDonald of the University of Florida is keeping track of early voting -- both mail-in and in-person -- state-by-state and, where available, by party affiliation. Thanks to Ken W. for the link. As of early Monday, about 94 million people have voted.
Nate Silver of 538: "I'm Here To Remind You That Trump Can Still Win. A 10 percent chance isn't zero. And there's a chance of a recount, too." Read it & weep. But good material for masochists.
The Washington Post's live election updates Sunday are here. The page is free to non-subscribers. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Annie Linskey of the Washington Post: "On the final Sunday before an election that could secure the prize that has eluded him in two previous national campaigns, Joe Biden hardened his pitch in the state that more than any other could decide the presidency.... His campaign events in Philadelphia marked the kickoff to a 36-hour blitz of Pennsylvania, broken only by an added side trip to next-door Ohio, where a victory would offer another pathway to the 270 electoral votes the winner needs. As Biden focused on a narrow corner of the country, President Trump scoured multiple states trying to ensure that his loyal followers come out to vote."
Katie Glueck & Annie Karni of the New York Times: "... President Trump and Joseph R. Biden Jr. are barreling into Pennsylvania and turning it into the top battleground in Tuesday's election, with Democrats flooding in with door-knockers and Republicans trying to parlay Mr. Trump's rallies into big turnout once again. Both campaigns see Pennsylvania as increasingly crucial to victory: Mr. Trump now appears more competitive here than in Michigan and Wisconsin, two other key northern states he hopes to win, and Mr. Biden's clearest electoral path to the White House runs through the state. Pennsylvania has more Electoral College votes, 20, than any other traditional battleground except Florida, and Mr. Trump won the state by less than one percentage point in 2016. Mr. Trump devoted Saturday to four rallies across the state, and he and Mr. Biden planned campaign events for the final 48 hours of the race as well, with a wave of prominent Democrats and celebrities slated to arrive. On Monday the president was set to make an appeal to white, working-class voters in Scranton, where Mr. Biden was born, while the Democratic nominee was aiming to solidify a broad coalition of white suburbanites and voters of color on a two-day swing through Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and elsewhere in western Pennsylvania.... Mr. Trump's rallies have energized many Republican voters, and his team is already preparing legal challenges over the vote if it ends up being close. On Sunday, the president told reporters, 'as soon as that election's over, we're going in with our lawyers.'" An AP story is here.
Jonathan Swan of Axios: "President Trump has told confidants he'll declare victory on Tuesday night if it looks like he's 'ahead,' according to three sources familiar with his private comments. That's even if the Electoral College outcome still hinges on large numbers of uncounted votes in key states like Pennsylvania.... Speaking to reporters on Sunday evening, Trump denied that he would declare victory prematurely, before adding, 'I think it's a terrible thing when ballots can be collected after an election. I think it's a terrible thing when states are allowed to tabulate ballots for a long period of time after the election is over.... I think it's terrible that we can't know the results of an election the night of the election.... We're going to go in the night of, as soon as that election's over, we're going in with our lawyers.... We don't want to have Pennsylvania, where you have a political governor, a very partisan guy. ... We don't want to be in a position where he's allowed, every day, to watch ballots come in. See if we can only find 10,000 more ballots." ~~~
~~~ Richard Hasen in Slate: "... such a claim is preposterous because no state fully counts their ballots on election night. Returns are unofficial and always contain errors. Many states allow military ballots to arrive for days after election day. Counting generally continues for days and weeks after election day and results are not certified until weeks after.... That's what makes the Trump campaign efforts to cast doubts on even the counting of ballots after election day, even of military ballots, so unprecedented. As Slate's Will Saletan noted, Trump adviser Jason Miller, speaking on ABC News' This Week, signaled a legal battle against ballots not yet counted by Tuesday. 'If you speak with many smart Democrats, they believe that President Trump will be ahead on election night,' Miller said. 'And then they're going to try to steal it back after the election.' Counting legitimate ballots is not stealing of flipping the election, and no amount of spin can make it otherwise.... Trump's blatant telegraphing of this strategy through leaks to Axios is a blessing in disguise. The public is now going to be hearing from the media about Trump's plans over the next few days...." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Look at this impending fake declaration of victory not only as a plan to steal the election but also as a way for Trump to claim he's not a loser -- a conceit that seems to be important to him. If he can tell himself he won, but Joe Biden or the Supreme Court or Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf or whoever stole the election from him, then he won't have to go crouch in a corner of the Oval Office (ha ha) in a catatonic state save the suck-suck-sucking on his tiny thumb.
For Want of a Surprise, the Kingdom Was Lost (Maybe). Shane Goldmacher & Adam Nagourney of the New York Times: "President Trump began the fall campaign rooting for, and trying to orchestrate, a last-minute surprise that would vault him ahead of Joseph R. Biden Jr. A coronavirus vaccine. A dramatic economic rebound. A blockbuster Justice Department investigation. A grievous misstep by a rival he portrayed as faltering. A scandal involving Mr. Biden and his son Hunter. But as the campaign nears an end, and with most national and battleground-state polls showing Mr. Trump struggling, the cavalry of an October surprise that helped him overtake Hillary Clinton in 2016 has not arrived. That has left Mr. Trump running on a record of an out-of-control pandemic, an economy staggered by disease, and questions about his own style and conduct that have made him a polarizing figure.... That is not to say Mr. Trump did not try to use the levers of the government to shake up the race, and he has lashed out at cabinet officials who would not do his bidding."
Kansas. Tim Hrenchir of the Topeka Capital-Journal: "Three people were shot late Saturday in North Topeka after a man confronted people he thought had committed past thefts of signs promoting the campaign of ... Donald Trump, a Topeka police supervisor said Sunday.... One person was taken by ambulance to a hospital with gunshot wounds that were considered potentially life-threatening, said police Lt. Joe Perry.... Two other people later sought hospital treatment in Topeka after arriving by private vehicle after suffering from gunshot wounds, Perry said. The seriousness of their injuries wasn't clear. The names, ages and genders of those wounded weren't available Sunday morning. Perry said two people were brought to police headquarters for questioning but he wasn't aware of any arrests having been made. The case remained under investigation. At least one man was taken away was in handcuffs, neighbors told a Capital-Journal reporter...." Mrs. McC: I wonder if Trump will praise the perps.
New Jersey & New York. WTF Is the Point? Neil Vigdor, et al., of the New York Times: "... on Sunday, caravans of Mr. Trump's supporters blockaded the Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge and the Garden State Parkway, snarling traffic on two of the busiest highways in the New York metropolitan area.... Videos taken by motorists showed the president's backers parked in the middle of the westbound lanes of the bridge, which carries Interstate 287 across the Hudson River and is named for the father of the current governor, Andrew M. Cuomo. A number of them exited their vehicles in the rain and waved Trump banners and American flags as motorists honked their horns.... [The Cuomo Bridge] replaced the Tappan Zee Bridge.... William Duffy, a spokesman for the New York State Police, said that troopers had monitored the protest, but that there were no arrests.... In New Jersey, a caravan of Trump supporters snarled traffic on the northbound lanes of the Garden State Parkway near the Cheesequake Service Area in South Amboy, according to videos and local media reports."
North Carolina. Racist Voter Suppression, Cop-Style. Carli Brousseau of the (Raleigh) News & Observer: "Pepper spray and handcuffs won't end his quest to lead voters to the polls in Alamance County, Rev. Greg Drumwright said during a news conference Sunday. He announced a march in Graham on Election Day. 'We're coming even stronger,' Drumwright said ... in Burlington, his childhood neighborhood. His release from jail the day before, following a get-out-the-vote march that never made it to the polling place, was conditioned on staying out of Graham[, N.C.] for 72 hours. On Saturday, Drumwright, a pastor in Greensboro, led about 200 people from Wayman Chapel AME Church in Graham to the town's Court Square, the site of frequent demonstrations this summer calling for justice.... The rally [on Saturday] ended with pepper spray. Alamance County sheriff's deputies began dismantling the group's audio equipment and used the spray when demonstrators intervened. More than a dozen people, including Drumwright, were arrested. The pepper fog caused several children who attended the march to throw up. Janet Johnson, a 56-year-old minister from Graham who attended the rally in a motorized scooter, had a panic attack and began to convulse." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: The police boasted that they did not spray the pepper solution in the marchers' faces but aimed it at the ground. Well, where the hell do they think the faces of little children & wheel-chair riders are? Why, close to the ground. In other words, they aimed their weapons at the most vulnerable.
Texas. Jolie McCullough of the Texas Tribune: "A legal cloud hanging over nearly 127,000 votes already cast in Harris County was at least temporarily lifted Sunday when the Texas Supreme Court rejected a request by several conservative Republican activists and candidates to preemptively throw out early balloting from drive-thru polling sites in the state's most populous, and largely Democratic, county. The all-Republican court denied the request without an order or opinion, as justices did last month in a similar lawsuit brought by some of the same plaintiffs. The Republican plaintiffs, however, are pursuing a similar lawsuit in federal court, hoping to get the votes thrown out by arguing that drive-thru voting violates the U.S. constitution. A hearing in that case is set for Monday morning in a Houston-based federal district court, one day before Election Day. A rejection of the votes would constitute a monumental disenfranchisement of voters -- drive-thru ballots account for about 10% of all in-person ballots cast during early voting in Harris County." ~~~
~~~ See also Mark Stern's Slate post on this, linked yesterday.
"Law & Order" President* Knocks FBI Investigation. Allan Smith & Julia Ainsley of NBC News: "... Donald Trump lashed out at the FBI on Sunday after it said it was investigating reports that a caravan of his supporters harassed a bus belonging to Joe Biden's campaign. 'In my opinion, these patriots did nothing wrong,' Trump said in a tweet. 'Instead, the FBI & Justice should be investigating the terrorists, anarchists, and agitators of ANTIFA, who run around burning down our Democrat run cities and hurting our people!'" ~~~
~~~ Matthew Schwartz of NPR: "President Trump is celebrating a caravan of supporters who followed [Mrs. McC: make that "harassed," at the very least] a Biden-Harris campaign bus in Central Texas.... Trump discussed the caravan at a Michigan campaign event on Sunday. 'Did you see the way our people, they were, ya know, protecting this bus ... because they're nice,' he said. 'They had hundreds of cars. Trump! Trump! Trump and the American flag.'" ~~~
~~~ Kate McGee, et al., of the Texas Tribune: "The Federal Bureau of Investigation is looking into a Friday incident in which a group of Trump supporters, driving trucks and waving Trump flags, surrounded and followed a Biden campaign bus as it drove up I-35 in Hays County, a law enforcement official confirmed to The Texas Tribune Saturday. The confrontation, captured on video, featured at least one minor collision and led to Texas Democrats canceling three scheduled campaign events on Friday. The campaign officials cited 'safety concerns' for the cancellations.... On Saturday night, Trump tweeted a video of the Trump supporters following the Biden bus saying, 'I LOVE TEXAS!'" Mrs. McC: Again, it is beyond extraordinary that a POTUS* would encourage dangerous, violent actions that the FBI is investigating as criminal activity. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Virginia. Matthew Brown of USA Today: "A group of protesters gathered in front of Attorney General William Barr's McLean, Virginia home on Saturday evening where they called for Barr to 'lock up' ... Joe Biden. Photos of the event showed a crowd of about a dozen men, donned in clothing and messages supportive of President Donald Trump, held signs with slogans such as 'Biden Lies Matter,' 'Equal Justice Is Coming' and 'They that forsake the law praise the wicked.' Others wore 'Trump 2020' flags and 'Crooked Hillary for Prison' T-shirts." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Peter Baker of the New York Times: "Born amid made-up crowd size claims and 'alternative facts,' the Trump presidency has been a factory of falsehood from the start, churning out distortions, conspiracy theories and brazen lies at an assembly-line pace that has challenged fact-checkers and defied historical analogy. But now..., the consequences of four years of fabulism are coming into focus as President Trump argues that the vote itself is inherently 'rigged,' tearing at the credibility of the system. Should the contest go into extra innings through legal challenges after Tuesday, it may leave a public with little faith in the outcome -- and in its own democracy. The nightmarish scenario of widespread doubt and denial of the legitimacy of the election would cap a period in American history when truth itself has seemed at stake.... Even if the election ends with a clear victory or defeat for Mr. Trump, scholars and players alike say the very concept of public trust in an established set of facts necessary for the operation of a democratic society has eroded during his tenure with potentially long-term ramifications." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Witness to Treachery. The Last Tell-All Book. Natasha Bertrand of Politico: "As Rudy Giuliani searched for damaging information on the Bidens in Ukraine, waged shadow diplomatic campaigns in Venezuela and Turkey, and spoke regularly to ... Donald Trump about all of it, [Aaron Parnas, son of Lev,] a 19-year-old law student, was quietly watching and soaking it all in.... And he has now written an eyewitness account of many of the back-channel dealings conducted by Giuliani and a small group of his confidants.... The 153-page memoir ... traces [Aaron] Parnas' journey from an enthusiastic Trump supporter in 2016 ... to an eager Biden voter in 2020.... [Aaron] Parnas was ... a witness to Giuliani's dirt-digging missions targeting Joe and Hunter Biden, during which his father was with Giuliani 'almost every day.... Since they were inseparable during this time, I would often meet with the two of them together,' Parnas writes. 'During our meetings, I was able to witness Rudy talk with the President multiple times on the phone.... It was clear to me that everything the Mayor and my father did through the summer months of 2019 related to Ukraine and the Bidens was done at the direction and with the consent of President Trump.'"
The Trumpidemic, Ctd.
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Sunday are here: "As Election Day nears and the United States reports its highest daily case totals yet, battleground Great Lakes states that could help decide the presidency are enduring some of the most alarming coronavirus surges. While the surge quickens and early voting draws to a close, President Trump has continued downplaying the virus and falsely saying the country is 'rounding the turn.' And on Thursday, Donald Trump Jr. tried to minimize the death toll, claiming it was 'almost nothing' in an appearance on Fox News. But deaths are beginning to rise across the country, averaging 818 a day over the last week, up nearly 15 percent since Oct. 1, according to a New York Times database. More than 84,000 new cases were announced Saturday in the United States, pushing the seven-day average for new cases above 80,000 for the first time, a rise of 86 percent over the same period." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Kevin Liptak of CNN: "... Donald Trump suggested to a Florida crowd he may fire Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's leading expert on infectious diseases, after the election. Speaking after midnight following a full day of campaigning, the President was complaining about the news media coverage of Covid-19 when the crowd broke out into a 'Fire Fauci' chant. 'Don't tell anybody but let me wait until a little bit after the election,' Trump said to cheers. 'I appreciate the advice.' Later, Trump claimed Fauci is 'a nice guy but he's been wrong a lot.'" Mrs. McC: Fauci is a civil servant, so I don't think Trump can "fire" him without cause. However, Trump can diminish Fauci's profile, removing him from the now-eviscerated White House Coronavirus Task Force, engineering Fauci's removal from his head-of-department status, etc.
~~~ Thanks to Forrest M. for the lead.
John Amato of the Crooks & Liars: "As many of the networks ask Trump administration health officials to join their shows, Trump's new favorite propaganda toy, Dr. Scott Atlas, instead went on Russian TV to attack the media, Dr. Fauci, and all health officials over their policies to ensure the public's safety from COVID. Dr. Atlas, who is not an epidemiology specialist, has become Trump's go-to COVID influencer since he became Tucker Carlson's favorite doctor. His job is to attack CDC officials trying to do their jobs, to spread misinformation, and to ignore the severity of COVID-19, all in an effort to help Trump's reelection campaign.... Atlas claimed the lock downs are not sparing Americans from the virus: 'The lock downs will go down as an epic failure of public policy.' Then he went so far as to tell Russian TV that Dr. Fauci's measures are actually killing people: 'The public health leadership has failed egregiously and they are killing people with their fear-inducing shutdown policies.'" Mrs. McC: Since the White House must approve Task Force members' interviews, either Atlas went rogue or Kremlin TV is a favored Trump outlet. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Update. Maria Arias of Axios: "President Trump's favorite coronavirus adviser Scott Atlas apologized on Twitter for appearing Saturday on Russia's state-controlled RT network, where he insisted that the U.S. is turning the corner on the pandemic and that lockdowns are actually 'killing people.' RT, formerly known as Russia Today, is a Russian state-owned media outlet registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. This means that all of its content is labeled as propaganda attempting to influence U.S. public opinion, policy and laws.... 'I recently did an interview with RT and was unaware they are a registered foreign agent,' Atlas tweeted.... Atlas appeared on RT just hours after the Washington Post released an interview with Anthony Fauci, who criticized Atlas for his controversial views on the pandemic." Mrs. McC: It's certain part of the job of a presidential advisor to find out who the hell he's talking to. But since Atlas doesn't know what the hell he's talking about, I guess we should not be surprised.
U.K. Karla Adam of the Washington Post: "Prince William caught the novel coronavirus in the spring around the same time that his father, Prince Charles, also tested positive, according to various British media reports. The Duke of Cambridge, 38, was left 'struggling to breathe,' according to the Sun newspaper, which first published the story. The British tabloid said that William, the second in line to the throne, kept the diagnosis secret because 'he didn't want to alarm the nation.' His diagnosis came a few days after the palace revealed in late March that Charles, the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II, had the virus." A BBC News story is here.
Not Their First Rodeo. Aaron Davis, et al., of the Washington Post: "On April 30, outside the Michigan Capitol, protesters gathered to demand that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer end the business closures and other measures she had imposed to slow the transmission of the coronavirus.... In the crowd that day, according to photos and videos, were Adam Fox and at least five others who are now charged in the plot to kidnap Whitmer or, in related cases, providing material support for a planned terrorist act.... Although charging documents placed them at one political rally, a Washington Post examination of images and video found that the men were present at at least seven rallies in Michigan in the six months before their arrests.... At events where the men were present, protest organizers, conservative activists and even law enforcement officers told crowds that the governor had grievously infringed on Michiganders' rights, the Post examination found."
Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post: "Former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden will apply for Russian citizenship while also keeping his U.S. nationality, he said Monday. Snowden, who fled the United States and was given asylum in Russia after leaking top-secret files on U.S. government surveillance activities, has lived in Moscow for the past seven years. He received permanent residency last month, his lawyer told the Tass state news agency."
Beyond the Beltway
Kentucky. Jaclyn Peiser of the Washington Post: "The 33-page slide show used to train cadets for the Kentucky State Police encouraged ethical and moral decision-making, selflessness, pride and honor. But in doing so, the police also quoted Adolf Hitler and Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, and encouraged trainees to pursue violence at all costs. 'The very first essential for success is a perpetually constant and regular employment of violence,' Hitler wrote in his anti-Semitic manifesto 'Mein Kampf,' which was included on a police training slide entitled 'Violence of Action.' The line was one of three times the state police quoted the Nazi leader in the training material. The slide show was first reported Friday by Manual Redeye, a student newspaper at Louisville's duPont Manual High School. The students were given the documents by a local lawyer, who received them through an open records request for a lawsuit against the police agency. After the report published, state officials responded with anger and condemnation. In a statement to the Redeye, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) called the materials 'unacceptable.' 'We will collect all the facts and take immediate corrective action,' Beshear said." ~~~
~~~ Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs of the New York Times: "A slide show once shown to cadets training to join the Kentucky State Police includes quotations attributed to Adolf Hitler and Robert E. Lee, says troopers should be warriors who 'always fight to the death' and encourages each trooper in training to be a 'ruthless killer.' The slide show, which came to light on Friday in a report from a high school newspaper, brought harsh condemnation from politicians, Jewish groups and Kentucky residents, but not from the Kentucky State Police department itself which said only that the training materials were old. Morgan Hall, a spokeswoman for the Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, which oversees the State Police, said that the slide show was 'removed' in 2013 and was no longer in use but declined to answer a list of questions.... Many of the nation's police academies and departments have long emphasized a warrior mentality, experts have said, with officers trained for conflict and equipped with the gear and weapons of modern warfare." A USA Today story is here.
Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Both the Daily Beast & Slate now have gone almost entirely subscriber-firewalled. Add them to the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, many local newspapers (like the Houston Chronicle), New Yorker, Atlantic, New York, New Republic, Nation, etc., and my options are limited. Obviously, our sources of news & opinion are now extremely restricted. If you have an idea of how to get around this, let me know. One avenue could be (haven't checked it out yet for myself) is connecting up with your local library to "borrow" their subscriptions, if they have them.
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