The Ledes

Friday, October 11, 2024

Washington Post: “Floridians began returning to damaged and waterlogged homes on Thursday after Hurricane Milton carved a path of destruction and grief across the state, the second massive storm to strike Florida in as many weeks. At least 14 storm-related deaths were attributed to the hurricane, which made landfall south of Sarasota at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, officials said. Six of them were killed when two tornadoes touched down ahead of the storm in St. Lucie County on Florida’s central Atlantic coast. The deadly tornadoes, rising waters, torrential rain and punishing winds battered the state from coast to coast as Milton churned eastward before heading out to sea early Thursday.”

Washington Post: “Twelve people were rescued from an inactive Colorado gold mine after they were trapped 1,000 feet underground for about six hours following an elevator malfunction. One person was killed in the accident, which happened about 500 feet underground at the Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine near Cripple Creek, Colo., Teller County Sheriff Jason Mikesell said at a Thursday news conference. The site is a tourist attraction. Eleven other people aboard the elevator at the time, including two children, were rescued shortly after the mechanical malfunction, which Mikesell said 'created a severe danger for the participants.' He said four suffered minor injuries.... Twelve others in a separate group remained trapped in a mine shaft 1,000 feet underground for several hours after the incident, before they were rescued Thursday evening, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said.”

The Wires
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The Ledes

Thursday, October 10, 2024

CNBC: “The pace of price increases over the past year was higher than forecast in September while jobless claims posted an unexpected jump following Hurricane Helene and the Boeing strike, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The consumer price index, a broad gauge measuring the costs of goods and services across the U.S. economy, increased a seasonally adjusted 0.2% for the month, putting the annual inflation rate at 2.4%. Both readings were 0.1 percentage point above the Dow Jones consensus. The annual inflation rate was 0.1 percentage point lower than August and is the lowest since February 2021.”

The New York Times' live updates of Hurrucane Milton consequences Thursday are here: “Milton was still producing damaging hurricane-force winds and heavy rainfall to parts of East and Central Florida, forecasters said early Thursday, even as the powerful storm roared away from the Atlantic coast and left deaths and widespread damage across the state. Cities along Florida’s east coast are now facing flash flooding, damaging winds and storm surges. Some had already been battered by powerful tornadoes spun out by the storm before it made landfall on the Gulf Coast on Wednesday as a Category 3 hurricane. In [St. Lucie] county [Fort Pierce], several people in a retirement community were killed by a tornado, the police said.... More than three million customers were without power in Florida as of early Thursday.” ~~~

     ~~~ Here are the Weater Channel's live updates.

CNN: “The 2024 Nobel Prize in literature has been awarded to Han Kang, a South Korean author, for her 'intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life.' Han, 53, began her career with a group of poems in a South Korean magazine, before making her prose debut in 1995 with a short story collection. She later began writing longer prose works, most notably 'The Vegetarian,' one of her first books to be translated into English. The novel, which won the Man Booker International Prize in 2016, charts a young woman’s attempt to live a more 'plant-like' existence after suffering macabre nightmares about human cruelty. Han is the first South Korean author to win the literature prize, and just the 18th woman out of the 117 prizes awarded since 1901.” The New York Times story is here.

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Public Service Announcement

Washington Post: "Americans can again order free rapid coronavirus tests by mail, the Biden administration announced Thursday. People can request four free at-home tests per household through covidtests.gov. They will begin shipping Monday. The move comes ahead of an expected winter wave of coronavirus cases. The September revival of the free testing program is in line with the Biden administration’s strategy to respond to the coronavirus as part of a broader public health campaign to protect Americans from respiratory viruses, including influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), that surge every fall and winter. But free tests were not mailed during the summer wave, which wastewater surveillance data shows is now receding."

Washington Post: “Comedy news outlet the Onion — reinvigorated by new ownership over this year — is bringing back its once-popular video parodies of cable news. But this time, there’s someone with real news anchor experience in the chair. When the first episodes appear online Monday, former WAMU and MSNBC host Joshua Johnson will be the face of the resurrected 'Onion News Network.' Playing an ONN anchor character named Dwight Richmond, Johnson says he’s bringing a real anchor’s sense of clarity — and self-importance — to the job. 'If ONN is anything, it’s a news organization that is so unaware of its own ridiculousness that it has the confidence of a serial killer,' says Johnson, 44.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I'll be darned if I can figured out how to watch ONN. If anybody knows, do tell. Thanks.

Washington Post: “First came the surprising discovery that Earth’s atmosphere is leaking. But for roughly 60 years, the reason remained a mystery. Since the late 1960s, satellites over the poles detected an extremely fast flow of particles escaping into space — at speeds of 20 kilometers per second. Scientists suspected that gravity and the magnetic field alone could not fully explain the stream. There had to be another source creating this leaky faucet. It turns out the mysterious force is a previously undiscovered global electric field, a recent study found. The field is only about the strength of a watch battery — but it’s enough to thrust lighter ions from our atmosphere into space. It’s also generated unlike other electric fields on Earth. This newly discovered aspect of our planet provides clues about the evolution of our atmosphere, perhaps explaining why Earth is habitable. The electric field is 'an agent of chaos,' said Glyn Collinson, a NASA rocket scientist and lead author of the study. 'It undoes gravity.... Without it, Earth would be very different.'”

The New York Times lists Emmy winners. The AP has an overview story here.

New York Times: “Hvaldimir, a beluga whale who had captured the public’s imagination since 2019 after he was spotted wearing a harness seemingly designed for a camera, was found dead on Saturday in Norway, according to a nonprofit that worked to protect the whale.... [Hvaldimir] was wearing a harness that identified it as “equipment” from St. Petersburg. There also appeared to be a camera mount. Some wondered if the whale was on a Russian reconnaissance mission. Russia has never claimed ownership of the whale. If Hvaldimir was a spy, he was an exceptionally friendly one. The whale showed signs of domestication, and was comfortable around people. He remained in busier waters than are typical for belugas....” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Oh, Lord, do not let Bobby Kennedy, Jr., near that carcass. ~~~

     ~~~ AP Update: “There’s no evidence that a well-known beluga whale that lived off Norway’s coast and whose harness ignited speculation it was a Russian spy was shot to death last month as claimed by animal rights groups, Norwegian police said Monday.... Police said that the Norwegian Veterinary Institute conducted a preliminary autopsy on the animal, which was become known as 'Hvaldimir,' combining the Norwegian word for whale — hval — and the first name of Russian President Vladimir Putin. 'There are no findings from the autopsy that indicate that Hvaldimir has been shot,' police said in a statement.”

New York Times: Botswana's “President Mokgweetsi Masisi grinned as he lifted the diamond, a 2,492-carat stone that is the biggest diamond unearthed in more than a century and the second-largest ever found, according to the Vancouver-based mining operator Lucara, which owns the mine where it was found. This exceptional discovery could bring back the luster of the natural diamond mining industry, mining companies and experts say. The diamond was discovered in the same relatively small mine in northeastern Botswana that has produced several of the largest such stones in living memory. Such gemstones typically surface as a result of volcanic activity.... The diamond will likely sell in the range of tens of millions of dollars....”

Click on photo to enlarge.

~~~ Guardian: "On a distant reef 16,000km from Paris, surfer Gabriel Medina has given Olympic viewers one of the most memorable images of the Games yet, with an airborne celebration so well poised it looked too good to be true. The Brazilian took off a thundering wave at Teahupo’o in Tahiti on Monday, emerging from a barrelling section before soaring into the air and appearing to settle on a Pacific cloud, pointing to the sky with biblical serenity, his movements mirrored precisely by his surfboard. The shot was taken by Agence France-Presse photographer Jérôme Brouillet, who said “the conditions were perfect, the waves were taller than we expected”. He took the photo while aboard a boat nearby, capturing the surreal image with such accuracy that at first some suspected Photoshop or AI." 

Washington Post: “'Mary Cassatt at Work' is a large and mostly satisfying exhibition devoted to the career of the great American artist beloved for her sensitive and often sentimental views of family life. The 'at work' in the title of the Philadelphia Museum of Art show references the curators’ interest in Cassatt’s pioneering effort to establish herself as a professional artist within a male-dominated field. Throughout the show, which includes some 130 paintings, pastels, prints and drawings, the wall text and the art on view stresses Cassatt’s fixation on art as a career rather than a pastime.... Mary Cassatt at Work is on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art through Sept. 8. philamuseum.org”

New York Times: “Bob Newhart, who died on Thursday at the age of 94, has been such a beloved giant of popular culture for so long that it’s easy to forget how unlikely it was that he became one of the founding fathers of stand-up comedy. Before basically inventing the hit stand-up special, with the 1960 Grammy-winning album 'The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart' — that doesn’t even count his pay-per-view event broadcast on Canadian television that some cite as the first filmed special — he was a soft-spoken accountant who had never done a set in a nightclub. That he made a classic with so little preparation is one of the great miracles in the history of comedy.... Bob Newhart holds up. In fact, it’s hard to think of a stand-up from that era who is a better argument against the commonplace idea that comedy does not age well.”

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Publisher & Editor: Marie Burns


Thursday
Sep172020

The Commentariat -- Sept. 18, 2020

Afternoon Update:

The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Friday are here.

Sydney Ember & Reid Epstein of the New York Times: "Early voting began in four states on Friday, 46 days before Election Day on Nov. 3. Among the states where voters can now vote in person is Minnesota, where both President Trump and Joseph R. Biden Jr. will be making campaign stops on Friday. Voters also began casting ballots in South Dakota, Virginia and Wyoming. Elected Democrats, aiming to encourage their supporters to vote early, are eschewing the traditional Election Day photo-op for appearances at early voting sites. In Virginia, Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner voted in Richmond and Alexandria, while Gov. Ralph Northam cast his ballot in Richmond, where he was the fifth person in line at 8 a.m.... In 2012, Barack Obama became the first president to vote early, casting a ballot for himself at an early-voting site near his home on the South Side of Chicago." This is an item in the Times' election updates.

Ana Swanson, et al., of the New York Times: "The Trump administration said Friday it would bar the Chinese-owned mobile apps WeChat and TikTok from U.S. app stores as of Sunday, striking a harsh blow against two popular services used by more than 100 million people in the United States.... TikTok is currently in talks to be acquired by the American software maker Oracle, and could announce a deal that assuages the administration's national security concerns. In its announcement, the Commerce Department said that the president had given until Nov. 12 for TikTok's national security concerns to be resolved, and if they were, the prohibitions in the order could be lifted.... [TikTok] has also been utilized as a political tool -- hundreds of teenage TikTok users claimed credit for low turnout at a rally for Mr. Trump in Tulsa, Okla., earlier this year."

White House Put Kibosh on Mass Mask Distribution. Benjamin Siegel & Lucien Bruggeman of ABC News: "The United States Postal Service drafted plans to distribute 650 million reusable cotton face masks to Americans last spring -- five to every household -- as the country grappled with the first wave of the coronavirus outbreak, according to USPS internal documents obtained by a watchdog group.... 'There was concern from some in the White House Domestic Policy Council and the office of the vice president that households receiving masks might create concern or panic,' one administration official told The Washington Post about the proposal. Instead, the initiative, announced by the Trump administration under the 'Project: America Strong,' was a more targeted program to send face masks to critical infrastructure sectors, companies and health care, community and religious organizations."

Aaron Davis of the Washington Post: "A pattern of campaign contributions by employees and relatives of Louis DeJoy before he became postmaster general indicates a possible effort to reimburse his associates for donations as recently as 2018, according to a Federal Election Commission complaint filed Thursday by a government watchdog group. The filing by the nonprofit Campaign Legal Center is the third complaint seeking a state or federal investigation since The Washington Post this month reported allegations that DeJoy and his aides urged employees at New Breed Logistics, his former North Carolina-based company, to write checks and attend fundraisers on behalf of Republican candidates. DeJoy then defrayed the cost of those political contributions from 2003 to 2014 by boosting employee bonuses, two employees told The Post.... 'There is reason to believe that Louis DeJoy violated [the Federal Election Campaign Act] by reimbursing his employees for federal political contributions, using his own funds and/or corporate funds from the company he led, XPO Logistics, and its predecessor, New Breed Logistics,' the complaint states."

Jamie Ross of the Daily Beast: "Lawyers representing the United States at Julian Assange's extradition trial in Britain have accepted the claim that the WikiLeaks founder was offered a presidential pardon by a Congressman on the condition that he would help cover up Russia's involvement in hacking emails from the Democratic National Committee. Jennifer Robinson, a lawyer, told the court that she had attended a meeting between Assange, then Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, and pro-Trump troll Charles Johnson at Assange's hide-out, the Ecuadorian embassy in London, on August 15, 2017. Robinson said the two Americans claimed to be emissaries from Washington and 'wanted us to believe they were acting on behalf of the president.' The pair allegedly told Assange that they could help grant him a pardon in exchange for him revealing information about the source of the WikiLeaks information that proved it was not the Russians who hacked Democratic emails."

~~~~~~~~~~

Presidential Race, Etc.

Katie Glueck of the New York Times: "Joseph R. Biden Jr. faced his first sustained questioning from voters as the Democratic presidential nominee on Thursday, as Pennsylvanians pressed him on issues including health care, racism and policing at a CNN town-hall-style event held less than seven weeks before Election Day. At a gathering in Moosic, Pa., not far from his childhood home in Scranton, Mr. Biden -- who played up his local, middle-class roots -- sought at every opportunity to turn the focus to President Trump's stewardship of the coronavirus, casting the president as a callous leader who cannot empathize with the concerns of most Americans and who has exacerbated the hardships they face.... Mr. Biden delivered a relatively energetic performance defined by withering criticism of Mr. Trump and palpable enthusiasm for connecting with voters after many months without much significant interaction with them...." Mrs. McC: I watched a bit of the event. It was so pleasant to see a candidate who knew the issues & could distill them for voters. And who managed to show he was aware of their problems & planned to address them. The contrast with Trump was stark. ~~~

     ~~~ Joseph Ax of Reuters: "... Joe Biden on Thursday bluntly contradicted ... Donald Trump's suggestion that a coronavirus vaccine may be only weeks away, warning Americans they cannot trust the president's word. 'The idea that there's going to be a vaccine and everything's gonna be fine tomorrow - it's just not rational,' Biden said during a CNN town hall in Moosic, Pennsylvania. Trump again said on Wednesday that a vaccine for COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, could be ready for distribution ahead of the Nov. 3 election.... Trump has accused Biden of spreading 'anti-vaccine rhetoric,' [Mrs. McC: not true] while Biden has emphasized that he will listen to scientists, not the president, regarding a vaccine's safety. [Mrs. McC: sensible]." Mrs. McC Note to Joe Ax: When a claim is false, write that down & report it out. ~~~

     ~~~ Glenn Thrush of the New York Times with some takeaways from Biden's town hall: "Mr. Trump and his backers have spent months suggesting, without proof, that Mr. Biden is in cognitive decline.... Despite a few miscues on Thursday night, Mr. Biden was lucid, sprightly, relaxed and conversant with granular details on energy policy, international relations, the economy and agricultural policy. At one point, he had to stop himself from going on a tangent about 'fertilizer and water tables.'... Mr. Trump's town hall on ABC earlier in the week had the feel of a confrontation between a chef and a restaurant full of angry patrons who hated what they were served.... CNN scheduled Mr. Biden's event near Scranton, Pa., his hometown, and Mr. Biden took fullest home-field advantage -- defusing potentially uncomfortable moments with folksy banter. When a former local police chief started to ask him a question about his stance on law-and-order, Mr. Biden interrupted with, 'Didn't I meet you when you were chief?' 'We did, sir,' the man responded."

~~~ From Moosic to Mosinee. AP: "... Donald Trump stepped up his rhetoric Thursday on cultural issues, aiming to boost enthusiasm among rural Wisconsin voters.... Trump's event took place largely outside an aircraft hangar at the Mosinee airport, his campaign's preferred format for mass rallies amid the coronavirus, though Trump has been willing to host large events indoors as well, sometimes in violation of state and federal distancing guidelines." ~~~

~~~ Earlier That Same Day. Aamer Madhani & Deb Riechmann of the AP: "... Donald Trump intensified efforts to appeal to his core base of white voters on Thursday by downplaying the historical legacy of slavery in the United States and blasting efforts to address systemic racism as divisive. The president's comments marking the 233rd anniversary of the signing of the Constitution amounted to a defense of white culture and a denunciation of Democrats, the media and others who he accused of trying to indoctrinate school children and shame their parents' 'whiteness.' He also argued that America's founding 'set in motion the unstoppable chain of events that abolished slavery, secured civil rights, defeated communism and fascism and built the most fair, equal and prosperous nation in human history.'... He said Thursday he will soon sign an order to establish a commission to promote patriotic education dubbed the 1776 Commission. The panel, he said, would be tasked with encouraging educators to teach students 'about the miracle of American history.'... The move is a response to The New York Times' '1619 Project,' which highlights the long-term consequences of slavery and the contributions of Black Americans." Thanks to Ken W. for the lead. ~~~

     ~~~ Trump Celebrates "Constitution Day" with Racist Speech. Maegan Vazquez of CNN: "In a speech rife with race-baiting and dog whistles, the President decried 'left-wing mobs' and claimed their tactics were comparable to anti-American propaganda used by foreign adversaries." ~~~

     ~~~ Michael Crowley of the New York Times: "President Trump escalated his attacks on 'left-wing demonstrators' and 'far-left mobs' on Thursday, portraying himself as a defender of American heritage against revolutionary fanatics and arguing for a new 'pro-American' curriculum in the nation's schools. Speaking at the National Archives Museum, Mr. Trump vowed to counter what he called an emerging classroom narrative that 'America is a wicked and racist nation,' and he said he would create a new '1776 Commission' to help 'restore patriotic education to our schools.' The president reiterated his condemnations of demonstrators who tear down monuments to historical American figures, and he even sought to link ... former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., to the removal of a founding father's statue in Mr. Biden's home state, Delaware.... Hours after extolling the United States' iconic heroes, Mr. Trump missed a [dedication] ceremony ... of a new memorial to President Dwight D. Eisenhower in Washington."

** Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "President Trump's response to the coronavirus pandemic showed a 'flat-out disregard for human life' because his 'main concern was the economy and his reelection,' according to a senior adviser on the White House coronavirus task force who left the White House in August. Olivia Troye, who worked as homeland security, counterterrorism and coronavirus adviser to Vice President Pence for two years, said that the administration's response cost lives and that she will vote for Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden this fall because of her experience in the Trump White House.... She was a major participant in the task force's work.... 'The president's rhetoric and his own attacks against people in his administration trying to do the work, as well as the promulgation of false narratives and incorrect information of the virus have made this ongoing response a failure,' she said in an interview.... 'I would not tell anyone I care about to take a vaccine that launches prior to the election,' she said.... Troye is the first Trump administration official who worked extensively on the coronavirus response to forcefully speak out against Trump and his handling of the pandemic." Administration officials took the opportunity to disparage Troye. CNN has a story here.~~~

~~~ Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "Despite Trump's repeated assertions to the contrary, the existing public record strongly supports [Olivia] Troye's contention that the president fumbled the government's response." Bump runs down a "greatest hits" list of Trumpian failures. ~~~

~~~ Betty Cracker of Balloon Juice: "The White House is trying to dismiss her as a deep state coffee girl, but it sounds like she has the goods, including details about how Trump interfered with scientists who were trying to manage the pandemic and his inexcusable politicization of mask-wearing[.]... Here's hoping some of the courageous generals will profit from the deep state coffee girl's example, step the fuck up already and spill all the goddamned tea." ~~~

~~~ Oh, Heavens to Betsy. Daniel Lippman & Michael Stratford of Politico: "Josh Venable, the former chief of staff to Education Secretary Betsy Devos, has joined another former Trump administration official's group opposing the president. Venable is lending his name as an adviser to the Republican Political Alliance for Integrity and Reform, a group [of] former Department of Homeland Security official Miles Taylor launched on Thursday of current and former Trump administration officials and other Republican leaders who want to see ... Donald Trump defeated in November.... Olivia Troye joined the group too...."

Former DNI Dan Coats writes a both-siderism New York Times op-ed for the books: "I propose that Congress ... create a supremely high-level bipartisan and nonpartisan commission to oversee the election.... It would monitor [ballot collection & tabulation] mechanisms and confirm for the public that the laws and regulations governing them have been scrupulously and expeditiously followed -- or that violations have been exposed and dealt with -- without political prejudice and without regard to political interests of either party. Also, this commission would be responsible for monitoring those forces that seek to harm our electoral system through interference, fraud, disinformation or other distortions.... The most urgent task American leaders face is to ensure that the election's results are accepted as legitimate..., rejecting the vicious partisanship that has disabled and destabilized government for too long.... We must firmly, unambiguously reassure all Americans that their vote will be counted, that it will matter, that the people's will expressed through their votes will not be questioned and will be respected and accepted." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Gee, Dan, who do you think is sowing doubt (trump barr) about the legitimacy of the vote? And why haven't you got the guts to say so? There seems to be a Fear of Trump that transcends firing & belittling & throwing sand in a former aide's face. ~~~

     ~~~ Martin Longman in the Washington Monthly: "... Donald Trump, is just as responsible for sowing doubt about the legitimacy of the upcoming elections as any Russian intelligence officer. What's especially troubling is that Coats knows this better than citizens who haven't had access to our most sensitive intelligence or the experience of working closely with Donald Trump. Yet, we don't need high-level access to classified information to notice Attorney General William Barr is doing everything he can to sow doubt about the results of the election. For months he's been warning that mail voting is susceptible to foreign manipulation, and he's been saying the same about Americans. As Dahlia Lithwick reports for Slate, Trump and Barr are doing a tag-team to convince us that 'our voting systems are faulty or fraudulent.'... It may be a nice idea for Congress to establish a commission to protect our elections, but the Republican Party is committed to the opposite which is why they'd never go along with Coats's idea." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Devlin Barrett of the Washington Post: "FBI Director Christopher A. Wray told Congress on Thursday that Russia is still working to influence the U.S. presidential election, and hoping to'denigrate' former vice president Joe Biden because it sees the Democratic nominee as part of an American policy establishment antagonistic to Moscow's interests. Election year politics were front and center at the House Homeland Security Committee hearing on threats to the country, as lawmakers pressed Wray to weigh in on a variety of issues where politics, extremism and violence overlap.... Unlike in 2016, when the most serious interference efforts involved hacking Democrats' emails and state election systems, Wray said Russian activity so far this year seems more limited to misinformation campaigns.... Trump's acting homeland security secretary, Chad Wolf, was a no-show Thursday, having broken his agreement to appear and prompting a showdown with the committee's chairman, who issued Wolf a subpoena." A Politico story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) The New York Times' story is here.

Louie's Bad Day

** Gene Johnson of the AP: "A U.S. judge on Thursday blocked controversial Postal Service changes that have slowed mail nationwide, calling them 'a politically motivated attack on the efficiency of the Postal Service' before the November election. Judge Stanley Bastian in Yakima, Washington, said he was issuing a nationwide preliminary injunction sought by 14 states that sued the Trump administration and the U.S. Postal Service.... The judge noted after a hearing that Trump had repeatedly attacked voting by mail by making unfounded claims that it is rife with fraud.... He also said the changes created 'a substantial possibility many voters will be disenfranchised.' Bastian, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, issued a written order later Thursday that closely tracked the relief sought by the states. It ordered the Postal Service to stop implementing the 'leave behind' policy, to treat all election mail as first class mail rather than as slower-moving categories, to reinstall any mail processing machines needed to ensure the prompt handling of election mail, and to inform its employees about the requirements of his injunction." A Washington Post story is here.

Tony Romm & others of the Washington Post write a long piece, based on some 10,000 emails & other documents, about how the USPS was in crisis even before Louis DeJoy took over, partly because of consequences of the coronavirus & partly because of action & inaction by the Trump administration & pro-Trump advisors. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Pennsylvania & Washington State. Nick Corasanini, et al., of the New York Times: "Courts on both sides of the United States issued rulings on Thursday that could expand mail-in voting in the election in November, as the postmaster general privately apologized to state officials for missteps in his agency's efforts to educate voters on mail-in ballots. In Pennsylvania, the state Supreme Court paved the way for more mail-in ballots to be counted by extending the due date they must be received by election officials and allowing expanded use of drop boxes. In Washington State, a federal judge blocked operational and policy changes made by the Postal Service in recent months that have slowed mail delivery and amounted to 'voter disenfranchisement.' Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, who instituted those changes, conceded during a video conference with election officials on Thursday afternoon that he had failed to adequately consult with state election officials on a postcard that was sent to addresses nationwide to educate voters about mail-in ballots."


Pennsylvania. Amy Gardner of the Washington Post: "The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Thursday blocked the Green Party presidential ticket from state ballots, allowing state and local election officials to resume preparations for Nov. 3 and begin mailing ballots to voters. The court ruled that presidential contender Howie Hawkins and his running mate, Angela Walker, did not qualify for the ballot because the party did not submit signed filing papers in person, as required by state rules. It's the second such ruling in a week. On Monday, the Wisconsin Supreme Court found deficiencies in the Green Party's ballot petition in that state, excluding the party from the ballot." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Alabama. Igor Bobic of the Huffington Post: "Alabama Republican Senate candidate Tommy Tuberville struggled to explain his position on questions surrounding the Voting Rights Act and had difficulty describing the law, according to audio obtained by HuffPost on Thursday. The former Auburn University football coach, a political neophyte running to unseat Sen. Doug Jones (D), was asked whether he supported extending the landmark 1965 civil rights statute during a Sept. 1 call with the Birmingham, Alabama, Sunrise Rotary Club. His answer ... verges on the incomprehensible and raises doubts about his understanding of the law that was key to ending the sweeping suppression of voting by Black people in the South[.]" Mrs. McC: Tuberville is likely to win, and what this country needs right now is one more know-nothing senator who doesn't give jack about minority voting rights.

Craziness, Corruption, Laziness & Lies

Even Trump Knows He's Only Part President*. Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Trump argued this week that the death toll from the coronavirus was actually not so bad. All you had to do was not count states that voted for Democrats. 'If you take the blue states out,' he said, 'we're at a level that I don't think anybody in the world would be at. We're really at a very low level.' The statement was as jarring as it was revealing, indicative of a leader who has long seemed to view himself more as the president of Red America rather than the United States of America. On the pandemic, immigration, crime, street violence and other issues, Mr. Trump regularly divides the country into the parts that support him and the parts that do not, rewarding the former and reproving the latter.... The contrast with his predecessors in moments of national crisis could hardly be more stark.... 'It's so unworthy of a president,' Tom Ridge, a Republican former governor of Pennsylvania and later secretary of homeland security under [George W.] Bush, said on Thursday. 'It's beyond despicable. It's soulless.... Covid-19 is really bipartisan.'"

Palling Around with Terrorists. CBS News: "Withdrawing troops from Afghanistan and partnering with the Taliban has made the United States less safe, says H.R. McMaster, President Trump's former national security adviser. The retired lieutenant general speaks to Scott Pelley in his first interview about his new book on the 53rd Season Premiere of 60 Minutes, Sunday, September 20 at 7:30 p.m. ET and 7 p.m. PT on CBS.
McMaster calls the drawdown of U.S. troops in Afghanistan a big mistake and writes in the book, 'Battlegrounds,' that the region is a hotbed of terrorism."

Lev! Shayna Jacobs of the Washington Post: "Federal prosecutors in Manhattan filed new charges Thursday against Lev Parnas, an associate of President Trump's personal attorney Rudolph W. Giuliani, accusing the Soviet emigre of defrauding investors in a fraud-protection company he founded -- and for which Giuliani was paid $500,000 to consult. Parnas already faced charges of campaign finance fraud for allegedly using a shell company to filter political donations from a foreign national to candidates seeking state and federal office in the United States. The superseding indictment filed Thursday in the Southern District of New York does not reference Giuliani, though it indicates that prosecutors have been closely scrutinizing a company that hired him while he was also serving as the president's lawyer."

Gosh, Jim Clyburn Says Bill Barr Is a Tad Insensitive. Devan Cole of CNN: "House Majority Whip James Clyburn on Thursday slammed Attorney General William Barr for comparing coronavirus lockdowns in the US to slavery.... 'You know, I think that that statement by Mr. Barr was the most ridiculous, tone-deaf, God-awful thing I've ever heard,' Clyburn, the No. 3 Democrat in the House and its highest ranking Black member, told CNN's John Berman.... 'It is incredible that (the) chief law enforcement officer in this country would equate human bondage to expert advice to save lives. Slavery was not about saving lives, it was about devaluing lives.'" (Also linked yesterday.)

Lucy Osborne of the Guardian: "A former model has come forward to accuse Donald Trump of sexually assaulting her at the US Open tennis tournament more than two decades ago, in an alleged incident that left her feeling 'sick' and 'violated'. In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, Amy Dorris alleged that Trump accosted her outside the bathroom in his VIP box at the tournament in New York on 5 September 1997. Dorris, who was 24 at the time, accuses Trump of forcing his tongue down her throat, assaulting her all over her body and holding her in a grip she was unable to escape from.... Dorris ... provided the Guardian with evidence to support her account of her encounters with Trump, including her ticket to the US Open and six photos showing her with the real estate magnate over several days in New York. Trump was 51 at the time and married to his second wife, Marla Maples. Her account was also corroborated by several people she confided in about the incident. They include a friend in New York and Dorris's mother, both of whom she called immediately after the alleged incident, as well as a therapist and friends she spoke to in the years since. All said Dorris had shared with them details of the alleged incident that matched what she later told the Guardian." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

The Trumpidemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Thursday are here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

** Trumpies Publish Fake CDC Guidance That Could Kill You. Apoorva Mandavilli of the New York Times: "A heavily criticized recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last month about who should be tested for the coronavirus was not written by C.D.C. scientists and was posted to the agency's website despite their serious objections, according to several people familiar with the matter as well as internal documents obtained by The New York Times. The guidance said it was not necessary to test people without symptoms of Covid-19 even if they had been exposed to the virus. It came at a time when public health experts were pushing for more testing rather than less, and administration officials told The Times that the document was a C.D.C. product and had been revised with input from the agency's director, Dr. Robert Redfield. But officials told The Times this week that the Department of Health and Human Services did the rewriting and then 'dropped' it into the C.D.C.'s public website, flouting the agency's strict scientific review process. 'That was a doc that came from the top down, from the H.H.S. and the task force,' said a federal official with knowledge of the matter, referring to the White House task force on the coronavirus. 'That policy does not reflect what many people at the C.D.C. feel should be the policy.' The document contains 'elementary errors' -- such as referring to 'testing for Covid-19,' as opposed to testing for the virus that causes it -- and recommendations inconsistent with the C.D.C.'s stance that mark it to anyone in the know as not having been written by agency scientists.... Adm. Brett Giroir, the administration's testing coordinator and an assistant secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services, the C.D.C.'s parent organization, said in an interview Thursday that the original draft came from the C.D.C., but he 'coordinated editing and input from the scientific and medical members of the task force.'... A new version of the testing guidance, expected to be posted Friday, has also not been cleared by the C.D.C.'s usual internal review...." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Rachel Maddow says Redfield should resign. Yeah, so should "Admiral" Giroir & HHS Secretary Azar.

News Lede

The New York Times' live updates of Western wildfire developments are here. "A firefighter died while battling a fire that was sparked during a celebration to reveal the sex of a baby in Southern California, the authorities said on Friday, the 26th person to die in the fires that have consumed California this summer."

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Wednesday
Sep162020

The Commentariat -- Sept. 17, 2020

Afternoon Update:

The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Thursday are here.

Gosh, Jim Clyburn Says Bill Barr Is a Tad Insensitive. Devan Cole of CNN: "House Majority Whip James Clyburn on Thursday slammed Attorney General William Barr for comparing coronavirus lockdowns in the US to slavery.... 'You know, I think that that statement by Mr. Barr was the most ridiculous, tone-deaf, God-awful thing I've ever heard,' Clyburn, the No. 3 Democrat in the House and its highest ranking Black member, told CNN's John Berman on 'New Day.' 'It is incredible that (the) chief law enforcement officer in this country would equate human bondage to expert advice to save lives. Slavery was not about saving lives, it was about devaluing lives.'"

Devlin Barrett of the Washington Post: "FBI Director Christopher A. Wray told Congress on Thursday that Russia is still working to influence the U.S. presidential election, and hoping to'denigrate' former vice president Joe Biden because it sees the Democratic nominee as part of an American policy establishment antagonistic to Moscow's interests. Election year politics were front and center at the House Homeland Security Committee hearing on threats to the country, as lawmakers pressed Wray to weigh in on a variety of issues where politics, extremism and violence overlap.... Unlike in 2016, when the most serious interference efforts involved hacking Democrats' emails and state election systems, Wray said Russian activity so far this year seems more limited to misinformation campaigns.... Trump's acting homeland security secretary, Chad Wolf, was a no-show Thursday, having broken his agreement to appear and prompting a showdown with the committee's chairman, who issued Wolf a subpoena." A Politico story is here.

Amy Gardner of the Washington Post: "The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Thursday blocked the Green Party presidential ticket from state ballots, allowing state and local election officials to resume preparations for Nov. 3 and begin mailing ballots to voters. The court ruled that presidential contender Howie Hawkins and his running mate, Angela Walker, did not qualify for the ballot because the party did not submit signed filing papers in person, as required by state rules. It's the second such ruling in a week. On Monday, the Wisconsin Supreme Court found deficiencies in the Green Party's ballot petition in that state, excluding the party from the ballot."

Lucy Osborne of the Guardian: "A former model has come forward to accuse Donald Trump of sexually assaulting her at the US Open tennis tournament more than two decades ago, in an alleged incident that left her feeling 'sick' and 'violated'. In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, Amy Dorris alleged that Trump accosted her outside the bathroom in his VIP box at the tournament in New York on 5 September 1997. Dorris, who was 24 at the time, accuses Trump of forcing his tongue down her throat, assaulting her all over her body and holding her in a grip she was unable to escape from.... Dorris ... provided the Guardian with evidence to support her account of her encounters with Trump, including her ticket to the US Open and six photos showing her with the real estate magnate over several days in New York. Trump was 51 at the time and married to his second wife, Marla Maples. Her account was also corroborated by several people she confided in about the incident. They include a friend in New York and Dorris's mother, both of whom she called immediately after the alleged incident, as well as a therapist and friends she spoke to in the years since. All said Dorris had shared with them details of the alleged incident that matched what she later told the Guardian.&"

Tony Romm & others of the Washington Post write a long piece, based on some 10,000 emails & other documents, about how the USPS was in crisis even before Louis DeJoy took over, partly because of consequences of the coronavirus & partly because of action & inaction by the Trump administration & pro-Trump advisors.

Dan Coats writes a both-siderism New York Times op-ed for the books: "I propose that Congress ... create a supremely high-level bipartisan and nonpartisan commission to oversee the election.... It would monitor [ballot collection & tabulation] mechanisms and confirm for the public that the laws and regulations governing them have been scrupulously and expeditiously followed -- or that violations have been exposed and dealt with -- without political prejudice and without regard to political interests of either party. Also, thiscommission would be responsible for monitoring those forces that seek to harm our electoral system through interference, fraud, disinformation or other distortions.... The most urgent task American leaders face is to ensure that the election's results are accepted as legitimate..., rejecting the vicious partisanship that has disabled and destabilized government for too long.... We must firmly, unambiguously reassure all Americans that their vote will be counted, that it will matter, that the people's will expressed through their votes will not be questioned and will be respected and accepted." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Gee, Dan, who do you think is sowing doubt (trump barr) about the legitimacy of the vote? And why haven't you got the guts to say so? There seems to be a Fear of Trump that transcends firing & belittling & throwing sand in a former aide's face. ~~~

     ~~~ Martin Longman in the Washington Monthly: "... Donald Trump, is just as responsible for sowing doubt about the legitimacy of the upcoming elections as any Russian intelligence officer. What's especially troubling is that Coats knows this better than citizens who haven't had access to our most sensitive intelligence or the experience of working closely with Donald Trump. Yet, we don't need high-level access to classified information to notice Attorney General William Barr is doing everything he can to sow doubt about the results of the election. For months he's been warning that mail voting is susceptible to foreign manipulation, and he's been saying the same about Americans. As Dahlia Lithwick reports for Slate, Trump and Barr are doing a tag-team to convince us that 'our voting systems are faulty or fraudulent.'... It may be a nice idea for Congress to establish a commission to protect our elections, but the Republican Party is committed to the opposite which is why they'd never go along with Coats's idea."

~~~~~~~~~~

Presidential Race, Etc.

Sydney Ember of the New York Times: "With deaths from the coronavirus nearing 200,000 in the United States, Joseph R. Biden Jr. on Wednesday assailed President Trump for playing politics with a potential coronavirus vaccine, saying he did not trust Mr. Trump to determine when a vaccine was ready for Americans.... In his speech, Mr. Biden thrust the issue of a coronavirus vaccine to center stage in the presidential race, expressing grave concern over the political pressure he said Mr. Trump was exerting over the government's approval process and accusing him of trying to rush out a vaccine for electoral gain.... Mr. Biden delivered his remarks after receiving a briefing on the coronavirus vaccine from top national health experts, including Dr. Vivek Murthy, a former surgeon general." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: I listened to Biden's remarks. He took several questions after his brief remarks, and he showed a remarkable grasp of the difficulties of distributing the vaccine -- actually, vaccines; he was educating the reporters who asked the questions. The contrast between him and President* Know-Nothing was breathtaking. If you're concerned Biden has lost it -- he has not.

Jack Brewster of Forbes: "Twitter flagged President Trump for sharing a misleading video that made it appear Joe Biden had played the anti-police rap song 'F-- tha Police' by N.W.A. on his phone during an event in Florida on Tuesday -- when the Democratic nominee had actually played the song 'Despacito,' a song by Latin music star Luis Fonsi. The original clip showed Biden playing the song 'Despacito' on his phone during a Hispanic Heritage month event, in a tribute to Fonsi, who had introduced the Democratic nominee at the event.... After Twitter flagged the tweet, Trump shared the manipulated video again, this time saying 'China is drooling. They can't believe this!'" Mrs. McC: Twitter should just kick Trump off the platform.

Brian Stelter of CNN was able to reach three of the undecided voters who participated in ABC News' town hall Tuesday (related stories linked yesterday). One said Trump didn't answer his question, but by failing to do so he "essentially" answered the question. Another said, "He didn't answer anything. He was lying through his teeth." And the third said he had "reanimated" her to vote: "I'm going to vote for Biden." So good work, Donald. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Cristina Cabrera of TPM: "Besides somehow blaming ... Joe Biden for not enacting a national mask mandate, Trump spent the town hall claiming that a 'herd mentality' would stop COVID-19 (he was presumably referring to the herd immunity method, which health experts have largely rejected as a solution to the pandemic), falsely denying that he wasn't trying to kill preexisting conditions protections in the Affordable Care Act, and bragging about endorsements from the police when asked about systemic racism in the criminal justice system.... Throughout it all, both [host George] Stephanopoulos and the town hall participants pushed back against Trump's laundry list of falsehoods.... 'This was just a firehose of lying, again, from the President,' [CNN's fact-checker Daniel] Dale said.... '... that performance tonight by the President ... should send shudders and shockwaves through the Republican Party,' [the Washington Post's Philip] Rucker said during an appearance on MSNBC. 'The first debate is 14 days away..., and this is a president who's clearly not ready for that debate.'"

Lachlan Markay of the Daily Beast: "A new advocacy group [-- "Democrats Against Joe Biden' --] ostensibly comprised of Democrats opposed to the election of Joe Biden appears to have the backing of few, if any, actual Democrats. Those involved, however, do include a Republican operative whose group illicitly funneled millions into political contests, a longtime Trump fan whose son works for the president's campaign, and a self-described celebrity psychic who's taught best practices for exorcisms." Mrs. McC: I'm the CEO of Trumpbots Against Donald Trump, so I don't know what Markay is complaining about. (Also linked yesterday.)

Andrew Desiderio & Kyle Cheney of Politico: "The nation's top intelligence official is partially reversing course on his decision to scale back critical election-security briefings for lawmakers. John Ratcliffe, the director of national intelligence, said in a statement Wednesday that he will continue to brief congressional leaders and the Senate and House intelligence committees on efforts to secure the 2020 vote from foreign interference -- though his office will no longer conduct briefings for all lawmakers, citing the need to protect intelligence sources and methods.... House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) ... described Ratcliffe's reversal as the result of 'extensive public criticism' and said Ratcliffe must also ensure that 'all members and the American people' receive similar updates about foreign threats to the 2020 election. Last month, Ratcliffe told congressional leaders that he would no longer provide those critical in-person briefings on election security, prompting widespread backlash."

North Carolina Senate Race. Senator for Sale. Cheap. Nick Ochsner of WBTV Charlotte: "Senator Thom Tillis [R-N.C.] accepting more than $20,000 in campaign contributions from political action committees tied to pharmaceutical companies within two weeks of sponsoring a bill related to drug prices in late 2019. Tillis was an original co-sponsor on the Lower Costs, More Cures act, which was introduced on December 19, 2019. It was similar to a competing bill that had been introduced earlier in the year by Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, except that it omitted a key provision opposed by the pharmaceutical industry that would cap drug prices at inflation. Grassley's bill had bipartisan support but had stalled in the Senate before Tillis and a group of other Republican senators introduced their proposal on December 19. Campaign finance records shows Tills received $20,500 in campaign contributions from political action committees tied to pharmaceutical companies in the days before and after the bill was filed...."

Craziness, Corruption, Laziness & Lies

Fiddling While the Nation Smoldered. Ashley Parker, et al., of the Washington Post: "... a detailed review of the 10-day period from late January, when Trump was first warned about the scale of the threat [the coronavirus posed], and early February -- when he acknowledged to author Bob Woodward the extent of the danger the virus posed -- reveals a president who took relatively few serious measures to ready the nation for its arrival. Instead, enabled by top administration officials, Trump largely attempted to pretend the virus did not exist -- spending much of his time distracted by impeachment and exacting vengeance on his political enemies. He also carried on as usual with showy political gatherings and crowded White House events."

Wherein Bill Barr Goes Off the Deep End

It'll be a close vote. People will say the president just won Nevada. 'Oh, wait a minute! We just discovered 100,000 ballots! Every vote will be counted!' Yeah, but we don't know where these freaking votes came from. -- William Barr, sowing doubt about the November election, to John Kass of the Chicago Tribune ~~~

~~~ Josh Feldman of Mediaite: "Attorney General Bill Barr spoke recently with Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass and went off on Democrats over 'mob violence.'... Barr teed off on the 'so-called resistance' going after the Trump administration and said, 'There undoubtedly are many people in the government who surreptitiously work to thwart the administration.... I think we are getting into a position where we're going to find ourselves irrevocably committed to a so[c]ialist path. And I think if Trump loses this election, that will be the case. In other words, I think now there's a clear fork in the road for our country.'... The subject eventually turned to mail-in ballots and that's when Barr really went off:

Just think about why we vote the way we vote now, where you have a precinct, your name is on a list, you go in and say who you are, you go behind a curtain, no one's allowed to go in there to influence you, and no one can tell how you voted. All of that is gone with mail-in. There's no secret vote. You have to associate the envelope in the mailing, the name of who's sending it in, with the ballot. So there's no more secret vote with mail-in vote. A secret vote prevents selling and buying votes... So now we're back in the business of selling and buying votes. Capricious distribution of ballots means harvesting, undue influence, outright coercion, paying off a postman and saying, "Hey, here. Here's a few hundred dollars, give me some of your ballots."'"~~~

Norman Rockwell. "Election Day." 1944.

~~~ Dahlia Lithwick of Slate traces Barr's recent history of denouncing mail-in voting & his preference for"the way white people once voted -- mostly gathered from Norman Rockwell paintings, apparently": "... Barr's argument to Kass again has the desired effect of pitting voter against voter, American against American, in ways designed to foment doubt and mistrust in a system already stressed by U.S. Postal Service meddling and distortion and a steady drumbeat of presidential claims that -- as Trump suggested this week -- the only way he can possibly lose in Nevada is if its governor rigs the ballots. 'I'm winning that state easily, but the one thing we can't beat, if they cheat on the ballots,' Trump said, adding, 'Now he will cheat on the ballots -- I have no doubt about it.'... Just to recap, then: Your mail-in ballot is unsafe because foreigners want to forge it, Democratic governors want to steal it, antifa operatives plan to harvest it, oh, and Dot, your friendly neighborhood letter carrier will also gladly break the law in order to sell it. This narrative need not be provable or coherent; it's enough that it's rinsed and repeated on a near-daily basis in the media. What Barr is actually performing here is the time-honored, Bannon-christened, Putin-sanctioned electoral practice known formally as flooding the zone with shit."

Barr Makes the Case for Politicizing the DOJ. Devlin Barrett & Matt Zapotosky of the Washington Post: "Attorney General William P. Barr delivered a scathing critique of his own Justice Department on Wednesday night, insisting on his absolute authority to overrule career staffers, who he said too often injected themselves into politics and went 'headhunting' for high-profile targets. Speaking at an event hosted by Hillsdale College, a school with deep ties to conservative politics, Barr directly addressed the criticism that has been building for months inside the department toward his heavy hand in politically sensitive cases, particularly those involving associates of President Trump.... The attorney general said it was he, not career officials, who have the ultimate authority to decide how cases should be handled, and he derided less-experienced, less-senior bureaucrats who current and former prosecutors have long insisted should be left to handle their cases free from interference from political appointees.... Barr was notably critical of state coronavirus shutdown measures and of health-care professionals who advocate for them over all else. 'All this nonsense about how something is dictated by science is nonsense,' he said."

     ~~~ Katie Benner of the New York Times: "... in his speech on Wednesday night, Mr. Barr said that it was well within his power as the attorney general to be the final arbiter in all cases before the Justice Department. While that assertion is technically true, past attorneys general have typically let the deputy attorney general run the day-to-day matters of the department and have even distanced themselves from politically fraught issues.... 'Letting the most junior members set the agenda might be a good philosophy for a Montessori preschool, but it is no way to run a federal agency,' he said." ~~~

~~~ Katelyn Polantz & Christina Carrega of CNN: "Attorney General William Barr suggested on Wednesday that the calls for a nationwide lockdown to prevent the spread of the coronavirus were the 'greatest intrusion on civil liberties' in history 'other than slavery.' The comments came minutes after he slammed the hundreds of Justice Department prosecutors working beneath him, equating them to preschoolers, in a defense of his own politically tuned decision making in the Trump administration.... In recent weeks, Barr has taken a much more aggressive stance defending Trump administration policies, including suggesting voting by mail is not safe, attacking the Mueller investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and criticizing governors for their coronavirus response.... The speech comes after Barr has been escalating alarmist and politicized rhetoric in a series of interviews, and advocating against Democrats in the election." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: What Barr is saying here is that he has a legal right & duty to corrupt the Justice Department with overtly political actions, and he does not have to adhere to the apolitical discretion of career junior G-men. More on Boss Billy's remarks linked below.

Nathaniel Weixel of the Hill: Michael Caputo, "the top communications official at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), will be taking a medical 'leave of absence,' the agency announced Wednesday.... Caputo has been under fire for comments he made attacking career scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), accusing them of being anti-Trump. CDC Director Robert Redfield pushed back on Caputo's attack earlier Wednesday, telling a Senate panel that the allegation 'not only is it not true, it deeply saddened me when I read those comments.'" Mrs. McC: Notice that neither Caputo's boss Alex Azar or il capo dei capi Donald Trump has condemned Caputo's remarks. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Yasmeen Abutaleb, et al., of the Washington Post: "HHS said in a statement released early afternoon that [Michael] Caputo would be on leave for the next 60 days to 'focus on his health and the well-being of his family.' That means he will be gone until after the Nov. 3 election. The agency also said that Paul Alexander, a top aide to Caputo, would be leaving the agency permanently. Alexander came under scrutiny in recent weeks for his efforts to exert control over the messages coming from scientists and top health officials, including the content of weekly science reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to make them conform to the president's assertions that the virus is under control."

** Mitt Takes a Stand. Mary Jalonick of the AP: "Republican Sen. Mitt Romney is sharply criticizing an investigation by his own party into Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden's son, saying it's 'not the legitimate role of government' to try and damage political opponents. GOP Sen. Ron Johnson, chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, has said the committee will issue a report before the Nov. 3 election on Hunter Biden's activities in Ukraine. Johnson, a close ally of ... Donald Trump, is leading the investigation into Burisma, a gas company in Ukraine that paid Hunter Biden to serve as a board member while Joe Biden was vice president.... Senate Democrats have strongly objected to the inquiry and have charged that Johnson could be amplifying Russian propoganda to hurt Biden. After Wednesday's meeting, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., offered a resolution calling for 'the cessation of any Senate investigation or activity that allows Congress to act as a conduit for Russian disinformation.' Johnson himself came to the floor to object, preventing the measure's passage."

The Trumpidemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Wednesday are here: "The Big Ten Conference said Wednesday that it would try to play football as soon as the weekend of Oct. 23, stepping back from its leadership's decision just more than a month ago not to compete this fall because of the coronavirus pandemic." The Washington Post's live updates for Wednesday are here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times' full report on the Big Ten's reversal is here.

Philip Bump of the Washington Post: In a supposed news briefing Wednesday, Donald Trump blamed Democrats for the high Covid-19 death toll: "'... If you take the blue states out, we're at a level that I don't think anybody in the world would be at. We're really at a very low level. But some of the states, they were blue states and blue state-managed.' It is true that the early surge in deaths was heavily weighted toward states that had voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016.... Over time, though, the percentage of total deaths that have occurred in blue states has dropped. The most recent data, through Tuesday, indicates that about 53 percent of deaths have occurred in blue states -- meaning that 47 percent have occurred in red ones.... Since mid-June, a majority of the new coronavirus deaths each day have occurred in red states. Since mid-July at least 70 percent have." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Not mentioned, but clearly a major factor: the federal government's failure to prepare for the pandemic, so that "blue states," which dominated the early surge, were poorly equipped with "tools" for fighting the virus: testing, ventilators, protective wear, including masks for the general public, etc. By the time the virus migrated in a big way to "red states," the federal government had at least partially mitigated some of its negligence (largely because of public outcries), giving "red states" an advantage, which many wasted by prematurely opening businesses & allowing close contacts among residents.

Brian Naylor & Alana Wise of NPR: "President Trump on Wednesday again said widespread distribution of a vaccine against the coronavirus would happen before the end of the year, directly contradicting Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield. The CDC chief testified earlier Wednesday that a vaccine would not be widely available until next spring or summer. Trump said he expects the government to be able to distribute a vaccine 'sometime in October,' though 'it may be a little later than that.'... Redfield ... testified it would take six to nine months after the Food and Drug Administration had authorized the vaccine before it could be distributed nationally.... When asked why his message on a vaccine timeline and the efficacy of masks differed so profoundly from the CDC director's, Trump said that Redfield had 'made a mistake' and 'misunderstood' the questions.... Trump in his Wednesday briefing also refuted Redfield's assertion to a Senate panel that wearing a mask remains 'the most important, powerful public health tool we have.' Trump instead downplayed the importance of masks compared to a vaccine while also mocking his Democratic rival, former Vice President Joe Biden, for routinely wearing masks in public spaces per public health guidelines. 'The vaccine is going to have tremendous power. It's going to be extremely strong. It's going to be extremely successful. We're not going to have a problem,' Trump said." ~~~

~~~ Peter Baker of the New York Times: "In a remarkable display even for him, Mr. Trump publicly slapped down Dr. Robert R. Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as the president promised that a vaccine could be available in weeks and go 'immediately' to the general public while diminishing the usefulness of masks despite evidence to the contrary.... The public scolding of Dr. Redfield was only the latest but perhaps the starkest instance when the president has rejected not just the policy advice of his public health officials but the facts and information that they provided. ~~~

~~~ "Israeli Health Ministry officials watching an Arab-Israeli ceremony this week at the White House on television grew angry at the lack of masks and social distancing, and they ordered Israeli reporters returning from Washington to quarantine. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was spotted at the event without a mask, coughing while talking with the head of Israel's Mossad spy agency."

Trump: There are a lot of people think that masks are not good....
Stephanopoulos: Who are those people?
Trump: I'll tell you who those people are -- waiters. They come over and they serve you, and they have a mask. And I saw it the other day where they were serving me, and they're playing with the mask...I'm not blaming them...I'm just saying what happens. They're playing with the mask, so the mask is over, and they're touching it, and then they're touching the plate. That can't be good.... The concept of a mask is good, but it also does ... you're constantly touching it, you're touching your face, you're touching plates. There are people that don't think masks are good. -- ABC News Town Hall, Tuesday ~~~

~~~ ** CDC Director Contradicts Trump Club Waiters' Medical Advice. Peter Sullivan of the Hill: "Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Robert Redfield said Wednesday that wearing a mask is more guaranteed to protect someone from the coronavirus than taking a vaccine. Redfield, speaking at a Senate hearing, emphasized the importance of wearing masks, noting that an eventual vaccine is not expected to work in 100 percent of people, and might only work in, say, 70 percent. But a mask is guaranteed to offer at least some protection for all wearers, he added, though it is far from total protection. 'We have clear scientific evidence they work, I might even go so far as to say that this face mask is more guaranteed to protect me against COVID than when I take a COVID vaccine, because the immunogenicity may be 70 percent and if I don't get an immune response, the vaccine's not going to protect me, this face mask will,' Redfield said." Mrs. McC: But can Redfield present a well-done steak slathered in ketchup? (Also linked yesterday.)

CBS Philly News: "The White House says a staff member has tested positive for COVID-19 less than 24 hours after ... Donald Trump visited Philadelphia. However, officials say the person was 'not associated with' and did not affect the president's trip. When asked about a report that staff members tested positive earlier Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said, 'I'm not here to give people's personal identities' and that 'close contacts' with a person who has since tested positive would be notified, according to Bloomberg.... President Trump was in Philadelphia Tuesday for a town hall at the National Constitution Center with undecided voters.... President Trump's trip to Center City and the National Constitution Center had all the characteristics of a presidential visit.... It also included what's now often the norm when Trump travels -- protests and counter-protests."

Erica Werner & Rachel Bade of the Washington Post: "President Trump on Wednesday called on congressional Republicans to support a massive economic relief bill with 'much higher numbers' and stimulus payments for Americans, abruptly proposing an entirely different plan from what the Senate GOP sought to advance in recent days. His Twitter post and subsequent comments at a news conference could reframe talks that have stalled for more than a month, and put new pressure on leaders in both parties.... Speaking at the White House on Wednesday evening, Trump expressed support -- but not an explicit endorsement -; for a $1.5 trillion plan unveiled Tuesday by the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus in the House.: Mrs. McC: Could be another Lucy & the Football moment.

Think We Don't Live in a Police State?

Katie Benner of the New York Times: "Attorney General William P. Barr told federal prosecutors in a call last week that they should consider charging rioters and others who had committed violent crimes at protests in recent months with sedition, according to two people familiar with the call. The highly unusual suggestion to charge people with insurrection against lawful authority alarmed some on the call, which included U.S. attorneys around the country, said the people.... The attorney general has also asked prosecutors in the Justice Department's civil rights division to explore whether they could bring criminal charges against Mayor Jenny Durkan of Seattle for allowing some residents to establish a police-free protest zone near the city's downtown.... In suggesting possible prosecution of Ms. Durkan, a Democrat, Mr. Barr also took aim at an elected official whom President Trump has repeatedly attacked.... During a speech on Wednesday night, Mr. Barr noted that the Supreme Court had determined that the executive branch had 'virtually unchecked discretion; in deciding whether to prosecute cases." A Guardian story is here.

** Ammo & Heat-Ray Guns. Marissa Lang of the Washington Post: "Hours before law enforcement forcibly cleared protesters from Lafayette Square in early June amid protests over the police killing of George Floyd, federal officials began to stockpile ammunition and seek devices that could emit deafening sounds and make anyone within range feel like their skin is on fire, according to an Army National Guard major who was there. D.C. National Guard Maj. Adam D. DeMarco told lawmakers that defense officials were searching for crowd control technology deemed too unpredictable to use in war zones and had authorized the transfer of about 7,000 rounds of ammunition to the D.C. Armory as protests against police use of force and racial injustice roiled Washington. In sworn testimony, shared this week with The Washington Post, DeMarco provided his account as part of an ongoing investigation into law enforcement and military officers' use of force against D.C. protesters.... DeMarco, who provided his account as a whistleblower, was the senior-most D.C. National Guard officer on the ground that day and served as a liaison between the National Guard and U.S. Park Police." The New York Times' story is here.

Aimee Ortiz of the New York Times: "Official misconduct played a role in the criminal convictions of more than half of innocent people who were later exonerated, according to a new report by a registry that tracks wrongful convictions. According to the report, by the National Registry of Exonerations, official misconduct contributed to false convictions in 54 percent of exonerations, usually with more than one type of misconduct. Over all, men and Black exonerees 'were modestly more likely to experience misconduct,' although there were larger differences by race when it came to drug crimes and murder." (Also linked yesterday.)


Trump Still Doesn't Think American Jews Are Americans. Ron Kampeas of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency: "... Donald Trump spent much of his 20-minute call with American Jewish leaders making the case for more American Jews to vote for him. He closed by repeating a line that has raised their eyebrows before. 'We really appreciate you,' Trump said as he signed off the call, an annual pre-Rosh Hashanah presidential tradition. 'We love your country also.' Earlier, introducing his Jewish son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who brokered the historic deals with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain that were signed Tuesday at the White House, Trump called him 'an unbelievable leader for Israel.'"

News Ledes

The New York Times' live updates of West Coast fire developments are here.

Weather Channel: "Rivers and inland waterways in many areas were expected to continue to rise throughout the day as rainfall from Sally's remnants continues to fall over the Southeast. At least two deaths are being blamed on the storm, which made landfall as a hurricane near Gulf Shores, Alabama, on Wednesday and moved inland. One person was killed Wednesday when a tree fell on a home in Atlanta, where heavy rain continued to cause flooding Thursday morning. Officials in Cobb County, just north of the city, said they were dealing with dozens of downed trees and flooded roads. About 30,000 people were without power statewide, according to poweroutage.us. In Alabama, Ken Grimes, city administrator in Orange Beach, confirmed the death of an unidentified man in the town on Wednesday. A female was missing who knew the Alabama man, but it was unclear if the two were together at the time. First responders in boats and high water vehicles aided hundreds of people stranded in flooding and storm surge as Sally made landfall Wednesday morning and moved inland across Alabama and Florida as a tropical storm. Mandatory evacuation orders weren't issued ahead of the storm in the hardest-hit areas, although residents in many vulnerable locations were advised to leave voluntarily."

Comments Off
Wednesday
Sep162020

The Commentariat -- Sept. 16, 2020

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Nathaniel Weixel of the Hill: Michael Caputo, "the top communications official at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), will be taking a medical 'leave of absence,' the agency announced Wednesday.... Caputo has been under fire for comments he made attacking career scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), accusing them of being anti-Trump. CDC Director Robert Redfield pushed back on Caputo's attack earlier Wednesday, telling a Senate panel that the allegation 'not only is it not true, it deeply saddened me when I read those comments.'" Mrs. McC: Notice that neither Caputo's boss Alex Azar or il capo dei capi Donald Trump has condemned Caputo's remarks.

Trump: There are a lot of people think that masks are not good....
Stephanopoulos: Who are those people?
Trump: I'll tell you who those people are -- waiters. They come over and they serve you, and they have a mask. And I saw it the other day where they were serving me, and they're playing with the mask...I'm not blaming them...I'm just saying what happens. They're playing with the mask, so the mask is over, and they're touching it, and then they're touching the plate. That can't be good.... The concept of a mask is good, but it also does ... you're constantly touching it, you're touching your face, you're touching plates. There are people that don't think masks are good. -- ABC News Town Hall, Tuesday ~~~

~~~ ** CDC Director Contradicts Trump Club Waiters' Medical Advice. Peter Sullivan of the Hill: "Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Robert Redfield said Wednesday that wearing a mask is more guaranteed to protect someone from the coronavirus than taking a vaccine. Redfield, speaking at a Senate hearing, emphasized the importance of wearing masks, noting that an eventual vaccine is not expected to work in 100 percent of people, and might only work in, say, 70 percent. But a mask is guaranteed to offer at least some protection for all wearers, he added, though it is far from total protection. 'We have clear scientific evidence they work, I might even go so far as to say that this face mask is more guaranteed to protect me against COVID than when I take a COVID vaccine, because the immunogenicity may be 70 percent and if I don't get an immune response, the vaccine's not going to protect me, this face mask will,' Redfield said." Mrs. McC: But can Redfield artfully present a well-done steak slathered in ketchup?

The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Wednesday are here: "The Big Ten Conference said Wednesday that it would try to play football as soon as the weekend of Oct. 23, stepping back from its leadership’s decision just more than a month ago not to compete this fall because of the coronavirus pandemic." The Washington Post's live updates for Wednesday are here.

Lachlan Markay of the Daily Beast: "A new advocacy group [-- "Democrats Against Joe Biden' --] ostensibly comprised of Democrats opposed to the election of Joe Biden appears to have the backing of few, if any, actual Democrats. Those involved, however, do include a Republican operative whose group illicitly funneled millions into political contests, a longtime Trump fan whose son works for the president's campaign, and a self-described celebrity psychic who's taught best practices for exorcisms." Mrs. McC: I'm the CEO of Trumpbots Against Donald Trump, so I don't know what Markay is complaining about.

Brian Stelter of CNN was able to reach three of the undecided voters who participated in ABC News' town hall Tuesday (related stories linked below). One said Trump didn't answer his question, but by failing to do so he "essentially" answered the question. Another said, "He didn't answer anything. He was lying through his teeth." And the third said he had "reanimated" her to vote: "I'm going to vote for Biden." So good work, Donald.

Aimee Ortiz of the New York Times: "Official misconduct played a role in the criminal convictions of more than half of innocent people who were later exonerated, according to a new report by a registry that tracks wrongful convictions. According to the report, by the National Registry of Exonerations, official misconduct contributed to false convictions in 54 percent of exonerations, usually with more than one type of misconduct. Over all, men and Black exonerees 'were modestly more likely to experience misconduct,' although there were larger differences by race when it came to drug crimes and murder."

~~~~~~~~~~

Presidential Race, Etc.

Sean Sullivan of the Washington Post: "Joe Biden visited Florida for the first time as the Democratic presidential nominee Tuesday, seeking to bolster his candidacy with Latinos and veterans following complaints from party leaders nervous about his standing in the crucial battleground state. In a speech aimed largely at Puerto Rican voters, Biden took sharp aim at Trump over his panned responses to covid-19 and Hurricane Maria, among what Biden identified as presidential blunders he said have badly damaged Latino communities.... He cast himself as an alternative who would stand up for Latinos and help improve their lives, and he nodded to their crucial role in the upcoming election. 'More than any other time, the Hispanic community and the Latino community hold in the palm of their hand the destiny of this country,' Biden said."

An Extraordinary Endorsement. Denise Chow of NBC News: "Scientific American has endorsed Joe Biden for president, the first time the venerable science magazine has backed a presidential candidate in its 175-year history. The endorsement was published in Scientific American's October issue, in which the magazine's editors explained their reasons for publicly supporting Biden, adding that they 'do not do this lightly.' They said they were motivated to endorse Biden after seeing how science has been ignored and politicized by ... Donald Trump and his administration.... The editors said Trump's failure to develop a national strategy to fight the pandemic helped accelerate the spread of the disease across the country and his misrepresentations of the facts have done even more damage. 'His lies encouraged people to engage in risky behavior, spreading the virus further, and have driven wedges between Americans who take the threat seriously and those who believe Trump's falsehoods,' they wrote.... Though much of Biden's [environmental & climate] plan would require approval from Congress, the magazine's editors said the candidate 'is acutely aware that we must heed the abundant research showing ways to recover from our present crises and successfully cope with future challenges.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

     ~~~ Rebecca Klar of the Hill: "The television ad will air in battleground states and on cable in Washington, D.C., according to the DNC." (Also linked yesterday.)

Adrian Carrasquillo of Newsweek: "As the general election sprint began after Labor Day, so too did deepening scrutiny of Joe Biden's engagement and support from Latino voters, which polls show continues to lag Hillary Clinton's 2016 results, as well as in Florida. A multi-million dollar effort to boost his campaign with Hispanic voters launching Tuesday -- the first day of National Hispanic Heritage Month in the U.S. -- is looking to change that. The Lincoln Project, a well-funded group started by veterans of Republican campaigns that has produced electric anti-Trump ads, has teamed up with the on-the-ground expertise of grassroots groups that engage Latino voters each cycle.... Domingo Garcia, president of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), a longtime national Hispanic group [said], '...we're having to go to third parties like The Lincoln Project to activate the Latino community, because the Biden campaign has been so unresponsive to Latino organizations." --safari: That the DNC left this job to a last minute push led by NeverTrump Republicans is astonishing in its level of political malpractice. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: As you may recall, even in the 2008 primaries, Barack Obama addressed Spanish-speaking Americans. Ed O'Keefe, then of the Washington Post, May 2008: "Making use of relatively simple Spanish, but a very good accent, Barack Obama addresses the Democratic voters of Puerto Rico. 'Mensaje a Puerto Rico,' or 'Message to Puerto Rico' is a direct-to-camera appeal by Obama." Includes video. He later cut at least one ad in the general election, in which he spoke to voters in Spanish. Joe should have paid more attention, even if he can't approximate proper Spanish pronunciation. (On the other hand, Trump's Spanish is great!) ~~~

~~~ Joe does have a sense of humor, though (video dated 2014), something Donald Ducksass totally lacks:

Justine Coleman of The Hill: "A Catholic voters group launched a $9.7 million campaign against ... Joe Biden, targeting Catholic voters in swing states. Biden, if he is elected, would be the country's second Catholic president and the first since John F. Kennedy." --s

Adam Nagourney & Shane Goldmacher of the New York Times: "The explosion of wildfires across the West has opened a new battleground in the critical competition for suburban voters between President Trump and Joseph R. Biden Jr., with growing evidence that climate change is an acute concern for many Americans, particularly women, viewing the nightly images of destruction and thick blankets of acrid air. Mr. Trump has sought to combat his sharp decline among suburban voters by asserting that Democratic control of the White House would be a threat to the safety of the suburbs, raising the specter of crime, rioting and an 'invasion' of low-income housing that many view as seeking to stoke racist fears. But Mr. Biden ... is seeking to redefine what 'safety' means for an electorate swept by fear amid a pandemic, social unrest in the streets and now deadly wildfires. He is casting climate change as a more real and immediate threat to the suburbs than the violence portrayed in Mr. Trump's ads and public remarks, seizing in a speech on Monday on the devastating fires ripping through forests, destroying homes and taking lives." ~~~

~~~ Forest Cities & Exploding Trees. Andrew Naughtie of the [U.K.] Independent, reprinted by MSN: "'You know, In Europe they have forest cities,' [Trump] told the hosts [of 'Fox & Friends' Tuesday morning, reiterating what he had said in California Monday]. 'You look at, you look at countries, Austria, you look at so many countries, they live in the forest, they're considered forest cities, so many of them. And they don't have fires like this, and they have more explosive trees. They have trees that will catch easier. But they maintain their fire, they have an expression, they "thin the fuel", the fuel is what's on the ground, the leaves, the trees that fall, they're dry, they're like a matchstick.' This year's wildfires are the most catastrophic to hit the western states in living memory, but Mr Trump has fixated on Finnish and Austrian forest floor management before. In 2018, when California faced another serious fire season, he claimed to have discussed 'raking and cleaning' with the president of Finland, who later said he had no such recollection."

"Herd Mentality" & the Covid Wisdom of Trump's Waiters. Trump Lies His Way through an ABC News Townhall Event. Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Trump denied on Tuesday that he downplayed the threat of the coronavirus that has taken more than 195,000 lives in the United States, directly contradicting his own recorded words in which he admitted doing exactly that. And then he proceeded to downplay the pandemic even further. Appearing at a town-hall-style event in Philadelphia, Mr. Trump presented a view of the pandemic radically at odds with the view of public health officials, insisting again that the virus would disappear on its own and contending that 'we're rounding the corner' of the crisis. He cast doubt on the value of wearing masks, citing the wisdom of restaurant waiters over the counsel of his own medical advisers. 'I feel that we've done a tremendous job, actually,' Mr. Trump said, defending his handling of the pandemic during the event broadcast on ABC News. 'It's something that I don't think has been recognized like it should.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: To see how Earth people are failing to recognize the "tremendous job" Trump has done in controlling the coronavirus & in his "leadership" role in general, see the latest Pew Research findings, linked under "The Trumpidemic" heading below. ~~~

~~~ Lucien Bruggeman of ABC News: "Asked Tuesday by an uncommitted voter at ABC News' town hall..., why he would 'downplay a pandemic that is known to disproportionately harm low-income families and minority communities,' Trump denied ever understating the disease's threat. 'Yeah, well, I didn't downplay it. I actually, in many ways, I up-played it, in terms of action. My action was very strong,' Trump said." ~~~

~~~ "Four Pinocchios, Over & Over Again. Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post: "At the ABC News Town hall Tuesday night, President Trump was challenged by ordinary voters in ways that he rarely experiences in the safe spaces of Fox News where he regularly answers questions. But he still retreated to false or misleading talking points that he offers in his usual venues. Here's a quick tour through 24 claims made at the town hall...."

~~~ Quinn Scanlan & Cheyenne Haslett of ABC News report five takeaways from the town hall meeting. It's a pretty good summary of the event. ~~~

~~~ Stephen Collinson of CNN: "... Donald Trump faced life outside his own political bubble on Tuesday, where his self-congratulation, buck passing and audacious falsehoods conspicuously failed to meet the moment when he was confronted by undecided voters.... Trump was largely cordial and likely came across as strong to voters that love him. But his performance offered ... Joe Biden multiple openings only two weeks before their first debate clash -- one of the last potential turning points of the White House race.... Answers that normally draw wild cheers at Trump's packed campaign events fell flat when he was confronted by voters who appeared to want to cut through bluster and propaganda. And his responses did little to recognize the magnitude of the challenges facing the nation in a fearful year.... On a day when America recorded more than 1,200 new deaths from Covid-19, Trump effectively told the country to ignore his own words to Bob Woodward downplaying the threat early this year even though he knew how bad it was.... He also illogically complained that Biden, who has no power, had not followed through on a national mask mandate and claimed falsely the US response to the crisis was the best in the world." Mrs. McC: Besides, Biden did not call for a national mask mandate; he urged every governor to impose one. There's a difference.

Now we sent in the U.S. marshals for the killer, the man that killed the young man in the street. Two and a half days went by, and I put out 'when are you going to go get him.' And the U.S. marshals went in to get him. There was a shootout. This guy was a violent criminal, and the U.S. marshalls killed him. And I'll tell you something -- that's the way it has to be. There has to be retribution. -- Donald Trump, on the extra-judicial killing of suspected killer Michael Reinoehl, whom a witness claimed was unarmed ~~~

~~~ Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: "If the president's allies are talking about the moment 'shooting will begin' [Michael Caputo] and 'martial law,' [Roger Stone] it';s not by accident.... [Donald Trump is running] a campaign to hold on to power by any means necessary.... Caputo, in that sense, is only taking cues from his boss.... If he doesn't win, [Trump] says again and again, then the outcome isn't legitimate.... Along with this warning comes Trump's call for supporters to act as 'poll watchers' to prevent imaginary fraud at voting locations.... He added that after they vote, his supporters should 'make sure it counts.'... Asked on Fox News about 'riots' if he wins re-election, Trump said he would 'put them down very quickly,' before adding: 'Look, it's called insurrection. We just send in and we do it, very easy. I mean, it's very easy....' For Trump..., this is the campaign, and it is laying the groundwork for chaos and violence should the outcome show the slightest ambiguity (and even if it doesn't). In a half-functioning country, all of the president's rhetoric on this score would be grounds for removal from office. But we don't live in a half-functioning country -- we live in the United States of America." (Also linked yesterday.)~~~

     ~~~ Chuck Todd, et al., of NBC News: ".. Donald Trump has talked about the upcoming presidential election in conspiratorial and often violent ways, as liberal New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie notes.... It's become easy for the political community to dismiss this as your normal Trump rhetoric; after all, he says these kinds of things all the time, including when he was trailing Hillary Clinton four years ago. But it's another thing when the President of the United States says it, and when his supporters and allies starting saying it, too.... Trump's 'rigged' election talk is more dangerous than it was four years ago." (Also linked yesterday.)

A Bet You Will Lose: Trump Can't Go Lower. Inae Oh of Mother Jones: "President Trump shared a video on Tuesday of Joe Biden embracing the wife of former Defense Secretary Ash Carter during a 2015 ceremony at the White House with the hashtag #PedoBiden, marking the president's first public entry into the categorically false conspiracy theory accusing the Democratic presidential candidate of pedophilia.... The clip ostensibly aims to demonstrate improper, potentially pedophilic behavior by Biden. It doesn't -- and Stephanie Carter, an adult, has written about how the encounter has been taken out of context to denigrate Biden. In reality, she notes, the former vice president had been comforting her during an 'uncharacteristically nervous' moment after she had fallen on ice shortly before her husband's swearing-in ceremony. But Trump's retweet comes as the twisted conspiracy theory continues QAnon's rapid rise among the highest ranks of the Republican party.... Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., has repeatedly promoted the Biden [QAnon pedophilia] conspiracy theory in recent weeks."

Trump Youth Group Pays for Fake Pro-Trump Posts. Isaac Stanley-Becker of the Washington Post: Erroneous and/or pro-Trump "messages have been emanating in recent months from the accounts of young people in Arizona seemingly expressing their own views -- standing up for President Trump in a battleground state and echoing talking points from his reelection campaign. Far from representing a genuine social media groundswell, however, the posts are the product of a sprawling yet secretive campaign that experts say evades the guardrails put in place by social media companies to limit online disinformation of the sort used by Russia during the 2016 campaign. Teenagers, some of them minors, are being paid to pump out the messages at the direction of Turning Point Action, an affiliate of Turning Point USA, the prominent conservative youth organization based in Phoenix, according to four people with independent knowledge of the effort.... In response to questions from The Post, Twitter on Tuesday suspended at least 20 accounts involved in the activity for 'platform manipulation and spam.' Facebook also removed a number of accounts as part of what the company said is an ongoing investigation."

If you dare to peruse the latest election forecasting supporting supposed signs of a blue wave, it's here, by Rachel Bitecofer of the Niskanen Center. --s

Craziness, Corruption, Laziness & Lies

Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "In [a 'Fox & Friends"] interview [Tuesday], Trump criticized former defense secretary Jim Mattis, who has in recent months warned the country strongly against reelecting Trump. But in the course of making that case, Trump offered an odd claim: He said Mattis had effectively stood in the way of his efforts to assassinate Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. 'I would've rather taken him out,' Trump said. 'I had him all set. Mattis didn't want to do it. Mattis was a highly overrated general.'... In the book ['Fear', published in 2018, Bob Woodward] reported that Trump had considered assassinating Assad. Trump, on Sept. 5, 2018, flatly denied it. 'I heard somewhere where they said the assassination of President Assad by the United States. Never even discussed,' Trump said, adding: 'No, that was never even contemplated, nor would it be contemplated.... It's just more fiction. The book is total fiction. Okay?'... Even planning such an operation as a contingency would be highly questionable, given its impact in a volatile region...." The Hill has a story here. Mrs. McC: In general, the U.S. has had a policy of not assassinating heads of states since President Gerald Ford signed an executive order in 1976 outlawing political assassinations. (Also linked yesterday.)

Spencer Ackerman of the Daily Beast: "The former senior CIA official once in charge of the hunt for Osama bin Laden has spent the summer calling for the slaughter of his fellow Americans. Michael Scheuer calls Black Lives Matter a 'terrorist organization' and a 'semi-human mob.' On his blog and his podcast, Scheuer rages against a widespread, treasonous conspiracy targeting not only President Trump but the fundamental character of the American republic. It deserves 'punishment... we've not seen before in this country.' Kyle Rittenhouse, the 17-year old charged with murder for shooting demonstrators at a Kenosha, Wisconsin, protest, is a 'young hero.'... Scheuer's advocacy of violence follows a long trajectory. In December, he endorsed the increasingly violent QAnon conspiracy movement.... Counterterrorism experts have long since written Scheuer off as a crank. Yet Scheuer's advocacy of political violence looks disturbingly like a harbinger.... Roger Stone urged Trump to declare martial law and jail his critics if he loses the November election. Ally Michael Caputo ... invented a left-wing insurrection on a Facebook Live chat. And over the weekend, Trump endorsed federal agents shooting dead a suspect in the killing of a right-wing protester." (Also linked yesterday.)

Aimee Picchi of USA Today: "[The] change[s] put in place at the Postal Service by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy ... including limiting late deliveries and cracking down on overtime pay that resulted in delays in service across the country, have drawn scrutiny from lawmakers and customers, with particular concerns about how they affect mail-in ballots and prescription medication deliveries. But businesses ... say they're also feeling the impact. And the complaints from angry customers are raising anxieties ahead of the busy holiday season.... Joe Cortese says his company, NobleSpirit, relies on the U.S. Postal Service to ship thousands of packages containing stamps and collectibles each year. But starting in June, he and his wife, Polly, began noticing problems with shipments.... 'It was like somebody turned off a switch.' [Cortese said.]" --s

Another Trumpian Horror Story. Jacob Soboroff, et al., of NBC News: "A nurse who worked at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Irwin County, Georgia and four lawyers representing clients there are claiming that immigrant women are routinely being sent to a gynecologist who has left them bruised and performed unnecessary procedures, including hysterectomies. The doctor, who three lawyers identified as Dr. Mahendra Amin, practicing in Douglas, Georgia, has continued to see women from the Irwin County Detention Center for the past several years despite complaints from his patients. Amin was the subject of a Justice Department investigation in 2015 for making false claims to Medicaid and Medicare. As a result, he and other doctors involved paid $525,000 in a civil settlement, according to the Justice Department. The lawyers identified the doctor after a whistleblower complaint to the Inspector General for the Department of Homeland Security was filed by Dawn Wooten, who worked as a nurse inside the facility." The Intercept's story is here, and it's just as horrifying. ~~~

~~~ PLUS. José Olivares & John Washington of the Intercept (Sept. 14): "A nurse at the Irwin County Detention Center in Georgia is speaking out about a host of dangerous medical practices at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility amid the coronavirus outbreak. The whistleblower, Dawn Wooten, says that Irwin, which is run by the private corporation LaSalle Corrections, has underreported Covid-19 cases, knowingly placed staff and detainees at risk of contracting the virus, neglected medical complaints, and refused to test symptomatic detainees, among other dangerous practices. On September 8, Wooten submitted a letter detailing her complaints to the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General, with the help of attorneys from the Government Accountability Project. The grim situation inside the facility reflects what she called 'a silent pandemic' running rampant behind the prison bars."

The Trumpidemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Tuesday are here. The Washington Posts' live updates for Tuesday are here: "Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer called for Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar to resign, saying that his department has 'become subservient to the president's daily whims' and that Azar, the nation's top health official, has been 'almost entirely silent about the chaos and mismanagement in his own agency.' In a floor speech Tuesday, Schumer (D-N.Y.) added: 'We need a secretary of health and human services who will look out for the American people, not President Trump's political interests.'" Mrs. McC: Why, whatevah could Chuck mean? (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Adam Cancryn & Sarah Owermohle of Politico: "Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar led an escalating pressure campaign against his own Food and Drug Administration this spring and summer, urging the agency to abandon its responsibility for ensuring the safety and accuracy of a range of coronavirus tests as the pandemic raged. Then in late August, Azar took matters into his own hands. Overriding objections from FDA chief Stephen Hahn, Azar revoked the agency's ability to check the quality of tests developed by individual labs for their own use, according to seven current and former administration officials with knowledge of the decision.... At some points the dispute was so intense that it boiled over into screaming matches between Azar and Hahn, four of the sources said.... Azar's decision is the latest example of Trump administration appointees overruling experts at public health agencies. It comes at a particularly perilous time for the FDA, which is struggling to balance ... Donald Trump's push for a coronavirus vaccine by Election Day with public fears that the agency will rubber stamp an ineffective or even dangerous shot." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

      ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Everything is going very smoothly. Azar, a graduate of Ken Starr's Institute of the Independent Counsel, is a former top pharmaceuticals lobbyist & executive. He is not a medical doctor. His Wikipage should make you cringe -- and perhaps make you even more leery of a coronavirus shot you know has been "approved" by Azar & Trump. ~~~

~~~ Shadows on the Ceiling, Ctd. Adam Cancryn, et al., of Politico: "The health department's top spokesperson Michael Caputo called an emergency staff meeting on Tuesday to apologize for drawing negative attention to the Trump administration's health care strategy and signaled that he might be soon departing his role, according to five people with knowledge of the meeting.... Caputo told staffers that his series of false accusations on Facebook Live this weekend -- which included unfounded allegations that the Centers for Disease Control was harboring a 'resistance unit' -- reflected poorly on HHS' communications office. He blamed his recent behavior on a combination of physical health issues and the toll of fielding death threats against his family. Caputo also acknowledged that he had never read one of the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports, despite his team's ongoing efforts to try to edit those documents. Caputo told staff that he is scheduled to meet with HHS Secretary Alex Azar later Tuesday, the people with knowledge of the meeting said.... Donald Trump -- a close ally of Caputo who helped install him as HHS' communication head this year -- is also expected to be involved in any decision about Caputo's next steps." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) A New York Times story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McC: IOW, Azar can't fire Caputo, once Roger Stone's man, unless Donald says so.

Erica Werner of the Washington Post: "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Tuesday that the House will stay in session until a new economic relief deal is reached, facing pressure from Democratic lawmakers over Congress' failure to address the ongoing fallout from the health care crisis as the election looms.... The House is scheduled to adjourn on Oct. 2 until after the election. Bipartisan talks on a new relief measure collapsed last month and have not been revived, leading to speculation that Congress and the administration will be unable to reach a bipartisan accord before Election Day.... The stock market has mostly recovered its losses from March, however, and President Trump has suggested he thinks a robust recovery is [already] underway." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

~~~ Trumpty-Dumpty Had a Great Fall. Adam Taylor of the Washington Post: "In a new poll of 13 nations released Tuesday, a median of 15 percent of respondents said the United States had handled the pandemic well, while 85 percent said the country had responded poorly. The data, released by Pew Research Center, suggests that the international reputation of the United States has dropped to a new low in the face of a disorganized response to the novel coronavirus. The country leads the world in virus-related deaths.... Among some traditional allies like Germany, views of the United States have declined to the lowest levels since Pew began tracking them nearly two decades ago.... After Trump entered office in 2017, Pew found much of the world to hold a negative view of the U.S. leader, with views of the United States overall dipping in many nations. But Pew's latest polling suggests that the pandemic, an unprecedented global crisis, has caused views of the United States among its closest peers to slide even further. The new Pew report is here.

Louisiana. Alex Scarborough of ESPN: "LSU football coach Ed Orgeron said Tuesday that most of his team has contracted COVID-19. 'Not all of our players, but most of our players have caught it,' Orgeron told reporters. 'I think that hopefully they won't catch it again, and hopefully they're not out for games.'"

Maine. Meryl Kornfield & Brittany Shammas of the Washington Post: "Only about 65 close family members and friends were on the guest list for a bride and groom's rustic wedding celebration in a small Maine town in early August. But the nuptials began an outbreak now traced to more than 175 reported novel coronavirus infections and also to the deaths of seven people, the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday. The cluster of coronavirus infections that originated from the Big Moose Inn outside Millinocket on Aug. 7 continues to grow in Maine, state health officials said, after guests flouted social distancing and mask guidelines. Now people who have no association with the party have died, including six residents of the Maplecrest Rehabilitation and Living Center in Madison, Maine CDC Director Nirav Shah said in a news briefing Tuesday.... 'The virus favors gatherings,' Shah said." The AP's story is here.


Michael Crowley of the New York Times: "Israel and two Arab nations signed agreements at the White House on Tuesday to normalize their relations, a step toward a realignment of the Middle East but one that failed to address the future of the Palestinians. President Trump presided over a South Lawn ceremony where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and the foreign ministers of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates signed a general declaration of principles the White House has named the Abraham Accords, after the biblical father of three monotheistic religions, as well individual agreements between Israel and the two Arab states.... What was clear in the event, carried live on major cable networks less than 50 days before the November election, were Mr. Trump's political interests. The Trump campaign, eager to portray the belligerent president as a diplomat and peacemaker, has capitalized on the agreements with online ads suggesting he deserves nothing less than the Nobel Prize, for which two right-wing Scandinavian lawmakers have nominated him." An NBC News story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: As Joe Scarborough said this morning, this story is getting very little play because of the chaos that is the Trump administration. Scarborough said the peace accord did not make the top 17 Wall Street Journal stories.

Katie Benner of the New York Times: "The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into whether President Trump's former national security adviser John R. Bolton unlawfully disclosed classified information when he published a memoir this summer, a case that the department opened after it failed to stop the book's publication this summer, according to three people familiar with the matter. The department has convened a grand jury, which issued a subpoena for communications records from Simon & Schuster, the publisher of Mr. Bolton's memoir, 'The Room Where It Happened.' In the book, Mr. Bolton delivered a highly unflattering account of his 17 months working in the Trump administration.... Mr. Trump has made clear that he wants his former aide prosecuted. He said on Twitter that Mr. Bolton 'broke the law' and 'should be in jail, money seized, for disseminating, for profit, highly Classified information.' He has also called Mr. Bolton 'a dope,' 'incompetent' and the book 'a compilation of lies and made up stories, all intended to make me look bad.'" Politico's report is here. Thanks to Ken W. for the link. Mrs. McC: Another Trump/Barr hit job. As Trump says, "There has to be retribution." (See Jamelle Bouie's column, linked above.) (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

As It Turns Out -- Black Lives Matter

Kentucky. Tim Craig & Marisa Iati of the Washington Post: "The city of Louisville announced on Tuesday a $12 million settlement with the family of Breonna Taylor and a number of changes in how local officers obtain and execute search warrants, among the largest payouts for a police killing in the nation's history, according to a Taylor family attorney.Louisville police killed Breonna Taylor, 26, while executing a 'no-knock' search warrant at her apartment during a drug raid in March that uncovered no illegal substances and has become a driving symbol in the Black Lives Matter movement." A CNN story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Nebraska. Azi Paybarah of the New York Times: "A white bar owner in Nebraska was indicted on Tuesday in the fatal shooting of a Black man during a protest in May, a case that a prosecutor had initially declined to prosecute after characterizing the bar owner's actions as self-defense. The bar owner, Jake Gardner, was indicted by a grand jury in Douglas County on four counts, including manslaughter, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, attempted first degree assault and making terrorist threats, officials said. The authorities said that Mr. Gardner, 38, confronted a group of men outside one of his bars in Omaha on May 30 and was knocked to the ground. From there, he fired two warning shots and tried to get to his feet, prosecutors said. As he did, Mr. Gardner got into a fight with one man, James Scurlock, 22. The two scuffled before Mr. Gardner fired a shot that killed him. Mr. Scurlock's killing drew widespread attention and quickly touched off large demonstrations in Omaha."

New York. A Cover-up Conspiracy in Rochester. Michael Wilson & Edgar Sandoval of the New York Times: The City of Rochester, New York, released "a mass of city documents ... that show how the police chief, La'Ron Singletary, and other prominent Rochester officials did everything in their power to keep the troubling videos of the [the police killing of Daniel Prude] out of public view, and to prevent damaging fallout from Mr. Prude's death. The dozens of emails, police reports and internal reviews reveal an array of delay tactics -- from citing hospital privacy laws to blaming an overworked employee's backlog in processing videos -- used in that mission. The documents show how the police attempted to frame the narrative in the earliest hours, playing up Mr. Prude's potential for danger and glossing over the tactics of the officers who pinned him, naked and hooded, to the ground before he stopped breathing."


Michael Grynbaum & Tiffany Hsu of the New York Times: "Rush Limbaugh told millions of his radio listeners to set aside any suggestion that climate change was the culprit for the frightening spate of wildfires ravaging California and the Pacific Northwest.... Disregarding the mountains of empirical evidence to the contrary..., he ... [adopted] a popular right-wing talking point: that policies meant to curtail climate change are, in fact, an assault on freedom. 'Environmentalist wackos ... want man to be responsible for it because they want to control your behavior,' the conservative host said on the show. He added that they 'want to convince you that your lifestyle choices are the reason why all these fires are firing up out on the Left Coast.' Hours later..., Tucker Carlson said those who blamed climate change for the fires were merely reciting 'a partisan talking point.'... Fringe right-wing websites, like The Gateway Pundit, have blamed left-wing arsonists, fueling false rumors that authorities say are impeding rescue efforts."

Oregon. Sahid Fawaz of Labor 411: "Oregon Republican state senator Fred Girod was one of 11 Republicans who made headlines when they walked out of the senate -- some even leaving the state -- so that a quorum could not be achieved for a climate change bill.... Now with wildfires raging in Oregon, climate change has come to Girod's doorstep. Literally.... The walls of [his] one-story home had collapsed, leaving two stone columns and a chimney that rose out of the rubble.... 'It hurts,' Girod said, hands in his dark denim jeans.'" -s

News Ledes

New York Times: "Stanley Crouch, the fiercely iconoclastic social critic who elevated the invention of jazz into a metaphor for the indelible contributions that Black people have made to American democracy, died on Wednesday at a hospital in the Bronx. He was 74.&"

The New York Times' live update of Western wildfire developments Wednesday are here. "The prospect of scattered showers raised hopes for better firefighting conditions in the Pacific Northwest, but California 'remains dry and ripe for wildfires,' Cal Fire said."

The New York Times' live updates of Hurricane Sally developments are here. The Washington Post's live updates are here.

Weather Channel: "Hurricane Sally has made landfall this morning with potentially histori flooding rainfall, a dangerous storm surge and damaging winds. Sally will also pose a threat of flooding rainfall farther inland across parts of the Southeast. Sally made landfall near Gulf Shores, Alabama, at 4:45 a.m. CDT as a Category 2 with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph. Bands of heavy rain and strong winds are affecting the northern Gulf Coast..., particularly in parts of the Florida Panhandle and southern Alabama.... Nearly 300,000 homes and businesses have lost power in southern Alabama and the Florida Panhandle, according to poweroutage.us. Storm surge flooding is ongoing near and east of where Sally's center is crossing the coast. A storm surge of over 5 feet has been recorded so far this morning near Pensacola, Florida. Significant flash flooding with flooded roads and homes has also occurred in numerous spots from southeast Alabama into the western Florida Panhandle."

New York Times: "Bill Gates Sr., a lawyer and the father of Microsoft's co-founder, who stepped in when appeals for charity began to overwhelm his billionaire son and started what became the world's largest philanthropy, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, died on Monday at his beach home on Hood Canal, in the Seattle area. He was 94."

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