;)
The Commentariat -- August 26, 2020
Afternoon Update:
Yes, Donald Trump Can Go Lower. Tax Axelrod of the Hill: "President Trump is calling for drug tests to be administered before the first presidential debate between him and Democratic nominee Joe Biden next month. Trump made the demand in an Oval Office interview with The Washington Examiner Wednesday, saying he noted a sudden improvement in Biden's primary debate performance against Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in March. He offered no evidence to support his suggestion that the improvement could have been the result of a drug.... The president said he was going solely based off of his own observations and not any inside knowledge into Biden's campaign. 'All I can tell you is that I'm pretty good at this stuff,' he said."
** Ellie Hall, et al., of BuzzFeed News: "The law enforcement obsessed 17-year-old who was charged with shooting and killing two people and injuring another in Kenosha, Wisconsin, during protests for Jacob Blake appeared in the front row at a Donald Trump rally in January. Kyle Howard Rittenhouse's social media presence is filled with him posing with weapons, posting 'Blue Lives Matter,' and supporting Trump for president. Footage from the Des Moines, Iowa, rally on Jan. 30 shows Rittenhouse feet away from the president, in the front row, to the left of the podium. He posted a TikTok video from the event." Read on. ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: If you wove this detail into a work of fiction, you (or your editor) would take it out as too trite.
Travis Gettys of the Raw Story, citing a tweet by Shannon Watts: "Cell phone footage shows Kenosha police telling armed insurrectionists, 'We appreciate you guys. We really do,' and giving them bottles of water. Shortly after this video was taken, one of these men shot and killed two protesters and wounded another.' Another video shows Rittenhouse open fire with a rifle after he fell to the ground and then calmly walk toward police vehicles with his hands raised in surrender. Other people can be heard yelling that he had shot someone. However, no officers are seen getting out of the vehicles, which continue advancing toward protesters, to apprehend Rittenhouse -- who then fled the state and was considered a fugitive." Mrs. McC: An eyewitness told Anderson Cooper on CNN Wednesday that he saw the shooter talking to police, who were in their vehicle, and he heard a cop tell the shooter to clear away from the area.
Marc Stein of the New York Times: "The Milwaukee Bucks responded to the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man in Wisconsin, by refusing to take the court Wednesday afternoon for their N.B.A. playoff game against the Orlando Magic. An hour later, the N.B.A. postponed two other playoff games scheduled for Wednesday night, thrusting its ambitious restart at Walt Disney World during the coronavirus pandemic into sudden chaos and doubt. The postponed games were first-round playoff matchups pitting the Houston Rockets against the Oklahoma City Thunder, and the Los Angeles Lakers against the Portland Trail Blazers. All three games will be rescheduled. Players from the N.B.A. and the W.N.B.A. have long been at the forefront of protests against racism and police brutality but especially this year, after the police killings of George Floyd, a Black man in Minnesota, and Breonna Taylor, a Black woman in Kentucky. Still, the boycott was an extraordinary escalation in the athletes' demonstrations, a move that had virtually no precedent in the league's history." A Deadline story is here. ~~~
~~~ Carla Russo of the Huffington Post: "Several Major League Baseball teams postponed their games on Wednesday in an apparent show of protest against the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The Milwaukee Brewers and the Cincinnati Reds were the first MLB teams to postpone their game, multiple sources reported. They made their decision not long after the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks staged a walkout during a playoff game against the Orlando Magic, also on Wednesday. Later Wednesday, the Seattle Mariners and San Diego Padres decided to postpone their Wednesday game as well, according to multiple
~~~ Scott Lemieux in LG&$: "Critically, the Reds decided to join the strike rather than undermine it by accepting a forfeit. This is a big deal.... I dunno, making a lifelong champion of arbitrary violence against Black people president of the United States seems like a bad idea in retrospect."
The Washington Post's live updates of coronavirus developments Wednesday are here: "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revised its guidance for coronavirus testing this week. It now says that many people who have been exposed to the virus through close contact with someone who later tested positive 'do not necessarily need a test' if they are not experiencing symptoms. Experts are expressing concern about the change, noting that people without symptoms are responsible for a large share of transmissions." ~~~
~~~ The New York Times live updates Wednesday are here: "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was instructed by higher-ups in the Trump administration to modify its coronavirus testing guidelines this week to exclude people who do not have symptoms of Covid-19 -- even if they have been recently exposed to the virus, according to two federal health officials. One official said ... the guidelines were not written by the C.D.C. but were imposed."
~~~ Nick Valencia, et al., of CNN: "A sudden change in federal guidelines on coronavirus testing came this week as a result of pressure from the upper ranks of the Trump administration, a federal health official close to the process tells CNN. 'It's coming from the top down,' the official said of the new directive from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The new guidelines raise the bar on who should get tested, advising that some people without symptoms probably don't need it -- even if they've been in close contact with an infected person. Previously, the CDC said viral testing was appropriate for people with recent or suspected exposure, even if they were asymptomatic.... A CDC spokesperson referred all questions to the Department of Health and Human Services.... The new directive also lines up with a trend in policy and rhetoric from the White House.... Donald Trump has repeatedly suggested the US should do less testing."
Mrs. McCrabbie: Remember the Taco Bowl! When considering Trump's "message" in pardoning a Black felon and in attending a naturalization ceremony for people of color at the White House yesterday, then playing back video of these events at the convention last night, we should bear in mind Trump's infamous May 2016 tweet in which he is pictured sticking a fork in a Trump Tower Grill taco bowl and declaring "I love Hispanics!" These White House events are not efforts to "soften" his image, as most in the media have asserted. Trump is a cruel person, and all of these "gestures" are, to put it as delicately as possible, mind-fucking exercises. He knows you know he is a racist xenophobe, and his intention is to mess with you.
Julie Bosman of the New York Times: "An Illinois resident has been arrested in connection to a shooting that left two people dead and another person wounded during a chaotic night of demonstrations over the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wis., officials said on Wednesday. A court document from Lake County, Ill., shows that Kyle Rittenhouse, 17, was arrested in Antioch, Ill., on Wednesday morning after being charged with first degree intentional homicide in the fatal shooting that took place only hours earlier. Antioch is about 30 minutes southwest of Kenosha, just over the Illinois line." This is an update of a story linked below.
CPB Suggested Microwaving Asylum-Seekers. Michael Shear of the New York Times: "Fifteen days before the 2018 midterm elections, as President Trump sought to motivate Republicans with dark warnings about caravans heading to the U.S. border, he gathered his Homeland Security secretary and White House staff to deliver a message: 'extreme action' was needed to stop the migrants.... At a meeting with top leaders of the Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection officials suggested deploying a microwave weapon -- a 'heat-ray' designed by the military to make people's skin feel like it is burning when they get within range of its invisible beams. Developed by the military as a crowd dispersal tool two decades ago, the Active Denial System had been largely abandoned amid doubts over its effectiveness and morality. Two former officials who attended the afternoon meeting ..., said the suggestion that the device be installed at the border shocked attendees, even if it would have satisfied the president. Kirstjen Nielsen, then the secretary of Homeland Security told an aide after the meeting that she would not authorize the use of such a device, and it should never be brought up again in her presence, the officials said."
~~~~~~~~~~
Presidential Race, Etc.
Reality Chek. Matthew Choi of Politico: "Hillary Clinton is predicting Donald Trump's reelection effort will be a messy affair, and the former Democratic candidate has some advice for Joe Biden: If the race is close, don't concede. Speaking with Jennifer Palmieri for Showtime's 'The Circus,' Clinton said Trump would likely try to take the election by going after absentee voting.... Democrats, she said, should be ready to fight if the results come back too close to call."
New York Times reporters' snark analysis of Tuesday night's Trumpalooza is here. It includes a live video feed of the convention, which is best left on mute. Speaking of snark:
The New York Times' live updates of the Republican National Convention's Tuesday show are here. The Washington Post's live updates of the convention are here. Includes a video livefeed. The Guardian live updates are here, and it's admirably unforgiving.
** Donald Trump, Friend of Immigrants and People of Color. Alexander Burns & Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "President Trump made a bid to sand down his divisive political image by appropriating the resources of his office and the powers of the presidency at the Republican convention on Tuesday, breaching the traditional boundaries between campaigning and governing in an effort to broaden his appeal beyond his conservative base. In an abrupt swerve from the dire tone of the convention's first night, Mr. Trump staged a grab-bag of gauzy events and personal testimonials aimed in particular at female and minority voters. In videos recorded at the White House, Mr. Trump pardoned a Nevada man convicted of bank robbery and swore in five new American citizens, all of them people of color, in a miniature naturalization ceremony." Quite a good summary.
Quint Forgey, et al., of Politico: "... Donald Trump staged a norm-busting show on the second night of the Republican National Convention, pardoning a convicted bank robber, hosting a naturalization ceremony, and providing a primetime platform to Americans with a history of incendiary social media posts. Trump also blurred the line between the presidency and electoral politics.... Melania Trump delivered her speech from the Rose Garden, while Secretary of State Mike Pompeo offered a taped message from Jerusalem, an unusually partisan move for the nation's top diplomat." ~~~
~~~ As Ben Rhodes said on MSNBC after the second episode of the Trump Unreality Show, Trump knows he's violating the law, but he just doesn't think he has to obey U.S. law. ~~~
~~~ Michelle Lee & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "The decision by the Republican National Convention to feature President Trump conducting official business inside the White House underscores how he is leveraging the powers of his office for political gain, raising questions about whether an event featured Tuesday night violated federal law. In a remarkable pretaped scene packaged as part of the convention's prime time programming, Trump took part in a naturalization ceremony for five new citizens as acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf administered the Oath of Allegiance.... Kathleen Clark, a legal and government ethics professor at Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, said that the event appeared to be designed as part of the convention, an action that would violate a criminal provision of the Hatch Act, which bars executive branch employees from participating in politics in their official capacity.... She ... [called] Trump and Wolf 'breathtaking in their contempt for the law.'... Jordan Libowitz, spokesman for ... Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, [said,] 'This is so obviously, blatantly, insultingly a Hatch Act violation that it's starting to seem like the Trump administration is going out of its way to find new ways to violate the law. We'll be filing a complaint.'"
Matthew Choi of Politico: "Melania Trump pushed for racial unity during her keynote on the second night of the Republican National Convention, offering a far more conciliatory address than other speakers who used their lecterns to bombastically promote the president.... Closing out the evening, the first lady reflected on a number of her own experiences in the White House, thanked front-line workers combating the coronavirus, and ... made a call for civility and peace both at home and abroad, evoking her childhood dreams of America in communist Yugoslav Slovenia.... Her consoling comments [about Covid-19 deaths], however, appeared out of sync with her surroundings, as she delivered them to a packed Rose Garden with little room for social distancing.... It wasn't until deep into her speech that Melania Trump spoke about her husband.... 'In my husband, you have a president who will not stop fighting for you and your family,' Melania Trump said. 'I see how hard he works each day and night and despite the unprecedented attacks from the media, he will not give up.' She also touched on her husband's penchant for blasting out his thoughts on Twitter or at his news briefings. Though those messages frequently include falsehoods or exaggerations, Melania Trump cast his unfiltered nature as unvarnished honesty." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Sorry, Melanie, we know "how hard" Donnie works for us & how "honest" he is. Apparently, you new Rose Garden comes equipped with rose-colored glasses.
Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Trump sought Tuesday to wrap himself in pro-immigrant sentiment -- even though his administration has waged a yearslong assault on the nation's immigration system -- by presiding over a naturalization ceremony at the White House during the second night of the Republican National Convention. Using the majesty of the White House for blatantly political purposes, Mr. Trump appeared during the convention's second hour as 'Hail to the Chief' played and strode to a lectern where five immigrants were waiting to take the oath to become citizens. 'Today, America rejoices as we welcome five absolutely incredible new members into our great American family,' he told them in a 10-minute ceremony that had been taped in the afternoon.... And Mr. Trump's explicit claim that he loves and appreciates immigrants stands in stark contrast to his record over the past four years, during which he has repeatedly pursued anti-immigrant policies, often fueled by xenophobic language." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Offensive on every level, the entire charade was an extended, living, breathing 10-minute lie. Of all of the lies, slander, hypocrisy, denialism, abuses, & absurdities of the Big Dog-and-Pony Show, this would be my pick for the worst. The only thing they could have done to make it worse would have been to have Stephen Miller instead of Chad Wolf officiating. But Wolf, who is holding his "acting" position illegally, is bad enough. As Maggie Haberman asks in the NYT snark chat, "... can a Cabinet appointee violate the Hatch Act if he's serving illegally in that capacity anyway?!?" ~~~
~~~ Clara Chan & Ross Lincoln of the Wrap: "Tuesday's Republican National Convention sparked uproar on social media from some politicians and commentators for including a naturalization ceremony in the White House, featuring a government official [-- Chad Wolf --] who may be illegally occupying his position, at a political campaign event -- and also at a time when U.S. immigration has been delayed by the Trump administration amid the pandemic.... [After swearing the new citizens,] Afterward, Wolf effusively praised Trump and the newly inducted citizens were encouraged to do the same." ~~~
Mr. President, I want to again commend you for your dedication to the rule of law, and for restoring integrity to our immigration system. Thank you for hosting such a patriotic celebration here at the White House today. -- Chad Wolf, at a naturalization ceremony Tuesday ~~~
~~~ Trump Embraces Immigrant from "Shithole Country." Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "The event was cynical and dubious in an avalanche of ways. The appearance of Wolf, for example, who earlier in the day had earned an honor of his own: Twitter-nominated to officially serve in the position he's now held in an acting capacity for almost a year.... [Wolf has] been reliable in putting into effect policies introduced by Trump aide Stephen Miller, a notorious advocate for broadly limiting immigration.... The words that struck closest to Wolf's heart weren't his praise for the patriotic celebration but, instead, for Trump's 'dedication to the rule of law' -- despite the irony of Wolf making that assertion while serving without legal authorization. And while also apparently violating federal prohibitions against using government resources for campaign purposes.... Here, convention viewers were asked to set aside years of Trump antagonism toward immigrants entering the country both legally and illegally and, instead, to believe that he offers warm embraces to new Americans.Trump had the audacity to tell the life story of and pose for a photograph with an immigrant from Ghana[, one of the 'shithole countries' Trump complained were sending immigrants to the U.S]."
Jennifer Hansler of CNN: "Rep. Joaquin Castro, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee..., has opened an investigation into Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's controversial decision to address the Republican National Convention.... The decision to speak to the political convention in prerecorded remarks from Jerusalem breaks with longstanding precedent of sitting secretaries of state avoiding partisan politics, particularly while abroad, and appears to violate guidance on political activities that Pompeo himself emphasized in a cable to diplomats just last month." ~~~
~~~ Dan Spinelli of Mother Jones: "The Hatch Act bars federal officials from engaging in political activity while on duty, yet Pompeo recorded his speech during an official diplomatic visit to Israel.... 'It is also a complete abdication of leadership (and flouting of Pompeo's own much-ballyhooed "ethos") for the rank and file to abide by the rules while the boss does whatever the heck he pleases,' Laura Kennedy, an ambassador to Turkmenistan under George W. Bush, told me." ~~~
~~~ Fred Kaplan of Slate: "... what Pompeo said was only slightly less objectionable than where and how he was saying it. For instance, he boasted that Trump 'has ended the ridiculous unfair trade arrangements with China' -- when, in fact, only the first phase of a trade deal has been completed, with no additional phases on the horizon. The jobs lost to China over the decades, he added, 'are coming back home.' In fact, not so much. On North Korea, he said Trump 'lowered the temperature and, against all odds, got the North Koreans to the table.' Yes, but once at the table, the North Koreans did nothing and, in fact, continued to build ballistic missiles and enrich uranium.... 'Because of President Trump,' Pompeo claimed, 'NATO is stronger' -- when, in fact, he has done more to foster doubt about the U.S. commitment to NATO than any president since the treaty's signing after World War II. He said Trump gave Ukraine 'defensive weapons systems' -- referring to the anti-tank missiles that Trump tried to withhold if Volodymyr Zelensky did not help him smear ... Joe Biden. But Pompeo failed to note that, even after Trump let the missiles go, the Department of Defense insisted that the weapons be stored in western Ukraine, far from the battlefield in the east."
~~~ "Diplomats Aghast." Josh Lederman, et al., of NBC News: "Diplomats who are barred by law from mixing work and politics say they're appalled by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's decision to address the Republican National Convention on Tuesday, breaking with long-standing traditions aimed at isolating American's foreign policy from partisan battles at home. It would be problematic enough, current and former U.S. diplomats said, if Pompeo were simply showing up at the convention to speak. But Pompeo's decision to use a stop in Jerusalem during an official overseas trip as the site for his recorded speech to fellow Republicans raises even more troubling questions about the message it sends to other countries and whether U.S. taxpayers are footing the bill, they said.... Pompeo's speech in service of ... Donald Trump's re-election appears to violate the spirit, if not the letter, of three legal memos issued by the State Department's legal adviser. One of the legal memos, intended to guide political appointees, says explicitly in bold letters that 'Senate-confirmed Presidential appointees may not even attend a political party convention.'" Mrs. McC: But will Mike speak from the Temple Mount? (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Pranshu Verma & Stephanie Saul of the New York Times: "President Trump on Tuesday pardoned a man convicted of robbing a bank in Nevada who now runs a nonprofit for prisoners, shortly before the Republican National Convention entered its second night. The White House announced the pardon of the man, Jon Ponder, in a seven-minute video in which the president called Mr. Ponder's life 'a beautiful testament to the power of redemption.'... Mr. Ponder met the president in 2018, when he was invited to a Rose Garden ceremony for a National Day of Prayer.... Since he took office, Mr. Trump has pardoned or granted clemency to people he personally knows or whose cases strike a chord with him.... As Mr. Trump's bid for re-election enters its last stretch, the announcement appears to be an attempt by the president to draw voters' attention to criminal justice, a subject that he has promoted as a signature initiative of his time in office." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: That's a generous interpretation. Trump is appealing here to two constituencies: (1) evangelicals, and (2) Black people. Ponder is Black, and Trump likely thinks Ponder's pardon will resonate with Black voters because most Blacks are criminals. ~~~
~~~ UPDATE: Oh, surprise! The video showed up as the first segment of the Trump Variety Show Tuesday.
Edwin Rios of Mother Jones: "Long before racist birther Melania Trump made a plea for unity, the undercard of the RNC's second night featured what can only be described as a parade of Good Ones. These were the good kinds of immigrants, the good kinds of Black and Brown folks, people living or at least aspiring to live clean, capitalist lives on the bright side of the American Dream. Donald Trump delivered a stunt pardon of a bank robber turned Christian prison reformer. He presided over an unspeakably cynical stunt naturalization ceremony. The message of all these various gimmicks was that 'hard work and determination' plus chance opportunities plus the beneficence of beaming white saviors can shape and shift the lives of the lower orders for the better. We don't have to enumerate all the ways the administration has in fact worked to block the various pathways to success that speakers were touting all night.... [Also at the convention,] the Good Prosecutor, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, peddling tired attacks about Democrats' 'all-out assault on Western civilization' and decrying the notion that one's skin tone dictates one's political leanings.... Cameron, the state's first top Black prosecutor, is ... the guy overseeing the investigation into the cops who killed Breonna Taylor." Mrs. McC: Five months after Taylor's murder by cop, Cameron still has not brought charges.
All the Best People, Ctd. Will Sommer of the Daily Beast: "One of the speakers for the second night of the Republican National Convention was pulled from the program after The Daily Beast surfaced a tweet from her, earlier in the day, urging her followers to investigate a supposed Jewish plot to enslave the world.... [Mary Ann] Mendoza, an 'angel mom,' was scheduled to speak Tuesday about her son's 2014 death at the hands of a drunk driver who was in the country illegally. But a Republican source familiar with the programming said the speech had been cancelled amid uproar over her tweet.... Mendoza had linked to a lengthy thread from a QAnon conspiracy theorist that laid out a fevered, anti-Semitic view of the world. In its telling, the Rothschilds -- a famous Jewish banking family from Germany -- created a plot to terrorize non-Jewish 'goyim,' with purported details of their scheme that included plans to 'make the goyim destroy each other' and 'rob the goyim of their landed properties.'" ~~~
~~~ Amanda Becker of The 19th: "Anti-abortion activist Abby Johnson, who will speak on Tuesday during the second night of the Republican National Convention, has advocated in recent months for a head-of-household voting system that has historically barred women and people of color from casting ballots.... Johnson's prime time RNC remarks come on the eve of the 100th anniversary of the adoption of the 19th Amendment, which extended voting rights to women. (In practice, many women of color were excluded for many years thereafter.)... Head-of-household voting would permit only the head of a household -- and not all household members who are citizens over 18 years of age -- to cast a ballot. Johnson believes the male member of the household would be the de facto decision maker."
Lachlan Markay of the Daily Beast: "Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, a registered lobbyist for a foreign government that Donald Trump's Justice Department has implicated in a corruption scandal, used her speech at the Republican convention on Tuesday to criticize former Vice President Joe Biden for alleged self-dealing abroad.... Bondi was hired by the White House to assist with impeachment messaging late last year. When she took the White House job, Bondi wound down her work on behalf of the government of Qatar, which U.S. authorities recently implicated in a corruption scandal involving their hosting of the 2022 World Cup. In March, Bondi left the White House and restarted her work for Qatar. An executive order imposed by Trump in the early days of his presidency ostensibly bars former administration officials from lobbying for foreign governments, but Bondi appears to have benefited from a loophole in the rule. Bondi's relationship with Trump goes back years and has itself been the target of corruption allegations. In 2013, Trump's since-dissolved foundation made an illegal $25,000 contribution to a political group affiliated with Bondi as the then-attorney general was weighing whether to pursue a fraud investigation against the notorious Trump University. Bondi subsequently passed on the investigation." ~~~
~~~ Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "Bondi began by trying to re-litigate claims that [Joe] Biden had improperly intervened in Ukraine to protect his son Hunter.... Notice that we can't discuss [Bondi's] claims ... without repeatedly mentioning that Donald Trump was ... impeached after the House found that he abused his power in an effort to do precisely what Bondi was doing: using Hunter Biden's work in Ukraine as a campaign gambit against his father."
"Obvious Lie After Obvious Lie." Sahil Kapur of NBC News: Joe Biden's campaign "shared media fact checks on Tuesday about the GOP convention on health care, crime and COVID-19. 'Last night's incoherent charade was sad, underwhelming, and devoid of vision to the point that it bordered on self parody,' Joe Biden's campaign said in a statement that pointed to myriad fact-checks by news organizations debunking claims regarding health care, crime and the coronavirus pandemic.... Biden's campaign said the speeches amounted to 'obvious lie after obvious lie.'" ~~~
~~~ Reverse Reality. Toluse Olorunnipa of the Washington Post: "Faced with a pandemic that has killed more than 175,000 Americans, President Trump used glitzy video and misleading testimonials to spin a tale of heroism and resolve far removed from the grim reality of a country in the throes of an uncontrolled public health crisis. At the Republican National Convention on Monday, Trump was hailed as a bold and lifesaving leader who 'was right' on the coronavirus while Democrats, doctors and pundits were wrong from the beginning. One campaign-style video that aired during the convention hailed Trump as the 'one leader' who stood up to the virus while quoting Democratic figures who played down the severity of the virus in its early stages. It's a revisionist version of recent history belied by hours of videotape in which the president minimized the threat of the virus for months, falsely predicted that it would 'disappear' with warmer weather, promoted several unproven miracle cures, pushed states to reopen before meeting federal government benchmarks, equivocated on mask-wearing, defied social distancing guidelines and repeatedly told Americans that everything was under control." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: The problem, of course, is that millions of dimwits & low-information voters may believe these head-spinning lies. Covid is the Democrats' fault! ~~~
~~~ Steve Benen of MSNBC asks the obvious: "If the case for Trump is strong, why isn't the truth good enough? To hear Republicans tell it, the 2020 presidential election is effectively a no-brainer: Donald Trump has been a great success, the argument goes, and Joe Biden is a failure pushing ideas that would take the country backward. The choice, from a GOP perspective, couldn't be clearer. Of course, if this were accurate, all Republicans would need to do is tell the public the truth. There'd be no need to mislead anyone, since the facts would serve as a boon to the incumbent president and his party, and prove devastating to his Democratic rivals. And yet, on the first night of the Republican National Convention, the party made one thing painfully clear: the truth would not be good enough." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: "Donald Trump screwed up everything he touched, he's as crooked as a dog's hind leg, he doesn't give a flying fuck about the job or about you, but, you know, 'Four More Years!'", while true, is not an excellent campaign pitch.
Bob Brigham of the Raw Story: The mean people on Twitter are suggesting that Donnie Junior was coked up when he gave his convention speech. Brigham cites many opinionators. I like that "scientific analysis," where a Tweeter tested the color of Junior's eyes against a color chart & finds that the "whitest" spot in the whites of his eyes was actually a deep rosy pink. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Shadow Chief of State & Secretary of Everything Hannity Gets His Own Convention Platform(s). Brian Stelter of CNN: "When representatives from all the major TV networks visited the White House's South Lawn on Monday ... to prepare for President Trump's Thursday night speech there, there was a surprise: A mystery anchor platform.... the network executives discovered that the platform was built for one of the president's biggest supporters: Sean Hannity.... It's the latest in a long line of examples of Trump favoring the Fox News personalities who promote him the most. Hannity said on his Monday night program that he will be live from the White House Rose Garden on Tuesday ahead of First Lady Melania Trump's speech; live on Wednesday from Fort McHenry in Baltimore, where Vice President Mike Pence will be speaking; and live from the South Lawn on Thursday."
Florida Congressional Race. Matthew Chapman of the Raw Story: "On Tuesday, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported that Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL) joked about sex with 15-year-old girls on Facebook with a friend. 'One of the comments involves a Feb. 23, 2009, photo of a bar outing posted by Rocco LeDonni, who is now Mast's campaign manager. The photo was taken during LeDonni's vacation to South Africa,' reported Skyler Swisher. 'Mast commented, 'im so proud of you... i hope you hook up with at least fifteen 15 year olds over there.... its legel there right."; Mast also joked with leDonni that he should turn a planned rape into a murder. Mast says he's sorry and is trying to be a better example to his children. Mast's Democratic opponent, former Navy JAG officer Pam Keith, was not amused. The Sun Sentinal report, which is firewalled, is here.
Kansas Legislature. Jenny Gross of the New York Times: "The 19-year-old candidate for the Kansas Legislature who admitted to sending revenge porn and bullying girls online when he was in middle school said Tuesday that he was breaking his pledge to withdraw as the Democratic nominee. The candidate, Aaron Coleman, a dishwasher and community college student, defeated a seven-term incumbent, Stan Frownfelter, earlier this month by 14 votes in the Democratic primary for the 37th District seat in the Kansas House of Representatives.... Writing in The Intercept, Glenn Greenwald criticized Democratic leaders for their contempt for Mr. Coleman, who said he had reached out to his middle school victims in attempts to make amends." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: That just brilliant, Glenn, because ... Ryan Grim of the Intercept (you know, your own damned news org, Glenn): According to Coleman's ex-girlfriend Taylor Passow, during a disagreement about three-way sex "on December 27, 2019..., 'He sat there for a few seconds, then he jumped on top of me, put his hands around my throat and started squeezing, and slapped me three times, and said "I don't know where the fuck you think you're going."..."' A few days later,"in text messages with Passow, Coleman disputed her recollection."
Oklahoma. The New York Times has state primary results here. Looks as if the only federal race is between Republican candidates for the Oklahoma City-based House district, which is too close to call at 10:00 pm ET.
The Trumpidemic, Ctd.
The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Tuesday are here. The Washington Post's live updates Tuesday are here.
Hahn Apologizes. Laurie McGinley, et al., of the Washington Post: At a White House briefing Sunday, with a maskless Donald Trump breathing down his neck, FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn claimed that 35 percent of coronavirus patients "were saved by the injection of antibody-rich plasma from people who had survived the disease.... But the 35-out-of-100 claim wasn't accurate, scientists said Monday.... [Experts were horrified by what was a false claim.] On Monday night, Hahn in a tweet acknowledged he had misspoken during the news briefing about the findings of the convalescent plasma study. 'I have been criticized for remarks I made Sunday night about the benefits of convalescent plasma. The criticism is entirely justified,' Hahn wrote. 'What I should have said better is that the data show a relative risk reduction not an absolute risk reduction.'... Essentially, the Trump administration figures had compared one group of patients who got a certain kind of plasma with a group who got a different concentration at a different point in the disease, thus showing the relative difference between those groups. It was not a measure of what happens when some patients get plasma and some don't -- the kind of research necessary to send a signal of whether a treatment is truly helping." The AP's story is here. Related story linked yesterday. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
More FDA Corruption. Brad Reed of RawStory: "The Twitter account for the Food and Drug Administration has started promoting propagandistic announcements lauding the Trump administration's 'achievements' in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic -- shortly after President Donald Trump appointed a gun-loving former reporter for One America News [Emily Miller] as the agency's spokeswoman.... Miller's work as a right-wing journalist over the years [includes] fabricated quotes from former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, while also pushing conspiracy theories about the Obama administration trying to 'track law-abiding citizens' with its promotion of 'smart gun' technology that would allow guns to be fired only by authorized users. Miller is also the author of a book titled, 'Emily Gets Her Gun... But Obama Wants to Take Yours.'" --s
Capitalism Is Awesome, Ctd. David Lieb of AP: "As South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster prepared to announce the end of a coronavirus stay-at-home order, his top staff received an email from the state health department. The message ... was clear: Wait longer before allowing customers back inside restaurants, hair salons and other businesses where people will be in close contact. Instead, McMaster pressed ahead with a plan written by the state restaurant association to resume inside dining on May 11.... South Carolina later experienced a surge in infections that forced McMaster to dial back his reopening plan. He was hardly alone. Thousands of pages of emails provided to The Associated Press under open-records laws show that governors across the U.S. were inundated with reopening advice from a wide range of industries.... Some governors put economic interests ahead of public health guidance, and certain businesses were allowed to write the rules that would govern their own operations." --s
Texas. CBS Dallas Forth-Worth: "Following 46 cases of bleach ingestions in the North Texas Poison Center region since the start of August, experts are again warning people that drinking the chemical won't prevent COVID-19. The organization pointed to 'misleading and inaccurate information circulating online about how to prevent the spread of COVID-19,' for an uptick in poisonings." --s
Ben Gittleson, et al., of ABC News: "... Donald Trump said on Tuesday he will nominate Chad Wolf to be the permanent Secretary of Homeland Security. Wolf has been acting secretary since November and his tenure has been controversial, most recently in his role carrying out Trump's orders to use federal agents to respond to violent protests in Portland, Oregon.... Two weeks ago, a government watchdog agency found that Wolf and his acting deputy, Ken Cuccinelli, were named to their current roles illegally, in violation of the Vacancies Reform Act, in part because they had not faced Senate confirmation. In response to a letter from DHS which called the ruling 'baseless and baffling,' the Government Accountability Office reaffirmed its decision that the two top DHS officials were serving illegally. Democrats had demanded they resign, and on a call with reporters Tuesday, Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer blasted the decision to nominate Wolf." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) A Washington Post story is here.
Ridin' the Trump Gravy Train. Brian Schwartz of CNBC: "Hope Hicks, a longtime confidant of President Donald Trump's, landed high-paying gigs, including a Wall Street speaking engagement, between White House stints, according to her latest financial disclosure report.... When she [first] departed the administration, she listed a bank account valued up to $15,000 as her sole asset, the ethics watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington notes. Her latest disclosure lists a bank account that is valued at up to $1 million.... Shortly after leaving the White House, Hicks created her own limited liability company called Cavender Consultants.... While in use, the LLC was used as a way for Hicks to collect fees for what she described on her form as communications consulting at Glover Park Group, a public relations firm that includes her father, Paul Hicks, as managing director.... [Hope] Hicks is not listed as a lobbyist.... Hicks also lists a speaking engagement she had at Veritas Capital, a New York-based private equity firm.... She moderated a discussion with former Trump economic advisor and Goldman Sachs president Gary Cohn." --s
... Heather Schwedel of Slate confirms the theory Adam Silverman of Balloon Juice expressed about the reason Kellyanne & George Conway are quitting their high-profile day jobs (also linked here a couple of days ago). Schwedel offers more details on Conway daughter Claudia's social media musings.
Asha Rangappa & Ryan Goodman of Just Security: "After three years of insisting that unvetted information should never form the basis for an investigation into an active presidential candidate, Republican members of the Senate would never attempt to do such a thing themselves, right? Wrong. That is exactly what some are attempting to do in the home stretch of the 2020 election.... But Ukrainegate 2.0, like the original, has a dual purpose. The goal isn't just to smear [Joe] Biden, but also to shift blame for 2016 election interference to Ukraine. An architect of that false narrative about Ukraine is Paul Manafort, and the probe has accordingly served the former Trump campaign chairman's interests along numerous fronts in Ukraine politics and at home.... What's not received sufficient attention is how [Sen. Ron] Johnson's efforts have worked in tandem with Manafort's.... Undermining Manafort's prosecution offers a basis for President Trump to tie up the last loose end from the charges brought by Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian collusion with the Trump campaign and finally give the pardon he had dangled to Manafort over a year and a half ago." --s ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: The flaw in this suggestion? That Ron Johnson is smart enough to be part of a conspiracy. We'll have to assume some little bird has duped him into conducting this "investigation."
Here's a story I missed: Melanie Zanona of Politico (August 21): "The House Ethics Committee formally admonished Rep. Matt Gaetz for a threatening tweet about ... Donald Trump's former lawyer and fixer -- the lightest form of punishment that the panel can take. While the 10-member panel determined that the Florida Republican's 'actions did not reflect creditably upon the House of Representatives,' the committee also concluded in its report that he 'did not violate witness tampering and obstruction of Congress laws' and declined to issue more severe sanctions against the Florida Republican.... The case stems from an incident on February 2019, when on the eve of Michael Cohen's testimony before Congress, Gaetz vowed to release embarrassing information about allegations of Cohen's infidelity. The tweet sparked immediate backlash on Capitol Hill, with Democrats accusing Gaetz of witness tampering. 'Do your wife & father-in-law know about your girlfriends? Maybe tonight would be a good time for that chat,' Gaetz wrote. 'I wonder if she'll remain faithful to you in prison. She's about to learn a lot.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
** Julie Bosman of the New York Times: In Kenosha, Wisconsin, "three people were shot early Wednesday, two fatally, law enforcement officials said, during a chaotic night of demonstrations over the shooting of Jacob Blake.... A third night of protests over the shooting of Mr. Blake stretched into the early morning hours of Wednesday, after demonstrators clashed with law enforcement officials near the county courthouse downtown.... [After police, using tear gas & rubber bullets, forced the crowd to disperse, some walked] to a gas station several blocks away. There, a group of men with guns stood outside, promising to protect the property and verbally sparring with the arriving protesters. As the night stretched on, the gas station became a tense gathering spot.... After midnight, shots were fired outside the gas station. Three people were struck... Sheriff [David] Beth said that the investigation was focused on the group of men with guns outside the gas station, and that investigators were scouring video taken just before the shooting. 'I've had people saying, "Why don't you deputize citizens?"' he said. 'This is why you don't deputize citizens with guns to protect Kenosha.'" Whatever the Supremes' intended purpose, a consequence of their ruling was to cheapen human life. An NBC News story is here. ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Let's call these Second Amendment Murders. If the confederate Supremes had not allowed and effectively encouraged open-carry laws in their 2008 Heller v. D.C. decision, these senseless deaths probably would not have happened because those gun-toting bozos would not have been "protecting" that gas station.* ~~~
~~~ * "On April 20, 2009 the Wisconsin Attorney General's office released a memorandum to all law enforcement agencies stating that mere open carry of a firearm was not disorderly conduct, and instructed both law enforcement and the district attorneys to cease this practice [of arresting people for disorderly conduct if they were merely openly carrying guns]."
~~~ Julie Bosman & Richard Oppel of the New York Times: "Jacob Blake is conscious after being shot by a police officer this week, partially paralyzed from a bullet that severed his spinal cord and unaware of the protests that have spread across the country in his name, his family and lawyers said on Tuesday. Standing in front of a heavily fortified courthouse in Kenosha, Wis., where demonstrations and destruction have rocked the city of 100,000, Mr. Blake's parents and siblings denounced the police and pleaded for justice. It was a 'senseless attempted murder,' said Mr. Blake's father, Jacob Blake Sr., as he broke down and wept. 'They shot my son seven times, like he didn't matter.' He said he had no confidence that the shooting of a Black man by a white officer would be fairly investigated.... The [Kenosha Police Department] is now facing intense public scrutiny.... Kenosha was under a curfew again on Tuesday night." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Several of Jacob's relatives made moving remarks at the press conference, but his sister Letetra Wideman's comments particularly struck me, perhaps because -- as much as a white person can "get it" -- I share her feelings: ~~~
~~~ Mark Guarino, et al., of the Washington Post: "Anger-fueled protests radiated across the nation Tuesday as the family of a 29-year-old Black man shot in the back by police in [Kenosha, Wisconsin,] demanded swift action to bring officers to justice. In a highly emotional appearance two days after the shooting, Jacob Blake Jr.'s parents and siblings called for healing and peace following consecutive nights of violence. Julia Jackson, Blake's mother, asked for Americans to show 'how humans are supposed to treat each other.' But the family also pinned responsibility for Blake's grievous injuries on what they called a racist law enforcement system that brutalizes Black people, and expressed dismay that his shooter had not yet been fired or charged."
Falwell Flipflops. Again. Sarah Bailey, et al., of the Washington Post: "Jerry Falwell, Jr. confirmed Tuesday that he has resigned as president of Liberty University, after agreeing to step down Monday in the wake of scandals involving personal conduct, and then reversing course." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Ruth Graham of the New York Times: "On Tuesday, after a chaotic 48 hours in which a sex scandal emerged and Mr. Falwell resigned, changed his mind and then changed it back again, he was officially out as president and chancellor of Liberty University.... Mr. Falwell's departure was the culmination of a remarkable sequence of events beginning Sunday night, when Mr. Falwell issued a statement claiming that his wife, Becki, had a sexual relationship with a man who later tried to extort the couple in exchange for silence. The statement appeared to anticipate an interview with Reuters that appeared the next day, in which the man, Giancarlo Granda, claimed he met Ms. Falwell regularly for sexual liaisons, with Mr. Falwell looking on. In the interview, Mr. Granda denied the claim of extortion.... On Monday afternoon, [Mr. Falwell] told the board and reporters that he was resigning but then abruptly reversed course, before eventually sending a resignation letter late in the evening. The board's executive committee met on Tuesday morning and voted to accept Mr. Falwell's resignation immediately. The full board then convened an emergency conference call and unanimously confirmed Mr. Falwell's departure. He will receive severance as dictated by his employment agreement, according to the board's statement, which did not specify the amount. He also resigned from his seat on the board."
Beyond the Beltway
Alaska. Kyle Hopkins of the Anchorage Daily News in ProPublica: "Alaska Attorney General Kevin Clarkson [R] resigned Tuesday following the publication of an Anchorage Daily News and ProPublica investigation showing he sent hundreds of text messages to a younger state employee that Clarkson acknowledged had made her uncomfortable. Records obtained by the newsrooms found Clarkson sent at least 558 text messages between March 5 and March 31 to a woman whose job required she sometimes interact with the attorney general. In at least 18 messages he invited the woman to come to his home. Gov. Mike Dunleavy, a Republican, said in an email Tuesday that he had accepted Clarkson's resignation.... While Clarkson's resignation came within hours of the story's publication, it came more than two months after the news organizations began asking questions and requesting records about his text messages." Mrs. McC: I guess they don't get news about #MeToo way up in Alaska.
Way Beyond
Russia, Germany. Michael Nienaber & Joseph Nasr of Reuters: "German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday called on Russia to investigate the suspected poisoning of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny and hold the perpetrators accountable after doctors found indications of a toxic substance in his body.... 'In light of the prominent role played by Mr. Navalny in the political opposition in Russia, the authorities there are now urgently called upon to investigate this crime to the last detail - and do so in full transparency,' Merkel said in a joint statement with Foreign Minister Heiko Maas." Mrs. McC: Gee, no word from Donald Trump. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
News Ledes
Washington Post: Weather Channel: "Hurricane Laura has rapidly intensified over the Gulf of Mexico as it heads for landfall on the upper Texas or southwest Louisiana coasts as a major hurricane by early Thursday morning. A potentially catastrophic storm surge and destructive winds will batter the region and a threat of flooding rain and strong winds will extend well inland.... The hurricane is now a strong Category 2 and is expected to continue strengthening. Laura could briefly become a Category 4 hurricane later today." ~~~
~~~ Update. New York Times live updates: "Hurricane Laura, now a major Category 4 storm, hurtled toward the coasts of Louisiana and Texas on Wednesday morning, prompting state leaders to make dire warnings about life-threatening conditions as the storm gained further strength."
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