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


Wednesday
Jul292020

The Commentariat -- July 30, 2020

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

For those who don't subscribe to the New York Times, digby has republished John Lewis' NYT op-ed. I don't know whether or not she violated copyright law, and here is an instance where I don't care. Thanks to Keith H. for the link. ~~~

     ~~~ digby appends this to the end of the essay: "Meanwhile, Trump, who couldn't be bothered to pay tribute or even hav the decency to STFU, has spent this week pushing racist housing policies and trying to manipulate, suppress and now, delay the vote. If there's a more graceless barbarian on earth I don't know who it might be." Amen, Sister.

Nolan McCaskill of Politico: "President Barack Obama hailed the late Rep. John Lewis as a modern-day founding father of a more perfect union that has not yet come to fruition -- and challenged Americans to carry on Lewis' legacy. In a 40-minute eulogy that was part a celebration of Lewis and part a call to action, Obama chronicled Lewis' journey as a young civil rights activist to an elderly congressman who led a sit-in inside the U.S. Capitol, evidence that Lewis never stopped fighting for what was right. Former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi paid tribute to the late Democratic congressman before Obama spoke. Former President Jimmy Carter sent his condolences in a letter that was read aloud during the service." ~~~

     ~~~ At about 22 min. in, President Obama begins speaking about how civil rights are being curbed today. At 27:55, he speaks about expanding the Voting Rights Act. ~~~

The Washington Post has live video of John Lewis' funeral. You can watch it on this YouTube page, which is subscriber-free. ~~~

~~~ MEANWHILE, in Harrison, Arkansas:

     ~~~ Jaclyn Peiser of the Washington Post: "Over the three days Rob Bliss held the sign in the sweltering July heat in Harrison, a town known as a haven for white supremacists and home to the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, similar interactions happened again and again.... Bliss is a director and producer based in Los Angeles and is known for making viral stunts aimed at socially conscious messages.... Bliss's video swiftly went viral after he uploaded it Monday...."

New York Times: "President Trump suggested on Thursday that the Nov. 3 general election be delayed, something he has no authority to order and that top Republicans quickly rejected. 'Never in the history of the federal elections have we not held an election, and we should go forward,' said Representative Kevin McCarthy, the House minority leader. Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, dismissed Mr. Trump's suggestion in an interview with WNKY television in Bowling Green, Ky. 'Never in the history of the country, through wars, depressions and the Civil War, have we ever not had a federally scheduled election on time, and we'll find a way to do that again this Nov. 3,' Mr. McConnell said.... Even for Mr. Trump, suggesting a delay in the election is an extraordinary breach of presidential decorum that will increase the chances that he and his core supporters don't accept the legitimacy of the election should he lose to former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.' The Hill's story is here. Politico's story is here.

Ann Marimow of the Washington Post: "A federal appeals court in Washington will take a second look at a judge's effort to scrutinize the Justice Department's decision to drop its case against President Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn. The full U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit agreed Thursday to revisit U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan's plan to examine the politically charged matter, reviving the unusual case testing the limits of the judiciary's power to check the executive branch. The court's brief order set oral arguments for Aug. 11. The decision to rehear the case before a full complement of judges wipes out the June ruling from a three-judge panel that ordered Sullivan to immediately dismiss the case and said Sullivan was wrong to appoint a retired federal judge to argue against the government's move to undo Flynn's guilty plea." A Reuters story is here.

Adam Edelman of ABC News: "Herman Cain, a successful businessman who ran for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination and later became a backer of ... Donald Trump, has died from complications from COVID-19, according to a statement posted Thursday on his personal website. He was 74."

~~~~~~~~~~

** "Together, You Can Redeem the Soul of Our Nation." John Lewis, "the civil rights leader who died on July 17, wrote this essay shortly before his death, to be published [in the New York Times] upon the day of his funeral. Editorial Page Editor Kathleen Kingsbury wrote about this piece and Mr. Lewis's legacy in Thursday’s edition of our Opinion Today newsletter." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: I looked around the Internets to see if I could find Lewis' essay elsewhere, on a firewall-free site, and I could not. The Guardian has a summary report here.

~~~ Jeff Martin of the AP: "When John Lewis is mourned, revered and celebrated at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta on Thursday, he returns to a sacred place for many of those who helped to shape civil rights history. The arc of Lewis' legacy of activism will once again be tied to Ebenezer's former pastor Martin Luther King Jr., whose sermons Lewis discovered while scanning the radio dial as a 15-year-old boy growing up in then-segregated Alabama.... Former President Barack Obama will be attending Thursday's funeral and is expected to address mourners, according to a person familiar with the arrangements who was not authorized to speak publicly. President George W. Bush's office said the former president and first lady Laura Bush also will attend." Former President Bill Clinton also is expected to attend Lewis' funeral.

** Charlie Savage, et al., of the New York Times: "Since the disclosure ... [that] Russia had covertly offered bounties to kill American troops..., no new National Security Council interagency meetings on the topic have been scheduled, one official said, adding that officials who were alarmed about the bounties intelligence -- and the lack of response -- have essentially given up because the White House's narrative has made it politically impossible to reverse course and treat the intelligence as a serious matter." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: During the Axios interview & later on the White House lawn, Trump offered a number of sometimes contradictory excuses on why he has not acted against Russia: (1) "... many people said [this] was fake news." (2) "If it reached my desk, I would have done something about it." (3) "Nobody has been tougher on Russia than I have. I don't know why they'd be doing this." (4) "We supplied weapons when they were fighting Russia, too." So there's the anonymous "many people" claim combined with the "fake news" claim, two of Trump's favorite fallbacks. Then the claim Trump never saw the intel, which has been disproved, but a way to blame others. This claim he combined with the bravado that he would have done something tough to retaliate against Russia, had he but known. Then he asserts that Russia would have had no reason to put bounties on U.S. soldiers, which he follows with the argument that Russia had plenty of reason to kill U.S. soldiers because the U.S. had done something similar to Russia decades ago. Pathetic. And U.S. soldiers are dead. ~~~

~~~ Erin Banco & Asawin Suebsaeng of the Daily Beast: "The U.S. State Department has issued warnings to Russia that there will be repercussions if Moscow pays Trump has said about the intelligence in question."

Trump, Stormtroopers & Scare Tactics

Trump Tosses the Whistle, Buys a Bullhorn. Annie Karni, et al., of the New York Times: "President Trump vowed on Wednesday to protect suburbanites from low-income housing being built in their neighborhoods, making an appeal to white suburban voters by trying to stir up racist fears about affordable housing and the people who live there. In a tweet and later in remarks during a visit to Texas, Mr. Trump painted a false picture of the suburbs as under siege and ravaged by crime, using fear-mongering language.... Mr. Trump said on Twitter that 'people living their Suburban Lifestyle Dream' would 'no longer be bothered or financially hurt by having low income housing built in your neighborhood.' The president was referring to the administration's decision last week to roll back an Obama-era program intended to combat racial segregation in suburban housing. The program expanded provisions in the Fair Housing Act to encourage diversification and 'foster inclusive communities.'" CNBC has a story here.

One of These Creeps Sounds Just Like the Other One:

~~~ Peter Baker of the New York Times: "... the politics of division and race ring through the generations as President Trump tries to do what [Alabama Gov. George] Wallace could not. Comparisons between the two men stretch back to 2015 when Mr. Trump ran for the White House denouncing Mexicans illegally crossing the border as rapists and pledging to bar all Muslims from entering the country. But the parallels have become even more pronounced in recent weeks after the killing of George Floyd as Mr. Trump has responded to demonstrations by sending federal forces into the streets. The Wallace-style tactics were on display again on Wednesday as Mr. Trump stirred racist fears about low-income housing moving into the suburbs."

Jessica Wolfrom of the Washington Post: "President Trump said Wednesday that he would send the National Guard into Portland if the violence doesn't subside. The president's remarks come as federal officials are preparing to pull out of the city and de-escalate the fevered tensions between police and protesters. Just hours earlier, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D) announced that the federal government had agreed to pull federal officers out of the city.... [Speaking in Midland Texas, Trump said,] 'And I told my people a little while ago, if they don't solve that problem locally very soon, we're going to send in the National Guard and get it solved very quickly, just like we did in Minneapolis and just like we will do in other places.'...." This is part of a liveblog & is way down the page. ~~~

~~~ ** Mike Baker of the New York Times: "Federal tactical teams that have clashed with protesters in Portland in recent weeks will soon begin leaving the city, Gov. Kate Brown of Oregon said Wednesday. The federal agents will begin leaving downtown on Thursday, Ms. Brown said in a statement. An agreement between federal and state officials calls for the Oregon State Police to provide security for the exterior of the courthouse, while the usual team of federal officers that protects the courthouse year-round will continue to provide security for the interior of the courthouse. Chad Wolf, the acting secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement that while the department has agreed with the Oregon governor on a withdrawal plan, the department will proceed with the withdrawal of security personnel in Portland only if federal officials are confident that federal properties will no longer be under attack." Related AP story linked yesterday. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Maybe Chad just realized that teargassing (white) moms is not a good look: ~~~

Dani Blum of the New York Times: "In the flurry of videos and social media posts that have emerged from the protests in Portland, Ore., activist moms are everywhere. They sing lullabies. They link arm-in-arm, forming a human barricade between protesters and federal agents. Some wear respirators, gas masks and helmets. Some hand out sunflowers.... Since then, the Wall of Moms has continued to protest nightly in Portland, with hundreds of women dressed in yellow to identify themselves as participants turning out. A Wall of Dads has also joined the front lines of the protests, many carrying leaf blowers to redirect the tear gas that federal agents have deployed.... More recently, new chapters of Wall of Moms collectives have mobilized across the country, with several turning out at demonstrations on Saturday.... The Wall of Moms groups consist of predominantly white women who have garnered a swell of attention that Black mothers protesting in Portland for months did not receive, participants and organizers said in interviews."

Nevada. Tim Elfrink of the Washington Post: "The Douglas County, Nev., public library wanted to take a stand this week: 'Everyone is welcome,' read a proposed diversity statement, which added the library 'denounces all acts of racism, violence and disregard for human rights. We support #BlackLivesMatter.' But Douglas County Sheriff Daniel Coverley quickly took a stand of his own. 'Due to your support of Black Lives Matter and the obvious lack of support or trust with the Douglas County Sheriff's Office, please do not feel the need to call 911 for help,' Coverley wrote in a letter to the library published Monday. 'I wish you good luck with disturbances and lewd behavior.' A county spokesperson later told the Reno Gazette Journal that despite the sheriff's statement, deputies would continue responding to calls from the library. After a follow-up meeting with the library's director on Tuesday, Coverley blamed the stress protests have put on police for his response." Mrs. McC: Way back yesterday, the U.S. attorney general testified under oath before Congress, "I don't agree there is systemic racism in police departments generally in this country." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

The Trumpidemic, Ctd.

Jeff Cox of CNBC: "The U.S. economy saw the biggest plunge in activity it has ever known in the second quarter, though it wasn't quite as bad as feared. Gross domestic product from April to June plunged 32.9%, according to the Commerce Department's first reading on the data released Thursday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for a drop of 34.7%. Sharp contractions in personal consumption, exports, inventories, investment and spending by state and local governments all converged to bring down GDP, which is the combined tally of all goods and services produced during the period." ~~~

~~~ Fred Imbert of CNBC: "The number of Americans who filed for unemployment benefits ... for the week ending July 25 came in at 1.434 million.... This also marks the second consecutive week in which initial claims rise after declining for 15 straight weeks. It is also the 19th straight week in which initial claims total at least 1 million. Continuing claims -- which are composed of those receiving unemployment benefits for at least two straight weeks -- rose by 867,000 to 17.018 million. Data on continuing claims is delayed by one week." ~~~

~~~ The New York Times' live updates of economic & financial developments are here.

The Washington Post's live updates of coronavirus developments Thursday are here. The New York Times' live updates for Thursday are here.

"We Really Don't Care." -- Trump. Emily Cochrane & Jim Tankersley of the New York Times: "The prospects for a quick agreement between the Trump administration and congressional Democrats on a new round of aid for the ailing economy faded on Wednesday, as President Trump undercut his own party's efforts to negotiate a deal and a top White House official declared that a lifeline to unemployed workers would run out as scheduled at week's end. With negotiations barely started to find a middle ground between Republicans' $1 trillion plan and Democrats' $3 trillion package, Mr. Trump poured cold water on the entire enterprise, saying that he would prefer a bare-bones package that would send 'payments to the people' and protect them from being evicted. 'The rest of it, we're so far apart, we don't care,' Mr. Trump said before leaving the White House for an event in Texas. 'We really don't care.' The comments stoked questions about whether the president -- whose re-election prospects, and his party's hold on the Senate, could turn on the health of the economy -- was willing or able to find a compromise to inject one last dose of stimulus before he faced voters in November." ~~~

~~~ Erica Werner, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump called for a quick fix Wednesday to address expiring unemployment benefits and a moratorium on evictions, saying the other parts of the GOP's $1 trillion relief bill can wait.... Democrats have repeatedly rejected the idea of a piecemeal approach that would involve a stand-alone unemployment insurance bill. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has not embraced the idea either, insisting any bill must include a five-year liability shield for businesses, health-care providers and others -- a non-starter for Democrats." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Orion Rummler of Axios: Donald Trump went on a little rant Wednesday about how Republicans who don't want funding in the coronavirus package for a new FBI building across from his D.C. hotel should "go back to school." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Zeke Miller of the AP: "The Trump administration wants $377 million in the next coronavirus relief bill for a long-delayed modernization of the West Wing, but the timetable for construction is yet to be determined. The sum, included in the draft aid legislation from Senate Republicans, would also cover a new security screening facility for the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in the White House complex. While lawmakers, including Republicans, have balked at the administration's request for more than $1 billion in the bill for a new FBI headquarters in Washington, the West Wing plan has drawn relatively little scrutiny. The administration says the White House work would 'increase the White House campus's ability to detect, mitigate and alleviate external security and pandemic threats."

If It Talks Like a Chicken & Clucks Like a Chicken.... Tax Axelrod of the Hill: "Stephen Hahn, the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), on Thursday declined to take a definitive stance on whether people should take hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for the coronavirus, instead saying that decision should be made between a doctor and a patient. 'We had data that when this drug was combined with others, there was some risk associated with that. But the question you're asking me is a decision between a doctor and a patient,' Hahn said on NBC's 'Today' show.... Hydroxychloroquine was thrust back into the news this week after President Trump doubled down on his support for the drug in spite of medical evidence questioning its efficacy as a treatment for COVID-19 and raising concerns over possible side effects."

Jake Sherman of Politico: "Rep. Louie Gohmert -- a Texas Republican who has been walking around the Capitol without a mask -- has tested positive for the coronavirus, according to multiple sources. Gohmert was scheduled to fly to Texas on Wednesday morning with ... Donald Trump and tested positive in a pre-screen at the White House.... Gohmert attended Tuesday's blockbuster House Judiciary Committee hearing with Attorney General William Barr in person, where lawmakers were seated at some distance from one another. But footage from before the hearing shows Gohmert and Barr walking together in close contact, with neither wearing a mask." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Matt Shuham of TPM: "Gohmert, who's become known on Capitol Hill for often refusing to follow public health experts' guidance to wear a mask, said in June that he'd mask up in the event that he got sick. Given that masks are meant to protect against asymptomatic people spreading the virus, the comment was just one in a long line of bizarre or wrong statements about the virus from the Texas lawmaker. Here's a look back through his greatest hits." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Oh, Update. The Mask Made Me Sick. -- Gohmert. Madeline Charbonneau of the Daily Beast: "Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) on Wednesday suggested that he contracted coronavirus because he wore a mask more frequently in recent days. 'I can't help but think that if I hadn't been wearing a mask so much in the last 10 days or so, I really wonder if I would have gotten it,' he said in an interview with The American Independent. In a later statement on Twitter, he explained that he often touches his face while wearing his mask to make it comfortable. 'I can't help but wonder if that put some germs in the mask,' he said." ~~~

~~~ Jerry Lambe of Law & Crime: "Following reports that Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Tex.) tested positive for the novel COVID-19 coronavirus, one of the lawmaker's aides contacted Politico journalist Jake Sherman via email saying that the Texas Congressman repeatedly 'berated' staffers for wearing masks in the office. Less than an hour after Sherman posted a tweet with the text of the aide's email, he said he had received a 'flood' of additional emails from other GOP staffers making similar claims." ~~~

~~~ Justin Baragona of the Daily Beast: "Fresh off his coronavirus diagnosis, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) boasted to Fox News host Sean Hannity on Wednesday night that he is 'all in' on taking controversial anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine and thanked the pro-Trump star for his promotion of the unproven drug. The ultra-conservative firebrand left his fellow lawmakers 'pissed' over news that he contracted COVID-19, especially since the Texas congressman has largely refused to wear a mask on Capitol Hill and pushed his coronavirus denialism on aides. Politico, for instance, reported on Wednesday that one staffer claims Gohmert demanded a 'full staff' in the office and people were 'berated for wearing masks.'" ~~~

~~~ Cristina Marcos of the Hill: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced Wednesday that masks will be mandatory on the House floor, after a GOP lawmaker who has at times flouted the health recommendation [Louis Gohmert] tested positive for COVID-19 earlier in the day. 'Members and staff will be required to wear masks at all times in the hall of the House except that members may remove their masks temporarily when recognized,' Pelosi said from the House floor. Pelosi warned that lawmakers and staff without masks will not be permitted to enter the House chamber and risk removal by the Sergeant at Arms if they don't comply." ~~~

     ~~~ Update. From the Washington Post's live coronavirus updates for Thursday, linked above. @6:46 am ET: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has directed that, starting Thursday morning, all House members and staff on her side of the Capitol complex must wear face coverings, with very limited exceptions, and will be asked to leave if they don't. The directive, distributed late Wednesday by the House sergeant at arms and attending physician, expands on a requirement announced earlier in the day by Pelosi that members must wear masks while appearing on the House floor." ~~~

~~~ Steve M. checks some winger sites to see what their readers think of Congressman Covid's diagnosis. Well, it's a liberal plot & a total fake.

Daniel Lippman & Tina Nguyen of Politico: "The co-founder of conservative student group Turning Point USA, Bill Montgomery, has died from complications of the coronavirus, according to two friends of his. Montgomery, who started it in 2012 with young conservative star Charlie Kirk, died at the age of 80 on Tuesday from Covid-19.... In two previous episodes of his podcast, March 16 and April 23, Kirk stated that he believed that the elderly and those with pre-existing conditions should self-quarantine. Outside of that, however, he has questioned the vast majority of public health proposals to limit community spread. On the Sunday edition of his podcast, Kirk said: 'Do not force me to wear a mask, it's that simple. I'm not gonna do it, I'm not.'"


Tony Romm of the Washington Post: "The leaders of Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google took a brutal political lashing Wednesday as Democrats and Republicans confronted the executives for wielding their market power to crush competitors and amass data, customers and sky-high profits. The rare interrogation played out over the course of a nearly six-hour hearing, with lawmakers on the House's top antitrust subcommittee coming armed with millions of documents, hundreds of hours of interviews and in some cases the once-private messages of Silicon Valley's elite chiefs. They said it showed some in the tech sector had become too big and powerful, threatening rivals, consumers and, in some cases, even democracy itself.... Rep. David N. Cicilline (D-R.I.)..., the chairman of the antitrust panel, opened a congressional investigation of Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google last year, aiming to explore whether the tech industry's most influential quartet of companies had attained their status through potentially anti-competitive means. In response, the four chief executives -- Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Apple's Tim Cook, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and Google&'s Sundar Pichai -- took the witness stand to fiercely defend their businesses Wednesday as rags-to-riches success stories, made possible only through American ingenuity and the sustained support of their ever-growing customer bases." ~~~

~~~ New York Times: "The captains of the New Gilded Age -- Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Tim Cook of Apple, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook and Sundar Pichai of Google -- appear[ed] together before Congress for the first time to justify their business practices. Members of the House judiciary's antitrust subcommittee have investigated the internet giants for more than a year on accusations that they have stifled rivals and harmed consumers." The Times liveblogged the hearing at the linked page. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ The Washington Post's live updates of the big-tech hearing are here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Thanks to PD Pepe for the link.

Elections 2020

AND He's Off! John Wagner & Amy Gardner of the Washington Post: “President Trump on Thursday floated the prospect of delaying the November election, as he ramped up his attacks on mail-in voting, claiming without evidence that its widespread use would be a 'catastrophic disaster' that could lead to fraudulent results. 'With Universal Mail-In Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good), 2020 will be the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history,' Trump tweeted. 'It will be a great embarrassment to the USA. Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???' The U.S. Constitution gives the power to regulate the 'time, place and manner' of elections to the U.S. House and Senate, with Congress also empowered to alter the rules. Nowhere is the president granted such power. In addition, the Constitution spells out a hard end to a president's term on Jan. 20 in the year following a presidential election." CNN has a story here.

Shane Goldmacher & Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "At fund-raising events where he has pulled in more than $24 million for Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s campaign in the past two months, former President Barack Obama has privately unleashed on President Trump to party donors, bringing up past accusations of Mr. Trump's' assaulting women' and warning of his efforts to push 'nativist, racist, sexist' fears and resentments.... Mr. Obama has laid out the stakes of 2020 in forceful fashion. He has urged support for Mr. Biden, his former vice president, while worrying about the state of American democracy itself, even making an oblique reference to Nazi Germany, according to notes made from recordings of Mr. Obama's remarks, donors and others who have been on the calls."

South Carolina Senate Race. He's So Black. Paul LeBlanc of CNN: "Sen. Lindsey Graham's reelection campaign posted an advertisement to Facebook earlier this month featuring a digitally altered image of his opponent -- who is Black -- with a darker skin tone. The campaign ad, uploaded to Graham's Facebook on July 23, includes an image of his Senate rival Jaime Harrison that was originally published in the New York Times. The version of the image in Graham's ad, however, shows Harrison surrounded by a dark, portrait-style background effect with a notably darker skin tone." Mrs. McC: AND yesterday, we learned that Georgia's U.S. Sen. David Perdue had run an ad digitally-altering opponent Jon Ossoff's nose, so the rednecks would get the hint Ossoff was so Jewish. This is not a coincidence. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Kevin Stone of KTAR Phoenix: “A banned former Democratic volunteer was arrested for arson Wednesday in the fire that destroyed the party's Maricopa County headquarters in Phoenix last week, authorities said. Matthew Silvanus Egler, 29, was booked on one count of arson of an occupied structure, a class 2 felony, in connection to the blaze set early Friday morning in central Phoenix. Egler had been banned from volunteering at the Democratic office 'due to the nature of his previous behavior,' according to a joint press release from the Phoenix fire and police departments. He claimed responsibility for the fire on social media and threatened more violence, according to the release." CCTV also caught Egler at the scene.


Pete Williams & Dartunorro Clark of NBC News: "Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was admitted to the hospital Wednesday to undergo a routine non-surgical procedure to correct a bile stent, a court spokesperson told NBC News.... She underwent a minimally invasive procedure Wednesday at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York to revise a bile duct stent that was originally placed in August 2019, the court said in a statement. 'According to her doctors, stent revisions are common occurrences, and the procedure ... was done to minimize the risk of future infection,' the court spokesperson said. 'The Justice is resting comfortably and expects to be released from the hospital by the end of the week.'"

Marcia Dunn of the AP: "The biggest, most sophisticated Mars rover ever built -- a car-size vehicle bristling with cameras, microphones, drills and lasers -- blasted off for the red planet Thursday as part of an ambitious, long-range project to bring the first Martian rock samples back to Earth to be analyzed for evidence of ancient life. NASA's Perseverance rode a mighty Atlas V rocket into a clear morning sky in the world's third and final Mars launch of the summer. China and the United Arab Emirates got a head start last week, but all three missions should reach their destination in February after a journey of seven months and 300 million miles...." ~~~

Comments Off
Tuesday
Jul282020

The Commentariat -- July 29, 2020

Afternoon Update:

** Mike Baker of the New York Times: "Federal tactical teams that have clashed with protesters in Portland in recent weeks will soon begin leaving the city, Gov. Kate Brown of Oregon said Wednesday. The federal agents will begin leaving downtown on Thursday, Ms. Brown said in a statement. An agreement between federal and state officials calls for the Oregon State Police to provide security for the exterior of the courthouse, while the usual team of federal officers that protects the courthouse year-round will continue to provide security for the interior of the courthouse. Chad Wolf, the acting secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement that while the department has agreed with the Oregon governor on a withdrawal plan, the department will proceed with the withdrawal of security personnel in Portland only if federal officials are confident that federal properties will no longer be under attack." Related AP story linked below.

Nevada. Tim Elfrink of the Washington Post: "The Douglas County, Nev., public library wanted to take a stand this week: 'Everyone is welcome,' read a proposed diversity statement, which added the library 'denounces all acts of racism, violence and disregard for human rights. We support #BlackLivesMatter.' But Douglas County Sheriff Daniel Coverley quickly took a stand of his own. 'Due to your support of Black Lives Matter and the obvious lack of support or trust with the Douglas County Sheriff's Office, please do not feel the need to call 911 for help,' Coverley wrote in a letter to the library published Monday. 'I wish you good luck with disturbances and lewd behavior.' A county spokesperson later told the Reno Gazette Journal that despite the sheriff's statement, deputies would continue responding to calls from the library. After a follow-up meeting with the library's director on Tuesday, Coverley blamed the stress protests have put on police for his response." Mrs. McC: Way back yesterday, Bill Barr testified under oath before Congress, "I don't agree there is systemic racism in police departments generally in this country."

"We Really Don't Care." -- Trump. Erica Werner, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump called for a quick fix Wednesday to address expiring unemployment benefits and a moratorium on evictions, saying the other parts of the GOP's $1 trillion relief bill can wait. 'The rest of it, we're so far apart, we don't care, we really don't care,' Trump told reporters outside the White House, referring to divisions between the two parties. Democrats have repeatedly rejected the idea of a piecemeal approach that would involve a stand-alone unemployment insurance bill. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has not embraced the idea either, insisting any bill must include a five-year liability shield for businesses, health-care providers and others -- a non-starter for Democrats." ~~~

~~~ Orion Rummler of Axios: Donald Trump went on a little rant Wednesday about how Republicans who don't want funding in the coronavirus package for a new FBI building across from his D.C. hotel should "go back to school."

Jake Sherman of Politico: "Rep. Louie Gohmert -- a Texas Republican who has been walking around the Capitol without a mask -- has tested positive for the coronavirus, according to multiple sources. Gohmert was scheduled to fly to Texas on Wednesday morning with ... Donald Trump and tested positive in a pre-screen at the White House.... Gohmert attended Tuesday's blockbuster House Judiciary Committee hearing with Attorney General William Barr in person, where lawmakers were seated at some distance from one another. But footage from before the hearing shows Gohmert and Barr walking together in close contact, with neither wearing a mask." ~~~

~~~ Matt Shuham of TPM: "Gohmert, who's become known on Capitol Hill for often refusing to follow public health experts' guidance to wear a mask, said in June that he'd mask up in the event that he got sick. Given that masks are meant to protect against asymptomatic people spreading the virus, the comment was just one in a long line of bizarre or wrong statements about the virus from the Texas lawmaker. Here's a look back through his greatest hits."

New York Times: "The captains of the New Gilded Age -- Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Tim Cook of Apple, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook and Sundar Pichai of Google -- will appear together before Congress for the first time to justify their business practices. Members of the House judiciary's antitrust subcommittee have investigated the internet giants for more than a year on accusations that they have stifled rivals and harmed consumers." The Times is liveblogging the hearing at the linked page. Includes live video. ~~~

~~~ The Washington Post's live updates of the big-tech hearing are here. Includes video. Plus the Post has video on its front page, so free to nonsubscribers.

South Carolina Senate Race. He's So Black. Paul LeBlanc of CNN: "Sen. Lindsey Graham's reelection campaign posted an advertisement to Facebook earlier this month featuring a digitally altered image of his opponent -- who is Black -- with a darker skin tone. The campaign ad, uploaded to Graham's Facebook on July 23, includes an image of his Senate rival Jaime Harrison that was originally published in the New York Times. The version of the image in Graham's ad, however, shows Harrison surrounded by a dark, portrait-style background effect with a notably darker skin tone." Mrs. McC: AND yesterday, we learned that Georgia's U.S. Sen. David Perdue had run an ad digitally-altering opponent Jon Ossoff's nose, so the rednecks would get the hint Ossoff was so Jewish. This is not a coincidence.

~~~~~~~~~~

When the POTUS* Is Batshit Crazy

The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Wednesday are here.: "President Trump insisted on Tuesday that large portions of the country were 'corona-free' -- even though no portion actually is free of the virus -- and said that governors should proceed with reopening, despite a new federal report warning 21 states that they were in a 'red zone' and needed to take aggressive steps to slow the spread of the virus. The report, dated Sunday, was shared with state officials by the White House coronavirus task force." The report, via the NYT, is here, and it includes state-by-state & some county-by-county data. Because it's such a big file, it takes some time to fully load. Here's a NYT pdf of the report, which is a much faster load. Mrs. McC: One of the states that is in the red zone is North Carolina, where on Monday Trump repeated his admonition that states needed to re-open.

Michael Crowley of the New York Times: "President Trump devolved into self-pity during a White House coronavirus briefing on Tuesday, lamenting that his approval ratings were lower than those of two top government medical experts. Just over a week after he began a rebooted effort, driven by rising infection rates and sinking poll numbers, to talk about the virus in terms more in line with medical consensus, Mr. Trump was again making unfounded claims and defending discredited medical experts. It was the sort of eccentric, science-deficient performance that many of his aides believe unnerved the public during the spring.... Noting that Dr. Anthony S. Fauci ... and Dr. Deborah L. Birx ... have high approval ratings even as his own have sagged, Mr. Trump added, 'And yet, they're highly thought of -- but nobody likes me. It can only be my personality,' he concluded.... When reporters pressed him on a viral video he had retweeted on Monday night that included doctors falsely claiming that hydroxychloroquine was a 'cure' for the virus and that masks were unnecessary, Mr. Trump responded: 'They're very respected doctors. There was a woman who was spectacular in her statements about it, and she's had tremendous success with it." When a reporter noted that the physician who spoke of 'a cure,' Dr. Stella Immanuel of Houston, also 'made videos saying that doctors make medicine using DNA from [space] aliens,' Mr. Trump responded, 'I know nothing about her,' and abruptly ended the briefing moments later." A related CNN story is here. ~~~

For some reason the internet wanted to take them down and took them off. I guess Twitter took them off and I think Facebook took them off. I don't know why[.] I think they're very respected doctors. -- Donald Trump, press briefing Tuesday, on the nutty doctors' group

~~~ "Corona-Free." Ben Gittleson, et al., of ABC News: "As the U.S. neared 150,000 deaths from the novel coronavirus..., Donald Trump doubled down on his defense of an unproven drug to treat COVID-19 and offered a rosy picture of the growing public health crisis and of what is to come. 'We're seeing improvements across the major metro areas and most hot spots. You can look at large portions of our country, it's -- it's corona-free,' Trump said Tuesday afternoon. 'But we are watching very carefully California, Arizona, Texas and most of Florida is starting to head down in the right direction -- and I think you'll see it rapidly head down very soon.'... The briefing comes amid a broadened rift between Trump and several of his top public health officials and follows the president's recent social media promotion of hydroxychloroquine, a drug still unproven to treat COVID-19 despite his push. Asked to clarify his position on the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine, Trump said that 'many doctors think it is extremely successful.'"

AND This (first reported by Aaron Rupar of Vox): ~~~

ย ย ย ย  ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Bloomberg is a petite guy with wavy gray hair. The reporter looks hefty, has a shaved or bald head, and as he's wearing a mask, one can't tell much about what he "looks like," but my guess is not much like Michael Bloomberg.

Sean Sullivan of the Washington Post: "... Joe Biden announced a plan Tuesday to spend tens of billions of dollars to help people of color overcome inequities in the economy, a move that comes amid financial and racial upheaval nationwide. The plan calls for dedicating $30 billion worth of previously proposed government investments to a small business opportunity fund benefiting black, brown and Native American entrepreneurs. The goal is to spur five times as much in private investments. Biden is also proposing to triple the goal for federal contracting with small disadvantaged businesses, from 5 percent to at least 15 percent of all spending on materials and services by 2025. And he is calling for President Trump and Congress to create an emergency housing support program, along with promoting a refundable tax credit of up to $15,000 to help families purchase their first homes. The plan marks Biden's latest attempt to make a major statement on racial issues, a topic on which he has faced blowback from activists on several occasions during his campaign." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ So while Joe was figuring out ways to provide better economic possibilities for minorities & inch toward the American idea of equal opportunities for all, let's see what Donnie was doing: ~~~

~~~ Reed Richardson of Mediaite: "... Donald Trump went on a late night Twitter binge on Monday with more than a dozen posts pushing dubious claims about the drug hydroxychloroquine, including twice retweeting a video from a woman falsely claiming that the drug was a 'cure' for Covid-19 and that 'you don't need a mask.'" Mrs. McC: People should be tearing their hair out over this story. It is the craziest thing Trump has ever espoused, and he has had many, many crazy ideas. AND it's dangerous. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Justin Baragona of the Daily Beast: "... Donald Trump exhibited his new serious tone toward the coronavirus crisis on Monday night, sharing a viral video of fringe doctors touting the controversial anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine as 'a cure for COVID.' The video, which also featured the doctors dismissing mask-wearing, was eventually taken down by Facebook for 'sharing false information' about the virus, after racking up millions of views in a matter of hours. Several right-wing outlets and personalities, however, continued to promote the clip of the doctors' press conference on Twitter, eventually reaching the president's timeline.... Trump then shared a tweet directly from Dr. Stella Immanuel, one of the physicians who took part in the press conference. Immanuel is also a preacher who once wrote a book claiming that there is a Satanic plot to take over the world and href="https://twitter.com/willsommer/status/1287912805857931264">recently challenged CNN anchors and top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci to provide her with urine samples.... The president also shared tweets attacking Fauci on Monday night, despite insisting recently that he had a 'very good relationship' with the doctor after White House officials publicly blasted him." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Darlene Superville & Amanda Seitz of the AP: "... Donald Trump's attempt to project a more serious tone about the coronavirus lasted for about a week. On Tuesday, he resumed spreading misinformation about how to fight the virus and amplifying criticism of Dr. Anthony Fauci.... Social media platforms worked to remove multiple versions of a video promoted by Trump that included unproven claims about treating people who test positive for the virus, but only after more than 17 million people had seen one version of it.... Fauci, a leading member of the White House coronavirus task force, responded to Trump's tweets during an appearance Tuesday on ABC's 'Good Morning America.' 'I go along with the FDA,' said Fauci, the longtime director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases. 'The overwhelming prevailing clinical trials that have looked at the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine have indicated that it is not effective in coronavirus disease.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Chip off the Old Blockhead. Katie Shepherd & Taylor Telford of the Washington Post: "Twitter on Tuesday penalized Donald Trump Jr. for posting hydroxychloroquine misinformation, the social media giant said.... Twitter said it ordered the president's son to delete the misleading tweet and said it would 'limit some account functionality for 12 hours.' The tweet, which featured a viral video showing a group of doctors making misleading and false claims about the coronavirus pandemic, was directly tweeted by Trump Jr.'s account. That contrasts with his father, who retweeted multiple clips of the same video to his 84.2 million followers Monday night. Twitter removed the videos, deleting several of the tweets that President Trump shared, and added a note to its trending topics warning about the potential risks of hydroxychloroquine use." An Axios story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Will Sommer of the Daily Beast: "A Houston doctor who praises hydroxychloroquine and says that face masks aren't necessary to stop transmission of the highly contagious coronavirus has become a star on the right-wing internet, garnering tens of millions of views on Facebook on Monday alone. Donald Trump Jr. declared the video of Stella Immanuel a 'must watch,' while Donald Trump himself retweeted the video. Before Trump and his supporters embrace Immanuel's medical expertise, though, they should consider other medical claims Immanuel has made.... She has often claimed that gynecological problems like cysts and endometriosis are in fact caused by people having sex in their dreams with demons and witches. She alleges alien DNA is currently used in medical treatments, and that scientists are cooking up a vaccine to prevent people from being religious." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Brandy Zadrozny & Ben Collins of NBC News: "A dozen doctors delivered speeches in front of the U.S. Capitol on Monday to a small crowd, claiming without evidence that the coronavirus could be cured and that widely accepted efforts to slow its spread were unnecessary and dangerous. It was the latest video to go viral from apparent experts, quietly backed by dark money political organizations.... Dressed in white coats with 'America's Frontline Doctors' stitched on the chest, the stars of the Facebook video claimed that business and school closings, social distancing and even masks were not needed, because hydroxychloroquine ... could both prevent and cure the coronavirus.... Livestreamed by the far-right website Breitbart News, the video spread quickly, initially through conservative, anti-vaccination and government conspiracy groups. Within hours, it had reached over 20 million Facebook users. he event was hosted and funded by the Tea Party Patriots, a right-wing political nonprofit group...." ~~~

~~~ The Veep Is Crazy, Too. Will Sommer & Adam Rawnsley of the Daily Beast: "Dr. Simone Gold, the leader of America's Frontline Doctors, tweeted later Tuesday to announce the group had met with Vice President Mike Pence. 'We have just met with Vice President Mike Pence to request the administration's assistance in empowering doctors to prescribe hydroxychloroquine without political obstruction. We also discussed the recent censorship of doctors on social media platforms,' Gold wrote." ~~~

~~~ Steve M.: "As the GOP blocks climate action, rejects vaccines, and increasingly flirts with crackpottery such as QAnon, mainstream media figures still treat Republicans as responsible governing partners. How far do Republicans have to go before it's generally acknowledged that they're unfit to hold office? Do they have to start talking about demon sex? Would they be shunned even then?" Mrs. McC: Nope. The leader of the Republican party already is, at least indirectly, endorsing the demon sex theory of endometriosis, and it's not a banner headline anywhere.

Erica Werner, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump brushed off the new $1 trillion Senate GOP coronavirus legislation as 'sort of semi-irrelevant' Tuesday, dismissing its significance just a day after Senate Republican leaders overcame contentious internal divisions to roll it out. At the Capitol, meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) disavowed a key Trump administration priority in the bill -- funding for a new FBI headquarters [which potentially would profit the nearby Trump hotel] -- while the second-ranking GOP senator ... John Thune (R-S.D.) ... suggested that Congress might be unable to make a deal in time to avert the expiration of emergency unemployment benefits on Friday." ~~~

~~~ Laura Reiley of the Washington Post: "About 26 million adults reported going without enough food to eat in the previous week, according to an analysis of the Census Bureau's weekly household data survey in early July. But Republicans' Health, Economic Assistance, Liability Protection and Schools Act (the Heals Act) does not expand the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps, nor does it extend the Pandemic EBT program, a debit-card benefit for households with children who have temporarily lost access to free or reduced-price school meals. The Pandemic EBT program expired at the end of June.... Although the Senate GOP proposal offers no new funds for SNAP and Pandemic EBT, it does double the tax deduction for business meals, known as the 'three-martini-lunch deduction,' increasing the reimbursement from 50 percent to 100 percent of meals.? ~~~

~~~ Andrew Taylor of the AP: "A new $1 trillion COVID-19 response package by Senate Republicans is supposed to give the government more weapons to battle the surging coronavirus pandemic.... The Republican measure includes billions for F-35 fighters, Apache helicopters and infantry carriers sought by Washington's powerful defense lobby. Overall, the proposal stuffs $8 billion into Pentagon weapons systems." --s

Texas. Alex Samuels of the Texas Tribune: "Vance Ginn, the chief economist for the [confederate think tank] Texas Public Policy Foundation, is facing fierce backlash for a recent racist tweet that said schools should open since most of the people dying from the coronavirus in Texas are elderly or Hispanic.... Ginn tweeted that the people most likely to perish from the deadly virus are people older than 50 and Hispanics [and 'very few kids die]. Why not #openschools, end universal mandates, target vulnerable & check those from #Mexico?' Ginn ... since deleted [the] tweet. He juxtaposed his tweet with a GIF of Prince Harry of Wales miming a mic drop. He later apologized for tweeting the GIF." Mrs. McC: Right. Because the GIF was offensive but not caring about the deaths of older teachers & Hispanics is just fine.

Eric Tucker of the AP: "Russian intelligence services are using a trio of English-language websites to spread disinformation about the coronavirus pandemic, seeking to exploit a crisis that America is struggling to contain ahead of the presidential election in November, U.S. officials said Tuesday. Two Russians who have held senior roles in Moscow's military intelligence service known as the GRU have been identified as responsible for a disinformation effort meant to reach American and Western audiences, U.S. government officials said.... The disclosure comes as the spread of disinformation, including by Russia, is an urgent concern heading into November's presidential election as U.S. officials look to avoid a repeat of the 2016 contest...." Mrs. McC: Trump probably gave Putin more disinformation ideas during their recent phone call. Sadly, I'm not kidding. More on the Trump-Putin conversation linked below. ~~~

~~~ Julian Barnes & David Sanger of the New York Times: "The disinformation efforts are a refinement of what Russia tried to do in 2016.... While the disinformation efforts outlined on Tuesday by American officials were focused on the pandemic, security researchers said Russia continued to push disinformation on a variety of topics."


Nicholas Fandos & Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "Attorney General William P. Barr vigorously defended the federal response to nationwide protests and civil unrest in a combative congressional hearing on Tuesday where Democrats accused him and other Trump administration officials of suppressing protesters' rights in an overly violent crackdown. The attorney general also insisted that he intervened in the criminal cases of President Trump's allies Roger J. Stone Jr. and Michael T. Flynn to uphold the rule of law, not to do Mr. Trump's bidding.... He also said of the criminal cases that grew out of the Russia investigation that he wanted to be fair to Mr. Trump's former advisers.... Amid frequent sniping, lawmakers came away with few, if any, new facts or admissions." The Washington Post's report is here. ~~~

~~~ Nicholas Fandos & others at the New York Times report on the, ah, highlights of Bill Barr's testimony. Matt Zapotosky & others have the Washington Post's "highlights" report. Even Chuck Todd! ran a short montage of Barr's echoing some of Trump's stupider remarks. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Amber Phillips of the Washington Post homes in on five takeaways: "1. He is all in as a partisan player[.]... 2. Under increased scrutiny, Barr is not backing down from sending federal agents into cities[.]... 3. Barr doesn't think police have a racism problem[.]... 4. Barr continued to cast doubt about voting by mail[.]... 5. Barr hesitates to say a president shouldn't accept foreign help to get elected[.] In probably one of the most stunning exchanges of the day, Barr at first did not denounce clearly illegal behavior. The question was from Rep. David N. Cicilline (D-R.I.).

"Cicilline: Is it ever appropriate, sir, for the president to solicit or accept foreign assistance in an election?
"Barr: It depends what kind of assistance.
"Cicilline: Is it ever appropriate for the president or presidential candidate to accept or solicit foreign assistance of any kind in his or her election
"Barr: No, it's not appropriate.

"Foreign help, of any kind, in an election is absolutely illegal." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

ย ย ย ย  ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I thought the most consequential testimony Barr made lay in the fact-free and evasive answers he gave in response to Democrats' questions about the upcoming election. Besides claiming, without evidence, that mail-in ballots invited voter fraud, he would not commit to not interfering in state election results if he thought they violated federal guidelines. Whereas I had pictured Trump chaining himself to the Resolute Desk if he lost the election, now it appears there will be a broad effort to undermine or reverse election results if they don't go in Republicans' favor, and Barr will lead the charge. You thought Florida 2000 was a travesty? At least that election really was very close. Trump, Barr and their allies seem to be planning to muck up the entire 2020 election. ~~~

ย ย ย ย  ~~~ Thanks to PD Pepe on the lead to the video.

Tom Jackman of the Washington Post: "The acting chief of the U.S. Park Police [Gregory T. Monahan] told a House committee on Tuesday that he was informed on June 1 that President Trump would be visiting Lafayette Square later that day, but that the decision to forcefully clear protesters from the park at 6:30 that evening was unrelated to Trump's visit soon after the dramatic use of force. He said the two events occurring within a half-hour was a coincidence.... Monahan said the Park Police decided to erect a fence on the north end of Lafayette Square, and 'there is 100 percent zero correlation between our operation and the president's visit to the church.' That claim was contested by an Army National Guard major [Adam DeMarco] who testified later.... DeMarco's testimony, released on Monday, said the fencing did not arrive at the park until around 9 p.m., so there would be no urgency to clear the park before that. [Monahan] denied that tear gas was used on the protesters. DeMarco insisted, from his training at the United States Military Academy and his active duty tours in the Army, that tear gas was used, that he saw tear gas canisters on Park Police officers, and that he found a spent canister on the ground.... Monahan's claim that police used a powerful sonic device to issue the warnings 'is simply false,' said David H. Laufman, DeMarco"s attorney."

Dara Lind of ProPublica: "Federal authorities are using a new tactic in their battle against protesters in Portland, Oregon: arrest them on offenses as minor as 'failing to obey' an order to get off a sidewalk on federal property -- and then tell them they can't protest anymore as a condition for release from jail. Legal experts describe the move as a blatant violation of the constitutional right to free assembly, but at least 12 protesters arrested in recent weeks have been specifically barred from attending protests or demonstrations as they await trials on federal misdemeanor charges."

Zolan Kanno-Youngs, et al., of the New York Times: "From the earliest days of the recent protests against police brutality and racism, some top federal law enforcement officials viewed the demonstrators with alarm and called for an aggressive federal response that two months later continues to escalate. A memo from the deputy director of the F.B.I., dated June 2, demanded an immediate mobilization as protests gathered after George Floyd's death while in police custody a week earlier. David L. Bowdich, the F.B.I.'s No. 2, declared the situation 'a national crisis,' and wrote that in addition to investigating 'violent protesters, instigators' and 'inciters,' bureau leaders should collect information with 'robust social media exploitation teams' and examine what appeared to be 'highly organized behavior.'... The memo came after a weekend in which protests gave way to looting in some cities and the day after federal agents forcibly cleared peaceful protesters from the White House so President Trump could walk through Lafayette Square. Since then, the federal response has become a focal point of the Trump administration and of Mr. Trump's re-election campaign. The Bowdich memo suggests agencies need little prodding to adopt the president's forceful posture."

Gillian Flaccus, et al., of the AP: "The Trump administration has started talks with the Oregon governor's office and indicated that it would begin to draw down the presence of federal agents sent to quell two months of chaotic protests in Portland if the state stepped up its own enforcement, a senior White House official said Tuesday. The official stressed to The Associated Press that the talks with the office of Democratic Gov. Kate Brown are in the early stages and there is no agreement."

Joshua Partlow of the Washington Post: "Across the country, conservative armed civilians have surged into public view -- marching on statehouses, challenging Black Lives Matter protests, chasing Internet rumors -- and bringing the threat of lethal force to local politics. Their emergence has prompted congressional hearings on the surge in anti-government militias and domestic extremism and has alarmed researchers who track hate groups. Unlike the old image of militiamen as fringe elements motivated by a desire to overthrow the federal government, these groups often rally in defense of the president and see themselves as pro-government allies of local law enforcement.... With a hodgepodge of military garb and over-the-counter assault rifles, such self-styled 'patriots' come from lots of backgrounds, but they are predominantly white and male. They are often veterans who say the mission now is to defend the Constitution and the freedoms they fought for in Iraq and Afghanistan." ~~~

ย ย ย ย  ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Looks as if we should consider the Tea Party a relic of the good old days when angry white seniors raised their fists & demanded "Make English America's official Language" and "RESPECT ARE-COUNTRY SPEAK ENGLiSH." Now the rabble-rousers are weaponized young militiamen who support a fascistic president*.

Minnesota. Libor Jany of the Minneapolis Star Tribune: "A masked man who was seen in a viral video smashing the windows of a south Minneapolis auto parts store during the George Floyd protests, earning him the moniker 'Umbrella Man,' is suspected of ties with a white supremacist group and sought to incite racial tension, police said. A Minneapolis police arson investigator said the act of vandalism ... helped spark a chain reaction that led to days of looting and rioting. The store was among dozens of buildings across the city that burned to the ground in the days that followed. 'This was the first fire that set off a string of fires and looting throughout the precinct and the rest of the city,' Sgt. Erika Christensen wrote in a search warrant affidavit filed in court this week. '... The actions of this person created an atmosphere of hostility and tension. Your affiant believes that this individual's sole aim was to incite violence.' Police identified 'Umbrella Man' thanks to a tip that came via e-mail last week, Christensen said. The Star Tribune could not independently verify the police account, which has so far only surfaced in the search warrant.... The man ... has a criminal history that includes convictions of domestic violence and assault...."

Caitlin Emma & Sarah Ferris of Politico: "House Democrats on Tuesday were forced to pull their Homeland Security spending bill from the floor, just days before it was slated for a vote, after it faced strong blowback from both progressives and centrists within the caucus. Dozens of vulnerable Democrats in swing districts as well as progressives had threatened to torpedo the measure in recent days: The moderates argued the bill went too far in cracking down on immigration enforcement, while liberals argued it didn't do nearly enough to rein in the Trump administration's draconian policies.... Democrats had also crafted an amendment to the DHS bill to block federal funding for the administration's use of paramilitary action to quell protests in Oregon and Washington state, in hopes of winning over more progressive votes."

John Wagner of the Washington Post: "President Trump said in an interview broadcast Wednesday that he has not spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin about U.S. intelligence reports of Russian bounties given to Taliban-linked militants to kill U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan. 'I have never discussed it with him, no,' Trump said during a taping of 'Axios on HBO.' He said he did not bring up the issue during his most recent conversation with Putin last week, which Trump said was 'a phone call to discuss other things.'... During the interview, Trump continued to cast doubt on the intelligence, saying, 'Frankly, that's an issue that many people said was fake news.' Pressed by Axios's Jonathan Swan on whether he believes the intelligence, Trump did not answer directly. 'You know, it's interesting,' Trump said. 'Nobody brings up China. They always bring Russia, Russia, Russia.'" Axios' report, by Swan & Dave Lawler, is here.

Lolita Baldor of the AP: "Spurred on by ... Donald Trump's demand to pull troops out of Germany, the U.S. will bring about 6,400 forces home and shift about 5,400 to other countries in Europe, U.S. defense officials said Wednesday, detailing a Pentagon plan that will cost billions of dollars and take years to complete. The decision fulfills Trump's announced desire to withdraw troops from Germany, at least in part due to its failure to spend enough on defense. U.S. officials said that some moves will begin in months and would likely send air and ground forces to countries that already have an American troop presence. The plan leaves about 25,000 troops in Germany."

Many of the Best People ... Are Crazy. Julian Borger of the Guardian: "The US ambassador to Iceland [Jeffrey Ross Gunter], a dermatologist and major Republican donor, reportedly became so paranoid about his security he asked to carry a gun and to be taken everywhere in an armoured car.... Gunter's alleged antics are not an isolated case. A record share of Donald Trump's ambassadorial appointments have been political, mostly rewards for big-money donors, and his nominees have frequently stood out for their lack of qualifications or aptitude.... Since being nominated [in] May 2019, Gunter has proved so hard to work with he has gone through seven deputy chiefs of mission (DCMs) career diplomats who do most of the day-to-day management of the embassy.... A report to be published on Tuesday by Senate Democrats on the current situation at the state department, titled Diplomacy in Crisis ... includes a litany of cases of unqualified or unvetted diplomatic nominees." --safari: Numerous examples are highlighted in the article.

Presidential Race

Hans Nichols, now of Axios: "Former Vice President Joe Biden said Tuesday that he'll announce his running mate 'the first week in August.'... Last week, Biden seemed to back away from his timeline of early August, but he recommitted to it Tuesday at a speech in Delaware announcing his plans for fighting systemic racism." ~~~

~~~ Bill Barrow & Andrew Harnik of the AP: "As he took questions from reporters on Tuesday, [Joe] Biden held notes that were captured by an Associated Press photographer. [Sen. Kamala] Harris' name was scrawled across the top, followed by five talking points. 'Do not hold grudges.' 'Campaigned with me & Jill.' 'Talented.' 'Great help to campaign.' 'Great respect for her.'... Biden's list, at the least, suggests that he wants to defuse any tensions around his relationship with Harris."

S.V. Date of the Huffington Post: "... Donald Trump's campaign is violating federal election law by funneling close to a quarter-billion dollars to date through private companies in order to hide the ultimate recipients of the money, including the wife of one of his sons and the girlfriend of another, a watchdog group charged in a complaint filed Tuesday. 'The money is being laundered through corporations run by top Trump campaign officials,' said Brendan Fischer, a lawyer with the Campaign Legal Center. 'That has the effect of keeping the public in the dark as to a big chunk of Trump campaign spending.' The group's complaint with the Federal Election Commission asks for an investigation to put an end to the practice and to punish the campaign with fines. How quickly any of that might happen, though, is an open question, given that the commission currently does not have a quorum to take official actions. Even with one in place, investigations can last for several years." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) A Washington Post story is here.


Oliver Milman of the Guardian: "A lack of bees in agricultural areas is limiting the supply of some food crops, a new US-based study has found, suggesting that declines in the pollinators may have serious ramifications for global food security.... Of seven studied crops grown in 13 states across America, five showed evidence that a lack of bees is hampering the amount of food that can be grown, including apples, blueberries and cherries.... Swaths of American agriculture is propped up by honeybees, frantically replicated and shifted around the country in hives in order to meet a growing need for crop pollination.... The researchers found that wild native bees ... are often more effective pollinators than [controlled] honeybees but research has shown several species are in sharp decline." --s

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Monday
Jul272020

The Commentariat -- July 28, 2020

Afternoon Update:

The New York Times & Washington Post carried the Barr hearing live on their front pages; i.e., free to nonsubscribers. So if you don't have another means to view the hearings, there ya go. ~~~

~~~ Nicholas Fandos & others at the New York Times report on the, ah, highlights of Barr's testimony. Matt Zapotosky & others have the Washington Post's "highlights" report. Even Chuck Todd! ran a short montage of Barr's echoing some of Trump's stupider remarks.~~~

~~~ Amber Phillips of the Washington Post homes in on five takeaways: "1. He is all in as a partisan player[.]... 2. Under increased scrutiny, Barr is not backing down from sending federal agents into cities[.]... 3. Barr doesn't think police have a racism problem[.]... 4. Barr continued to cast doubt about voting by mail[.]... 5. Barr hesitates to say a president shouldn't accept foreign help to get elected[.] In probably one of the most stunning exchanges of the day, Barr at first did not denounce clearly illegal behavior. The question was from Rep. David N. Cicilline (D-R.I.).

"Cicilline: Is it ever appropriate, sir, for the president to solicit or accept foreign assistance in an election?
"Barr: It depends what kind of assistance.
"Cicilline: Is it ever appropriate for the president or presidential candidate to accept or solicit foreign assistance of any kind in his or her election
"Barr: No, it's not appropriate.

"Foreign help, of any kind, in an election is absolutely illegal." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Sean Sullivan of the Washington Post: "... Joe Biden announced a plan Tuesday to spend tens of billions of dollars to help people of color overcome inequities in the economy, a move that comes amid financial and racial upheaval nationwide. The plan calls for dedicating $30 billion worth of previously proposed government investments to a small business opportunity fund benefiting black, brown and Native American entrepreneurs. The goal is to spur five times as much in private investments. Biden is also proposing to triple the goal for federal contracting with small disadvantaged businesses, from 5 percent to at least 15 percent of all spending on materials and services by 2025. And he is calling for President Trump and Congress to create an emergency housing support program, along with promoting a refundable tax credit of up to $15,000 to help families purchase their first homes. The plan marks Biden's latest attempt to make a major statement on racial issues, a topic on which he has faced blowback from activists on several occasions during his campaign." ~~~

~~~ So while Joe was figuring out ways to provide better economic possibilities for minorities & inch toward the American idea of equal opportunities for all, let's see what Donnie was doing: ~~~

~~~ Reed Richardson of Mediaite: "... Donald Trump went on a late night Twitter binge on Monday with more than a dozen posts pushing dubious claims about the drug hydroxychloroquine, including twice retweeting a video from a woman falsely claiming that the drug was a 'cure' for Covid-19 and that 'you don't need a mask.'" ~~~

~~~ Justin Baragona of the Daily Beast: "... Donald Trump exhibited his new serious tone toward the coronavirus crisis on Monday night, sharing a viral video of fringe doctors touting the controversial anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine as 'a cure for COVID.' The video, which also featured the doctors dismissing mask-wearing, was eventually taken down by Facebook for 'sharing false information' about the virus, after racking up millions of views in a matter of hours. Several right-wing outlets and personalities, however, continued to promote the clip of the doctors' press conference on Twitter, eventually reaching the president's timeline.... Trump then shared a tweet directly from Dr. Stella Immanuel, one of the physicians who took part in the press conference. Immanuel is also a preacher who once wrote a book claiming that there is a Satanic plot to take over the world and recently challenged CNN anchors and top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci to provide her with urine samples.... The president also shared tweets attacking Fauci on Monday night, despite insisting recently that he had a 'very good relationship' with the doctor after White House officials publicly blasted him." ~~~

~~~ Darlene Superville & Amanda Seitz of the AP: "... Donald Trump's attempt to project a more serious tone about the coronavirus lasted for about a week. On Tuesday, he resumed spreading misinformation about how to fight the virus and amplifying criticism of Dr. Anthony Fauci.... Social media platforms worked to remove multiple versions of a video promoted by Trump that included unproven claims about treating people who test positive for the virus, but only after more than 17 million people had seen one version of it.... Fauci, a leading member of the White House coronavirus task force, responded to Trump's tweets during an appearance Tuesday on ABC's 'Good Morning America.' 'I go along with the FDA,' said Fauci, the longtime director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases. 'The overwhelming prevailing clinical trials that have looked at the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine have indicated that it is not effective in coronavirus disease.'" ~~~

~~~ Chip off the Old Blockhead. Katie Shepherd & Taylor Telford of the Washington Post: "Twitter on Tuesday penalized Donald Trump Jr. for posting hydroxychloroquine misinformation, the social media giant said.... Twitter said it ordered the president's son to delete the misleading tweet and said it would 'limit some account functionality for 12 hours.' The tweet, which featured a viral video showing a group of doctors making misleading and false claims about the coronavirus pandemic, was directly tweeted by Trump Jr.'s account. That contrasts with his father, who retweeted multiple clips of the same video to his 84.2 million followers Monday night. Twitter removed the videos, deleting several of the tweets that President Trump shared, and added a note to its trending topics warning about the potential risks of hydroxychloroquine use." An Axios story is here. ~~~

~~~ Will Sommer of the Daily Beast: "A Houston doctor who praises hydroxychloroquine and says that face masks aren't necessary to stop transmission of the highly contagious coronavirus has become a star on the right-wing internet, garnering tens of millions of views on Facebook on Monday alone. Donald Trump Jr. declared the video of Stella Immanuel a 'must watch,' while Donald Trump himself retweeted the video. Before Trump and his supporters embrace Immanuel's medical expertise, though, they should consider other medical claims Immanuel has made.... She has often claimed that gynecological problems like cysts and endometriosis are in fact caused by people having sex in their dreams with demons and witches. She alleges alien DNA is currently used in medical treatments, and that scientists are cooking up a vaccine to prevent people from being religious."

S.V. Date of the Huffington Post: "... Donald Trump's campaign is violating federal election law by funneling close to a quarter-billion dollars to date through private companies in order to hide the ultimate recipients of the money, including the wife of one of his sons and the girlfriend of another, a watchdog group charged in a complaint filed Tuesday. 'The money is being laundered through corporations run by top Trump campaign officials,' said Brendan Fischer, a lawyer with the Campaign Legal Center. 'That has the effect of keeping the public in the dark as to a big chunk of Trump campaign spending.' The group's complaint with the Federal Election Commission asks for an investigation to put an end to the practice and to punish the campaign with fines. How quickly any of that might happen, though, is an open question, given that the commission currently does not have a quorum to take official actions. Even with one in place, investigations can last for several years."

~~~~~~~~~~

The Trumpidemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Tuesday are here. The Washington Post's live updates for Tuesday are here.

David Knowles of Yahoo! News: "President Trump continued to urge states to reopen their economies Monday despite the sharp increase in the number of Americans testing positive for COVID-19 in recent weeks. 'I really do believe governors should be opening up states they're not opening, and we'll have to see what happens with them,' Trump said during a visit to a Morrisville, N.C., biotech facility that is working on a coronavirus vaccine. In recent weeks, Trump has been pushing the nation's schools to reopen, though a spike in new COVID-19 cases has called that idea into question as the fall semester looms. Over the past two weeks, new cases have risen by 13 percent nationwide."

John Wagner of the Washington Post has a story on National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien's contracting Covid-19. "'He has mild symptoms and has been self-isolating and working from a secure location off site,' the White House said in a statement. 'There is no risk of exposure to the President or the Vice President. The work of the National Security Council continues uninterrupted.'" Mrs. McC: This is getting to be like a version of the cat-on-the-roof joke. First, it's Mrs. Stephen Miller who works far, far away in the veep's office. Then it's the valet who has a crummy job but works closely with Donaldo. Then it's the girlfriend of the ne'er-do-well son. Now it's a top advisor to the president. Who next? Bill Barr? Mike Pompeo? Before November, it will be Donald Trump. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Daniel Lippman of Politico: "... Donald Trump socially distanced himself from his own national security adviser on Monday after he tested positive for Covid-19. Asked about the positive test result for Robert O'Brien, Trump said..., 'I haven't seen him lately.... I heard he tested, yeah. I have not seen him.'"

~~~ Real Cat-on-the-Roof Story. Charlie Cooper of Politico: "A pet cat in England has tested positive for Covid-19, the first confirmed case in an animal in the U.K. and one of very few worldwide. The U.K.'s Chief Veterinary Officer Christine Middlemiss said that it was 'a very rare event' and there was no evidence to suggest that pets transmit the coronavirus to humans. The cat is thought to have contracted the virus from its owners, who had tested positive and since made a full recovery -- as has the cat." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Ashley Parker & Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: "... both allies and opponents agree [Trump] has failed at the one task that could help him achieve all of his goals -- confronting the pandemic with a clear strategy and consistent leadership. Trump's shortcomings have perplexed even some of his most loyal allies, who increasingly have wondered why the president has not at least pantomimed a sense of command over the crisis or conveyed compassion for the millions of Americans impacted by it. People close to Trump ... say the president's inability to wholly address the crisis is due to his almost pathological unwillingness to admit error; a positive feedback loop of overly rosy assessments and data from advisers and Fox News; and a penchant for magical thinking that prevented him from fully engaging with the pandemic.... In the past couple of weeks, senior advisers began presenting Trump with maps and data showing spikes in coronavirus cases among 'our people' in Republican states, a senior administration official said.... This new approach seemed to resonate...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: IOW, Trump could not care less about Americans dying as long as those Americans were not likely to vote for him or buy MAGA hats.

Erica Werner, et al., of the Washington Post: "Senate Republicans will propose cutting weekly emergency unemployment benefits from $600 to $200 until states can bring a more complicated program online, according to two people familiar with the plan.... The proposal will come as part of a broader $1 trillion relief bill aimed at dealing with the economic fallout caused by the novel coronavirus. Republicans plan to release the legislation later on Monday and start negotiations with Democrats.... Republican lawmakers and some business executives have complained that the $600 weekly payment has created a situation where some Americans are paid more to stay home than to return to their jobs." Mrs. McC: Another way to look at it: Congress, in its wisdom, thought what a family needed to survive was $600/week (or $15/hour, $31,200/year). That suggests not that the emergency benefits should be cut but that the minimum wage should be raised to more than $15/hour. Republicans look at everything ass-backwards. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ AND a Boondoggle for the Boss. Emily Cochrane & Jim Tankersley of the New York Times: "The [GOP] proposal was part of a $1 trillion opening bid that would have to be reconciled with Democrats, who are pushing a recovery package that would spend three times as much and extend the $600 per week in extra unemployment aid through the end of the year. Economists say the money, slated to expire this week, has provided a crucial economic buffer for the unemployed, and that lowering the payments could have a cascade of damaging effects across the economy.... With a small but vital bloc of conservative senators opposed to providing any more federal coronavirus aid, the [Republican] party has struggled to agree on how to stabilize the battered economy, leaving Democrats with crucial leverage for an intense set of negotiations over the relief package.... Complicating the picture, Republicans and the White House continued to bicker over the contents of the package even after it was announced, with Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the majority leader, appearing surprised that it included funding for a new F.B.I. building that has long been an obsession of Mr. Trump's. ~~~

''[White House Chief-of-Staff Mark] Meadows and [Treasury Secretary Steve] Mnuchin sought to leave an indelible mark on the package on behalf of Mr. Trump, spending a weekend on Capitol Hill meeting with Senate staff -- an unusual step for senior cabinet officials -- to hammer out the technical details of the unemployment proposal.... While the two men ultimately agreed to drop demands for a payroll tax cut -- a presidential priority dismissed by members of both parties -- they succeeded in securing $1.75 billion for the design and construction of a new building for the F.B.I. Headquarters across from Mr. Trump's luxury hotel in downtown Washington, in which he has repeatedly shown a personal interest." A CNN story on the FBI HQ is here.

~~~ Chris Hayes of MSNBC and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) also noted that the GOP package, while shorting ordinary workers, includes a provision to return the 3-martini to big spenders, spenders who will do that spending at restaurants, some of which Donald Trump owns, like the ones across the street from the proposed new FBI HQ. What a prick! ~~~

They managed to have enough money for $2 billion for the FBI headquarters that benefits Trump hotel and they say they have no money for food assistance. -- Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.).

~~~ Mitch Is Not Amused. Jonathan O'Connell, et al., of the Washington Post: "Under intense White House pressure, Senate Republicans agreed Monday to allocate $1.75 billion in their coronavirus relief bill toward the construction of a new D.C. headquarters for the FBI. But top Senate Republicans immediately began distancing themselves from the provision after it was made public, saying they weren't sure why the White House repeatedly insisted on putting it in the bill. In calling for a new 'Washington, DC headquarters facility,' the provision reflects President Trump's ongoing interest in building a new headquarters for the FBI downtown, rather than a secure campus in the suburbs that was envisioned before he took office. At a news conference Monday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) initially denied that the FBI money was in the bill, but then was notified by reporters that the language was in fact included. 'You'll have to ask them why they insisted that be included,' he told reporters, referring to the White House.... Asked Monday what a new FBI building had to do with the novel coronavirus, Sen. Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.), a key negotiator of the stimulus package, paused and said, 'Good question.'"

The Cult of Selfishness." Paul Krugman: "Premature reopening led to a surge in infections: Adjusted for population, Americans are currently dying from Covid-19 at around 15 times the rate in the European Union or Canada. Yet the 'rocket ship' recovery Donald Trump promised has crashed and burned: Job growth appears to have stalled or reversed, especially in states that were most aggressive about lifting social distancing mandates.... People truly focused on restarting the economy should have been big supporters of measures to limit infections without hurting business -- above all, getting Americans to wear face masks.... Also..., [they] should have wanted to sustain consumer purchasing power until wages recovered.... the modern U.S. right is committed to the proposition that greed is good.... Many on the right are enraged at any suggestion that their actions should take other people's welfare into account. This rage is sometimes portrayed as love of freedom.... But ... what they call 'freedom' is actually absence of responsibility."

Florida. Rosa Flores, et al., of CNN: "Just weeks before schools must open across Florida, the numbers of new [child] cases and hospitalizations due to Covid-19 have surged. On July 16, the state had a total of 23,170 children ages 17 and under who had tested positive since the beginning of the pandemic, according to the Florida Department of Health. By July 24, that number jumped to 31,150. That's a 34% increase in new cases among children in eight days. And more children in Florida are requiring hospitalization. As of July 16, 246 children had been hospitalized with coronavirus. By July 24, that number had jumped to 303. That's a 23% increase in child Covid-19 hospitalizations in eight days.... The surges ... directly contradict US Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos' claims that children are 'stoppers of the disease' who 'don't get it and transmit it themselves.'... The state has ordered schools to physically open next month." ~~~

~~~ Tyler Kepner of the New York Times: "The Miami Marlins postponed their home opener against the Baltimore Orioles on Monday -- four days after the season opener -- after learning that 14 members of the team's traveling party, including two coaches, had tested positive for the [corona]virus. The outbreak was first reported by ESPN." Here's an ESPN story. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Aris Folley of the Hill: "A Florida man has been arrested and is facing charges after federal prosecutors say he 'fraudulently' obtained nearly $4 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans and used some of the money to buy a Lamborghini sports car. David Hines, 29, of Miami, was charged with one count of bank fraud, one count of making false statements to a financial institution and one count of engaging in transactions in unlawful proceeds, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced in a press release on Monday." Mrs. McC: The good news for Hines: he has now become an iconic "Florida man."

When the leader of the free world confronts an international pandemic. Thanks to Monoloco for the link:

Katherine Wu of the New York Times: "Researchers have long known that masks can prevent people from spreading airway germs to others -- findings that have driven much of the conversation around these crucial accessories during the coronavirus pandemic. But now, as cases continue to rise across the country, experts are pointing to an array of evidence suggesting that masks also protect the people wearing them, lessening the severity of symptoms, or in some instances, staving off infection entirely. Different kinds of masks 'block virus to a different degree, but they all block the virus from getting in,' said Dr. Monica Gandhi, an infectious disease physician at the University of California, San Francisco. If any virus particles do breach these barriers, she said, the disease might still be milder."

Trump's Stormtroopers, Ctd.

Tom Jackman & Carol Leonnig of the Washington Post: "An Army National Guard officer who witnessed protesters forcibly removed from Lafayette Square last month is contradicting claims by the attorney general and the Trump administration that they did not speed up the clearing to make way for the president's photo opportunity minutes later. A new statement by Adam DeMarco, an Iraq veteran who now serves as a major in the D.C. National Guard, also casts doubt on the claims by acting Park Police Chief Gregory Monahan that violence by protesters spurred Park Police to clear the area at that time with unusually aggressive tactics. DeMarco said that 'demonstrators were behaving peacefully' and that tear gas was deployed in an 'excessive use of force.' DeMarco backs up law enforcement officials who told The Washington Post they believed the clearing operation would happen after the 7 p.m. curfew that night -- but it was dramatically accelerated after Attorney General William P. Barr and others appeared in the park around 6 p.m. Monahan has said the operation was conducted so that a fence might be erected around the park. DeMarco said the fencing materials did not arrive until 9 p.m. -- hours after Barr told the Park Police to expand the perimeter -- and the fence wasn't built until later that night." The AP's story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) A New York Times story is here. Ali Velshi said DeMarco is testifying under whistleblower protection.~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Whom to believe? (1) An attorney general who has already lied to the American people and is a proven presidential* lapdog, or (2) an Army major who gets nothing out of contradicting Barr and others?

Devlin Barrett & Nick Miroff of the Washington Post: "The Trump administration is sending more federal agents to Portland, Ore., as officials consider pushing back harder and farther against the growing crowds and nightly clashes with protesters, vandals, and rioters.... To strengthen federal forces arrayed around the city's downtown courthouse, the U.S. Marshals Service decided last week to send 100 deputy U.S. Marshals to Portland, according to an internal Marshals email reviewed by The Post. The personnel began arriving Thursday night. The Department of Homeland Security is also considering a plan to send an additional 50 U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel to the city, but a final decision on the deployment has not been made, according to senior administration officials involved in the federal response.... There were 114 federal agents there in mid-July -- though it is unclear how many personnel there now would be relieved and sent home once the reinforcements arrive." Related Oregon Public Broadcasting story linked yesterday. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Marissa Lang of the Washington Post: "Protesters who say they were tear-gassed, shot at, pepper-sprayed and assaulted outside a federal courthouse while peacefully demonstrating and rendering aid to others sued the Trump administration Monday over its use of force during nightly demonstrations in downtown Portland. A group of five women and two organizations, including longtime Black Lives Matter protesters and the yellow-clad Wall of Moms group that assembles nightly to stand between protesters and federal law enforcement officers, filed a lawsuit alleging that several agencies -- the Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Federal Protective Service -- have violated their constitutional rights of free speech, assembly and due process and against unreasonable seizures."

Andrew Hay & Nathan Layne of Reuters: "The Department of Homeland Security says its agents are in Portland and other cities to protect government property from 'violent anarchists.' Democratic mayors said the federal interventions, without the consent of local officials, were illegal. 'We call on Congress to pass legislation to make clear that these actions are unlawful and repugnant,' the mayors of Portland, Chicago; Seattle; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Kansas City, Missouri; and Washington, D.C., wrote in a letter to the leaders of both parties in the Senate and House of Representatives. The appeal followed a surge in Black Lives Matter protests over the weekend with an escalation in violence and the appearance of white supremacists and an armed Black militia."

Texas. Gary Bass of KLTV (Tyler): "During a rally organizers said was to 'protest the unconstitutional occupation of Portland,' on Sunday, Hank Gilbert's campaign manager was allegedly assaulted by a group of counter-protesters. Gilbert, a Democrat from Tyler, is running against U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert, a Republican, for the 1st Congressional District. The protest took place in Tyler's downtown square on Sunday afternoon. Ryan Miller, the alleged victim, is Gilbert's campaign manager. 'Miller was attacked by at least four protesters, some of whom were armed, and sustained blows to the head and other parts of his body, as well as a large gash under his eye,' a press release from the campaign stated. 'The incident occurred as officers from the Tyler Police Department drove around the square idly, waving at the Blue Lives Matter counter-protesters who had come to support Gilbert's opponent.' According to the press release, counter-protesters disrupted the rally by shouting, 'Louie! Louie! Louie!' repeatedly. The press release also claimed the counter-protesters shouted 'Louie' as Miller was being assaulted." A TPM story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Virginia. WSLS Roanoke: "Riots in downtown Richmond[, Virginia,] over the weekend were instigated by white supremacists under the guise of Black Lives Matter, according to law enforcement officials. Protesters tore down police tape and pushed forward toward Richmond police headquarters, where they set a city dump truck on fire.... The mayor of Richmond thanked the Black Lives Matter protesters he said tried to stop the white supremacists from spearheading the violence."


Trump Lies About Everything ... Because He Envies Everyone. Pathetic. Katie Rogers & Noah Weiland of the New York Times: "An hour before Dr. Anthony S. Fauci threw the first pitch at the season opener between the New York Yankees and the Washington Nationals, President Trump stood on the briefing room stage at the White House and declared that he, too, had been invited to throw out his own opening pitch. 'Randy Levine is a great friend of mine from the Yankees,' Mr. Trump, referring to the president of the baseball team, told reporters on Thursday.... 'And he asked me to throw out the first pitch, and I think I'm doing that on Aug. 15 at Yankee Stadium.' There was one problem: Mr. Trump had not actually been invited on that day by the Yankees.... His announcement surprised both Yankees officials and the White House staff. But Mr. Trump had been so annoyed by Dr. Fauci's turn in the limelight, an official familiar with his reaction said, that he had directed his aides to call Yankees officials and make good on a longtime standing offer from Mr. Levine to throw out an opening pitch. No date was ever finalized.... Over the weekend, Mr. Trump officially canceled.... This is not the first time Mr. Trump has made such a request to fend off a potential upstaging. In April, the day before Vice President Mike Pence was to speak at the Air Force commencement ceremony in Colorado, Mr. Trump suddenly announced that he would be speaking at West Point. That was news to officials at West Point." The Hill has a summary story here.

A full month after news broke that Russia had placed bounties on U.S. soldiers, a reporter finally asked "... Donald Trump whether he brought up alleged Russian bounties on US troops in a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but Trump falsely claimed that he doesn't discuss his calls with foreign leaders." CNN video.

Shayna Jacobs of the Washington Post: "President Trump's lawyers are pushing to kill a grand jury subpoena for his tax records by arguing that the Manhattan district attorney's order to produce documents is 'wildly overbroad' and tantamount to 'harassment,' according to an amended lawsuit filed in federal court here on Monday. The president's latest attempt to shield his financial records comes as Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. seeks to accelerate his investigation into hush-money payments made to two women during the 2016 presidential campaign. It follows a major Supreme Court ruling earlier this month that found Trump's status as a sitting president does not make him immune to investigation by local authorities." The New York Times story is here. A Reuters story is here.

Bryan Bender & Nahal Toosi of Politico: "... Donald Trump intends to nominate a brash former military officer [Col. Douglas Macgregor] to serve as the next U.S. ambassador to Germany, the White House announced Monday.... Macgregor is a regular on Fox News, as are many of Trump's nominees for top posts.... Washington-Berlin relations have soured under Trump, who is determined to reduce America's troop presence there. If confirmed for the post in Berlin, Macgregor would succeed another divisive figure, Richard Grenell. Grenell's harsh and outspoken style, in which he constantly promoted Trump's America First views, alienated many Germans.... Macgregor, who speaks fluent German, is steeped in German military and political history. A West Point graduate who earned a Bronze Star for valor in the 1991 Gulf War, he holds a master's degree and a Ph.D. from the University of Virginia. And he has written extensively about the relationship and fighting between the Soviet Union and Germany." Mrs. McC: At least Macgregor is qualified on paper.

Rachel Siegel of the Washington Post: "Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said she will vote against Judy Shelton's nomination to the Federal Reserve Board, raising the stakes of a political fight around one of President Trump's controversial picks for a seat on the central bank. Collins joined Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) in opposing Shelton's nomination, which is slated to go for a vote before the full Senate. Collins and Romney alone can't derail Shelton's advancement, but the margin is getting thinner for Shelton, who is known for her outspoken criticism of the Fed and her advocacy for a return to the gold standard.... If the Senate's Democrats and Independents all vote against Shelton's nomination, her confirmation could be doomed if she looses the support of more than three Republicans." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Sarah Owermohle of Politico: "A White House meeting with top pharmaceutical executives that ... Donald Trump promised for Tuesday is off, five industry sources familiar with discussions told Politico. Three said the drug-pricing discussion was canceled because the major drug lobbies, reeling from Friday's cluster of executive orders on the topic, refused to send any members. Drugmakers and Trump were slated to discuss an executive order, signed Friday but not yet released, that would order health officials to release a plan linking Medicare payments for certain medicines to lower costs paid abroad. The provision, known as a most-favored-nations rule, has been lambasted by the drug industry and some patient groups that say it would curb innovation and reduce drug access."

Matt Zapotosky & Karoun Demirjian of the Washington Post: "Attorney General William P. Barr is scheduled to testify Tuesday before the House Judiciary Committee, where he is expected to face critical questioning on his response to anti-police brutality protests across the nation, his controversial interventions in high-profile cases involving allies of President Trump and many other matters. The hearing, which begins at 10 a.m., marks the first time Barr has appeared before the panel since Democrats took over the House majority in 2019...." ~~~

     ~~~ The story has been substantially updated. New Lede: "Attorney General William P. Barr will tell the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday that President Trump has not inappropriately intervened in Justice Department business -- even though Barr has more than once moved in criminal cases to help the president's allies -- and he will defend the administration's response to civil unrest in the country, according to a copy of his opening statement. Barr, according to the statement, will take a defiant posture as he testifies before the panel for the first time since Democrats took control of it, alleging that they have attempted to 'discredit' him since he vowed to investigate the 2016 FBI probe of possible coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign, and the media has been unfair in covering unrest." ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times story, which also reports on Barr's opening statement, is here. CNN's story is here. Politico has Barr's full opening statement, as prepared, here (pdf). A related Politico story is here.

Nomaan Merchant of the AP: "The Trump administration has agreed not to expel a group of immigrant children it detained in a Texas hotel under an emergency declaration citing the coronavirus and will instead allow them to seek to remain in the U.S., the administration said Monday. The move comes days after The Associated Press first reported on the U.S. government's secretive practice of detaining unaccompanied children in hotels before rapidly deporting them.... Government data obtained by AP showed the U.S. had detained children nearly 200 times over two months in three Hampton Inn & Suites hotels in Arizona and two Texas border cities. But the Trump administration has not said it will stop using hotels to detain children. The legal groups that sued Friday night said they still plan to fight the larger practice in court. Their agreement only covers 17 people.... After the hotel's owner said Friday it would end reservations of rooms used for child detention, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement removed the children from the hotel but refused to say where it had taken them."

Bill Barrow & Andrew Taylor of the AP: "In a solemn display of bipartisan unity, congressional leaders praised Democratic Rep. John Lewis as a moral force for the nation on Monday in a Capitol Rotunda memorial service rich with symbolism and punctuated by the booming, recorded voice of the late civil rights icon. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Lewis the 'conscience of the Congress' who was 'revered and beloved on both sides of the aisle, on both sides of the Capitol.' Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell praised the longtime Georgia congressman as a model of courage and a 'peacemaker.' 'The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice,' McConnell, a Republican, said, quoting the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. 'But that is never automatic. History only bent toward what's right because people like John paid the price.'" ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McConnell: Say, Mitch, what about this? Orion Rummler of Axios (July 22): The House passed a voting rights bill in 2019, "but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has declined to bring it up for a vote.... Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) introduced a bill with the support of 47 co-sponsors on Wednesday that would fully restore the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965 in the name of the late civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.).... The bill was co-sponsored by every Democratic senator and the two independents who caucus with Democrats, as well as Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska)[.]" ~~~

~~~ Graceless President* Refuses to Honor a Man Full of Grace. Caitlin Oprysko of Politico: "Asked by reporters whether he would [go to the Capitol] to pay his respects to [John] Lewis, who was a vocal critic of Trump, the president offered a concise reply. 'No, I won't be going, no,' he said.... When ... Lewis ... died..., Donald Trump publicly ignored his passing for about 12 hours. As the news broke late on a Friday and remembrances poured in, the president was blasting out nearly four dozen tweets and retweets about various other topics, from his niece's scathing new book to former Vice President Joe Biden. Trump's muted reaction to the death of a historic figure -- albeit one with whom he disagreed -- is just the latest instance of how he struggles to respond as a typical president would in these situations.... It's also an illustration of the strikingly different ways Trump has treated the passing of iconic figures, a contrast that was brought into stark relief by how he reacted to the death of a beloved TV personality [Regis Philbin] on Saturday[, whom he praised effusively]."

Elections 2020

Jonathan Easley of the Hill: "The first presidential debate in September has been moved from the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind., to Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. The move came after the Rev John Jenkins, president of Notre Dame, announced the school would withdraw as host of the debate, saying the burdensome health precautions required would interfere with student education." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Zeke Miller of the AP: "The University of Michigan was scheduled to host the second presidential debate but withdrew last month. That debate will now be held at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami."

Peter Beinart in a New York Times op-ed, relies on polling data to show that Joe Biden is running a more successful campaign against Donald Trump than Hillary Clinton did because Biden is a man. A 2010 study Beinart cites is instructive: "... two Yale researchers ... asked participants their opinions of two fictional candidates, one male and one female, who were described as possessing 'a strong will to power.' Attributing ambition to the male candidate didn't hurt his appeal. But upon learning that the female candidate was ambitious, many participants responded with 'feelings of moral outrage.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Melanie Is Planning to Stay. Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "Melania Trump, the first lady, announced on Monday a plan renovate the White House Rose Garden.... The project, which includes electrical upgrades for television appearances, a new walkway and new flowers and shrubs, is meant to be an 'act of expressing hope and optimism for the future,' according to remarks Mrs. Trump delivered to the Committee for the Preservation of the White House on Monday morning. 'Our country has seen difficult times before, but the White House and the Rose Garden have always stood as a symbol of our strength, resilience and continuity.' Mrs. Trump's husband has not exactly focused on those principles during his many appearances in the Rose Garden, repeatedly breaking norms on how presidents use the space as it has become his preferred venue for announcing executive actions, boasting about the economy and extending political battles.... Aides say he believes the natural lighting favors his complexion." Private donations will fund the project. ~~~

Georgia Senate Race. The Nose Knows. Matthew Chapman of the Raw Story: "On Monday, Sen. David Perdue (R-GA) caused outrage over an attack ad that appeared to digitally enlarge the nose of his Jewish opponent, former congressional staffer Jon Ossoff. 'The ad called for donations to Perdue, a Republican, by claiming that "Democrats are trying to buy Georgia." It uses black-and-white photos of Ossoff and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who is also Jewish, that have been Photoshopped to appear as if they were pulled from an old television set with poor reception,' reported Forward. 'But the Ossoff image, which was adapted from a 2017 Reuters photo of him, was also changed by having his nose lengthened and widened, even as other parts of his face stayed the same size and proportions, three graphic design experts told the Forward.... The campaign has pulled the ad and issued an apology, even as it denies any intentional anti-Semitism." The Forward story, linked in the story, is subscriber-firewalled. Mrs. McC: Very disappointed the ad-makers forgot to feature George Soros. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Georgia, notorious for the lynching of Leo Frank in 1915, retains a substantial population of anti-Semites today: "In 2019, there were 60 incidents of extremism and anti-Semitism in Georgia, according to the Anti-Defamation League. The figure for 2019 decreased from the 91 incidents reported in the Peach State during 2018." I'd guess Perdue thought his anti-Semitic ad would be effective.

Joan Biskupic of CNN has a long piece on how Chief Justice John Roberts is controlling the Supreme Court. As Biskupic seems to have insider sources, the piece should be of interest to Court-watchers.


America's "Untouchables". Isabel Wilkerson of the Guardian: "In the winter of 1959, after leading the Montgomery bus boycott that arose from the arrest of Rosa Parks and before the trials and triumphs to come, Martin Luther King Jr and his wife, Coretta, landed in India, in the city then known as Bombay, to visit the land of Mahatma Gandhi, the father of nonviolent protest.... He wanted to see the so-called 'untouchables', the lowest caste in the ancient Indian caste system.... At one point in their trip, King and his wife ... visited with high-school students whose families had been untouchables. The principal made the introduction. 'Young people,' he said, 'I would like to present to you a fellow untouchable from the United States of America.'... King was floored.... He was, in fact, put off by it at first.... He realised that the land of the free had imposed a caste system not unlike the caste system of India, and that he had lived under that system all of his life. It was what lay beneath the forces he was fighting in the US." --s

Way Beyond the Beltway

Ecuador/China. Dan Collyns of the Guardian: "Ecuador has sounded the alarm after its navy discovered a huge fishing fleet of mostly Chinese-flagged vessels some 200 miles from the Galápagos Islands, the archipelago which inspired Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. About 260 ships are currently in international waters just outside a 188-mile wide exclusive economic zone around the island, but their presence has already raised the prospect of serious damage to the delicate marine ecosystem, said former environment minister Yolanda Kakabadse." --s

Libya. Metin Gurcan of Al-Monitor: "Armed with parliamentary approval for cross-border military action, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has full authority to intervene in neighboring Libya, a prospect that could lead to a conventional military confrontation between regional rivals Egypt and Turkey, which back opposing sides in Libya's proxy war.... Ankara seems to confidently rule out a comprehensive ground operation by Egypt in Libya.... [But] Ankara is preoccupied with whether Egypt will receive open or covert air support from the United Arab Emirates, its chief ally in Libya, and Russia." --s

Malaysia. Richard Paddock of the New York Times: "A Malaysian court on Tuesday found Najib Razak, the countr's former prime minister, guilty of corruption on charges stemming from the disappearance of $4.5 billion from a government investment fund he once controlled. The conviction of Mr. Najib, the scion of a political dynasty, was seen as a win for the rule of law even after his allies in government returned to power in March, taking control from the reformist government that ousted him in 2018. Tuesday's trial was the first of five related to the theft of billions from the 1Malaysia Development Berhad fund and Mr. Najib was found guilty on all seven charges of abuse of power, breach of trust and money laundering. But experts said the verdict could be overturned on appeal."

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