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


Tuesday
Jul142020

The Commentariat -- July 15, 2020

Afternoon Update:

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

KFOR-TV Oklahoma City: "One day after the Sooner State saw it's largest spike in COVID-19 cases, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt ... announced he was tested for COVID-19 on Tuesday and his results came back positive. He is currently quarantining at home." Mrs. McC: Oddly, that part about Stitt's testing positive is the last part of the story, at least as it's currently written. ~~~

~~~ Update. Nicholas Wu & Courtney Subramanian of USA Today: "Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt announced Wednesday he had tested positive for the coronavirus weeks after attending ... Donald Trump's rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he sat, bare-faced, among top state officials in a crowd of thousands."

Kevin Drum of Mother Jones debunks Peter Navarro's diatribe/op-ed against Anthony Fauci. Drum zeroes in on Navarro's "proofs" that Fauci got everything wrong: "... it turns out to be just the latest in an increasingly common conservative genre: a piece that links to articles that literally make the opposite of the point the author is claiming." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Gee, when the New York Times published a hateful, error-dotted op-ed by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), the newsroom revolted & the editorial page editor resigned. But when USA Today publishes a hateful, error-filled op-ed by a top administration official -- well, crickets.

~~~ Summer Concepcion of TPM: "Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on Wednesday threw his support behind Dr. Anthony Fauci as the White House continues its efforts to discredit the top official in its coronavirus task force. When McConnell was asked during a press conference on Wednesday about his level of confidence in Fauci, after the Senate leader argued that Fauci has been the best source of advice since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, McConnell replied 'total.'" Mrs. McC: Obvious follow-up question: "What's you level of confidence in Donald Trump?"

Amber Phillips of the Washington Post on the lessons Jeff Sessions' humiliation teach other elected Republicans.

Annie Karni of the New York Times: "Dr. Ronny L. Jackson, the former White House physician with no political experience who ran a campaign based on his close relationship with President Trump, won a Republican runoff election for a House seat in Texas on Tuesday night, effectively stamping his ticket to Congress next year." Jackson, who ran in a crowded primary field, got a good deal of help from the Trump campaign. ~~~

~~~ And Jackson Is Still the Great Doctor He Always Was. Quint Forgey of Politico: "Ronny Jackson ... said Wednesday that Americans should not be required to wear masks to slow the spread of the coronavirus. 'I think that wearing a mask is a personal choice, and I don't particularly want my government telling me that I have to wear a mask. And so I think that's a choice that I can make,' Jackson told 'Fox & Friends.' The remarks from Jackson, a retired Navy rear admiral who served as the personal doctor for Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump, not only contradict the universal guidance of public health experts, but also undermine Texas Gov. Greg Abbott -- who has mandated that most of his state's residents wear a mask."

** Mitch Prothero of Business Insider: "Russia routinely exploited a US policy of increased information sharing to target Chechen dissidents, according to three law-enforcement and intelligence officials in Europe. The practice emerged after the Trump administration backed a policy of sharing more secret information with Russia, in hope of strengthening relations. Sources told Insider Russia routinely sought information on its targets of choice -- dissidents who fled the rule of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov. The US appears to have received little in return.... The officials Insider spoke with confirmed the existence of the modern-day US-Russian arrangement after a former US intelligence official described it on the JustSecurity blog." --s

Timothy Floyd of Reuters: "The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation believes firms in the nearly $10-trillion private investment funds industry are being used as vehicles for laundering money at scale, according to a leaked intelligence bulletin prepared by the agency in May.... It also said the industry lacks adequate anti-money laundering programs and called for greater scrutiny by regulators, which have yet to issue rules for the industry.... The FBI bulletin cites four cases of planned or reported laundering operations, involving hundreds of millions of dollars, using private funds. One of those cases led to a criminal conviction.... The bulletin was contained among a cache of law enforcement documents, dubbed 'BlueLeaks', which were obtained through a security breach at a web development firm." --s

Archie Bland of the Guardian: "The statue of slave trader Edward Colston was replaced in Bristol on Wednesday morning -- with a sculpture of one of the protesters whose anger brought him down. The figure of Jen Reid, who was photographed standing on the plinth with her fist raised after the 17th century merchant was toppled by Black Lives Matter demonstrators last month, was erected at dawn by a team directed by the artist Marc Quinn.... After meticulous planning to ensure the statue could be erected quickly enough to have it in place before officials arrived, the vehicles left the scene about 15 minutes after they got there.... The ambush sculpture is likely to reignite the debate over public statuary in the UK that began with the toppling of the Colston figure five weeks ago." --s

~~~~~~~~~~

Primary Election Results

Alabama. Re-Elect Doug Jones! Jane Coaston of Vox: "Former Auburn University football coach Tommy Tuberville defeated former Attorney General Jeff Sessions in Alabama's Republican primary runoff election on Tuesday, setting up a November match against current Democratic Sen. Doug Jones, who became the first Democrat to win a Senate seat in the state since 1992 when he defeated Roy Moore, who has been accused of child molestation, in a 2017 special election. In a state Donald Trump won handily in 2016, Tuberville is favored to win in November. Tuberville has never served in elected office (and moved to Alabama only two years ago), and his campaign against Sessions was largely based on his support for the president. Trump endorsed Tuberville in March.... On a Monday call with Alabama voters, Trump said of Tuberville, 'He's going to have a cold, direct line into my office....'" The New York Times has runoff results here. Update: The New York Times story on the likely end of Sessions' political career is here. Mrs. McC: Do you suppose JeffBo finally has figured out he backed the wrong horse in 2016?

Maine. Elect Sara Gideon! Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "Sara Gideon, the speaker of the Maine House of Representatives, on Tuesday formally became the Democratic nominee to challenge Senator Susan Collins of Maine, wielding a formidable war chest in a race that could determine whether Republicans retain control of the Senate in November. Ms. Gideon, backed by the Senate Democratic campaign arm and a number of outside political groups, had long been the favorite to challenge Ms. Collins, the sole remaining New England Republican in Congress. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report has rated the race a tossup, and the election has already become the most expensive in Maine history."

The Trumpidemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Tuesday are here: "On Monday, California, Florida and Texas recorded at least 30,000 new cases, 18 percent of the global total. France celebrated public health workers as heroes during Bastille Day, a day after granting them pay raises.... After months of equivocation over mandating face coverings to stop the spread of the coronavirus, the government of Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain announced on Tuesday that people in England would be required to wear masks inside shops and supermarkets." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Lily Altavena of the Arizona Republic: "In a news conference Monday..., Donald Trump was asked about Kimberly Lopez Chavez Byrd, an Arizona teacher who died after teaching a summer school class. Trump responded by saying schools should reopen. Byrd's summer school class was virtual, but she and two other teachers in the Hayden-Winkelman School District shared a classroom while they taught. All three teachers contracted COVID-19. Byrd died after she was admitted to the hospital. In Monday's briefing, a reporter asked Trump 'What do you tell parents, who look at this, who look at Arizona where a school teacher recently died teaching summer school, parents who are worried about the safety of their children in public schools?'... He responded, 'Schools should be opened. Schools should be opened. Those kids want to go to school. You're losing a lot of lives by keeping things closed. We saved millions of lives while we did the initial closure.'" Mrs. McC: I wonder if Melanie's "I Really Don't Care" jacket comes in extra-large? (Also linked yesterday.)

Sahil Kapur & Julia Ainsley of NBC News: "Facing blowback and lawsuits, the Trump administration is rescinding its directive blocking international students from staying in the United States while taking online-only classes. U.S. District Court Judge Allison Dale Burroughs in Massachusetts announced Tuesday that the government and plaintiffs had reached a resolution in a lawsuit brought by Harvard University and MIT. The government was to rescind its July 6 rule that said foreign students on F-1 and M-1 visas would need to take at least some courses in person in order to legally remain in the U.S. in the fall semester amid the coronavirus pandemic." At 3:40 pm ET Tuesday, this was a developing story. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) Update: A New York Times story is here.

DHHS Preps for Major Evidence Tampering Caper. Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: "The Trump administration has ordered hospitals to bypass the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and send all Covid-19 patient information to a central database in Washington beginning on Wednesday. The move has alarmed health experts who fear the data will be politicized or withheld from the public. The new instructions were posted recently in a little-noticed document on the Department of Health and Human Services website. From now on, the department -- not the C.D.C. -- will collect daily reports about the patients that each hospital is treating, the number of available beds and ventilators, and other information vital to tracking the pandemic.... News of the change came as a shock at the C.D.C.... Public health experts have long expressed concerns that the Trump administration is politicizing science and undermining its health experts, in particular the C.D.C.; four of the agency's former directors, spanning both Republican and Democratic administrations, said as much in an opinion piece published Tuesday in The Washington Post. The data collection shift reinforced those fears." ~~~

~~~ Former CDC Directors Tom Frieden, Jeffrey Koplan, David Satcher & Richard Besser in a Washington Post op-ed: "The four of us led the CDC over a period of more than 15 years, spanning Republican and Democratic administrations alike. We cannot recall over our collective tenure a single time when political pressure led to a change in the interpretation of scientific evidence.... Through last week, and into Monday, the administration continued to cast public doubt on the agency's recommendations and role in informing and guiding the nation's pandemic response. On Sunday, Education Secretary characterized the CDC guidelines as an impediment to reopening schools quickly rather than what they are: the path to doing so safely.... Unfortunately..., sound science is being challenged with partisan potshots, sowing confusion and mistrust at a time when the American people need leadership, expertise and clarity. These efforts have even fueled a backlash against public health officials across the country: Public servants have been harassed, threatened and forced to resign when we need them most." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Do Not Listen to Donald Trump! -- Fauci. Ramsey Touchberry of Newsweek: "The nation's top infectious disease expert has advice for America's next generation of college graduates: Listen to the health experts when it comes to a pandemic, not politicians. 'You can trust respected medical authorities. I believe I'm one of them. So, I think you can trust me,' Dr. Anthony Fauci said. 'I would stick with respected medical authorities who have a track record of telling the truth, who have a track record of giving information and policy and recommendations based on scientific evidence and good data.'... 'Don't get involved in any of the political nonsense,' he said of the politicized rhetoric that so is so often aired from elected officials unqualified to be speaking about medical issues." ~~~

~~~ MEANWHILE, Peter Navarro, Trump's trade advisor hydroxychloroquine advocate and not-a-medical-doctor or health scientist, has an enlightening op-ed in USA Today. Here's how it starts: "Dr. Anthony Fauci has a good bedside manner with the public, but he has been wrong about everything I have interacted with him on." ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Brett Samuels of the Hill: "The White House on Wednesday distanced itself from an op-ed by trade adviser Peter Navarro questioning the credibility of Anthony Fauci, the government's top infectious diseases expert. 'The Peter Navarro op-ed didn't go through normal White House clearance processes and is the opinion of Peter alone,' White House director of strategic communications Alyssa Farah tweeted. '@realDonaldTrump values the expertise of the medical professionals advising his Administration.'" Mrs. McC: Gee, I'll bet Peter is going to get in a lot of trouble for writing an op-ed that says what Trump wanted to say. ~~~

~~~ It's Not a Miracle. It's Democracy. ~~~

Caitlin Oprysko of Politico: "Former White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney on Monday criticized the U.S. coronavirus testing process, calling his family's difficulties in obtaining tests and delays in the results 'inexcusable' in the seventh month of the pandemic, splitting from his former boss' repeated boasts about testing. 'I know it isn't popular to talk about in some Republican circles, but we still have a testing problem in this country,' Mulvaney wrote in an op-ed for CNBC. Mulvaney ... said his son had recently been tested for the virus and had to wait up to a week for the results, and that his daughter was turned away from getting a test before she went to visit her grandparents." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Missouri. David Edwards of RawStory: "A school district in Missouri is requiring parents to sign a waiver in case children become infected with COVID-19 and die. The 'waiver of liability' from Hazelwood School District was shared on Tuesday by attorney Natasha Scruggs. 'I feel sick reading it,' Scruggs said. The document asks parents to acknowledge that COVID-19 is a public health crisis and to relinquish their rights to hold the district responsible even if a student's death is 'caused by the negligence of carelessness' of school staff." --s (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Today in Bubonic Plague News. Jon Haworth of ABC News: "Public health officials have announced that a squirrel in Colorado has tested positive for the bubonic plague. The town of Morrison, Colorado, in Jefferson County, which is just west of Denver, made the startling announcement saying that the squirrel is the first case of plague in the county.... It is possible for humans to be infected with the bubonic plague through bites from infected fleas and by direct contact with blood or tissues of infected animals such as a cough or a bite." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)


Joe Biden has a multi-faceted jobs plan. Here's Trump's "plan." It's a DIY thing: ~~~

~~~ Hamza Shaban of the Washington Post: "Ivanka Trump urged out-of-work Americans to 'find something new' Tuesday as part of a new jobs initiative designed to tout the benefits of skills training and career paths that don't require a college degree. But the effort -- complete with website, advertising campaign and virtual roundtable featuring Apple CEO Tim Cook and IBM chair Ginni Rometty -- was swiftly derided on social media as 'clueless' and 'tone-deaf' given the pandemic, recession and Trump's own familial employment history." ~~~

~~~ Esther Wang of Jezebel: "Ivanka Trump, who has coasted through life largely on the coattails of her tarnished family name, has some advice for struggling workers in the U.S. right now -- just 'find something new!'" ~~~

~~~ Inae Oh of Mother Jones: "In the midst of this economic crisis facing millions of Americans, enter Ivanka Trump with advice for the unemployed: Embrace the chaos, she urges, and 'Find Something New.' The initiative comes as her most recent diamond-encrusted middle finger to American families since the pandemic hit."

Trump Sticks up for White People, Part 1. Morgan Chalfant of the Hill: "President Trump on Tuesday asserted that 'more' white Americans die at the hands of police than Black Americans and criticized a reporter for asking why African Americans are still dying in law enforcement custody. 'So are white people. So are white people. What a terrible question to ask,' Trump told CBS News' Catherine Herridge when asked about the deaths of Black Americans at the hands of police. 'So are white people. More white people, by the way. More white people.' Police departments are not mandated to report statistics on police killings, however studies have shown that police killings disproportionately impact Black Americans. A Washington Post analysis updated earlier this year found that the rate at which black Americans are killed by law enforcement officers is over twice as high as the rate for their white counterparts. White Americans, who make up a larger share of the U.S. population, account for more deaths at the hands of police overall." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Grace Segers of CBS News: "One study published in 2018 found that Black men are roughly 3.5 times more likely to be killed by law enforcement than White men." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Trump Sticks up for White People, Part 2. Brett Samuels of the Hill: "President Trump on Tuesday defended a St. Louis couple that went viral after they stood outside their home brandishing weapons as a group of protesters marched by their house. 'They were going to be beat up badly, if they were lucky. OK? If they were lucky,' Trump asserted in an interview at the White House with the conservative outlet Townhall. 'They were going to be beat up badly, and the house was going to be totally ransacked and probably burned down like they tried to burn down churches,' the president continued. 'These people were standing there, never used it, and they were legal, the weapons,' Trump said. 'And now I understand somebody local they want to prosecute these people. It's a disgrace.' Mark and Patricia McCloskey made headlines late last month after video footage surfacedof them pointing guns at an informal Black Lives Matter protest that passed through their neighborhood en route to the home of Mayor Lyda Krewson (D)." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Trump's weird reverie is a textbook example of white racist fantasy. The racist sees some black people walk by, and he immediately imagines the black people are going to beat him up -- or worse -- then ransack & burn down his house. I don't need to tell you this is insane. The St. Louis protesters, some of whom were white, showed no indication they planned to pay any attention to the McCloseys; they were on their way to yell at the mayor. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Trump Sticks up for White People*, Part 3. CBS News: "In an interview with CBS News' Catherine Herridge, President Trump said he considers flying the Confederate flag a 'freedom of speech' issue. (Video.) *Assuming here that 99.9% of confederate flag lovers are white. (Also linked yesterday.)

New York. Allison McCann, et al., of the New York Times: "... the New York Times found more than 60 videos that show the [NYPD] using force on protesters during the first 10 days of demonstrations in the city after the death of George Floyd. A review of the videos, shot by protesters and journalists, suggests that many of the police attacks, often led by high-ranking officers, were not warranted.... In instance after instance, the police are seen using force on people who do not appear to be resisting arrest or posing an immediate threat to anyone.... They hit people who were walking away from them.... They grabbed people from behind.... And they repeatedly pummeled people who were already on the ground." This is a long report that includes the sickening videos.

Tim Elfrink of the Washington Post (July 13): In Portland, Oregon, federal agents shot a protester "in the head [with] a less-than-lethal munition" even though he apparently posed no threat to people or property. The young man "suffered a fractured skull and required facial reconstruction surgery" and is in serious condition. The agents "have been dispatched to Portland as part of President Trump's crackdown on destructive protests, a fact that has become a flashpoint for local officials already bristling over the feds being sent without their consent. On Sunday, many blamed Trump's policies for the bloodshed. 'The consequences of Donald Trump unilaterally dispatching fed'l law enforcement into U.S. cities played out in Portland w/a peaceful protester shot in the head,' Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) tweeted. 'Trump & Homeland Security must now answer why fed'l officers are acting like an occupying army.' Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler (D) demanded federal agents in Portland start following local rules, which prohibit police from firing tear gas or less-than-lethal rounds unless lives are in danger."

Texas. Des Bieler of the Washington Post: "The president of the University of Texas said Monday that the school song, 'The Eyes of Texas,' would continue to be sung at football games and other events despite a request from some Longhorns players that it be replaced with 'a new song without racist undertones.'... 'The Eyes of Texas,' the school song since the early 1900s and a staple at Longhorns games, has roots in blackface minstrel shows, according to historians. Going back even further, the words to the song were inspired in part by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, who after the Civil War was a teacher at what would become Washington and Lee University, where he made an impression on future UT president William Prather by repeatedly telling students that 'the eyes of the South are upon you.'"

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Tucker Carlson Stands up for White Supremacist, Misogynist. Erik Wemple of the Washington Post: "Tucker Carlson took out the old Fox News playbook on Monday night: When bad news surfaces, attack the people who broke it, and brush aside the unflattering substance.... Instead of detailing what Neff had posted on AutoAdmit, Carlson euphemized those postings...: 'What Blake wrote anonymously was wrong. We don't endorse those words. They have no connection to the show....'... The notion that, somehow, the innermost thoughts of the show's top writer have 'no connection to the show' is like saying that pizza sauce has no connection to pizza.... The prevailing emotion from Carlson isn't regret or remorse. It's anger -- anger that he has lost his top writer to a mob of 'ghouls.'... Carlson has spent his entire career as a Fox News prime-time host -- nearly four years -- skewering those who call out President Trump for being, well, racist, sexist and other offensive things.... There was no way that he was going to use his own show to call out racism by its name." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)


Hailey Fuchs of the New York Times: "Hours after the Supreme Court rejected a last-minute legal-challenge on a 5-4 vote, the Justice Department put a 47-year-old man to death for his role in the 1996 murder of a family of three, the first federal execution in more than 17 years. The death row prisoner, Daniel Lewis Lee, 47, a former white supremacist who renounced his ties to that movement, was executed by lethal injection at the federal penitentiary in Terre Haute, Ind., the Bureau of Prisons said. He is the first of three federal death row inmates scheduled for execution this week." A CNN story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

John Bresnahan & Ally Mutnick of Politico: "Kansas GOP Rep. Steve Watkins was charged with three felony counts of voter fraud [and one misdemeanor] related to the 2019 municipal elections, according to court records.... Watkins has acknowledged that he used a UPS store in Topeka for his home address for a 2019 municipal election, according to the Topeka Capitol-Journal. The newspaper first reported that Watkins had signed the allegedly improper address on voter-registration documents.... In addition to his legal troubles, Watkins could lose his committee assignments. GOP Conference rules require anyone who is indicted on felony charges carrying a potential prison sentence of two or more years to give up their committee posts.... Watkins downplayed the allegations during a previously scheduled debate appearance [with a primary challenger] on Tuesday night.... [Watkins'] father, Steve Watkins, Sr., told Politico in March that the Federal Election Commission is investigating him for giving thousands of dollars to his daughters, a home-building contractor and the contractor's wife, which they then used to max out to his son's campaign. Those types of donations violate campaign finance laws."

Elections 2020

When Donald Trump thinks about climate change, the only word he can muster is 'hoax.' When I think about climate change, the word I think of is 'jobs.' -- Joe Biden, in a speech Tuesday ~~~

~~ Katie Glueck & Lisa Friedman of the New York Times: "Joseph R. Biden Jr. announced on Tuesday a new plan to spend $2 trillion over four years to significantly escalate the use of clean energy in the transportation, electricity and building sectors, part of a suite of sweeping proposals designed to create economic opportunities and build infrastructure while also tackling climate change. In a speech in Wilmington, Del., Mr. Biden built on his plans, released last week, for reviving the economy in the wake of the coronavirus crisis, with a new focus on enhancing the nation's infrastructure and emphasizing the importance of putting the United States on a path to significantly cut fossil fuel emissions." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Monica Alba & Carol Lee of NBC News: "... Donald Trump and Republican officials are preparing for the possibility of a fully outdoor convention in Jacksonville, Florida, next month as coronavirus cases in the state shatter records, according to two GOP officials involved in the planning. The president met with his top political advisers at the White House on Monday to discuss how several events, scheduled for six weeks from now, could move from an indoor venue to several outside ones. The Republican National Committee, or RNC, has already contracted with several open-air arenas, stadiums and amphitheaters to more safely bring together attendees and delegates, but it's unclear how many people total will be allowed to gather." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Should be fun. Huge crowds of old white folks yelling & sharing their infected spit on hot, humid August nights with thunderstorms (or hurricanes!) in the forecast.

David Nakamura, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump on Tuesday held a Rose Garden event under the guise of punishing China over its crackdown on Hong Kong, delivering a lengthy diatribe against ... Joe Biden in a display that resembled a campaign speech at the White House. The president began his rambling 54-minute opening statement by announcing that he had signed congressional legislation that authorizes his administration to enact sanctions on banks that do business with Chinese officials and an executive order to revoke Hong Kong's special economic trading status. But he glossed over the specifics and said nothing about the pro-democracy protests in the city as he pivoted swiftly to his attacks on Biden.... [It was] a stunning display of partisanship in an exquisitely manicured setting that presidents have traditionally considered off-limits for direct and extended political attacks.... Trump dumped almost an hour's worth of opposition research against his Democratic rival with less than four months to go before the election, hitting him over immigration, energy policy and the environment." Mrs. McC: The speech was laced with lies; as the reporters write, "Much of Trump's summary of Biden's policy proposals was false or misleading." ~~~

If anyone else said that shit yesterday in the Rose Garden, the next thing you'd see are two big guys dressed in scrubs carrying one of those Pierre Cardin canvas wrap-around blazers with the buckle in the back, taking him off for a real cognitive assessment test. -- unwashed, in today's Comments thread

~~~ Reed Richardson of Mediaite: "After spending the initial minutes of his speech bashing China's actions in Hong Kong, the president quickly pivoted to transforming the event into a nearly hour-long, often circular, stream-of-consciousness political rant that mimicked his performances at his trademark rallies. Though the Rose Garden is traditionally considered a partisan-free zone, Trump cast aside decorum to go through a long list of political opponents. But without the energy of an adoring fan base cheering him on, Trump seemed enervated during his diatribe, his demeanor noticeably dour, his voice consistently flat." ~~~

~~~ The Gray Lady Reports the Meltdown. Peter Baker of the New York Times: Yesterday, reporters hastily summoned to the Rose Garden were treated to "an hour of presidential stream of consciousness as Mr. Trump drifted seemingly at random from one topic to another, often in the same run-on sentence. Even for a president who rarely sticks to the script and wanders from thought to thought, it was one of the most rambling performances of his presidency.... 'We could go on for days,' he said at one point, and it sounded plausible. At times, it was hard to understand what he meant. He seemed to suggest that ... former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., would get rid of windows if elected and later said that Mr. Biden would 'abolish the suburbs.' He complained that Mr. Biden had 'gone so far right.' (He meant left.)" Baker goes on and provides one extended example of Trump's stream-of-unconsciousness, where he is apparently trying to explain how well his administration is curbing immigration:

We have great agreements where when Biden and Obama used to bring killers out, they would say don't bring them back to our country, we don't want them. Well, we have to, we don't want them. They wouldn't take them. Now with us, they take them. Someday, I'll tell you why. Someday, I'll tell you why. But they take them and they take them very gladly. They used to bring them out and they wouldn't even let the airplanes land if they brought them back by airplanes. They wouldn't let the buses into their country. They said we don't want them. Said no, but they entered our country illegally and they're murderers, they're killers in some cases.

Joe Biden's supporters are fighting to defund police departments. Violent crime has exploded. You won't be safe in Joe Biden's America. -- Text of a Trump campaign ad, "Abolished," over images of violence and a recording of a police answering machine, released July 2, 2020

Biden, to the dismay of activists on the left, has refused to back proposals to defund police and, in fact, has called for increased federal spending to bolster the number of police. So the Trump campaign uses slippery language of how 'Biden supporters' back defunding and the result will be unchecked violence in 'Biden's America' that would leave Americans unsafe. We think most viewers of this ad ... would come away believing he supports defunding the police. -- Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post ~~~

~~~ David Ignatius of the Washington Post: "It's laughable, really, that President Trump is presenting himself as the candidate of 'law and order' in the 2020 presidential campaign. His record in office has been one of illegality and disorder. Trump's presidency has been a sustained attack on our traditional conception of the rule of law in America.... He defies Congress and the courts almost on a weekly basis. Trump's contempt for the law was obvious in his granting of clemency last week to his campaign crony Roger Stone.... Since the beginning of June, he has tweeted or retweeted the phrase 'law and order' 33 times.... [Joe] Biden ... shouldn't cede this ground. He should make the case that real law and order are impossible without social justice.... The next time you hear Trump talk about law and order, remember that it's a code for maintaining his personal power."

Trump Fundraising Emails Like "Mob Collections." Charlie Nash of Mediaite: "... Donald Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign is coming under fire over campaign fundraising emails which some supporters are calling 'gross' and 'scary.' Most of the emails -- which typically claimed to be from the president himself or one of his children -- attempted to shame Trump supporters for not donating enough money, and used manipulative language to guilt recipients into giving more, prompting social media users to make comparisons to 'mob collections' and 'slumlord' eviction notices. 'I hate to be the one to tell you, but according to our records, your Trump 100 Club offer has been RESCINDED,' read one email, which was posted on Twitter. 'You've received multiple emails from Team Trump, including my father, inviting you to join this BRAND NEW, prestigious club, and you've ignored every single one of them.'... Other emails put 'FINAL NOTICE' in red at the top, giving them the appearance of an overdue bill...."

Trump, GOP Welcome Crazy Terrorists. Matthew Rosenberg & Jennifer Steinhauer of the New York Times: "More than two years after QAnon, which the F.B.I. has labeled a potential domestic terrorism threat, emerged from the troll-infested corners of the internet, the movement's supporters are morphing from keyboard warriors into political candidates. They have been urged on by Mr. Trump, whose own espousal of conspiracy theories and continual railing against the political establishment have cleared a path for QAnon candidates. And even as party leaders publicly distance themselves from the movement, they are quietly supporting some QAnon-linked candidates -- demonstrating the thin line they are trying to walk between radical elements among their base and the moderate voters they need to win over.... t is a development that threatens to further alienate the kinds of traditional Republican voters who typically care about lowering taxes, not chasing imaginary Satanists from the government." (Also linked yesterday.)

New York Congressional Race. Dana Rubinstein of the New York Times: "Mondaire Jones, a progressive candidate supported by the institutional left, was declared the victor in a crowded Democratic House primary in the suburbs north of New York City, all but ensuring that he will join Congress next year as among its first openly gay African-American members. The race was not called by The Associated Press until Tuesday, three weeks after the primary, even though Mr. Jones had a commanding advantage after the machine ballot count: He had twice as many votes as his closest competitor, Adam Schleifer. Mr. Jones's support grew as Primary Day drew closer, as Black Lives Matters protests galvanized voters across the district and allowed candidates, for the first time since the pandemic, to campaign in the open air." A Hill story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)


John Kruzel of the Hill: "Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was hospitalized on Tuesday for treatment for a possible infection after experiencing fever and chills, according to a Supreme Court spokeswoman. The 87-year-old justice also underwent a procedure Tuesday 'to clean out a bile duct stent that was placed last August,' spokeswoman Kathleen Arberg added. 'The Justice is resting comfortably and will stay in the hospital for a few days to receive intravenous antibiotic treatment'" Arberg said." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Comments Off
Monday
Jul132020

The Commentariat -- July 14, 2020

Afternoon Update:

Dana Rubinstein of the New York Times: "Mondaire Jones, a progressive candidate supported by the institutional left, was declared the victor in a crowded Democratic House primary in the suburbs north of New York City, all but ensuring that he will join Congress next year as among its first openly gay African-American members. The race was not called by The Associated Press until Tuesday, three weeks after the primary, even though Mr. Jones had a commanding advantage after the machine ballot count: He had twice as many votes as his closest competitor, Adam Schleifer. Mr. Jones's support grew as Primary Day drew closer, as Black Lives Matters protests galvanized voters across the district and allowed candidates, for the first time since the pandemic, to campaign in the open air." A Hill story is here.

Monica Alba & Carol Lee of NBC News: "... Donald Trump and Republican officials are preparing for the possibility of a fully outdoor convention in Jacksonville, Florida, next month as coronavirus cases in the state shatter records, according to two GOP officials involved in the planning. The president met with his top political advisers at the White House on Monday to discuss how several events, scheduled for six weeks from now, could move from an indoor venue to several outside ones. The Republican National Committee, or RNC, has already contracted with several open-air arenas, stadiums and amphitheaters to more safely bring together attendees and delegates, but it's unclear how many people total will be allowed to gather." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Should be fun. Huge crowds of old white folks yelling & sharing their infected spit on hot, humid August nights with thunderstorms (or hurricanes!) in the forecast.

John Kruzel of the Hill: "Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was hospitalized on Tuesday for treatment for a possible infection after experiencing fever and chills, according to a Supreme Court spokeswoman. The 87-year-old justice also underwent a procedure Tuesday 'to clean out a bile duct stent that was placed last August,' spokeswoman Kathleen Arberg added. 'The Justice is resting comfortably and will stay in the hospital for a few days to receive intravenous antibiotic treatment,' Arberg said."

Trump Sticks up for White People, Part 1. Morgan Chalfant of the Hill: "President Trump on Tuesday asserted that 'more' white Americans die at the hands of police than Black Americans and criticized a reporter for asking why African Americans are still dying in law enforcement custody. 'So are white people. So are white people. What a terrible question to ask,' Trump told CBS News' Catherine Herridge when asked about the deaths of Black Americans at the hands of police. 'So are white people. More white people, by the way. More white people.' Police departments are not mandated to report statistics on police killings, however studies have shown that police killings disproportionately impact Black Americans. A Washington Post analysis updated earlier this year found that the rate at which black Americans are killed by law enforcement officers is over twice as high as the rate for their white counterparts. White Americans, who make up a larger share of the U.S. population, account for more deaths at the hands of police overall." ~~~

     ~~~ Grace Segers of CBS News: "One study published in 2018 found that Black men are roughly 3.5 times more likely to be killed by law enforcement than White men." ~~~

~~~ Trump Sticks up for White People, Part 2. Brett Samuels of the Hill: "President Trump on Tuesday defended a St. Louis couple that went viral after they stood outside their home brandishing weapons as a group of protesters marched by their house. 'They were going to be beat up badly, if they were lucky. OK? If they were lucky,' Trump asserted in an interview at the White House with the conservative outlet Townhall. 'They were going to be beat up badly, and the house was going to be totally ransacked and probably burned down like they tried to burn down churches,' the president continued. 'These people were standing there, never used it, and they were legal, the weapons,' Trump said. 'And now I understand somebody local they want to prosecute these people. It's a disgrace.' Mark and Patricia McCloskey made headlines late last month after video footage surfaced of them pointing guns at an informal Black Lives Matter protest that passed through their neighborhood en route to the home of Mayor Lyda Krewson (D)." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Trump's weird reverie is a textbook example of white racist fantasy. The racist sees some black people walk by, and he immediately imagines the black people are going to beat him up -- or worse -- then ransack & burn down his house. I don't need to tell you this is insane. The St. Louis protesters, some of whom were white, showed no indication they planned to pay any attention to the McCloseys; they were on their way to yell at the mayor. ~~~

~~~ Trump Sticks up for White People*, Part 3. CBS News: "In an interview with CBS News' Catherine Herridge, President Trump said he considers flying the Confederate flag a 'freedom of speech' issue. (Video.) *Assuming here that 99.9% of confederate flag lovers are white.

When Donald Trump thinks about climate change, the only word he can muster is "hoax." When I think about climate change, the word I think of is "jobs." -- Joe Biden, in a speech Tuesday ~~~

~~ Katie Glueck & Lisa Friedman of the New York Times: "Joseph R. Biden Jr. announced on Tuesday a new plan to spend $2 trillion over four years to significantly escalate the use of clean energy in the transportation, electricity and building sectors, part of a suite of sweeping proposals designed to create economic opportunities and build infrastructure while also tackling climate change. In a speech in Wilmington, Del., Mr. Biden built on his plans, released last week, for reviving the economy in the wake of the coronavirus crisis, with a new focus on enhancing the nation's infrastructure and emphasizing the importance of putting the United States on a path to significantly cut fossil fuel emissions."

Sahil Kapur & Julia Ainsley of NBC News: "Facing blowback and lawsuits, the Trump administration is rescinding its directive blocking international students from staying in the United States while taking online-only classes. U.S. District Court Judge Allison Dale Burroughs in Massachusetts announced Tuesday that the government and plaintiffs had reached a resolution in a lawsuit brought by Harvard University and MIT. The government was to rescind its July 6 rule that said foreign students on F-1 and M-1 visas would need to take at least some courses in person in order to legally remain in the U.S. in the fall semester amid the coronavirus pandemic." A developing story @3:40 pm ET.

The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Tuesday are here: "On Monday, California, Florida and Texas recorded at least 30,000 new cases, 18 percent of the global total. France celebrated public health workers as heroes during Bastille Day, a day after granting them pay raises.... After months of equivocation over mandating face coverings to stop the spread of the coronavirus, the government of Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain announced on Tuesday that people in England would be required to wear masks inside shops and supermarkets."

Lily Altavena of the Arizona Republic: "In a news conference Monday..., Donald Trump was asked about Kimberly Lopez Chavez Byrd, an Arizona teacher who died after teaching a summer school class. Trump responded by saying schools should reopen. Byrd's summer school class was virtual, but she and two other teachers in the Hayden-Winkelman School District shared a classroom while they taught. All three teachers contracted COVID-19. Byrd died after she was admitted to the hospital. In Monday's briefing, a reporter asked Trump, 'What do you tell parents, who look at this, who look at Arizona where a school teacher recently died teaching summer school, parents who are worried about the safety of their children in public schools?'... He responded, 'Schools should be opened. Schools should be opened. Those kids want to go to school. You're losing a lot of lives by keeping things closed. We saved millions of lives while we did the initial closure.'" Mrs. McC: I wonder if Melanie's "I Really Don't Care" jacket comes in extra-large?

Caitlin Oprysko of Politico: "Former White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney on Monday criticized the U.S. coronavirus testing process, calling his family's difficulties in obtaining tests and delays in the results 'inexcusable' in the seventh month of the pandemic, splitting from his former boss' repeated boasts about testing. 'I know it isn't popular to talk about in some Republican circles, but we still have a testing problem in this country,' Mulvaney wrote in an op-ed for CNBC. Mulvaney, who served in Congress before leading the White House budget office and becoming chief of staff, said his son had recently been tested for the virus and had to wait up to a week for the results, and that his daughter was turned away from getting a test before she went to visit her grandparents."

Former CDC Directors Tom Frieden, Jeffrey Koplan, David Satcher & Richard Besser in a Washington Post o-ed: "The four of us led the CDC over a period of more than 15 years, spanning Republican and Democratic administrations alike. We cannot recall over our collective tenure a single time when political pressure led to a change in the interpretation of scientific evidence.... Through last week, and into Monday, the administration continued to cast public doubt on the agency's recommendations and role in informing and guiding the nation's pandemic response. On Sunday, Education Secretary characterized the CDC guidelines as an impediment to reopening schools quickly rather than what they are: the path to doing so safely.... Unfortunately..., sound science is being challenged with partisan potshots, sowing confusion and mistrust at a time when the American people need leadership, expertise and clarity. These efforts have even fueled a backlash against public health officials across the country: Public servants have been harassed, threatened and forced to resign when we need them most."

David Edwards of RawStory: "A school district in Missouri is requiring parents to sign a waiver in case children become infected with COVID-19 and die. The 'waiver of liability' from Hazelwood School District was shared on Tuesday by attorney Natasha Scruggs. 'I feel sick reading it,' Scruggs said. The document asks parents to acknowledge that COVID-19 is a public health crisis and to relinquish their rights to hold the district responsible even if a student's death is 'caused by the negligence of carelessness' of school staff." --s

Today in Bubonic Plague News. Jon Haworth of ABC News: "Public health officials have announced that a squirrel in Colorado has tested positive for the bubonic plague. The town of Morrison, Colorado, in Jefferson County, which is just west of Denver, made the startling announcement saying that the squirrel is the first case of plague in the county.... It is possible for humans to be infected with the bubonic plague through bites from infected fleas and by direct contact with blood or tissues of infected animals such as a cough or a bite."

Trump, GOP Welcome Crazy Terrorists. Matthew Rosenberg & Jennifer Steinhauer of the New York Times: "More than two years after QAnon, which the F.B.I. has labeled a potential domestic terrorism threat, emerged from the troll-infested corners of the internet, the movement's supporters are morphing from keyboard warriors into political candidates. They have been urged on by Mr. Trump, whose own espousal of conspiracy theories and continual railing against the political establishment have cleared a path for QAnon candidates. And even as party leaders publicly distance themselves from the movement, they are quietly supporting some QAnon-linked candidates -- demonstrating the thin line they are trying to walk between radical elements among their base and the moderate voters they need to win over.... It is a development that threatens to further alienate the kinds of traditional Republican voters who typically care about lowering taxes, not chasing imaginary Satanists from the government."

Hailey Fuchs of the New York Times: "Hours after the Supreme Court rejected a last-minute legal-challenge on a 5-4 vote, the Justice Department put a 47-year-old man to death for his role in the 1996 murder of a family of three, the first federal execution in more than 17 years. The death row prisoner, Daniel Lewis Lee, 47, a former white supremacist who renounced his ties to that movement, was executed by lethal injection at the federal penitentiary in Terre Haute, Ind., the Bureau of Prisons said. He is the first of three federal death row inmates scheduled for execution this week." A CNN story is here.

Whitewashing Racism. Erik Wemple of the Washington Post: "Tucker Carlson took out the old Fox News playbook on Monday night: When bad news surfaces, attack the people who broke it, and brush aside the unflattering substance.... Instead of detailing what Neff had posted on AutoAdmit, Carlson euphemized those postings...: 'What Blake wrote anonymously was wrong. We don't endorse those words. They have no connection to the show....'... The notion that, somehow, the innermost thoughts of the show's top writer have 'no connection to the show' is like saying that pizza sauce has no connection to pizza.... The prevailing emotion from Carlson isn't regret or remorse. It's anger -- anger that he has lost his top writer to a mob of 'ghouls.'... Carlson has spent his entire career as a Fox News prime-time host -- nearly four years -- skewering those who call out President Trump for being, well, racist, sexist and other offensive things.... There was no way that he was going to use his own show to call out racism by its name."

~~~~~~~~~~

Trip Gabriel, et al., of the New York Times: "Three states with vastly different electoral profiles are holding primary elections on Tuesday: Alabama, Maine and Texas. The marquee contests include a Republican primary for Senate in Alabama in which President Trump is pursuing a personal vendetta; a Democratic primary for Senate in Maine whose winner will take on the only Republican from New England in Congress; and runoffs in two Texas House districts that are expected to be tossups in November[.] ~~~

~~~ Today is primary election day in Maine. Texas and Alabama are holding primary election runoffs today. The linked Ballotpedia page has details.

Elaina Plott of the New York Times takes a look at the Alabama GOP U.S. Senate runoff election between Jefferson Beauregard Sessions And Tommy Tuberville.

The Trumpidemic, Ctd.

There's no body count high enough for the President to pay attention to science. -- Former Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, Monday on MSNBC

The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Monday are here. The Washington Post's live updates for Monday are here: "New U.S. coronavirus cases reached record levels over the weekend, with deaths trending up sharply in a majority of states, including many beyond the hard-hit Sun Belt." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Michael Shear & Noah Weiland of the New York Times: "A day after President Trump’s press office tried to undermine the reputation of the nation's top infectious disease expert with an anonymously attributed list of what it said were his misjudgments in the early days of the coronavirus, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci returned to the White House on Monday.... Dr. Fauci -- who has not had direct contact with the president in more than five weeks even as the number of Americans with Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, has risen sharply in the Southwest -- slipped back into the West Wing to meet with Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff, while his allies denounced what they called a meanspirited and misguided effort by the White House to smear him." ~~~

~~~ Laurie McGinley & Yasmeen Abutaleb of the Washington Post: "A White House effort to undermine Anthony S. Fauci has drawn rebukes from public health experts, scientists and mostly Democratic politicians, who argue it is dangerous for the Trump administration to disparage a highly respected government infectious-disease expert as the novel coronavirus continues to exact a heavy toll on the nation.... Joe Biden ... tweeted Monday that 'Donald Trump needs to spend less time playing golf and more time listening to experts like Dr. Fauci.'... 'It's shocking,' said Janis Orlowski, chief health care officer of the Association of American Medical Colleges.... [MEANWHILE,] Top White House aide Dan Scavino, the White House social media director and deputy chief of staff for communications, on late Sunday shared a cartoon on his Facebook page mocking Fauci. It depicted Fauci as a faucet spewing cold water on the economy, with phrases written alongside, including 'schools stay closed this fall,' 'indefinite lockdown' and 'no NFL season.'" ~~~

~~~ Quint Forgey of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Monday shared a handful of social media posts questioning the expertise of his own public health officials, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, and suggesting their scientific counsel was intended to thwart his political standing ahead of November's general election. In a burst of early morning online activity, Trump retweeted messages from the politically conservative former game show personality Chuck Woolery ... which lamented the 'most outrageous lies' being spread about the coronavirus pandemic. 'Everyone is lying. The CDC, Media, Democrats, our Doctors, not all but most, that we are told to trust. I think it's all about the election and keeping the economy from coming back, which is about the election. I'm sick of it,' Woolery wrote in a tweet shared by the president. In another post Trump retweeted, Woolery claimed there exists 'so much evidence, yes scientific evidence, that schools should open this fall. It's worldwide and it's overwhelming. BUT NO.' Trump also retweeted a message from Mark Young, Woolery's co-host on his 'Blunt Force Truth' podcast, which asked: 'So based on Dr. Fauci and the Democrats, I will need an ID card to go shopping but not to vote?'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ "Toluse Olorunnipa of the Washington Post: "With tweets, impromptu interviews and unscripted remarks, President Trump has increasingly undermined the public health message of his own government, adding a sense of confusion to what has been a disjointed and ineffective response to the novel coronavirus pandemic. Public health experts say Trump's efforts to deflect blame for the surging virus have become yet another distraction making it harder to slow the spread of a covid-19.... 'When the president is calling the guidance wrong and endorsing the view that these public health experts are lying, it makes it incredibly difficult for the public to know what to do...,' said [Dr. Ben Sommers, a Harvard U. professor of public health]. 'It erodes the long-term ability of our government to provide one of its basic goals which is to protect the public safety.'... White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany used a news briefing Monday to defend ... criticisms of [Dr. Anthony] Fauci and reinforce the president's attacks on the government's health experts." ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: BTW, Akhilleus provides a handy test in today's Comments which lists alternative sources of information on the coronavirus. In his subtle way, Akhilleus also hints at the best answer to to the test

John Kruzel of the Hill: "Seventeen states and the District of Columbia on Monday sued to block the Trump administration from stripping foreign students of visas if their colleges move exclusively to online classes amid the coronavirus pandemic. The lawsuit comes after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced last week that international students whose courses move entirely online would be required to leave the country, rescinding a previous plan to grant exemptions to student visa holders.... The challenge comes after a similar lawsuit was brought last week by Harvard and MIT, as well as litigation filed by other higher education institutions. 'The effect -- and perhaps even the goal -- is to create as much chaos for universities and international students as possible,' the Harvard-MIT lawsuit ... alleged. California also filed a lawsuit last week against the Trump administration's move." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Collin Binkley of the AP: "More than 200 universities are backing a legal challenge to the Trump administration's new restrictions on international students, arguing that the policy jeopardizes students' safety and forces schools to reconsider fall plans they have spent months preparing. The schools have signed court briefs supporting Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as they sue U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in federal court in Boston. The lawsuit challenges a recently announced directive saying international students cannot stay in the U.S. if they take all their classes online this fall." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Griff Witte of the Washington Post: "California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday announced a dramatic rollback in the state's reopening plan, ordering a wide swath of businesses to end indoor operations as coronavirus case numbers continued to climb in the nation's largest state -- and well beyond. Restaurants, wineries, movie theaters and museums were told to shut down their indoor operations, while bars were closed even for outdoor service. In hard-hit counties, hair salons, malls and fitness centers were also shuttered.... School leaders in Los Angeles, San Diego and Atlanta said their districts will begin the year online, rather than in person. Oregon's governor banned gatherings of more than 10 people inside and ordered face coverings for those who venture out. The Chicago Marathon -- not planned until mid-October -- was canceled for only the second time in its history. Meanwhile, Miami was declared the latest epicenter of the epidemic,' and a senior medical official compared it to Wuhan at the height of China's struggles with the virus." The article is free to nonsubscribers.

Texas. Nomaan Merchant of the AP: "The Texas Supreme Court on Monday upheld Houston's refusal to allow the state Republican convention to hold in-person events in the city due to the coronavirus pandemic. The court dismissed an appeal of a state district judge's denial of a temporary restraining order sought by the state Republican Party.... A separate court hearing was ongoing Monday in Harris County, where Houston is located, in which a different judge was hearing the party's arguments to allow the convention to go forward." Mrs. McC: I think I heard on the teevee that the contract contains a provision allowing either of the parties to default for health & safety reasons. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Kenya Evelyn of the Guardian: "Black and Latino people in America represent nearly a third of all cases [of Covid-19] and have been nearly twice as likely to die from the virus as their White counterparts. Many health experts contend the data underscores how racial bias shapes not just policy, but also public behavior during health crises. Not only are Black and Latino Americans more likely to lack health insurance ;or live in areas without quality facilities, unconscious racial bias among medical professionals can also contribute to unequal health outcomes, with patients of color more likely to have their symptoms overlooked or pain disbelieved. Some experts point to people of color who later died of Covid-19 who were previously turned away as evidence of bias playing out in the pandemic." --s ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: This seems very likely to me. Years ago, studies showed this same sort of bias against women among medicos. Doctors were apt to attribute women's complaints about pain to hysterical hypochondria while they took men's complaints seriously. In addition, pharmaceutical trials were likely to be made only on men, so the effects of drugs on women were essentially unknown when the products went on the market.


Eric Tucker of the AP: "A federal judge on Monday demanded more information about ... Donald Trump's decision to commute the prison sentence of longtime ally Roger Stone. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson ordered that the parties provide her by Tuesday with a copy of the executive order that commuted Stone's sentence. She also asked for clarity about the scope of the clemency, including whether it covers just his prison sentence or also the two-year period of supervised release that was part of his sentence." Mrs. McC: I do hope Trump submits that stupid statement the White House released Friday night. Since the statement directly contradicts a number of Judge Jackson's rulings, she should really enjoy it. I suppose, however, DOJ will come up with something more coherent to answer the judge's order. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Turns out Bob Mueller didn't much care for that stupid statement either: ~~~

~~~ Katelyn Polantz & Jeremy Herb of CNN: "Former special counsel Robert Mueller chose to break his silence and defend his investigation this weekend after weeks of contemplating doing so, in part because an inflammatory and factually incorrect White House statement attacked his prosecution of ... Roger Stone, according to multiple sources familiar with the Mueller team.... Mueller has considered publicly defending his former office and their findings on Russian interference in the 2016 election for months -- especially after the Justice Department reversed his decision to prosecute former national security adviser Michael Flynn, the sources said.... The attacks by the White House justifying Stone's commutation on Friday finally pushed him to speak out and break away from his strict approach to stay above the political fray." ~~~

~~~ "That Would Be a Crime." Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: Attorney General William "Barr made his extraordinary intervention in the [Roger] Stone case in February, watering down a tough sentencing recommendation that Trump had criticized. The move filled out a picture of an attorney general repeatedly injecting himself in ways that protected Trump and his allies. But then Trump commuted Stone's sentence Friday, meaning the number of years Stone received didn't even wind up mattering. And The Washington Post and others are reporting that Trump did this despite the counsel of Barr, who earlier in the week labeled Stone's prosecution 'righteous.'... During his confirmation hearing last year..., Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) [asked Barr,] 'Do you believe a President could lawfully issue a pardon in exchange for the recipient's promise to not incriminate him?' Barr [answered,] 'No. That would be a crime.'... While Trump said he commuted Stone's sentence because the prosecution was unjust, Barr repeatedly affirmed in his ABC News interview that the prosecution was indeed appropriate and that Stone deserved his jail time."

David A. Fahrenthold & Anu Narayanswamy of the Washington Post: A deputy White House counsel allowed Donald Trump "a second 45-day extension to file his personal financial disclosure forms..., according to a letter released by the White House. The forms are supposed to detail Trump's income, debt, stock holdings and outstanding loans for 2019. They were originally due May 15, but Trump got an extension until the end of June. On June 29, Scott Gast, deputy counsel to the president, granted Trump a second extension, until Aug. 13, according to the letter. Federal law allows only two such extensions. Gast's letter said that the extension was given for 'good cause,' but did not specify what that cause was. A White House spokesperson said Trump 'has a complicated report, and he's been focused on addressing the coronavirus and other matters.' Trump appears to be the only president since 2001 to need an extension for his financial disclosure filing. For the public, Trump's filings have provided a valuable -- and rare -- insight into the president's ongoing partnerships, loans and income streams." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: This is ridiculous. (1) Trump doesn't prepare his own financial forms. (2) Trump has not been "addressing the coronavirus." He has been watching the teevee and tweeting the vile things the crazy people say. When he isn't riding a cart around one of his golf courses.

Kyle Cheney of Politico: "The House is planning to quickly revisit its effort to obtain President Donald Trump's personal financial records, urging the Supreme Court on Monday night to take its final formal steps on the matter so lawmakers can reignite the issue in the lower courts. In a filing late Monday, the House's top lawyer, Douglas Letter, urged the justices to immediately effectuate their July 9 ruling on the House's subpoena for Trump's records. Once the ruling is in force, the House can return to the U.S. District Court judge who initially heard the case and ask for renewed consideration." --s

Ted Johnson of Deadline: "A New York Supreme Court judge has lifted a restraining order that prevented Mary Trump from publicizing her new tell-all book about her uncle ... Donald Trump, and his family. Robert Trump, the president's brother, had sought a court action to stop the publication of the book, Too Much And Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man. He claimed that Mary Trump was bound by a confidentiality agreement that was included in the 2001 settlement of the estate of Fred Trump Sr., the family patriarch. But Judge Hal Greenwald wrote that the confidentiality clause was too broad, concluding that it had 'too many words, with too many meanings. The cost of the litigation that was settled should have been finalized with more specifics, more clarity, if the current situation was even comprehended, at the time the Agreement was signed.'" The decision is here.

** Martyn Mclaughlin of The Scotsman: "In what would be one of the most ambitious and expensive foreign projects undertaken by Donald Trump's family business since he assumed the presidency, his company has commissioned a detailed masterplan to develop as many as 225 properties, as well as leisure facilities and shops, on an expanse of rolling farmland adjacent to Turnberry's lauded Ailsa course.... [T]he Trump Organisation has yet to formally submit a planning application.... Scotland on Sunday has obtained a series of documents ... spell[ing] out the company's grand ambitions for the 114 year old resort, arguably the most prestigious of all Trump's properties.... [The project, which is] far bolder and bigger in scale than anything it has previously proposed at Turnberry has sparked concerns and renewed questions about Trump's financing.... What is self-evident is that the Trump Organisation plans to spend considerably more money on an asset which has remained stubbornly in the red." --s

Washington Post: “Months of growing animosity between Beijing and Washington escalated again Monday, when China slapped sanctions on four U.S. officials -- including three Republican members of Congress -- and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared most of China's maritime claims in the South China Sea 'completely unlawful.'... Pompeo's remarks on the South China Sea came just hours after China announced sanctions on four U.S. officials, including prominent Republican senators Marco Rubio (Fla.) and Ted Cruz (Tex.), for 'interfering in China's internal affairs/ through their condemnation of Beijing's human rights abuses in the country's Xinjiang region. The other Americans targeted are Sam Brownback, the Trump administration's ambassador for international religious freedom, and Rep. Christopher H. Smith (R-N.J.)."

** All the Best People, Ctd. Patrick Tucker of Defense One: "The Pentagon's new 33-year-old head of research and engineering lacks a basic science degree but brings deep connections to Donald Trump and controversial Silicon Valley venture capitalist Peter Thiel.... Defense officials announced Monday that Michael Kratsios, formerly the White House's chief technology officer, would serve as acting undersecretary for research and engineering, a post that oversees top-priority projects in hypersonics, quantum computing, microelectronics, and other fields.... Kratsios graduated from Princeton with a bachelor's degree in political science and a focus on ancient Greek democracy." --s

Elections 2020

Reid Epstein, et al., of the New York Times: As new Covid-19 cases surge in Florida, top Republicans are not committed to attending the National Convention in Jacksonville. "The G.O.P., which moved the convention to Jacksonville from Charlotte, N.C., after balking at health precautions there, now finds itself locked into a state with a far bigger virus problem, and planning an event whose attendance is waning as the pandemic escalates. 'Everybody just assumes no one is going,' said Representative Darin LaHood of Illinois, an honorary state co-chairman for the Trump campaign.... Locally elected delegates and R.N.C. members, who were more inclined to go.... Last month the [Democratic] party moved its event to a smaller venue and instructed delegates to stay home from Milwaukee, as the party transitions to a virtual gathering."

Michael Blood of the AP: "More than 100,000 mail-in ballots were rejected by California election officials during the March presidential primary.... The California secretary of state's election data obtained by the AP showed 102,428 mail-in ballots were disqualified in the state's 58 counties, about 1.5% of the nearly 7 million mail-in ballots returned.... While polling places include workers who can assist people who have questions about filling out ballots, a voter doesn't have support at home and so problems can arise.... The most common problem, by far, in California was missing the deadline for the ballot to be mailed and arrive.... Statewide, 70,330 ballots missed those marks. Another 27,525 either didn't have a signature, or the signature didn't match the one on record for the voter."


Michael Balsamo of the AP: "A U.S. district judge on Monday ordered a new delay in federal executions, hours before the first lethal injection was scheduled to be carried out at a federal prison in Indiana. The Trump administration immediately appealed to a higher court, asking that the executions move forward. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan said there are still legal issues to resolve and that 'the public is not served by short-circuiting legitimate judicial process.' The executions, pushed by the administration, would be the first carried out at the federal level since 2003.... The new hold came a day after a federal appeals court lifted a hold on the execution of Daniel Lewis Lee, of Yukon, Oklahoma, which was scheduled for 4 p.m. EDT on Monday at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana. He was convicted in Arkansas of the 1996 killings of gun dealer William Mueller, his wife, Nancy, and her 8-year-old daughter, Sarah Powell." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Benjamin Weiser & Nicole Hong of the New York Times: "When F.B.I. agents went to arrest Ghislaine Maxwell on the morning of July 2 on a remote property in New Hampshire, they broke through her locked gate, approached the front door and announced themselves, telling her to open the door, federal prosecutors said in newly filed court papers on Monday. Through a window, the agents saw her ... flee to another room in the house, quickly shutting the door behind her.... The agents forcibly entered and took Ms. Maxwell into custody. Prosecutors said that during a search of the house, investigators found a cellphone wrapped in tin foil on top of a desk -- which they interpreted as 'a seemingly misguided effort to evade detection' by law enforcement.... After her arrest, a private security guard who worked on the property told the F.B.I. that Ms. Maxwell's brother had hired former British military members to protect her in New Hampshire, the prosecutors said in their filing Monday."

Annals of "Journalism," Ha Ha Ha. Tucker Takes Another Spontaneous "Long-Planned" Vacation. Michael Grynbaum of the New York Times: "The Fox News star Tucker Carlson said on Monday evening that he would leave on a vacation, starting immediately, days after a writer on his program, Blake Neff, resigned over racist, sexist and misogynist messages that Mr. Neff published pseudonymously on an online message board. Mr. Carlson told viewers that he would return to his show next week and described the vacation as 'long planned,' suggesting that his time off had been set before Mr. Neff was revealed on Friday as the author of the offensive posts. It was not the first time that Mr. Carlson has announced that he would take a break from the anchor chair in the immediate aftermath of a sensitive moment for his prime-time program. Last August, Mr. Carlson went on vacation two days after he likened white supremacy to a 'hoax,' saying it was 'actually not a real problem in America.'..." Carlson called Neff's writings "wrong," "but we should also point out to the ghouls now beating their chests in triumph at the destruction of a young man, that self-righteousness also has its costs." ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Whether 'tis more ghoulish to declaim against those of darker complexion and of the fairer sex, or to decry such slings and arrow, that is the question. ~~~

~~~ David Bowder of the AP: "Carlson, who said the online commentary by Blake Neff had no connection to his show, said he would be taking the rest of the week off to go trout fishing." Mrs. McC: A word to the artful angler: the fish rots from the head, Tucker.

Way Beyond the Beltway

Hong Kong. Strangling Democracy. Helen Davidson of the Guardian: "China has declared primaries held by Hong Kong's pro-democratic parties on the weekend 'illegal' and the city's leader has announced an investigation, saying that the candidates' intention to vote against government legislation could break national security laws. The primary polls, while not a formal part of Hong Kong's election process, drew an estimated 600,000 people out to vote for democracy candidates ahead of the legislative council elections scheduled for September. The extraordinary turnout in the face of warnings by authorities was interpreted by observers as an act of opposition to the national security laws imposed by Beijing on 30 June." --s

North Korea. Fred Kaplan of Slate: "A little-noticed statement last week by the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un indicates that no more arms talks will be held anytime soon and even that the deal Kim offered at last year's summit with ... Donald Trump in Hanoi, Vietnam -- to shut down one nuclear reactor in exchange for the lifting of all U.S. sanctions since 2016 -- is now off the table.... Kim Yo-jong, first vice director of the Workers' Party of Korea's Central Committee and a woman of steadily growing power who has spoken on her older brother's behalf several times in recent months, said on Friday that another summit with Trump would be 'unpractical' and 'not serve us at all.'" --s

Poland. Bad News. Frederik Pleitgen, et al., of CNN: "Poland's incumbent President Andrzej Duda has been declared the winner of this weekend's tightly fought and divisive election. Duda, backed by the nationalist ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, won with 51.21% of the vote, the country's election committee said Monday. The more liberal Warsaw mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, of the center-right opposition Civic Platform party (PO), garnered 48.79%." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Comments Off
Monday
Jul132020

The Commentariat -- July 13, 2020

Afternoon Update:

The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Monday are here. The Washington Post's live updates for Monday are here: "New U.S. coronavirus cases reached record levels over the weekend, with deaths trending up sharply in a majority of states, including many beyond the hard-hit Sun Belt."

Quint Forgey of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Monday shared a handful of social media posts questioning the expertise of his own public health officials, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, and suggesting their scientific counsel was intended to thwart his political standing ahead of November's general election. In a burst of early morning online activity, Trump retweeted messages from the politically conservative former game show personality Chuck Woolery ... which lamented the 'most outrageous lies' being spread about the coronavirus pandemic. 'Everyone is lying. The CDC, Media, Democrats, our Doctors, not all but most, that we are told to trust. I think it's all about the election and keeping the economy from coming back, which is about the election. I'm sick of it,' Woolery wrote in a tweet shared by the president. In another post Trump retweeted, Woolery claimed there exists 'so much evidence, yes scientific evidence, that schools should open this fall. It's worldwide and it's overwhelming. BUT NO.' Trump also retweeted a message from Mark Young, Woolery's co-host on his 'Blunt Force Truth' podcast, which asked: 'So based on Dr. Fauci and the Democrats, I will need an ID card to go shopping but not to vote?'"

John Kruzel of the Hill: "Seventeen states and the District of Columbia on Monday sued to block the Trump administration from stripping foreign students of visas if their colleges move exclusively to online classes amid the coronavirus pandemic. The lawsuit comes after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced last week that international students whose courses move entirely online would be required to leave the country, rescinding a previous plan to grant exemptions to student visa holders.... The challenge comes after a similar lawsuit was brought last week by Harvard and MIT, as well as litigation filed by other higher education institutions. 'The effect — and perhaps even the goal -- is to create as much chaos for universities and international students as possible,' the Harvard-MIT lawsuit ... alleged. California also filed a lawsuit last week against the Trump administration's move." ~~~

~~~ Collin Binkley of the AP: "More than 200 universities are backing a legal challenge to the Trump administration's new restrictions on international students, arguing that the policy jeopardizes students' safety and forces schools to reconsider fall plans they have spent months preparing. The schools have signed court briefs supporting Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as they sue U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in federal court in Boston. The lawsuit challenges a recently announced directive saying international students cannot stay in the U.S. if they take all their classes online this fall."

Eric Tucker of the AP: "A federal judge on Monday demanded more information about ... Donald Trump's decision to commute the prison sentence of longtime ally Roger Stone. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson ordered that the parties provide her by Tuesday with a copy of the executive order that commuted Stone's sentence. She also asked for clarity about the scope of the clemency, including whether it covers just his prison sentence or also the two-year period of supervised release that was part of his sentence." Mrs. McC: I do hope Trump submits that stupid statement the White House released Friday night. Since the statement directly contradicts a number of Judge Jackson's rulings, she should really enjoy it. I suppose, however, DOJ will come up with something more coherent to answer the judge's order.

Nomaan Merchant of the AP: "The Texas Supreme Court on Monday upheld Houston's refusal to allow the state Republican convention to hold in-person events in the city due to the coronavirus pandemic. The court dismissed an appeal of a state district judge's denial of a temporary restraining order sought by the state Republican Party.... A separate court hearing was ongoing Monday in Harris County, where Houston is located, in which a different judge was hearing the party's arguments to allow the convention to go forward." Mrs. McC: I think I heard on the teevee that the contract contains a provision allowing either of the parties to default for health & safety reasons.

Michael Balsamo of the AP: "A U.S. district judge on Monday ordered a new delay in federal executions, hours before the first lethal injection was scheduled to be carried out at a federal prison in Indiana. The Trump administration immediately appealed to a higher court, asking that the executions move forward. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan said there are still legal issues to resolve and that 'the public is not served by short-circuiting legitimate judicial process.' The executions, pushed by the administration, would be the first carried out at the federal level since 2003.... The new hold came a day after a federal appeals court lifted a hold on the execution of Daniel Lewis Lee, of Yukon, Oklahoma, which was scheduled for 4 p.m. EDT on Monday at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana. He was convicted in Arkansas of the 1996 killings of gun dealer William Mueller, his wife, Nancy, and her 8-year-old daughter, Sarah Powell."

Bad News. Frederik Pleitgen, et al., of CNN: "Poland's incumbent President Andrzej Duda has been declared the winner of this weekend's tightly fought and divisive election. Duda, backed by the nationalist ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, won with 51.21% of the vote, the country's election committee said Monday. The more liberal Warsaw mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, of the center-right opposition Civic Platform party (PO), garnered 48.79%."

~~~~~~~~~~

The Trumpidemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Sunday are here: "More than 15,000 new cases of the coronavirus were announced on Sunday in Florida, marking the highest single-day total of known cases in any state since the start of the pandemic.... Florida also saw single-day records in the counties that include Florida's largest cities, including Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Fort Myers, West Palm Beach, Pensacola and Sarasota." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

White House Puts Out Oppo Research on Fauci. Josh Lederman & Kelly O'Donnell of NBC News: "The White House is seeking to discredit Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country's leading infectious disease expert, as ... Donald Trump works to marginalize him and his dire warnings about the shortcomings of the U.S. coronavirus response. In a remarkable broadside by the Trump administration against one of its own, a White House official said Sunday that 'several White House officials are concerned about the number of times Dr. Fauci has been wrong on things.' The official gave NBC News a list of nearly a dozen past comments by Fauci that the official said had ultimately proven erroneous.... It was a move more characteristic of a political campaign furtively disseminating opposition research about an opponent than of a White House struggling to contain a pandemic that has killed more than 135,000 people, according to an NBC News tally." ~~~

~~~ Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "President Trump's advisers undercut the nation's top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, over the weekend, anonymously providing details to various news outlets about statements he had made early in the coronavirus outbreak that they said were inaccurate. The move to treat Dr. Fauci ... as if he were a warring political rival came as he has grown increasingly vocal in his concerns about the national surge in coronavirus cases, as well as his lack of access to Mr. Trump over the past several weeks.... The list of statements, laid out in the style of a campaign's opposition research document, was later released to several news outlets. It was an extraordinary move for the White House to provide news organizations with such a document about a health official who works for the administration and retains a high level of public trust.... Despite claims early on in the fight against the virus that they enjoyed each other's company, Mr. Trump has long been dismissive of Dr. Fauci in private, according to White House officials, taking note of the amount of time he spent on television and of when the doctor contradicted him during press briefings."

Mrs. McCrabbie: Sorry but this photo-op of Trump wearing a mask Saturday at Walter Reed Medical Center is ridiculous. He has to glower? He has to be in a hospital full of sick people to wear a mask? He has to be followed by an entourage of mask-wearing men in suits & military uniforms? Also, too, it's been reported staff had to beg him for a week before the hospital visit to don the mask, which includes the presidential* seal: ~~~

Pam Belluck of the New York Times: "Two of the Trump administration;s top health officials acknowledged Sunday that the country is facing a very serious situation with the onslaught of rising coronavirus cases in several states, striking a far more sober tone than President Trump at this stage of the pandemic in the United States. Adm. Brett Giroir, an assistant secretary with the Health and Human Services department, and Dr. Jerome Adams, the surgeon general, both emphasized their concern about surging outbreaks, many of them in areas where people have not followed recommended public health guidelines to contain the spread of the virus. Their remarks were in sharp contrast to Mr. Trump's contention just last week that 99 percent of the cases were 'totally harmless' and his boast of the country's low death rate from the virus." ~~~

~~~ MEANWHILE. Fadel Allassan of Axios: "Education Secretary Betsy DeVos told 'Fox News Sunday' that public schools that don't reopen in the fall should not get federal funds, and that the money should be redirected to families who can use it to find another option for their children.... The Trump administration is engaged in a full-court press to reopen schools this fall, despite warnings from some public health officials that the coronavirus outbreak is out of control in many states and that it will be difficult for many schools to reopen safely. Grilled by Fox's Chris Wallace on what the administration is doing to make to make it safer or more feasible, DeVos repeatedly stressed that 'kids cannot afford to not continue learning' and that she's not talking about places where the virus is 'out of control.'" ~~~

@BetsyDeVosED you have no plan. Teachers, kids and parents are fearing for their lives. You point to a private sector that has put profits over people and claimed the lives of thousands of essential workers. I wouldn't trust you to care for a house plant let alone my child. -- Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), in a tweet, Sunday

~~~ Dana Bash & Bridget Nolan of CNN: "Scott Brabrand, the superintendent of Fairfax County schools, says ... the best option they could come up with [was to try] to comply with US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.... Education Secretary Betsy DeVos repeatedly calls out Fairfax County, Virginia, criticizing the school system's current plan for only two days a week in the classroom as insufficient. Devos has noted that it is well funded in one of the wealthiest parts of America.... 'Covid hits all of us, and the guidelines for 6 feet social distancing simply mean that you can't put every kid back in a school with the existing square footage footprint. It's just that simple,' Brabrand said flatly in response to DeVos.... He said the school system is the size of 'five Pentagons.' 'You would need another five Pentagons of space to be able to safely accommodate all of the students in Fairfax County Public Schools,' he said, which would not only be expensive but not feasible to build in the next six weeks before school starts." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: According to the Googles, the Pentagon is 3,700,000 square feet. So, Betsy, why don't you ask the Realtor-in-Chief how to build 3,700,000 square feet of safe, wired, OSHA-compliant structures in six weeks? Maybe Donnie's friends at Fisher Industries (stories linked below) have a suggestion.

No one under the age of 20 has died of the coronavirus. We still don't know whether children can get it and transmit it to others. -- Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), explaining to Texans on KXAS-TV Dallas why opening schools was safe, July 10 ~~~

~~~ Katherine Fung of Newsweek (July 10): "Texans under the age of 19 have accounted for more than 1,700 of the state's confirmed cases of COVID-19. Earlier in April, a 17-year-old from Dallas died from complications due to coronavirus. There has also been an increase in infections among child care operations in Texas. Nearly 600 cases of the 1,799 reported cases in those businesses were among children, according to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission.... A spokesperson for Cornyn told Newsweek that his remarks are being 'widely misinterpreted' for political reasons." Mrs. McC: If you misinterpreted Cornyn's remarks for political reasons, shame on you. Sorry I missed this earlier.

New York. Jennifer Peltz, et al., of NBC 4 New York: "New York City health officials reported zero deaths related to the novel coronavirus four months after the state's first official death was recorded on March 11. According to initial data reported by the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, no one died from the virus in New York City on July 11. Officials recorded no confirmed deaths the day before as well, but did have two probable deaths. The department's data shows there hasn't been a day without a coronavirus-related death since March 13, two days after the first reported death."

Texas. The Consequences of Choosing Trump Over Fauci. Bryan Pietsch of the New York Times: "A 30-year-old man who believed the coronavirus was a hoax and attended a 'Covid party' died after being infected with the virus, according to a Texas hospital. The man had attended a gathering with an infected person to test whether the coronavirus was real, said Dr. Jane Appleby, chief medical officer at Methodist Hospital in San Antonio, where the man died."

Trump Hits a Presidential* Milestone: 20,000 Lies & Counting. Glenn Kessler, et al., of the Washington Post: "It took President Trump 827 days to top 10,000 false and misleading claims in The Fact Checker's database, an average of 12 claims a day. But on July 9, just 440 days later, the president crossed the 20,000 mark -- an average of 23 claims a day over a 14-month period, which included the events leading up to Trump's impeachment trial, the worldwide pandemic that crashed the economy and the eruption of protests over the death of George Floyd in police custody. "The coronavirus pandemic has spawned a whole new genre of Trump's falsehoods. The category in just a few months has reached nearly 1,000 claims, more than his tax claims combined."

Justin Wise of the Hill: "President Trump late Saturday lashed out at a pair of Republican senators after they criticized his decision to commute the prison sentence of ... Roger Stone.... 'Do RINO'S Pat Toomey & Mitt Romney have any problem with the fact that we caught Obama, Biden, & Company illegally spying on my campaign? Do they care if Comey, McCabe, Page & her lover, Peter S,the whole group, ran rampant, wild & unchecked - lying & leaking all the way? NO!'"

Mariam Khan of ABC News: "House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., blasted Republicans for failing to stand up to the president and for not defending the 'rule of law,' after the president moved to commute the prison sentence of his longtime friend and former campaign adviser, Roger Stone. 'I think anyone who cares about the rule of law in this country is nauseated by the fact that the president has commuted the sentence of someone who willfully lied to Congress,' Schiff told ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos on 'This Week' Sunday.... When asked by Stephanopoulos if Trump's action was an impeachable offense, Schiff said it would be if Trump abused the pardon power to protect himself from criminal liability. But, Schiff noted, 'If the Republicans won't even say a word, of course they're not going to vote to impeach and convict.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Lindsey Suggests Bob Mueller Will Pay for Writing Op-Ed. Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post: "Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) suggested Sunday that former special counsel Robert S. Mueller III may be invited to testify before his panel, although Graham did not give any details on the timing of any potential invitation. Graham's statement came one day after Mueller defended his office's prosecution of Roger Stone ... in a Washington Post op-ed.... In his statement Sunday, Graham suggested that he had reconsidered his position on allowing Mueller to testify in light of the former special counsel's op-ed. 'Apparently Mr. Mueller is willing -- and also capable -- of defending the Mueller investigation through an oped in the Washington Post,' Graham said. 'Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee have previously requested Mr. Mueller appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee to testify about his investigation. That request will be granted.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Hillel Italie of the AP: "A top prosecutor for special counsel Robert Mueller has a book coming out this fall about the two-year investigation into the alleged ties between Russia and the 2016 campaign of ... Donald Trump. Random House announced Monday that Andrew Weissmann's 'Where Law Ends: Inside the Mueller Investigation' will be published Sept. 29. Weissmann, often the target of criticism from Trump supporters, is calling the book a meticulous account of the Mueller team's probe and its ongoing battles with the Trump administration.... Weissmann said in a statement, '... the hard truth is that we made mistakes. We could have done more. 'Where Law Ends' documents the choices we made, good and bad, for all to see and judge and learn from.'" Mrs. McC: November 3 is more than 6 weeks into fall. Try to get prepublication copies out to reporters before that, Andrew.

Mrs. McCrabbie: Here's a part I accidentally left out of my outtakes from Michael Shear's NYT interview of Elaine Duke (linked yesterday), former acting Homeland Security secretary. I should have highlighted it: "She said she was especially taken aback, during the response to Hurricane Maria's devastation of Puerto Rico, when she heard Mr. Trump raise the possibility of 'divesting' or 'selling' the island as it struggled to recover. 'The president's initial ideas were more of as a businessman, you know,' she recalled. 'Can we outsource the electricity? Can we can we sell the island? You know, or divest of that asset?' (She said the idea of selling Puerto Rico was never seriously considered or discussed after Mr. Trump raised it.)" Island Swap: Buy Greenland (white people); sell Puerto Rico (browner people).

Trumpty-Dumpty's Wall Could Fall Down, Ctd.

Nomaan Merchant of the AP: "... Donald Trump on Sunday criticized a privately built border wall in South Texas that's showing signs of erosion months after going up, saying it was 'only done to make me look bad,' even though the wall was built after a months-long campaign by his supporters.... Former Trump chief strategist Steve Bannon joined the group's board and Trump ally Kris Kobach became its general counsel.... [Mrs. McC: Betsy DeVos's crazy brother Erik Prince was on the group's board, too.] The company that built the private section in January, North Dakota-based Fisher Industries, has since won a $1.3 billion border wall contract from the federal government, the largest award to date. The section in question is a roughly 3-mile (5-kilometer) fence of steel posts just 35 feet (10 meters) from the Rio Grande.... That's much closer to the river than the government ordinarily builds border barriers in South Texas because of concerns about erosion and flooding that could violate U.S. treaty obligations with Mexico.... Originally promoted by [Trump backers] We Build the Wall, the private section instead became a showcase for Fisher.... [Fisher CEO Tommy Fisher] ... promoted his company heavily on Fox News and conservative media. Another $400 million contract Fisher won last year was placed under review by the defense department's inspector general." Related ProPublica/Texas Tribune story linked yesterday. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Trump, the Man with the Perfect Memory and Unbelievable Cognitive Skills, seems to have forgotten that way last year he had "personally and repeatedly urged the head of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to award a border wall contract to a North Dakota construction firm whose top executive is a GOP donor and frequent guest on Fox News...," according to a May 2019 report in the Washington Post. "In phone calls, White House meetings and conversations aboard Air Force One during the past several months, Trump has aggressively pushed Dickinson, N.D.-based Fisher Industries to Department of Homeland Security leaders and Lt. Gen. Todd Semonite, the commanding general of the Army Corps.... The push for a specific company has alarmed military commanders and DHS officials." At that time, Fisher had already begun to construct the We Build the Wall section that is failing on purpose to make Trump look bad. Everything you need to know about the Trump presidency* is reflected in this story. With any luck, there will come a gusher in the Southwest on November 2, and the wall will fall down.


Another Ridiculous TrumperWhopper. Daniel Politi of Slate: Donald Trump "took to Twitter Sunday to defend his frequent trips to the golf course saying ... that his predecessor 'played more and much longer rounds.' And that was 'no problem' but when he decides to play, 'Fake News, CNN, and others' go to great lengths to get a picture and show people how the president is playing golf. 'Actually, I play VERY fast, get a lot of work done on the golf course, and also get a "tiny" bit of exercise.'... Trump went to his golf club in Sterling, Virginia, for the second time this weekend on Sunday, marking the 276th time he's visited a golf course as president.... In his whole first term in office, Obama played 113 rounds of golf, according to Golf Digest.... Trump's claim that he plays golf 'VERY fast' is also a bit suspect considering reports that it took hours for aides to reach Trump when he was golfing two weeks ago.... Even before he launched his campaign, Trump was fond of using his Twitter account to criticize Obama for playing golf."

Mark Meadows, Boy Detective. Jonathan Swan of Axios: "President Trump's chief of staff, Mark Meadows, has told several White House staffers he's fed specific nuggets of information to suspected leakers to see if they pass them on to reporters -- a trap that would confirm his suspicions.... This hunt for leakers has put some White House staffers on edge, with multiple officials telling Axios that Meadows has been unusually vocal about his tactics. So far, he's caught only one person, for a minor leak.... Trump has made clear to Meadows that an important part of his job is to 'find the leakers' -- a wickedly difficult task that has plagued all three of Meadows' predecessors."

Mike Jones of USA Today: "Just less than two weeks after one of his most prominent corporate sponsors [FedEx] urged him to change the name of his football team, Washington owner Daniel Snyder plans to announce the retirement of the 'Redskins' nickname and reveal a new team name Monday morning, a person with knowledge of the situation confirmed to USA Today Sports.... The new name remains unknown, but Warriors, Red Wolves and Redtails have ranked among the post popular choices among fans on social media. Snyder has long ignored requests of Native American tribes and other organizations to change the name because some deem the term offensive, citing the fact that the dictionary classifies it as a racial slur." Mrs. McC: Great choices, fans. Why not Injuns or Wagon Burners?

Ben Strauss of the Washington Post: "ESPN suspended its top NBA reporter, Adrian Wojnarowski, after he sent a profane email to Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), multiple people familiar with the situation said Sunday.... The suspension came after Hawley tweeted an image of an email from Wojnarowski on Friday in which the reporter responded to a news release from the senator's office with an expletive. Hawley's release had publicized a letter he wrote to NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. Hawley criticized the league for deciding to allow messages that promote social justice on its jerseys this summer but not allow messages that support law enforcement or are critical of China's Communist Party. In the email sent to Hawley's press office, Wojnarowski wrote, 'F--- You,' without censoring the expletive." Mrs. McC: Woj's brief note seems appropriate to me.

Kevin Blackstone of the Washington Post reminds us of "the most athletic activist feat during an era in which we have come to celebrate the notion of athlete activism[:]... Bree Newsome ... scal[ing] a 30-foot flagpole on the grounds of the South Carolina State House and snatch[ing] from its truck and finial with full dishonor a Confederate flag that flapped there..., as a rebuttal to racial justice for more than half a century.... She was arrested after coming down, flag in hand. '[Physicality] was significant,' Newsome Bass [now married] said. 'Because people see me do this labor of climbing up the pole as symbolic of the struggle to dismantle a white supremacist system.' A few weeks later, South Carolina removed the flag and stuck it in a museum." Newsome, who was not an athlete, got a Greenpeace activist to teach her how to climb a flagpole. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

News Ledes

Washington Post: "Flossie Wong-Staal, a molecular virologist who led research that helped produce seminal findings about HIV -- its genetic structure, the insidious manner in which it invades the immune system, and ways of detecting and treating it, died July 8 at a hospital in La Jolla, Calif. She was 73. The cause was complications from pneumonia not related to the novel coronavirus, said her daughter Stephanie Staal."

AP: "The body of 'Glee' star Naya Rivera was found Monday at a Southern California lake, authorities said. Ventura County Sheriff's officials confirmed at an afternoon news conference that the body that search crews found floating in the northeast corner of Lake Piru earlier in the day was the 33-year-old Rivera. The discovery came five days after ... Rivera disappeared on Lake Piru, where her son was found July 8 asleep and alone on a rented pontoon boat, authorities said. Authorities said the following day that they believed Rivera had drowned, and they had shifted to working to find her body rather than find her alive." ~~~

     ~~~ AP: "'Glee' star Naya Rivera's 4-year-old son told investigators that his mother, whose body was found in a Southern California lake Monday, boosted him back on to the deck of their rented boat before he looked back and saw her disappearing under the water, authorities said. 'She must have mustered enough energy to get her son back on the boat, but not enough to save herself,' Ventura County Sheriff Bill Ayub said at a news conference."

AP: "Kelly Preston, who played dramatic and comic foil to actors ranging from Tom Cruise in 'Jerry Maguire' to Arnold Schwarzenegger in 'Twins,' died Sunday, husband John Travolta said. She was 57. Travolta said in an Instagram post Sunday that his wife of 28 years died after a two-year battle with breast cancer." Update: Preston's New York Times obituary is here.

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