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


Monday
Jun012020

The Commentariat -- June 2, 2020

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

** Savannah Behrmann of USA Today: "There are multiple presidential primary elections taking place around the country Tuesday as election season chugs forward amid the coronavirus pandemic. Think of it as the 'Super Tuesday' of postponed elections.... Voters in seven states plus the District of Columbia will cast ballots in presidential primary elections. Originally scheduled to host primaries on Tuesday were: New Mexico, South Dakota, Washington, D.C., [and] Montana[.] Meanwhile, the states that postponed their elections to Tuesday due to COVID-19 crisis are: Indiana, rescheduled from May 5; Maryland, rescheduled from April 28; Pennsylvania, rescheduled from April 28; [and] Rhode Island, rescheduled from April 28[.] Thanks to citizen625 for the reminder.

Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: "Republicans and Democrats in Congress have begun a new push to shut down a Pentagon program that transfers military weaponry to local law enforcement departments, as bipartisan urgency builds to address the excessive use of force and the killings of unarmed black Americans by the police. With protests turning violent across the country, lawmakers are scrutinizing the Defense Department initiative -- curtailed by former President Barack Obama but revived by President Trump -- that furnishes police departments with equipment such as bayonets and grenade launchers.... Top lawmakers in both parties and on both sides of the Capitol moved quickly last week to announce their intention to hold hearings on the use of excessive force by law enforcement and racial violence.... The push stands in stark contrast to the reaction of Mr. Trump, who has often encouraged rough tactics by law enforcement.... On his call with governors on Monday, the president appeared to applaud the National Guard's handling of the riots in Minneapolis, pointedly remarking on their use of tear gas. 'They just walked right down the street, knocking them out with tear gas, tear gas,' Mr. Trump said. 'These guys, they were running.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: When he was an adult, he spake as a child. As anyone who has been around eight-year-old boys knows, that citation of Trump's remarks is word-for-word the sort of exclamation an eight-year-old boy makes.

In no world whatsoever should arresting a man for an alleged minor infraction involve a police officer putting his knee on the man's neck for nine minutes while he cries out 'I can't breathe' and then goes silent. Our nation cannot deafen itself to the anger, the pain and the frustration of black Americans. Our nation needs to hear this. -- Sen. Mitch McConnell, Monday

Don't know if this is merely Mitch's reaction to a tight re-election race or a true concern, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt -- until he knocks down proposed legislation to reduce racial disparities. -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie

Barr Falls on Trump's Sword. Alexander Mallin & Katherine Faulders of ABC News: "Attorney General William Barr personally ordered the expansion of the security perimeter around Lafayette Park Monday just before ... Donald Trump's visit to St. John's Episcopal Church, a senior DOJ official and senior White House official confirmed to ABC News.... When Barr was seen in Lafayette Park late Monday afternoon surveying the crowd prior to the aggressive push by law enforcement to clear the peaceful protesters out of the area, he was "surprised" that they had not yet been cleared out, the officials said.... Officials insisted that the decision was made independent of the president's walk to St. John's.... Officials ... [said] that Barr assumes that 'typical crowd control measures' will be used in the face of resistance from protesters."

Katie Glueck of the New York Times: "Joseph R. Biden Jr. on Tuesday excoriated President Trump's stewardship of a nation convulsed in crisis over issues of racism and police brutality, promising action to confront those matters and work to foster national unity if he is elected president. Traveling to Philadelphia from his home in Wilmington, Del., to address the civil unrest convulsing the nation, Mr. Biden ... [said,] 'I won't traffic in fear and division. I won't fan the flames of hate. I will seek to heal the racial wounds that have long plagued this country -- not use them for political gain." ~~~

~~~ MEANWHILE, Donald Trump congratulated himself for ordering "overwhelming force" to effect "domination" over peaceful protesters. ~~~

D.C. had no problems last night. Many arrests. Great job done by all. Overwhelming force. Domination. Likewise, Minneapolis was great (thank you President Trump!). -- Donald Trump, in a tweet this morning

Ben Collins, et al., of NBC: "A Twitter account claiming to belong to a national 'antifa' organization and pushing violent rhetoric related to ongoing protests has been linked to the white nationalist group Identity Evropa, according to a Twitter spokesperson. The spokesperson said the account violated the company's platform manipulation and spam policy, specifically the creation of fake accounts. Twitter suspended the account after a tweet that incited violence." --s ~~~

     ~~~ Donie O'Sullivan of CNN: "A Twitter account that tweeted a call to violence and claimed to be representing the position of 'Antifa' was in fact created by a known white supremacist group, Twitter said Monday. The company removed the account. Before it emerged the account was run by white supremacists, Donald Trump Jr. ... pointed his 2.8 million Instagram followers to the account as an example how dangerous Antifa is.... The revelation of the account comes as ... [President] Trump increasingly blames left-wing activists for violence occurring at protests across America."

Barbara Starr, et al. of CNN: "Defense officials tell CNN there was deep and growing discomfort among some in the Pentagon even before President Donald Trump announced Monday that he is ready to deploy the military to enforce order inside the United States.... They have tried to respond by making a strong case that the situation does not yet call for deploying active duty troops unless state governors make a clear argument such forces are needed.... There is also discomfort with the civil order mission among some National Guard troops -- more of whom are now mobilized inside the US than at any previous time in history." --s

~~~~~~~~~~

Tuesday's New York Times' live updates of events related to protests against police brutality are here. ~~~

~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for Tuesday are here. "Clashes between police and the public escalated Monday night, as largely peaceful daytime protests descended into violence and chaos after dark, despite widespread curfews and National Guard deployments. As the mayhem spread, authorities across the United States said they were under assault. One officer was shot on the Las Vegas Strip, and the police chief in St. Louis said 'some coward fired shots at officers and now we have four in the hospital.' Video captured a car in New York mowing down an officer, who suffered serious injuries. In Buffalo, two officers were struck by a car during a confrontation at a police station. And authorities in Seattle said rioters pelted officers with rocks and fireworks and tried to break through a fence near a police station."

Monday's New York Times' live updates of events related to protests against police brutality are here. The Washington Post's live updates for Monday are here.

Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Of all the stupid things that Donald Trump could pull from his huge collection of stupid tricks, Donald Trump chose Monday night to pull out the stupidest thing: ~~~

~~~ Zack Beauchamp of Vox: “President Trump gave his first televised statement on the George Floyd protests Monday, emphasizing the need for 'law and order' and threatening to send in the US military to violently disperse 'mobs' across the country. Just before he spoke, federal police violently broke up a peaceful protest just outside the White House, tear-gassing a group of about 1,000 demonstrators and then firing rubber bullets at them so Trump could have an uninterrupted photo op at a nearby church damaged in the weekend's upheaval." Emphasis added.

     ~~~ Samantha Schmidt, et al., of the Washington Post: "The sudden use of force left protesters bruised, bleeding and in shock.... Earlier in the day, [AG William] Barr had ordered the Federal Bureau of Prisons to send anti-riot teams to D.C.... The influx of federal law enforcement agencies was at the direction of Trump, who boasted about the military might descending upon America." ~~~

~~~ Now, if you possibly can, watch video of the photo-op for which it was worth injuring hundreds of peaceful protesters exercising the First Amendment right "of the people peaceably to assemble." Trump sort of juggles what he confirms is "a Bible" before finally deciding to hold up the Good Book as if he were doing an infomercial where the product was The Art of the Deal or a Trump "University" "diploma." ~~~

~~~ The church Trump was visiting is right across from the White House. It is St. John's Episcopal Church and is called "Church of the Presidents" because every U.S. president since James Madison has attended services there. Trump has seldom been inside. What makes his photo-op even stupider than the video reveals is that St. John's services are Episcopalian masses. To follow the mass, you will use the Book of Common Prayer, you will use a hymnal, and unless you're a really, really fantastic Episcopalian, you will use an Order of Service. You will not need a Bible. You will not bring a Bible. You will not use a Bible. But Trump, who is not familiar with Episcopalian services, much less any denomination's service, thought it would be essential to stand in front of the boarded-up church & do his best imitation of a Bible salesman. Good Lord!

I am outraged.... The president used a Bible, the most sacred text of the Judeo-Christian tradition, and one of the churches of my diocese, without even asking us, as a backdrop for a message antithetical to the teachings of Jesus and everything that our church stands for. -- Bishop Mariann E. Budde of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington

From the Washington Post's live updates Monday: "Arlington County officials pulled their police officers, who had been helping the National Park Police with crowd control, from the District after they were used to clear the way for President Trump to make his appearance at St. John's Church -- an action that involved firing chemical canisters and stingers at protesters, including families with children, who were demonstrating peacefully before the District's 7 p.m. curfew went into effect.... [Libby] Garvey (D)[, chair of Arlington County's board.] said. 'Our mutual aid agreement is to help each other when we're trying to protect people; not for photo ops. It endangered everybody in the park. It endangered all of our officers. We don't do that.'" ~~~

~~~ Why Did He Do That? Ashley Parker, et al., of the Washington Post: "The evening's events were the product of a president who favors brute strength and fears looking weak.... Trump's decision to speak to the nation from the Rose Garden and to visit the church came together earlier in the day, said one senior White House official.... The president was upset about news coverage of him briefly retreating to the White House bunker Friday evening amid protests, and he repeatedly wondered why anyone would have disclosed those details to the news media, two officials said. He was also frustrated by coverage this weekend of his call with the Floyd family, which he believed was positive -- Trump called it 'a very good call,' an official said -- but was portrayed negatively. Finally, Trump was angry at cable news footage from Sunday evening, showing protests and riots near the White House.... 'It was just to win the news cycle,' one Trump adviser said."

** Posse Comitatus Act. President* Threatens to Impose Martial Law. Caitlin Oprysko of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Monday declared himself the 'president of law and order' and said he would mobilize every available federal force both 'civilian and military' as he vowed to put an immediate end to violent protests that have swept the nation for days. In a brief statement delivered from the Rose Garden of the White House as law enforcement forces deployed tear gas to clear out protesters just on the opposite side of Pennsylvania Avenue, Trump ordered governors and mayors to establish 'an overwhelming law enforcement presence' until the protests have been quelled, and he threatened to send in the U.S. military to 'quickly solve the problem for them.'... Trump said. 'I will fight to protect you. I am your president of law and order and an ally of all peaceful protesters.'" Mrs. McC: Mind you, "the ally of all peaceful protesters" made that remark over the sound of exploding tear-gas canisters & guns firing rubber bullets against hundreds of actual peaceful protesters so he could go to his Bible photo-op. Here's how the prep for Trump's photo-op looked on the street: ~~~

Trump Is No Richard Nixon. Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: "... whereas Nixon's 'law and order' was a contrast with and rebuke to Lyndon Johnson and the Democratic Party, a Trump attempt to play the hits and recapitulate that campaign would only be an attack on his own tenure. You can't promise 'law and order' when disorder is happening on your watch.... Having promised to throw the system into disarray, Trump could not then sell himself as an avatar of order and control."

I am mobilizing all available federal resources -- civilian and military -- to stop the rioting and looting, to end the destruction and arson and to protect the rights of law-abiding Americans, including your Second Amendment rights. -- Donald Trump, Rose Garden remarks

Let's be clear: Trump mentioning 'Second Amendment rights' while discussing the protests is a direct call to arms to the right wing radicals and other armed individuals who have integrated themselves with peaceful protesters. He is asking for violence from his base. -- Prof. Igor Volsky, in a tweet

Trump just invoked the Second Amendment. As if that was part of this. Pretty much a signal for jumpy white people to walk around with guns. -- Tom Nichols, in a tweet

Where are the Second Amendment zealots who claim to worry about an overzeaolous federal government when Trump is threatening to send the military to attack and subdue American citizens on American soil? -- Neera Tanden, President of the Center for American Progress, in a tweet

Trump invoked the need to defend the Second Amendment and then walked outside and violated the First Amendment. -- Former Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul, in a tweet (all via Monday's Washington Post live updates)

~~~ ** Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "In his inaugural address, [Donald Trump] vowed an end to 'American carnage.' In his [GOP nomination] acceptance speech, he promised a fast end to the 'violence in our streets and the chaos in our communities.'... Four years later, Trump has made real the apocalyptic vision of America he imagined then. There, unfolding on live television Monday night, was a dystopian horror. Federal authorities attacked peaceful protesters outside the White House with tear gas, flash-bangs and rubber bullets, as Trump, with Orwellian gall, stood in the Rose Garden proclaiming himself 'an ally of all peaceful protesters.' Trump threatened to mobilize federal troops against U.S. citizens on U.S. soil without permission from governors -- an act associated with totalitarian countries -- then walked across Lafayette Square to St. John's Church where he held aloft a Bible.... Peaceful protesters had been gassed and forcibly dispersed so Trump could have a photo op.... Police brutality against African Americans -- and racism generally -- has plagued us for centuries. But Trump uniquely fueled fury, with his constant bigotry, his dismantling of police reforms, his encouragement of police aggression and his violent speech."

Stephen Collinson of CNN: "... Donald Trump's made-for-TV embrace of authoritarianism's imagery and tools at a brittle national moment risks unleashing toxic political forces that threaten America's democratic traditions.... in one of the most bizarre moments in modern presidential history, he strode across the park to stand in front of an iconic church holding a Bible aloft in a striking photo op. It was a moment of vanity and bravado -- orchestrated for the cameras and transparently political -- as Trump struggles to cope with protests sweeping the country ... and tries to cover up his botched leadership during the coronavirus pandemic. Overnight, the White House's official Twitter account released a triumphant video of the moment set to music but omitting any signs of the mayhem unleashed on the protesters.... The lesson of the last three years is that scenarios that appear unthinkable have a habit of coming true under a President who has little concern for constitutional constraints and believes the power of his office belongs to him."

How a Real President Would Respond to This American Tragedy. Maggie Astor of the New York Times: "... former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. emerged from isolation to meet with community leaders at a black church in Delaware. The event Monday morning, at Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, was part listening session, part campaign speech and part forum for members of Wilmington's black community to express their collective anguish.... For around an hour, Mr. Biden sat silently at the front of the church, a surgical mask covering his face, taking notes as speaker after speaker expressed versions of the same message: We support you, but you need to do more.... When Mr. Biden finally stood up to speak, he quoted the philosopher Soren Kierkegaard -- '"Faith sees best in the dark,"' he said, 'and it's been pretty dark' -- before condemning President Trump for, he said, publicly legitimizing the racism that protesters are fighting against." Mrs. McC: If Trump were smarter, he would think Kierkegaard were the Swiss soldiers who protect the pope. As he is, he probably thinks Kierkegaard is a deodorant.

A Real President Shares His Thoughts. Barack Obama in Medium: "First, the waves of protests across the country represent a genuine and legitimate frustration over a decades-long failure to reform police practices and the broader criminal justice system in the United States. The overwhelming majority of participants have been peaceful, courageous, responsible, and inspiring. They deserve our respect and support, not condemnation -- something that police in cities like Camden and Flint have commendably understood. On the other hand, the small minority of folks who've resorted to violence in various forms, whether out of genuine anger or mere opportunism, are putting innocent people at risk, compounding the destruction of neighborhoods that are often already short on services and investment and detracting from the larger cause." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ MEANWHILE. A President* Makes Another "Unhinged" Rant. Ed O'Keefe of CBS News: "President Trump unloaded on the nation's governors Monday morning, calling them 'weak' for failing to more aggressively enforce law and order over the weekend, as some of the nation's biggest cities burned in the wake of the death of George Floyd. On a video teleconference, the president warned that the law enforcement presence across Washington is set to intensify later Monday. He said the protests are ruining the nation's standing on the world stage. And he called on governors to pass new bans on flag burning, a constitutionally protected expression of free speech. 'Washington was under very good control, but we're going to have it under much more control,' Mr. Trump said, according to audio of the meeting obtained by CBS News. 'We're going to pull in thousands of people.' He added later: 'We're going to clamp down very, very strong.'... During the call, the president repeatedly called into question the leadership and decisions made over the weekend by governors and big-city mayors, imploring them to make broader use of the National Guard and other military capabilities. 'You're making a mistake because you're making yourselves look like fools,' he told the governors at one point. 'And some have done a great job. But a lot of you, it's not -- it's not a great day for our country.... You have to dominate, if you don't dominate you're wasting your time. They're going to run over you. You're going to look like a bunch of jerks. You have to dominate,' the president told governors.... 'And most of you are weak.'... One participant on the call described the president's words and tone as 'unhinged.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ BUT There Is This:

General Milley is here who's head of Joint Chiefs of Staff, a fighter, a warrior, and a lot of victories and no losses. And he hates to see the way it's being handled in the various states. And I've just put him in charge. The attorney general is here, Bill Barr, and we will activate Bill Barr and activate him very strongly. We're strongly -- the secretary of defense is here. -- Donald Trump, phone call with U.S. governors

I think the sooner that you mass and dominate the battlespace, the quicker this dissipates and we can get back to the right normal. We need to dominate the battlespace. -- Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, phone call with U.S. governors

Just to allow the freedom to assemble and the freedom of speech. That's perfectly fine; we support that. We took an oath of allegiance to the Constitution of the United States of America to do that, to protect everyone's rights, and that's what we do. -- Current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, wearing full camo battledress, telling reporters what he was telling with members of the D.C. National Guard

... America is not a battleground. Our fellow citizens are not the enemy. #BeBetter -- Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Martin Dempsey, in a tweet, responding to Esper ~~~

~~~ Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post: "President Trump's Rose Garden remarks Monday night triggered a firestorm of criticism from congressional Democrats, several of whom denounced the president's threat to deploy the military domestically as the behavior of a would-be authoritarian leader.... 'It is un-American to use our service members to 'dominate' civilians, as both the President and Secretary of Defense have suggested,' House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith (D-Wash.) said in a statement. 'We live in a democracy, not a dictatorship.' Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) decried Trump's remarks as 'fascist,' while Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Ky.) tweeted that Trump had 'just declared war on millions of Americans and the 1st Amendment.'" ~~~

If a city or a state refuses to take the actions that are necessary to defend the life and property of their residents, then I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them. -- Donald Trump, Rose Garden speech ~~~

~~~ Can He Do That? Yes He Can. Matt Zapotosky of the Washington Post: "President Trump has the legal authority to deploy active-duty military personnel to states to help quell violent protests across the country over the death of a black man in police custody.... A law called the Posse Comitatus Act prohibits the domestic use of military for law enforcement purposes without specific congressional authorization.... But a different law, the Insurrection Act, provides the president authorization to do so under certain circumstances.... The act was invoked in 1992 during riots in California over the beating of motorist Rodney King, though in that instance, the state's governor requested it. It was also used during the civil rights movement, including when President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent the Army into Little Rock to desegregate its schools...." ~~~

~~~ Dareh Gregorian, et al., of NBC News: "To activate the military to operate in the U.S., Trump would have to invoke the 213-year-old Insurrection Act, which four people familiar with the decision had told NBC News he planned to do. The military police forces would come from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and possibly Fort Belvoir, Virginia, and they could arrive in Washington within hours, these people said.... To invoke the act, Trump would first have to issue a proclamation to 'immediately order the insurgents to disperse and retire peaceably to their abodes within a limited time.'..." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Having spent a couple of minutes scanning Wikipedia's entries on the Insurrection Act & Posse Comitatus Act, I'm now an expert. And I'm not sure a president* has the legal right to invoke it unless a governor invites him to do so or unless a state is breaking federal law. When Eisenhower sent in federal troops to enforce school integration, he did so because the state was violating the U.S. Constitution. When Bush I sent troops to L.A., he did so at the governor's request. The Insurrection Act, which is an amendment to the Posse Comitatus Act, specifies that the Army can "disperse insurgents." But what is an insurgent? According to Webster, it is "a person who revolts against civil authority or an established government." Peaceable demonstrators are protected by the First Amendment. They are not insurgents unless they're breaking a law or a lawful order; say, violating a curfew or failing to get a required permit to gather. But if Trump were to send in troops over the objections of the state governor, & those troops attempted to disburse lawful protesters, I think the actions would be unlawful. Trump & his henchmen are on shaky legal grounds here.

** Martin Longman in the Washington Monthly: "There is zero chance that Trump can set things right. His own White House advisers don't even want him to try.... Like [Lyndon] Johnson, Trump should step aside. It won't fix everything, but he won't fix anything. He is completely used up and utterly bankrupt." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Paul Krugman of the New York Times: "The core story of U.S. politics over the past four decades is that wealthy elites weaponized white racism to gain political power, which they used to pursue policies that enriched the already wealthy at workers' expense.... What has Trump really offered to the white working class that makes up most of his base? Basically, he has provided affirmation and cover for racial hostility. And nowhere is this clearer than in his relationship with the police.... On one side, [Trump is] effectively inciting violence by his supporters. On the other, he's very close to calling for a military response to social protest."

Casey Tolan & Ashley Fantz of CNN: "During the Obama administration, high-profile police shootings of black men like Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri and Laquan McDonald in Chicago helped spark sweeping federal investigations and reforms of biased policing practices.... But under ... Donald Trump, the Department of Justice has all but abandoned broad investigations into unconstitutional policing practices, a half-dozen former DOJ lawyers who worked on similar cases told CNN -- essentially giving up on one of the federal government's most effective tools to fight police misconduct. While the Justice Department launched 12 investigations of law enforcement agencies for practices that violate the Constitution during George W. Bush's first term, and 15 during Barack Obama's first term, the department has opened only a single public investigation of that kind in the three and a half years since Trump became president, according to legal experts and DOJ records." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Marc Tracy & Rachel Abrams of the New York Times: "Many reporters, photographers and press advocates said the treatment of journalists by police officers in recent days reflected an erosion of trust in the news media that has seeped into law enforcement under President Trump, who has deemed critical coverage of his administration 'fake news' and has frequently labeled some news organizations and journalists with variants of the phrase 'enemies of the people.'... On Sunday, Mr. Trump blamed the 'Lamestream Media' for the protests in a tweet, calling journalists 'truly bad people with a sick agenda.'... In interviews, reporters said they had identified themselves as members of the press before police fired projectiles, drew their weapons or pepper-sprayed them.... 'There is now a culture of impunity for attacks on the press,' said Bruce Shapiro ... of the ... Columbia University School of Journalism. 'It's essentially the abandonment of press freedom as an American value.'" The reporters cite incident after incident, all of which are sickening. ~~~

~~~ Elahe Izadi & Paul Farhi of the Washington Post: "While the unrest sparked by the Minneapolis death of George Floyd in police custody is posing challenges for all reporters, black journalists are laboring under extra complications -- from the fear of police racially profiling them as demonstrators to the psychic toll of covering yet another black death captured on bystander video." ~~~

If you can't keep a Fox News correspondent from getting attacked directly across from your house, how can you protect my family? How are you going to protect the country? How hard are you trying? On Twitter..., the president reassured America that he and his family were just fine. Their federally-funded bodyguards kept them safe. He did not mention protecting the rest of the nation, some of which was on fire. He seemed aware only of himself. -- Tucker Carlson of Fox "News," Monday

Minnesota. Amir Vera of CNN: "An independent autopsy found that George Floyd's death was a homicide and the unarmed black man died of 'asphyxiation from sustained pressure.' The autopsy says compression to Floyd's neck and back led to a lack of blood flow to his brain. Floyd was essentially 'dead on the scene' in Minneapolis on May 25, said Ben Crump, attorney for the Floyd family.... 'The ambulance was his hearse,' Crump told reporters Monday.... 'There is no other health issue that could cause or contribute to the death,' said Dr. Michael Baden, one of the independent medical examiners. 'Police have this false impression that if you can talk, you can breathe. That's not true.' The independent autopsy's findings come after the Hennepin County Medical Examiner found 'no physical findings' to 'support a diagnosis of traumatic asphyxia or strangulation," according to the criminal complaint." Mrs. McC: Dr. Vin Gupta, an MSNBC medical expert, said the county's autopsy was not credible. Dr. Eddie Glaude said on MSNBC that it has become clear that there is a conspiracy among the police, the Hennepin County attorney & medical examiner to cover up the cause of Floyd's death. (paraphrases) (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Frances Robles & Audra Burch of the New York Times: "Shortly after the family's autopsy findings were announced, the Hennepin County medical examiner released its own findings, also concluding that the manner of death was homicide. The county attributed the cause of death to 'cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression.' In other words, Mr. Floyd's heart stopped beating and his lungs stopped taking in air while he was being restrained by law enforcement. The one-page summary also noted that Mr. Floyd was intoxicated with fentanyl and had recently used methamphetamines."

"Let's Do This Another Way." George Floyd's brother Terrance Floyd makes impromptu remarks at a makeshift memorial in Minneapolis:

Justin Glawe, et al., of the Daily Beast have more on the tanker truck that barreled into a crowd of thousands peacefully protesting on the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis: "Laura Eltawely told The Daily Beast she and her husband, Ahmad, along with their four small children, were trying to exit the bridge when police drove up an entrance ramp and inexplicably fired tear gas into the crowd fleeing the truck. 'They were openly gassing people that they knew were running away from the incident they were responding to,' Eltawely said Sunday. The couple and their kids, aged 1 month to 10 years old, took shelter in an apartment building. 'This was a daytime peaceful demonstration,' Eltawely added. 'We had no idea there would be clashes with police.'" Related stories linked below. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: These cops elected a white supremacist to head their union. According to several reports I've heard, after some people on the bridge dragged the truck driver from his cab & began beating, a larger number of protesters moved to protect him even though he had tried to run them down. There's now video of the incident in this Star Ledger report. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Former Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, in a Politico opinion piece, acknowledges that the Minneapolis police department has a race problem: "... we have a majority of officers who let a minority of officers create an us-vs.-them culture that over time dehumanizes the people and neighborhoods the officers are supposed to protect and serve. Throw race into this toxic mix and you end up with behavior that often has to be named for what it is: racism." Rybak suggests several ways to reduce racist acts, but the "police culture" is the most difficult to change.

Kentucky. Ben Kesslen of NBC News: "A man was shot dead in Louisville after police officers and the Kentucky National Guard 'returned fire' while clearing a large crowd early Monday. Louisville Metro Police Chief Steve Conrad said in a statement that at around 12:15 a.m. his officers and the National Guard were sent to a parking lot to break up a crowd. 'Officers and soldiers began to clear the lot and at some point were shot at,' Conrad said in a statement. 'Both LMPD and National Guard members returned fire, we have one man dead at scene[.]' In a statement Monday morning, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear ... said he has asked the Kentucky State Police to independently investigate the shooting." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Billy Kobin and Kala Kachmar of the Louisville Courier Journal: "A city reeling from four straight nights of violent protests woke Monday to learn that the owner of a beloved West End eatery had been shot by police and National Guards troops responding to gunfire. David McAtee, known in the Russell neighborhood for his popular barbeque stand outside of Dino's Food Mart, was killed early Monday morning as Louisville Metro Police and National Guard were trying to break up a 'large crowd' in the parking lot of the mart.... Hours after the governor publicly asked Louisville officials to release a 'significant' amount of body camera footage from the incident 'as soon as possible, the city announced there wasn't any. Two LMPD officers involved in the shooting either had failed to activate or were not wearing body cameras during the incident, Mayor Greg Fischer told the public Monday night. The mayor also said Monday he fired LMPD Chief Steven Conrad, who announced he would retire at the end of June amid mounting public pressure following the police killing of 26-year-old ER technician Breonna Taylor." ~~~

     ~~~ Update 2. Aída Chávez of the Intercept: "David McAtee laid [lay!] in the streets of Louisville, Kentucky, for over [more than!] 12 hours on Monday. McAtee had been killed by law enforcement just after midnight on Sunday, May 31, amid days of protests over police violence nationwide. Noon the next day, protesters were gathered at the site. McAtee's body was still there.... Acting Chief Robert Schroeder, at [a] press conference, seemed to walk back [Gov. Andy] Beshear's statement [that Metro Police and/or National Guardsmen had killed McAtee] pending investigation."

Sheera Frenkel & Mike Isaac of the New York Times: "Dozens of Facebook employees, in rare public criticism on Monday of their own company, protested executives' decision not to do anything about inflammatory posts that President Trump had placed on the giant social media platform over the last week. The employees, who took the day off by logging into Facebook's systems and requesting time off to support protesters across the country, also added an automated message to their emails saying that they were out of the office in a show of protest.... More than a dozen current and former employees have described the unrest as the most serious challenge to [Mark] Zuckerberg's leadership since the company was founded 15 years ago.... 'Facebook's inaction in taking down Trump's post inciting violence makes me ashamed to work here,' said Lauren Tan, a Facebook engineer, in a tweet on Friday. 'Silence is complicity.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Jonathan Swan of Axios: On Friday, after Trump had sent his 'when the looting starts, the shooting starts' tweet, & Twitter had squelched it, "Trump phoned Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. During the call, Zuckerberg 'expressed concerns about the tone and the rhetoric, according to a source familiar with the call. Zuckerberg 'didn't make any specific requests," the source said. A second source familiar with the call said the Facebook boss told Trump that he personally disagreed with the president's incendiary rhetoric and that by using language like this, Trump was putting Facebook in a difficult position." Mrs. McC: Aw, Mark, I feel so sad for you. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Makena Kelly of the Verge: "Twitter has restricted a tweet from Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) for violating its policies against glorifying violence, following a similar action taken against ... Donald Trump last week. In a tweet published Monday, Gaetz wrote, 'Now that we clearly see Antifa as terrorists, can we hunt them down like we do those in the Middle East?' The post was retweeted over 12,000 times before Twitter took action against it. Hours after it was posted, Twitter determined that it violated its policies against glorifying violence. In doing so, the tweet is hidden from Gaetz's profile and users must click a 'view' button before seeing. Likes, retweets, and replies are all disabled from the tweet in an effort to limit its reach."


Tom Vanden Brook of USA Today: "The Army has determined 16 West Point cadets have tested positive for COVID-19 after returning to the campus for a commencement address by President Trump scheduled for June 13, according to sources on Capitol Hill. The affected cadets, a fraction of the 850 who have returned to the campus since spring break in March, are receiving treatment but are not showing symptoms of the disease, Army Lt. Gen. Darryl Williams, the West Point superintendent, said in an interview. Williams, who declined to specify the number of cadets affected, said screening and safety procedures will allow the ceremony to be held safely." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

David Leonhardt & Lauren Leatherby of the New York Times: "The four large countries where coronavirus cases have recently been increasing fastest are Brazil, the United States, Russia and Britain. And they have something in common. They are all run by populist male leaders who cast themselves as anti-elite and anti-establishment.... This pattern isn't a coincidence, many political scientists believe. Illiberal populists tend to reject the opinions of scientists and promote conspiracy theories.... The pattern is apparent beyond just those countries, too. Iran -- a country with a theocratic supreme leader -- is fifth in case growth over the past two weeks among countries with at least 50 million people.... Countries run by women appear to have been more successful in fighting the virus, as some observers have previously noted. Germany, New Zealand and Taiwan are all examples.... The connection between populist leaders and bad outbreaks is not perfect. Viktor Orban in Hungary and Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines are also illiberal populists who responded quickly. Case counts appear to be relatively low in both countries. Both Mr. Orban and Mr. Duterte have used the crisis as an excuse to crack down further on political opponents."

Debbie Cenziper, et al., of the Washington Post: "More than 25,000 residents died and 60,000 were infected as the coronavirus swept through U.S. nursing homes in recent months, particularly affecting facilities with a history of low marks for staffing and patient care, the federal government reported Monday. The virus also infected 34,000 staff and took the lives of more than 400, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the federal agency that oversees the nation's nursing homes.... The tally, however, is incomplete. Only about 80 percent of the nation's nursing homes reported data to the federal government, and they were required only to include cases since early May."

Presidential Race

An ad by the conservative Lincoln Group to air in some swing states & in the Washington, D.C. market:

Comments Off
Sunday
May312020

The Commentariat -- June 1, 2020

Afternoon Update:

Amir Vera of CNN: "An independent autopsy found that George Floyd's death was a homicide and the unarmed black man died of 'asphyxiation from sustained pressure.' The autopsy says compression to Floyd's neck and back led to a lack of blood flow to his brain. Floyd was essentially 'dead on the scene' in Minneapolis on May 25, said Ben Crump, attorney for the Floyd family.... 'The ambulance was his hearse,' Crump told reporters Monday.... 'There is no other health issue that could cause or contribute to the death,' said Dr. Michael Baden, one of the independent medical examiners. 'Police have this false impression that if you can talk, you can breathe. That's not true.' The independent autopsy's findings come after the Hennepin County Medical Examiner found 'no physical findings' to 'support a diagnosis of traumatic asphyxia or strangulation," according to the criminal complaint." Mrs. McC: Dr. Vin Gupta, an MSNBC medical expert, said the county's autopsy was not credible. Dr. Eddie Glaude said on MSNBC that it has become clear that there is a conspiracy among the police, the Hennepin County attorney & medical examiner to cover up the cause of Floyd's death. (paraphrases)

"Let's Do This Another Way." George Floyd's brother Terrance Floyd makes impromptu remarks at a makeshift memorial in Minneapolis:

Ben Kesslen of NBC News: "A man was shot dead in Louisville after police officers and the Kentucky National Guard 'returned fire' while clearing a large crowd early Monday. Louisville Metro Police Chief Steve Conrad said in a statement that at around 12:15 a.m. his officers and the National Guard were sent to a parking lot to break up a crowd. 'Officers and soldiers began to clear the lot and at some point were shot at,' Conrad said in a statement. 'Both LMPD and National Guard members returned fire, we have one man dead at scene[.]' In a statement Monday morning, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear ... said he has asked the Kentucky State Police to independently investigate the shooting."

Justin Glawe, et al., of the Daily Beast have more on the tanker truck that barreled into a crowd of thousands peacefully protesting on the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis: "Laura Eltawely told The Daily Beast she and her husband, Ahmad, along with their four small children, were trying to exit the bridge when police drove up an entrance ramp and inexplicably fired tear gas into the crowd fleeing the truck. 'They were openly gassing people that they knew were running away from the incident they were responding to,' Eltawely said Sunday. The couple and their kids, aged 1 month to 10 years old, took shelter in an apartment building. 'This was a daytime peaceful demonstration,' Eltawely added. 'We had no idea there would be clashes with police.'" Related stories linked below. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Bear in mind that these cops elected a white supremacist to head their union. According to several reports I've heard on TV, after some people on the bridge dragged the truck driver from his cab & began beating, a larger number of protesters moved to protect him even though he had tried to run them down. There's now video of the incident in this Star Ledger report.

A Real President Shares His Thoughts. Barack Obama in Medium: "First, the waves of protests across the country represent a genuine and legitimate frustration over a decades-long failure to reform police practices and the broader criminal justice system in the United States. The overwhelming majority of participants have been peaceful, courageous, responsible, and inspiring. They deserve our respect and support, not condemnation -- something that police in cities like Camden and Flint have commendably understood. On the other hand, the small minority of folks who've resorted to violence in various forms, whether out of genuine anger or mere opportunism, are putting innocent people at risk, compounding the destruction of neighborhoods that are often already short on services and investment and detracting from the larger cause." ~~~

~~~ MEANWHILE. A President* Makes Another "Unhinged" Rant. Ed O'Keefe of CBS News: "President Trump unloaded on the nation's governors Monday morning, calling them 'weak' for failing to more aggressively enforce law and order over the weekend, as some of the nation's biggest cities burned in the wake of the death of George Floyd. On a video teleconference, the president warned that the law enforcement presence across Washington is set to intensify later Monday. He said the protests are ruining the nation's standing on the world stage. And he called on governors to pass new bans on flag burning, a constitutionally protected expression of free speech. 'Washington was under very good control, but we're going to have it under much more control,' Mr. Trump said, according to audio of the meeting obtained by CBS News. 'We're going to pull in thousands of people.' He added later: 'We're going to clamp down very, very strong.'... During the call, the president repeatedly called into question the leadership and decisions made over the weekend by governors and big-city mayors, imploring them to make broader use of the National Guard and other military capabilities. 'You're making a mistake because you're making yourselves look like fools,' he told the governors at one point. 'And some have done a great job. But a lot of you, it's not --it's not a great day for our country.... You have to dominate, if you don't dominate you're wasting your time. They're going to run over you. You're going to look like a bunch of erks. You have to dominate,' the president told governors.... 'And most of you are weak.'... One participant on the call described the president's words and tone as 'unhinged.'" ~~~

~~~ ** Martin Longman in the Washington Monthly: "There is zero chance that Trump can set things right. His own White House advisers don't even want him to try.... Like [Lyndon] Johnson, Trump should step aside. It won't fix everything, but he won't fix anything. He is completely used up and utterly bankrupt."

Casey Tolan & Ashley Fantz of CNN: "During the Obama administration, high-profile police shootings of black men like Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri and Laquan McDonald in Chicago helped spark sweeping federal investigations and reforms of biased policing practices.... But under ... Donald Trump, the Department of Justice has all but abandoned broad investigations into unconstitutional policing practices, a half-dozen former DOJ lawyers who worked on similar cases told CNN -- essentially giving up on one of the federal government's most effective tools to fight police misconduct. While the Justice Department launched 12 investigations of law enforcement agencies for practices that violate the Constitution during George W. Bush's first term, and 15 during Barack Obama's first term, the department has opened only a single public investigation of that kind in the three and a half years since Trump became president, according to legal experts and DOJ records."

Sheera Frenkel & Mike Isaac of the New York Times: "Dozens of Facebook employees, in rare public criticism on Monday of their own company, protested executives' decision not to do anything about inflammatory posts that President Trump had placed on the giant social media platform over the last week. The employees, who took the day off by logging into Facebook's systems and requesting time off to support protesters across the country, also added an automated message to their emails saying that they were out of the office in a show of protest.... More than a dozen current and former employees have described the unrest as the most serious challenge to [Mark] Zuckerberg's leadership since the company was founded 15 years ago.... 'Facebook's inaction in taking down Trump's post inciting violence makes me ashamed to work here,' said Lauren Tan, a Facebook engineer, in a tweet on Friday. 'Silence is complicity.'" ~~~

~~~ Jonathan Swan of Axios: On Friday, after Trump had sent his 'when the looting starts, the shooting starts' tweet, & Twitter had squelched it, "Trump phoned Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. During the call, Zuckerberg 'expressed concerns about the tone and the rhetoric,' according to a source familiar with the call. Zuckerberg 'didn't make any specific requests," the source said. A second source familiar with the call said the Facebook boss told Trump that he personally disagreed with the president's incendiary rhetoric and that by using language like this, Trump was putting Facebook in a difficult position." Mrs. McC: Aw, Mark, I feel so sad for you.

An ad by the conservative Lincoln Group to air in some swing states & in the Washington, D.C. market:

Tom Vanden Brook of USA Today: "The Army has determined 16 West Point cadets have tested positive for COVID-19 after returning to the campus for a commencement address by President Trump scheduled for June 13, according to sources on Capitol Hill. The affected cadets, a fraction of the 850 who have returned to the campus since spring break in March, are receiving treatment but are not showing symptoms of the disease, Army Lt. Gen. Darryl Williams, the West Point superintendent, said in an interview. Williams, who declined to specify the number of cadets affected, said screening and safety procedures will allow the ceremony to be held safely."

~~~~~~~~~~

Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: If you have ever lived or worked in a major American city, you can turn on the teevee and find your old haunts under siege and/or on fire. In the 1960s -- the last time widespread rioting plagued the nation -- there was no cable TV, there was no Internet. The news reached us in small clips on the evening news and in newspaper & magazine photos & stories. Unless you lived in the thick of a hard-hit city, the experience was not so immediate as it is today. It was shocking then; it is more shocking now.

The New York Times' live updates Monday of protests around the country are here. The Washington Post's live updates for Monday are here.

What a Real President Would Do in a Crisis. Rishika Dugyala of Politico: "Former Vice President Joe Biden on Sunday left his home for a site in Wilmington, Del., that has seen protests over the death of a black man at the hands of a white police officer.... Videos on his Instagram story show the presumptive Democratic nominee taking photos and chatting with other masked men.... Wilmington was one of the cities that saw peaceful protests take a turn Saturday when people began looting businesses." Mrs. McC: Sadly, no pix published yet of Bunker Boy tweeting while crouched in a corner of a hermetically-sealed White House basement closet.

The New York Times' live updates Sunday of protests around the country are here. "In Washington, the police fired tear gas at protesters who set fires near the White House. In Minneapolis, a tanker truck sped into a crowd on a highway overpass as hundreds of demonstrators scattered for safety. And in New York and other cities, a tense mood followed a night of street battles, burned cars and hundreds of arrests. The United States remained a tinderbox of emotion, anger and spasms of violence on Sunday, the sixth day of nationwide unrest since the death of yet another black man at the hands of the police. The death of the man, George Floyd, last week in Minneapolis set off days of protracted protests. In Santa Monica, Calif., looters shoved aside barricades to vandalize and ransack stores Sunday, while in nearby Huntington Beach protesters against police brutality clashed with right-wing groups. And in Louisville, a tense confrontation in the middle of a crowded street was partially defused when a black woman stepped forward and offered a policeman in riot gear a hug." ~~~

~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for Sunday are here. "At least five people have been killed in violence that flared as demonstrations in parts of the country devolved into mayhem. Gunfire rang out from Detroit to Indianapolis, where authorities said people were slain in shootings connected to the protests. In Omaha, a 22-year old black protester was killed in a struggle with a local business owner on Saturday night." ~~~

~~~ Hunkered in His Bunker. "President Trump was taken by Secret Service agents to an underground bunker at the White House on Friday night, according to two officials familiar with the incident, as protests over Floyd's death erupted near the presidential residence." An AP story about Bunker Boy is here. ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Let me think. What other world leader do we associate with living in a bunker as his nation crumbled around him? No doubt Trump was confined to his bunker Sunday night, too, as fires burned in Lafayette Park right next to the White House. Fortunately, Trump was able to take his Twitterphone with him: he sent out a tweet at 8 pm that said only "FAKE NEWS!" in extra-large caps. Apparently the Secret Service is trying to calm him by telling him all the mayhem he sees on the teevee -- including right outside his front door -- is some kind of made-for-TV extravaganza. "It's just like 'The Apprentice," Sir. All fake."

Neil MacFarquhar of the New York Times: "Amid the rush to assign blame for the widespread violence and vandalism breaking out in American cities, accusations that extremists or other outside agitators were behind the destruction continued to ricochet online and on the airwaves on Sunday.... The Trump administration blamed what it called the radical left, naming antifa..., that has come to be associated with a diffuse movement of left-wing protesters who engage in more aggressive techniques like vandalism. Others said white supremacists and far-right groups were responsible.... Far-right adherents generated an avalanche of posts on social media in recent days suggesting the unrest was a sign that the collapse of the American system they have long awaited was at hand. These groups, known as 'accelerationists,' attempt to promote any circumstances that might speed that goal.... [Some] believe that sparking a race war would ultimately bring about the establishment of a pure white ethnic state in at least part of the current United States.... Some participants included heavily armed members of the militia movement, ardent supporters of the Second Amendment right to bear arms.... Members of hate groups or far-right organizations filmed themselves, sometimes heavily armed or waving extremist symbols, at demonstrations in at least 20 cities in recent days...." An AP story is here. ~~~

~~~ Can He Do That? Nope. Maggie Haberman & Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "President Trump said on Twitter on Sunday that the United States would designate a group of far-left anti-fascism activists as a terrorist organization, a declaration that lacked any clear legal authority, as his administration sought to blame the group for violent protests across the nation over the weekend.... It was not clear that Mr. Trump's declaration would have any real meaning beyond his characteristic attempts to stir a culture-war controversy, attract attention and please his conservative base. First, antifa is not an organization. It does not have a leader, membership roles or any defined, centralized structure.... More important..., the laws that permit the federal government to deem entities terrorists and impose sanctions on them are limited to foreign groups. There is no domestic terrorism law.... Nevertheless, in a statement after Mr. Trump's tweet, Attorney General William P. Barr said the F.B.I. would ... identify violent protesters, whom he also called domestic terrorists.... Earlier Sunday, Mr. Trump's national security adviser, Robert C. O'Brien, had blamed such activists during appearances on CNN and ABC News, saying that he had not seen anything to corroborate reports by the Department of Homeland Security and the news media that far-right groups were also stoking violence." A Politico story is here. Thanks to Bobby Lee for the lead. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ David Fahrenthold & Devlin Barrett of the Washington Post: "Police in several cities significantly increased their use of force Saturday night against protesters decrying police use of force -- wielding batons, rubber bullets and pepper spray in incidents that also targeted bystanders and journalists. Some of the most aggressive actions were taken by police in Minneapolis, where the protests began. There, a video posted online showed police arresting a local TV cameraman, firing nonlethal projectiles at a CBS TV crew and firing a round that scatters paint into a group of people watching from their front porch.... The use of force by police sometimes seemed unconnected to any threat that they faced, and aimed at people who had little to do with the violent protests.... 'I supported the actions that were out there. I gave the order to go with them,' said Gov. Tim Walz (D), though he said the use of force toward reporters was 'unacceptable.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

Brian Stelter of CNN: "From Minneapolis to Washington DC, from Louisville to Las Vegas, reporters are facing assault and arrest while reporting on widespread protests and unrest. At least a half dozen different incidents were reported on Friday, starting with the wrongful arrest of a CNN crew in Minneapolis and ending with the arrest of two photographers in Las Vegas. Another disturbing episode took place on Saturday, when Ian Smith, a photojournalist for KDKA TV in Pittsburgh, said he was 'attacked' by protesters downtown. 'They stomped and kicked me,' he wrote in a tweet from the back of an ambulance. 'I'm bruised and bloody but alive. My camera was destroyed. Another group of protesters pulled me out and saved my life. Thank you!'... Many TV networks are dispatching private security guards to support journalists who are in the field at protests.... Security guards were involved when a Fox News crew was harassed and chased out of Lafayette Park, one block from the White House, on Friday night. Videos of the incident showed protesters cursing at Fox and criticizing right-wing media." There's more. It's awful. A photographer in Minneapolis says a rubber bullet blinded her in one eye. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Matthew Dessem of Slate: "The ongoing protests following the killing of George Floyd were caught up in violence again on Saturday, as police all over the country tear-gassed protesters, drove vehicles through crowds, opened fire with nonlethal rounds on journalists or people on their own property, and in at least one instance, pushed over an elderly man who was walking away with a cane. Here are some of the ways law enforcement officers escalated the national unrest." Dessem goes on to republish first-hand accounts. Here's one from Michael Adams of Vice News, who was in Minneapolis : "Police just raided the gas station we were sheltering at. After shouting press multiple times and raising my press card in the air, I was thrown to the ground. Then another cop came up and peppered sprayed me in the face while I was being held down." The full thread of Adams' experience at the gas station is here. Take the time to watch some of the brief videos in Dessem's post. They're horrifying. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Frances Robles of the New York Times reports some of the same stories. "The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press logged about 10 different incidents that ranged from assaults to menacing in Phoenix, Indianapolis, Atlanta and Minneapolis." (Also linked yesterday.)~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Say, Donald, you might want to designate a few of these police departments as "domestic terrorist groups," like the force in Minneapolis who hit Los Angeles Times reporter Molly Hennessy-Fiske with a rubber bullet, then chased down her, along with other reporters even as the journalists were begging to cooperate. "Hennessy-Fiske said she escaped after scaling a wall, with two bloody wounds to her leg. On Sunday, President Trump and officials in Minnesota praised the more aggressive police response the night before." Oh. So no terrorist designation, I guess. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: But of course the really worst thing about this tweety-declaration is Trump's difficulty with capitalization. He wrote that he had "designating ANTIFA as a Terrorist Organization." There's no reason to capitalize "terrorist" or "organization," except perhaps as a joke, as one might capitalize, say, "Morbidly Obese Orange Menace." And by setting "antifa" in all caps, it appears Trump thinks "antifa" is an acronym, like, say, "MOOM." Maybe "Anyone Not a Trump-Indoctrinated FAn"??? It isn't; "antifa" is short for "anti-fascist." Sad!

Peter Baker & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "By targeting antifa..., Mr. Trump effectively paints all the protests with the brush of violent radicalism without addressing the underlying conditions that have driven many people to the streets. Mr. Trump spent Sunday out of sight, even as some of his campaign advisers were recommending that he deliver a nationally televised address before another night of violence.... While some aides urged him to keep off Twitter, Mr. Trump could not resist blasting out a string of messages earlier in the day berating Democrats for not being tough enough and attributing the turmoil to radical leftists.... While Mr. Trump has been a focus of anger, particularly among the crowds in Washington, aides repeatedly have tried to explain to him that the protests were ... about broader, systemic issues related to race, according to several people.... Privately, advisers complained about his tweets, acknowledging that they were pouring fuel on an already incendiary situation. 'Those are not constructive tweets, without any question,' Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, the only black Republican in the Senate, said in an interview on 'Fox News Sunday.'" A related NBC News story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Here's the funniest sentence in Baker & Haberman's story: "A group of advisers discussed plans for [Trump to lead] a series of 'listening' events." Ha ha ha ha ha. Donald Trump can't listen to anybody, ever. Even the grieving family of George Floyd. ~~~

~~~ Mary Papenfuss of the Huffington Post: "A condolence phone call from ... Donald Trump ended up frustrating George Floyd's brother, who said Trump 'didn't give [him] the opportunity to even speak. 'It hurt me,' Philonise Floyd said in an interview Saturday on MSNBC.... The call with Trump was 'so fast,' Floyd told the Rev. Al Sharpton on 'Politics Nation.'... 'It was hard. I was trying to talk to him, but he just kept, like, pushing me off, like: "I don't want to hear what you're talking about."'" Mrs. McC: When is a condolence call not a condolence call? When Trump calls a black person. (Also linked yesterday.)

Jennifer Senior of the New York Times: "Derek Chauvin ... embodied something essential about Trumpism: It's us versus them. That's the poison ethos at the heart of police brutality, and it's the septic core of our 45th president's philosophy. Neither a toxic cop nor Donald Trump sees himself as a servant of all the people they've sworn to protect. They are solely servants of their own. Everyone else is the enemy."

Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: "In cities across America on Sunday, people awoke to see shattered glass, charred vehicles, bruised bodies and graffiti-tagged buildings. Demonstrators gathered again in peaceful daytime protest of racial injustice. By evening, thousands had converged again in front of the White House, where people had rioted and set fires the night before. President Trump stayed safely ensconced inside and had nothing to say, besides tweeting fuel on the fire. Never in the 1,227 days of Trump's presidency has the nation seemed to cry out for leadership as it did Sunday, yet Trump made no attempt to provide it.... Trump let his tweets speak for themselves. One attacked the Democratic mayor of Minneapolis; another announced that his administration would designate the antifa movement a terrorist organization; a third accused the media of fomenting hatred and anarchy; and in yet another, he praised himself for the deployment of the National Guard and denigrated former vice president Joe Biden. In one of his missives, Trump wrote, 'Get tough Democrat Mayors and Governors. These people are ANARCHISTS. Call in our National Guard NOW. The World is watching and laughing at you and Sleepy Joe. Is this what America wants? NO!!!'"

Jonathan Allen of NBC News: "When Trump first addressed the nation as its president on Jan. 20, 2017, he depicted the nation's cities as domestic combat zones and declared 'this American carnage stops right here and stops right now.' Back then, it was hyperbole at best. But it's become reality on his watch, and he has encouraged further violence. More than 100,000 Americans have lost their lives, and another 40 million their livelihoods, amid a coronavirus pandemic to which Trump was slow to react. Against that backdrop, cities across the country are now combustible cauldrons of fear, anger, fire and tear gas as Trump has responded to the violence with threats and little evidence of understanding its cause. Since the police killing of George Floyd, a black man, in Minneapolis last week, Trump has largely thrown rhetorical Molotov cocktails over the front lines of the national uprising from the safety of his White House bunker. In other words, the president met protests against state violence with calls for more of it."

** P.D. Pepe, in today's Comments thread, takes a fond look back at what Citizen Trump had to say about President Barack Obama during the protests & riots following the police killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.

David Gergen in a CNN opinion piece: "Reagan, Clinton, Bush, Obama< /strong>-- two Republicans, two Democrats -- served as our 'Mourners in Chief.' All four bound us together for a few moments, and we remembered who we are and who we can be. Why has our current 'Mourner in Chief' gone AWOL? God knows. But his flight from responsibility is yet another sadness among this week's tragic losses." Mrs. McC: Sorry, David, Trump has 'slipped the surly bonds of earth' to touch down on an alternate planet where he is a hero & all his lies are true. (Also linked yesterday.)

This AP story has brief items on protest developments in cities around the U.S.

Minnesota. Alex Johnson of NBC News: "Minnesota's governor appointed state Attorney General Keith Ellison on Sunday to lead the prosecution of any cases arising from the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody.... Gov. Tim Walz announced Ellison's appointment as lead prosecutor shortly after the Hennepin County prosecutor said he had asked Ellison to 'assist' in the investigation, two days after 10 members representing Minneapolis in the state House asked Walz in a letter to transfer the case to Ellison. 'Unfortunately, our constituents, especially constituents of color, have lost faith in the ability of Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman to fairly and impartially investigate and prosecute these cases,' the letter said. Walz said that he had spoken extensively with Floyd's family, who had asked that Ellison take over the case...." ~~~

~~~ Shaila Dewan & Serge Kovaleski of the New York Times: "In nearly two decades with the Minneapolis Police Department, Derek Chauvin faced at least 17 misconduct complaints, none of which derailed his career. Over the years, civilian review boards came and went, and a federal review recommended that the troubled department improve its system for flagging problematic officers. All the while, Mr. Chauvin tussled with a man before firing two shots, critically wounding him. He was admonished for using derogatory language and a demeaning tone with the public. He was named in a brutality lawsuit. But he received no discipline other than two letters of reprimand. It was not until Mr. Chauvin, 44, was seen in a video with his left knee pinned to the neck of a black man, prone for nearly nine minutes and pleading for relief, that the officer, who is white, was suspended, fired and then, on Friday, charged with murder.... Even as outrage has mounted over deaths at the hands of the police, it remains notoriously difficult in the United States to hold officers accountable, in part because of the political clout of police unions, the reluctance of investigators, prosecutors and juries to second-guess an officer's split-second decision and the wide latitude the law gives police officers to use force." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Chauvin Is Not Alone. Emily Siegel, et al., of NBC News: "Since the beginning of 2015, officers from the Minneapolis Police Department have rendered people unconscious with neck restraints 4 times, according to an NBC News analysis of police records. Several police experts said that number appears to be unusually high. Minneapolis police used neck restraints at least 237 times during that span, and in 16 percent of the incidents the suspects and other individuals lost consciousness, the department's use-of-force records show. A lack of publicly available use-of-force data from other departments makes it difficult to compare Minneapolis to other cities of the same or any size." ~~~

~~~ Scott Lemieux in LG&$: "As we briefly alluded to a couple days ago, the head of the Minneapolis police union is a white supremacist with a history of both engaging in and explicitly supporting abusive conduct by police. Last year, he appeared at a Trump rally to praise him for ending attempts by Obama's DOJ to reign in police misconduct. Lemieux goes on to quote extensively from a post by Jonathan Chait, linked 2nd here. ~~~

~~~ Daniel Politi of Slate: "In a confusing episode that authorities are still trying to clear up, a tanker truck sped toward a crowd of thousands of demonstrators who were marching on a bridge in Minneapolis late Sunday afternoon to protest the killing of George Floyd. Demonstrators managed to scatter, and surprisingly there were no immediate reports of any seriously injured protesters. The harrowing scene was caught on video from multiple angles and shows how the tanker truck barreled toward the crowd that was on the I-35W bridge." ~~~

     ~~~ James Walsh of the Minneapolis Star Tribune: "... witnesses on the 35W bridge over the Mississippi River said dozens of marchers were sitting or had taken a knee for a moment of silence when the truck came hurtling toward them and stopped halfway across the bridge. Then demonstrators swarmed the cab and appeared to drag the driver out of the truck. Minneapolis police closed in and took the driver, who was injured, into custody. An Otsego, Minn., man was being held on probable cause for assault. The state said it had no confirmation of any protesters being injured, but some may have sought medical attention themselves. [State Public Safety Commissioner John] Harrington said between 5,000 and 6,000 people were on the bridge at the time. The State Patrol and the BCA are investigating the incident as a criminal matter." ~~~

     ~~~ KSTP St. Paul Update: "Authorities have identified a truck driver who was arrested after he drove through a crowd protesting on I-35W in Minneapolis as Bogdan Vechirko. Vechirko has been booked in the Hennepin County Jail." Includes mugshot, which shows an apparent injury to the bridge of Vechirko's nose.

California. Brittany Martin of Los Angeles Magazine: "Video captured by World Magazine reporter Sophia Lee Hyun ... depicts a police SUV stopped at a crosswalk on a mostly empty street adjacent to [Los Angeles'] Pershing Square. Two people stand directly in front of the vehicle.... After a moment of hesitation at the crosswalk..., the driver swerves and accelerates as a man falls to the ground and appears to briefly slip beneath the vehicle&'s front end. Rather than stop, the vehicle rapidly reverses into the empty street, then turns and speeds away. According to Hyun the victim was not severely injured.... The sight of a police vehicle striking a civilian is reminiscent of a number of reports from Saturday's protests in New York City. That city's mayor has called today for a formal investigation into law enforcement behavior after at least two police SUVs were documented plowing into a group of demonstrators." Includes video (Mrs. McC: which caused me to gasp.)

New York. Henry Austin, et al., of NBC News: "New York Mayor Bill de Blasio defended the New York City Police Department after a pair of the force's SUVs drove into a crowd during Saturday's protest against George Floyd's death. De Blasio reacted after videos were posted to social media, which showed protestors moving a yellow barrier in front a police vehicle in Brooklyn. Protestors threw traffic cones and other items at the SUV as a second vehicle arrived and slowly drove through the crowd forming around it. The first vehicle then drove into the barricade at a higher speed, sending people sprawling. Multiple city officials told NBC News there were no injuries as a result of the incident.... In a news conference late Saturday, he called the video 'upsetting,' but said protestors were wrong to surround the SUVs." Includes video. ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Maybe de Blasio would have been less complacent if his daughter were one of the protesters the police drove into. ~~~

~~~ Larry Celona & Tamar Lapin of the New York Post: "New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's daughter was arrested at a Manhattan protest on Saturday night, law enforcement sources told The Post on Sunday. Chiara de Blasio, 25, was taken into custody around 10:30 p.m. after cops declared an unlawful assembly at 12th Street and Broadway in Lower Manhattan, the sources said. She had allegedly been blocking traffic on Broadway and was arrested after refusing to move, the source said." ~~~

Running SUVs in crowds of people should never, ever be normalized. No matter who does it, no matter why. -- Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D), stating the obvious in a tweet, Sunday ~~~

~~~ Dana Rubenstein & Jeffery Mays of the New York Times: "... Mayor Bill de Blasio's conflicted response to the incident highlighted the challenges he has faced in managing a crisis rooted in issues he has long pledged to tackle in New York City: racial discrimination, police abuses and inequality. At a news conference on Sunday, the mayor called for an investigation, but also took pains to try to explain the officers' actions, saying that the situation 'was created by a group of protesters blocking and surrounding a police vehicle, a tactic that we had seen before in the last few days, a tactic that can be very, very dangerous to everyone involved.... And we've seen direct attacks on police officers, including in their vehicles.'"

Washington, D.C. Samantha Schmidt, et al., of the Washington Post: "The third day of protests in the nation's capital over George Floyd's death began with bent knees, raised fists and pleas that this night, unlike the last, would remain peaceful.... Then came darkness and with it, another night of mayhem. American flags and parked cars and buildings were lit ablaze -- including St. John's Church, a historic landmark opened in 1816 and attended by every president since James Madison. Firefighters quickly extinguished the basement fire, which police was intentionally set. Downtown, metal baseball bats bashed through shop windows, and looters roamed, hitting stores in Tenleytown and Friendship Heights miles from the White House. In the park, protesters faced the familiar pop, pop, pop of pepper bullets and stinging clouds of tear gas...."

Earth. Javier Hernández & Benjamin Mueller of the New York Times: "In many parts of the world, the death of yet another black man at the hands of the police in the United States is setting off mass protests against police brutality and reviving concerns that America is abandoning its traditional role as a defender of human rights. On the streets of Berlin and Vancouver, in halls of power in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and Beijing, a chorus of criticism has erupted alongside the unrest in the United States over the death of George Floyd.... Paired with the global anger at American police violence ... has been another demand: that lawmakers heed the signs of racism and police abuse in their own countries.... Beyond local instances of racism and police violence, the widespread condemnation also reflected growing unease about America's rapidly eroding moral authority on the world stage.... In many places, demonstrators are taking direct aim at Mr. Trump and his policies...." The article reports reactions & events in numerous countries. ~~~

~~~ Danica Kirka of the AP: "Nations around the world have watched in horror at the civil unrest in the United States following the death of George Floyd.... Thousands gathered in central London on Sunday to offer support for American demonstrators. Chanting 'No justice! No peace!' and waving placards with the words 'How many more?' at Trafalgar Square, the protesters ignored U.K. government rules banning crowds because of the pandemic. Police didn't stop them. Demonstrators then marched to the U.S. Embassy, where a long line of officers surrounded the building.... Protesters in Denmark also converged on the U.S. Embassy on Sunday. Participants carried placards with messages such as 'Stop Killing Black People.' The U.S. Embassy in Berlin was the scene of protests on Saturday [and in Berlin's Kreuzberg area] ... Sunday... In China, the protests are being viewed through the prism of U.S. government criticism of China's crackdown on anti-government protests in Hong Kong.... Russia accused the United States of 'systemic problems in the human rights sphere.'

China. Helen Davidson of the Guardian: "Chinese officials and state media have seized on news of the protests sweeping the US, comparing the widespread unrest to the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong and accusing Washington of hypocrisy.... The US administration has been vocal in support of the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong, particularly since Beijing's declaration it would impose national security laws on the semi-autonomous region.... At a press conference on Monday, foreign ministry spokesman, Lijian Zhao urged the US to eliminate racial discrimination and protect the lawful rights of minorities, according to state-backed media, CGTN.... On Sunday China's foreign ministry spokeswoman, Hua Chunying posted 'I can't breathe' -- [George] Floyd's last words -- to Twitter, with a screenshot of her American counterpart criticising China's crackdown on Hong Kong.... Zhao also retweeted numerous comments and reports on the protests, including from Russia's deputy representative to the UN, accusing the US of double standards. 'Why US denies China's right to restore peace and order in HK while brutally dispersing crowds at home?' said Dmitry Polyanskiy."


The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments are here. "Mass protests over police violence against black Americans in at least 75 U.S. cities have spurred concern that the gatherings will seed new outbreaks." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ "The United States has delivered two million doses of [hydroxychloroquine] to Brazil for use in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, and the two countries are embarking on a joint research effort to study whether the drug is safe and effective for the prevention and early treatment of Covid-19, the White House announced Sunday.... The donated doses will be used as a prophylactic 'to help defend' Brazil's nurses, doctors and health care professionals against infection, and will also be used as a therapeutic to treat Brazilians who become infected, the White House said."

Lenny Berstein of the Washington Post: "The rules of the covid-19 pandemic, so recently learned at considerable inconvenience, have been discarded on the streets in recent days. Protesters frequently find it impossible to stay six feet apart, to avoid hand-to-hand contact or to dodge the respiratory droplets of their shouting, chanting comrades amid the swirling chaos. And because the virus can be spread by people with no symptoms, it can be impossible to figure out whom to avoid. Officials are clearly worried about the possible impact of the protests on the health crisis. As of Sunday, the United States had recorded 1.7 million coronavirus infections and 103,000 covid-19 deaths -- a disproportionate number of them black and brown people. D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) said she is concerned about renewed outbreaks caused by large demonstrations in the nation's capital. And Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms (D) urged her city's demonstrators to seek tests for the virus as soon as possible."

Mattathias Schwartz of the New York Times Magazine writes a long feature for the magazine on Bill Barr. Mrs. McC: I skimmed parts of the story. Although Schwartz seems to take a neutral POV of Barr -- "some say.../critics argue...," I think Barr comes across in the article as the POS he is (IMHO, of course).

When Quiz Shows Were Crooked But the President Was Not. David Marino-Nachison of the Washington Post: "Herbert Stempel, the Bronx-born brainiac who became a central figure and whistleblower in the game show rigging scandals of the 1950s, a cultural turning point later chronicled in the 1994 movie 'Quiz Show,' died April 7 at a nursing home in New York City. He was 93." The New York Times obituary is here. Mrs. McC: The film "Quiz Show" is painful to watch, but it's a very good movie, IMO. (Also linked yesterday.)

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Saturday
May302020

The Commentariat -- May 31, 2020

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments are here. "Mass protests over police violence against black Americans in at least 75 U.S. cities have spurred concern that the gatherings will seed new outbreaks."

Can He Do That? Nope. Maggie Haberman & Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "President Trump said on Twitter on Sunday that the United States would designate a group of far-left anti-fascism activists as a terrorist organization, a declaration that lacked any clear legal authority, as his administration sought to blame the group for violent protests across the nation over the weekend.... It was not clear that Mr. Trump's declaration would have any real meaning beyond his characteristic attempts to stir a culture-war controversy, attract attention and please his conservative base. First, antifa is not an organization. It does not have a leader, membership roles or any defined, centralized structure.... More important..., the laws that permit the federal government to deem entities terrorists and impose sanctions on them are limited to foreign groups. There is no domestic terrorism law.... Nevertheless, in a statement after Mr. Trump's tweet, Attorney General William P. Barr said the F.B.I. would ... identify violent protesters, whom he also called domestic terrorists.... Earlier Sunday, Mr. Trump's national security adviser, Robert C. O'Brien, had blamed such activists during appearances on CNN and ABC News, saying that he had not seen anything to corroborate reports by the Department of Homeland Security and the news media that far-right groups were also stoking violence." A Politico story is here. Thanks to Bobby Lee for the lead. ~~~

~~~ David Fahrenthold & Devlin Barrett of the Washington Post: "Police in several cities significantly increased their use of force Saturday night against protesters decrying police use of force -- wielding batons, rubber bullets and pepper spray in incidents that also targeted bystanders and journalists. Some of the most aggressive actions were taken by police in Minneapolis, where the protests began. There, a video posted online showed police arresting a local TV cameraman, firing nonlethal projectiles at a CBS TV crew and firing a round that scatters paint into a group of people watching from their front porch.... The use of force by police sometimes seemed unconnected to any threat that they faced, and aimed at people who had little to do with the violent protests.... 'I supported the actions that were out there. I gave the order to go with them,' said Gov. Tim Walz (D), though he said the use of force toward reporters was 'unacceptable.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Say, Donald, you might want to designate a few of these police departments as "domestic terrorist groups," like the force in Minneapolis who hit Los Angeles Times reporter Molly Hennessy-Fiske with a rubber bullet, then chased down her, along with other reporters even as the journalists were begging to cooperate. "Hennessy-Fiske said she escaped after scaling a wall, with two bloody wounds to her leg. On Sunday, President Trump and officials in Minnesota praised the more aggressive police response the night before." Oh. So no terrorist designation, I guess. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: But the really worst thing about this tweety-declaration is Trump's difficulty with capitalization. He wrote that he had "designating ANTIFA as a Terrorist Organization." There's no reason to capitalize "terrorist" or "organization," except perhaps as a joke, as one might capitalize, say, "Morbidly Obese Orange Menace." And by setting "antifa" in all caps, it appears Trump thinks "antifa" is an acronym, like, say, "MOOM." Maybe "Anyone Not a Trump-Indoctrinated FAn"??? It isn't; "antifa" is short for "anti-fascist."

Mary Papenfuss of the Huffington Post: "A condolence phone call from ... Donald Trump ended up frustrating George Floyd's brother, who said Trump 'didn’t give [him] the opportunity to even speak. 'It hurt me,' Philonise Floyd said in an interview Saturday on MSNBC.... The call with Trump was 'so fast,' Floyd told the Rev. Al Sharpton on 'Politics Nation.'... 'It was hard. I was trying to talk to him, but he just kept, like, pushing me off, like: "I don't want to hear what you're talking about."'" Mrs. McC: When is a condolence call not a condolence call? When Trump calls a black person. ~~~

~~~ David Gergen in a CNN opinion piece: "Reagan, Clinton, Bush, Obama -- two Republicans, two Democrats -- served as our 'Mourners in Chief.' All four bound us together for a few moments, and we remembered who we are and who we can be. Why has our current 'Mourner in Chief' gone AWOL? God knows. But his flight from responsibility is yet another sadness among this week's tragic losses." Mrs. McC: Sorry, David, Trump has 'slipped the surly bonds of earth' to touch down on an alternate planet where he is a hero & all his lies are true.

Brian Stelter of CNN: "From Minneapolis to Washington DC, from Louisville to Las Vegas, reporters are facing assault and arrest while reporting on widespread protests and unrest. At least a half dozen different incidents were reported on Friday, starting with the wrongful arrest of a CNN crew in Minneapolis and ending with the arrest of two photographers in Las Vegas. Another disturbing episode took place on Saturday, when Ian Smith, a photojournalist for KDKA TV in Pittsburgh, said he was 'attacked' by protesters downtown. 'They stomped and kicked me,' he wrote in a tweet from the back of an ambulance. 'I'm bruised and bloody but alive. My camera was destroyed. Another group of protesters pulled me out and saved my life. Thank you!'... Many TV networks are dispatching private security guards to support journalists who are in the field at protests.... Security guards were involved when a Fox News crew was harassed and chased out of Lafayette Park, one block from the White House, on Friday night. Videos of the incident showed protesters cursing at Fox and criticizing right-wing media." There's more. It's awful. A photographer in Minneapolis says a rubber bullet blinded her in one eye. ~~~

~~~ Matthew Dessem of Slate: "The ongoing protests following the killing of George Floyd were caught up in violence again on Saturday, as police all over the country tear-gassed protesters, drove vehicles through crowds, opened fire with nonlethal rounds on journalists or people on their own property, and in at least one instance, pushed over an elderly man who was walking away with a cane. Here are some of the ways law enforcement officers escalated the national unrest." Dessem goes on to republish first-hand accounts. Here's one from Michael Adams of Vice News, who was in Minneapolis: "Police just raided the gas station we were sheltering at. After shouting press multiple times and raising my press card in the air, I was thrown to the ground. Then another cop came up and peppered sprayed me in the face while I was being held down." The full thread of Adams' experience at the gas station is here. Watch some of the videos in Dessem's post. They're horrifying. ~~~

     ~~~ Frances Robles of the New York Times reports some of the same stories. "The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press logged about 10 different incidents that ranged from assaults to menacing in Phoenix, Indianapolis, Atlanta and Minneapolis."

Shaila Dewan & Serge Kovaleski of the New York Times: "In nearly two decades with the Minneapolis Police Department, Derek Chauvin faced at least 17 misconduct complaints, none of which derailed his career. Over the years, civilian review boards came and went, and a federal review recommended that the troubled department improve its system for flagging problematic officers. All the while, Mr. Chauvin tussled with a man before firing two shots, critically wounding him. He was admonished for using derogatory language and a demeaning tone with the public. He was named in a brutality lawsuit. But he received no discipline other than two letters of reprimand. It was not until Mr. Chauvin, 44, was seen in a video with his left knee pinned to the neck of a black man, prone for nearly nine minutes and pleading for relief, that the officer, who is white, was suspended, fired and then, on Friday, charged with murder.... Even as outrage has mounted over deaths at the hands of the police, it remains notoriously difficult in the United States to hold officers accountable, in part because of the political clout of police unions, the reluctance of investigators, prosecutors and juries to second-guess an officer's split-second decision and the wide latitude the law gives police officers to use force."

When Quiz Shows Were Crooked But the President Was Not. David Marino-Nachison of the Washington Post: "Herbert Stempel, the Bronx-born brainiac who became a central figure and whistleblower in the game show rigging scandals of the 1950s, a cultural turning point later chronicled in the 1994 movie 'Quiz Show,' died April 7 at a nursing home in New York City. He was 93." The New York Times obituary is here. Mrs. McC: The film "Quiz Show" is painful to watch, but it's a very good movie, IMO.

~~~~~~~~~~

The New York Times' live updates Sunday of protests around the nation are here. "A largely peaceful day of protests descended into a night of chaos, destruction and sporadic violence overnight Saturday as tens of thousands of people poured into streets across the United States to express anger and heartbreak over the death of yet another black man at the hands of the police. On Sunday morning..., the vast scope of the unrest came into sharper focus. Squad cars had been set on fire in Philadelphia, stores were looted in Los Angeles, police officers in Richmond, Va., were injured and hospitalized, and at least one person was killed in Indianapolis.... As protests spread from coast to coast, mayors in more than two dozen cities declared curfews -- the first time so many local leaders have simultaneously issued such orders in the face of civic unrest since 1968, after the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In several cities, the National Guard was brought in to assist overwhelmed local police.... 'We are a nation in pain, but we must not allow this pain to destroy us,' former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. said on Sunday. 'We are a nation enraged, but we cannot allow our rage to consume us.'" An NPR story is here. ~~~

    ~~~ Dominic Patten of Deadline: "While his expected rival at the ballot box empathetically spoke to Americans for the second day in a row over the May 25 death of Floyd from a now murder charged ex-Minneapolis cop, Donald Trump stayed silent (even on Twitter) in the White House." Deadline has Biden's full statement at the link.

Marissa Lang, et al., of the Washington Post: "By nightfall [Saturday], nearly 1,000 protesters were circling the perimeter of the White House grounds, which was fortified with law enforcement vehicles, metal barriers and rows of armored Secret Service, D.C. police and U.S. Park Police. Sweating, packed closely together and shouting through masks worn to protect themselves from the deadly coronavirus still consuming the Washington region, the protesters launched fireworks and threw bottles at the officers, who swung batons and fired pepper-spray projectiles to push them back. As the sun began to set, D.C. National Guard trucks rumbled through the streets. As demonstrators made little headway in their efforts to approach the White House, they dispersed into smaller groups through downtown D.C., burning and breaking windows as they went. A CVS, optometrist's office, liquor store and Indian restaurant several blocks from the White House were looted.... At the entrance to The Oval Room, an upscale District restaurant that was attacked, a message was spray-painted in red: The rich aren't safe anymore!... There was no sign Saturday that supporters of the president had launched any counter-protests in the District."

John Eligon, et al., of the New York Times: "The nation woke on Saturday to extraordinary images of chaos and unrest from outside the White House gates to the streets of more than two dozen besieged cities, as outrage over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis traversed a razor's edge between protest and civic meltdown. As atate and local leaders braced for more protests over the weekend in cities around the country, they called for calm and vowed to react strongly to protesters who defied the law. Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota said on Saturday that he was activating thousands of National Guard troops -- up to 13,200 -- to control protesters in Minneapolis who turned out in droves for the fourth consecutive night on Friday, burning buildings to the ground, firing guns near the police and overwhelming officers. But he declined the Army's offer to deploy military police units."

The New York Times' live updates Saturday of protests around the nation are here. Saturday & Sunday's Washington Post live updates are here. The Guardian's live updates for Saturday & Sunday are here.

Minnesota. Trevor Hughes of USA Today: "The mayor [of Minneapolis] and governor [of Minnesota] say outside agitators are hijacking peaceful protests over the death of George Floyd and literally fanning the flames of destruction.... The mayor later acknowledged the majority of arrests so far have been of Minnesota residents.... Small groups, dressed in black, carrying shields and wearing knee pads..., head toward the front lines of the protest. Helmets and gas masks protect and obscure their faces, and they carry bottles of milk to counteract tear gas and pepper spray. Most of them appear to be white. They carry no signs and don't want to speak to reporters. Trailed by designated 'medics' with red crosses taped to their clothes, these groups head straight for the front lines of the conflict. Night after night in this ravaged city, these small groups do battle with police and the National Guard, kicking away tear gas canisters and throwing back foam-rubber projects fired at them. Around them, fires break out. Windows are smashed. Parked cars destroyed. USA Today reporters have witnessed the groups on multiple nights, in multiple locations. Sometimes they threaten those journalists who photograph them destroying property." ~~~

~~~ Sergei Klebnikov of Forbes: "According to Saint Paul Mayor Melvin Carter, every person arrested in the city [Friday] night was from out of state.... Department of Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington confirmed evidence of white supremacist groups trying to incite violence; Many posted messages online that encouraged people to go loot in Minneapolis and cause mayhem." ~~~

~~~ Christopher Ingraham of the Washington Post: Minneapolis, a "city known as one of the most livable places in the United States, is also home to some of the nation's biggest racial disparities. The typical black family in Minneapolis earns less than half as much as the typical white family.... And homeownership among blacks is one-third the rate of white families.... Roughly one-quarter of black families in Minneapolis own their home, which is one of the lowest black homeownership rates in the U.S. The city's white families, by contrast, have one of the nation's highest rates at 76 percent.... Only Madison, Wisconsin, and Scranton-Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania, have larger gulfs."

California. CBS News San Francisco: "As tensions began to soar on the streets of Oakland Friday night, a gunman opened fired on two Federal Protective Service officers posted at the city's federal building, killing one of them and sending the other to the hospital with critical injuries. In a statement to KPIX 5 the FBI said the incident occurred at around 9:45 p.m. 'A vehicle approached the building,' the statement read. 'An individual inside the vehicle began firing shots at contracted security officers for the Federal Protection Service of the Department of Homeland Security. One officer was killed and another injured.' The Oakland police tweeted Friday night that they did not believe the shooting was related to the violence that would later break out on the nearby streets during a demonstration sparked by the police custody death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Oakland police spokeswoman Johnna Watson could not confirmed the tweet -- 'Still under investigation, unknown if related.[']... At [least] 18 people were arrested, six Oakland police officers were injured, buildings damaged, a freeway blocked, a Walgreens looted and a fire set at Mercedes Benz Oakland during the hours of violence that erupted following what had been a peaceful demonstration by a crowd estimated to be at least 7,500."

Illinois. Bob Brigham of the Raw Story: "Protesters marched on Trump Tower in Chicago on Saturday, as Chicago police in riot gear and on horses defend the president's building. State police were deployed to the scene to back up local police, who are reportedly arresting protesters. On video showed protesters taking a knee in solidarity with Colin Kaepernick. Actor John Cusack was among those documenting the protest."

New York. Alan Feuer & Azi Paybarah of the New York Times: "Thousands of demonstrators protesting the death of George Floyd took to the streets of New York City for a third day on Saturday, blocking traffic, tagging police cars with graffiti and massing at separate marches in Harlem, Brooklyn, Queens and outside Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan."

Ohio. Melanie Zanona & John Bresnahan of Politico: "Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty and several top African-American local officials were pepper sprayed by Columbus, Ohio, police during protests Saturday afternoon over the death of George Floyd. Beatty was marching with Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin and Franklin County Commissioner Kevin Boyce when a confrontation broke out near them. A female protester had one foot in the street, according to Beatty, when police officers began pushing their bicycles up against the crowd to keep them on the sidewalk. Beatty said she witnessed Columbus police pull a man from the crowd and slam him to the ground. She said she rushed over to the scene to try to deescalate the situation.... Several officers used pepper spray on the protesters, including Beatty and Hardin, according to the video footage.... 'It was an unnecessary use of force,' Beatty said. 'For the officers to come not in a protective mode, but in an adversarial mode, in my opinion was also a part of the problem.'"

Oklahoma. Today seems like an appropriate day to acknowledge the 99th anniversary of the destruction of Black Wall Steet in Tulsa, OK, May 31st 1921. --s

Peter Baker of the New York Times: "With a nation on edge, ravaged by disease, hammered by economic collapse, divided over lockdowns and even face masks and now convulsed once again by race, President Trump's first instinct has been to look for someone to fight. Over the last week, America reeled from 100,000 pandemic deaths, 40 million people out of work and cities in flames over a brutal police killing of a subdued black man. But Mr. Trump was on the attack against China, the World Health Organization, Big Tech, former President Barack Obama, a cable television host and the mayor of a riot-torn city. While other presidents seek to cool the situation in tinderbox moments like this, Mr. Trump plays with matches. He roars into any melee he finds, encouraging street uprisings against public health measures advanced by his own government, hurling made-up murder charges against a critic, accusing his predecessor of unspecified crimes, vowing to crack down on a social media company that angered him and then seemingly threatening to meet violence with violence in Minneapolis." ~~~

~~~ Trump's Childish Tweets du Matin. Matthew Choi & Craig Howie of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Saturday morning warned protesters who forced the White House into partial lockdown would face 'vicious dogs' and 'ominous weapons' if they breached the building's perimeter, praised the actions of the Secret Service and appeared to call his supporters to defy authorities by staging a counter protest. 'Great job last night at the White House by the U.S. @SecretService. They were not only totally professional, but very cool. I was inside, watched every move, and couldn't have felt more safe. They let the "protesters" scream & rant as much as they wanted, but whenever someone.... ...got too frisky or out of line, they would quickly come down on them, hard - didn't know what hit them,' Trump tweeted. 'Big crowd, professionally organized, but nobody came close to breaching the fence. If they had they would.... ....have been greeted with the most vicious dogs, and most ominous weapons, I have ever seen. That's when people would have been really badly hurt, at least. Many Secret Service agents just waiting for action,' he added. The president also appeared to call for a counter protest, tweeting: 'Tonight, I understand, is MAGA NIGHT AT THE WHITE HOUSE???'... D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced the partial lifting of lockdown measures Wednesday, though gatherings of more than 10 remain prohibited." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Needless to say, calling for a MAGA rally is INSANE in a city that (a) disallows gatherings of more than ten, (b) where anti-Trump protesters are likely to show up, and (c) where the vast majority of residents can't stand him. As for the "vicious dogs," I think Trump means to remind us of Birmingham, Alabama police chief Bull Connor, who unleashed attack dogs on protesters. ~~~

     ~~~ Yup. Riley Beggin of Vox: “Many responded Saturday by pointing out the similarities between Trump's 'vicious dogs' threat and law enforcement response to people of color demonstrating for civil rights in the 1960s, when police used canine units to break up peaceful protests." ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Trump wrote in his "vicious dogs" tweet, "Many Secret Service agents just waiting for action. We put the young ones on the front line, sir, they love it....' The "sir," once again, is the tell. It seems inconceivable that a Secret Service supervisor would make such a remark, much less actually "put the young ones on the front line." Trump probably learned this story from watching a movie in which some general "put the young ones on the front line" so the enemy's attack would look more like an atrocity.

~~~ Steve M. "... this isn't the way a normal authoritarian acts tough. A normal authoritarian somberly orders a crackdown on dissent. Blood is spilled. People die. Mass arrests take place. What we have here is Trump saying, 'You people are experiencing unrest, but I'm fine -- I'm protected by big bruisers!' And if my choice of words suggests that I'm seeing something homoerotic in this, well, look at Trump's own words: 'Many Secret Service agents just waiting for action. "We put the young ones on the front line, sir...'" It's as if Trump is an effete, effeminate emperor luxuriating in a 1950s biblical epic, surrounded by a musclebound Praetorian guard.... I still don't believe he'll order an American Tiananmen -- he'd rather just let the states and cities deal with the unrest and then blame them, which is exactly how he's responding to the coronavirus." ~~~

~~~ Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "A day after claiming he didn't mean to suggest that law enforcement officials should shoot people who were part of the unrest in Minnesota, President Trump said on Saturday that the Secret Service had been prepared to sic the 'most vicious dogs' on protesters outside the White House gates on Friday night.... Talking to reporters as he left the White House [for the Kennedy Space Center], Mr. Trump was asked about his tweet that seemed to invite his own supporters to rally outside the White House. As he often does, Mr. Trump distanced himself from his own statements, saying he was merely asking a question and that he didn't know if people were coming. He claimed not to be trying to stoke racial strife.... Once in Florida, as several of his advisers urged him to modulate his rhetoric, he once again sounded a note different than his threats from earlier in the day and on Twitter. 'The death of George Floyd on the streets of Minneapolis was a grave tragedy,' Mr. Trump said. 'It should never have happened. It has filled Americans all over the country with horror, anger and grief.'... On Twitter on Saturday, Mr. Trump also denounced several mainstream news outlets, a day after a CNN reporter was arrested on camera for no apparent reason by police officers in riot gear in Minneapolis, and a female reporter for a local television station was shot with what appeared to be pepper balls by an officer in Louisville, Ky." ~~~

~~~ Matt Shuham of TPM: "A reporter Saturday afternoon asked Trump if the comment could 'be stoking more racial violence or more racial discord.' 'No, not at all,' Trump responded. 'MAGA says "Make America Great Again." These are people that love our country. I have no idea if they're going to be here. I was just asking. 'By the way,' he added, 'they love African-American people. They love black people. MAGA loves the black people.'... Pressed by a reporter on whether he wasn't 'calling on them to hold a counter-protest,' Trump stopped himself mid-answer. 'No, I don't -- I don't care, I mean, I don't care,' he said." ~~~

~~~ Karen Tumulty of the Washington Post: "Being Trump, he also could not resist getting in a shot at a perceived political adversary, writing that Washington Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) 'who is always looking for money & help, wouldn't let the D.C. Police get involved.' In fact, according to my Post colleagues who reported from the scene [as outlined in the story linked immediately above], there were indeed District police officers, as well as Park Police, working in tandem to push the protesters through the park, until the group finally broke up." Mrs. McC: This is one of Trump's ways of blaming black people (Bowser is black) for everything: See, black people all know each other & the blackity-black mayor won't help save the POTUS* from her professional protester friends. Meanwhile, MAGA is so filled with Christian forgiveness that MAGA loves the black people.

Speaking of Bull Connor, Steven Levingston of the Washington Post reports on how President John F. Kennedy dealt with protests in Birmingham, Alabama.

Nicholas Wu of USA Today: "Attorney General William Barr said violent protests that have erupted after the death of George Floyd appear to be organized by 'anarchic' and 'far left extremist groups' pursuing their own aims. Addressing 'rioting' in many cities, Barr said, 'the voices of peaceful protest are being hijacked by violent radical elements.... Groups of outside radicals and agitators are exploiting the situation to pursue their own separate and violent agenda,' he said. In many places, it appears the violence is planned, organized and driven by anarchic and ... far left extremist groups using Antifa-like tactics.'" See also Gabby Orr's report linked below on Trump's remarks at the SpaceX launch. ~~~

~~~ On the Other Hand. Mia Bloom in Just Security provides evidence that white supremacists & other right-wing extremists were infiltrating the protests & perpetrating some of the most violent acts. See also reports by Trevor Hughes' USA Today & Sergei Klebnikov of Forbes, linked above. ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Stephen Montemayor of the Minneapolis Star Tribune has a more nuanced report on the presence of outside agitators in Minneapolis.


Kenneth Chang of the New York Times: "The United States opened a new era of human space travel on Saturday as a private company for the first time launched astronauts into orbit, nearly a decade after the government retired the storied space shuttle program in the aftermath of national tragedy. Two American astronauts lifted off at 3:22 p.m. from a familiar setting, the same Florida launchpad that once served Apollo missions and the space shuttles. But the rocket and capsule that lofted them out of the atmosphere were a new sight for many -- built and operated not by NASA but SpaceX, the company founded by the billionaire Elon Musk to pursue his dream of sending colonists to Mars. Crowds of spectators including President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence watched and cheered as the countdown ticked to zero, and the engines of a Falcon 9 rocket roared to life." ~~~

~~~ Gabby Orr of Politico: "The president, who described the mission as an 'inspiration' for Americans, cast the launch on Saturday as a triumphant moment for the country -- a brief reprieve from an otherwise dark period in American history. The number of coronavirus-related deaths in the U.S. topped 100,000 earlier this week, a grim milestone that overlapped with the outbreak of violent protests in response to [George] Floyd's death.... 'We support the right of peaceful protests and we hear their pleas, but what we are now seeing on the streets of our cities has nothing to do with the memory of George Floyd,' Trump said during his remarks [at Cape Canaveral]. 'The mobs are devastating the life's work of good people and destroying their dreams.' Trump's demand for 'healing not hatred, justice not chaos' came hours after he blamed the 'radical Left' for provoking civil unrest in a series of tweets.... 'The violence and vandalism is being led by antifa and other radical left-wing groups who are terrorizing the innocent, destroying jobs, hurting businesses and burning down buildings,' he said in his remarks to NASA employees and their families."

Merkel Trumps Trump, Trump Tries to One-up Her. Anne Gearan & Seung Min Kim of the Washington Post: "President Trump said Saturday that he will postpone until September the annual Group of Seven meeting of world leaders, which he had wanted to hold in-person by the end of June at the White House as the administration tries to project a return to normalcy amid the coronavirus pandemic. But German Chancellor Angela Merkel had declined Trump's invitation to come to Washington for the meeting, citing concerns about the pandemic.... Trump also said he plans to invite Russia, South Korea, Australia and India. 'I don't feel that as a G-7 it properly represents what's going on in the world. It's a very outdated group of countries,' Trump said Saturday. Russia had been invited to attend the sessions for several years until 2014, when Moscow was disinvited over its invasion of Crimea. Trump has repeatedly said he wanted to include Russia again, which Merkel and others vigorously opposed.Since the other six members of the G-7 are opposed to Russia's rejoining, it is not clear whether they would attend a meeting where Trump forced the issue." An AP story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ OR, as a Raw Story headline puts it, "Trump announces he has unilaterally decided to let Putin back into the G7 Summit." Mrs. McC: Yo, Donnie, bossing around other G-7 leaders is not one of your supposed Article II rights.

** Julia Ainley & Pete Williams of NBC News: "After a 38-year career with the Justice Department, the FBI's top lawyer Dana Boente was asked to resign on Friday. Two sources familiar with the decision to dismiss Boente said it came from high levels of the Justice Department rather than directly from FBI Director Christopher Wray. His departure comes on the heels of recent criticism by Fox News for his role in the investigation of former Trump National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. A spokesman for the FBI confirmed to NBC News that Boente did in fact resign on Friday.... Boente also said in a recently leaked memo that material put into the public record about Flynn was not exculpatory for the former national security advisor. The memo undermines the Justice Department's latest position that material about Flynn was mishandled by prosecutors.... 'Few people have served so well in so many critical, high-level roles at the Department,' Wray said in a statement. 'Throughout his long and distinguished career as a public servant, Dana has demonstrated a selfless determination to ensure that justice is always served on behalf of our citizens.'" ~~~

~~~ AP: "Boente has most recently served as the FBI's general counsel but has held a variety of roles in his 38-year Justice Department career, including acting attorney general in the early days of the Trump administration, a United States attorney in Virginia and the acting head of the department's national security division."

Maureen Dowd of the New York Times: "The Wall Street Journal had a chilling report a few days ago that Facebook's own research in 2018 revealed that 'our algorithms exploit the human brain's attraction to divisiveness. If left unchecked,' Facebook would feed users 'more and more divisive content in an effort to gain user attention & increase time on the platform.' Mark Zuckerberg shelved the research.... Sure, we're weakening our society, but the weird, infantile maniacs running Silicon Valley must be allowed to rake in more billions and finish their mission of creating a giant cyberorganism of people, one huge and lucrative ball of rage.... Zuckerberg, [contra Jack Dorsey of Twitter], went on Fox to report that he was happy to continue enabling the Emperor of Chaos, noting that he did not think Facebook should be 'the arbiter of truth of everything that people say online.'" The Wall Street Journal report Dowd cites is here.

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