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Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts. — Anonymous
A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves. — Edward R. Murrow
Publisher & Editor: Marie Burns
I have a Bluesky account now. The URL is https://bsky.app/profile/marie-burns.bsky.social . When Reality Chex goes down, check my Bluesky page for whatever info I am able to report on the status of Reality Chex. If you can't access the URL, I found that I could Google Bluesky and ask for Marie Burns. Google will include links to accounts for people whose names are, at least in part, Maria Burns, so you'll have to tell Google you looking only for Marie.
The Commentariat -- July 19, 2020
Afternoon Update:
Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "An agitated President Trump offered a string of combative and often dubious assertions in an interview aired Sunday, defending his handling of the coronavirus with misleading evidence, attacking his own health experts, disputing polls showing him trailing in his re-election race and defending people who display the Confederate flag as victims of 'cancel culture.' Th president's remarks, delivered in an interview on 'Fox News Sunday,' amounted to a contentious potpourri more commonly found on his Twitter feed and at his political rallies. The difference this time was a vigorous attempt by the host, Chris Wallace, to fact-check him, leading to several clashes between the two on matters ranging from the coronavirus response to whether Mr. Trump would accept the results of the election should he lose." ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post's report, by Felicia Sonmez, is here. The Guardian's report, by Martin Pengelly, is here. ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Hmm. Looks as if Fox "News" is enjoying this. Looks as if they're rebroadcasting the whole Wallace/Trump interview at 7 pm ET today (Sunday). I might just listen, if I can find Fox on the "dial."
~~~ The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Sunday are here. "Mr. Trump said during [an] interview with Chris Wallace ... that Dr. Fauci had been against his decision to close the borders to travelers from China in January. That is not true.... Mr. Trump also said that Dr. Fauci had been against Americans wearing masks. Dr. Fauci has said that he does not regret urging Americans not to wear masks in the early days of the pandemic, referencing a severe shortage of protective gear for medical professionals.... Mr. Trump falsely claimed that the coronavirus rate in other countries was lower than in the United States because those nations did not engage in testing.... Mr. Trump said that he doubted whether Dr. Robert R. Redfield, the director of the C.D.C., was correct in predicting that the pandemic would be worse this fall.... He ... reiterated his earlier claim, unsupported by science, that the virus would suddenly cease one day. 'It's going to disappear and I'll be right.... Because I've been right probably more than anybody else.'" ~~~
~~~ Derek Hawkins & Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post: "With coronavirus cases rising across the country and the U.S. death toll topping 137,000, President Trump on Sunday dismissed concerns about the spike in infections, telling Fox News that 'many of those cases shouldn't even be cases.... Many of those cases are young people that would heal in a day,' the president told Fox News host Chris Wallace in an interview. 'They have the sniffles and we put it down as a test.'... Trump's remarks came after another week of grim data highlighting the uncontrolled spread of the virus. Infections rose in states from every region of the country, with more than a dozen states on Saturday reaching record highs in their seven-day averages for new daily cases." ~~~
~~~ Morgan Chalfant of the Hill: "President Trump in a testy interview with Fox News's Chris Wallace downplayed recent surges in coronavirus cases, defended his stance on Confederate-named bases and sought to attack ... Joe Biden. Trump disputed polls showing him trailing Biden, eviscerating his Democratic opponent as 'not competent to be president' and controlled by the 'radical' progressive wing of the party. He also complained about his inability to hold rallies in some areas of the country due to the coronavirus, accusing 'Democrat-run states' of not allowing him to do so.... Trump also described Dr. Anthony Fauci ... as 'a little bit of an alarmist' while denying that the White House is involved in an effort to discredit him." Mrs. McC: Fact-checkers can't keep up with this Big Fat Liar.
~~~~~~~~~~
Morgan Gstalter of the Hill: "Former Vice President Joe Biden [Mrs. McC: and his wife Jill] on Saturday mourned the death of Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), saying the civil rights leader was 'truly a one-of-a-kind, a moral compass who always knew where to point us and which direction to march.... We are made in the image of God, and then there is John Lewis,' Biden wrote in a statement. 'How could someone in flesh and blood be so courageous, so full of hope and love in the face of so much hate, violence, and vengeance?'" ~~~
~~~ This ABC News story has the Bidens' statement as well as President Obama's statement and others. Vice President mike pence's statement was quite sweet. Here's the Bidens' full statement, posted in Medium. Speaker Nancy Pelosi's full statement is here.
Just in: Trump has ordered the U.S. flag to be flown at half-staff at the White House and all federal buildings in honor of John Lewis.... for one day. Really, for half a day, since the order came out just past 11 a.m. The president's proclamation expires tonight. -- Philip Rucker of the Washington Post, in a tweet ~~~
~~~ Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "As the bipartisan tributes to Mr. Lewis's legacy began flowing late Friday evening and Saturday morning, President Trump opted to retweet a flurry of his older posts on Twitter largely focused on disparaging his enemies.... On Saturday afternoon, after issuing a boilerplate proclamation for flags to be flown Saturday at half-staff at the White House and public buildings, Mr. Trump published a perfunctory [Mrs. McC: and ungrammatical] message on the passing of one of his most prominent critics. 'Saddened to hear the news of civil rights hero John Lewis passing,' Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter after finishing a game of golf. 'Melania and I send our prayers to he and his family.'" A TPM story is here.
Remembering John Lewis Elijah Cummings. Christina Morales of the New York Times: "Like thousands of other Americans, Senators Marco Rubio and Dan Sullivan took to social media on Saturday to mourn the death of Representative John Lewis, a venerated figure of the civil rights movement.... Except the photo Mr. Rubio posted was not of Mr. Lewis, but of another congressman: Representative Elijah E. Cummings, who died in October. Mr. Rubio also used the photo of himself with Mr. Cummings as his Twitter profile picture for a brief time. Mr. Sullivan, Republican of Alaska, also memorialized Mr. Lewis with a photo of Mr. Cummings. In the picture he posted to his Facebook account, Mr. Sullivan is standing beside Mr. Cummings in front of the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington." See commentary on Rubio's embarrassing mix-up in yesterday's thread.
Practical Matters. Greg Bluestein of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "Facing a tight legal deadline, Georgia Democrats are seeking online applications to succeed the late U.S. Rep. John Lewis. The state party said Saturday that potential contenders must complete an application by Sunday evening to be considered for the Atlanta-based seat held since 1987 by the civil rights hero. That's because state law gives the Democratic Party of Georgia until 4:30 p.m. on Monday to decide whether to replace Lewis' name on the November ballot for a full two-year term.... There also will be a separate special election to fill the remainder of the civil rights hero's term after his death Friday due to complications of pancreatic cancer. Gov. Brian Kemp has 10 days to schedule that vote to serve the rest of the Democrat's term, which expires in January."
The Trumpidemic, Ctd.
The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Saturday are here.
Trump Wants to Help Spread Coronavirus. Erica Werner & Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: "The Trump administration is trying to block billions of dollars for states to conduct testing and contact tracing in the upcoming coronavirus relief bill, people involved in the talks said Saturday. The administration is also trying to block billions of dollars that GOP senators want to allocate for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and billions more for the Pentagon and State Department to address the pandemic at home and abroad, the people said.... Trump and other White House officials have been pushing for states to own more of the responsibility for testing and have objected to creating national standards, at times seeking to minimize the federal government's role.... The administration's posture has angered some GOP senators, the officials said, and some lawmakers are trying to push back and ensure that the money stays in the bill.... The negotiations center around a bill Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is preparing to unveil this coming week as part of negotiations with Democrats on what will likely be the last major coronavirus relief bill before the November election."
** Michael Shear, et al., of the New York Times: "Each morning at 8 as the coronavirus crisis was raging in April, Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff, convened a small group of aides to steer the administration through what had become a public health, economic and political disaster.... They saw their immediate role as practical problem solvers.... But their ultimate goal was to shift responsibility for leading the fight against the pandemic from the White House to the states. They referred to this as 'state authority handoff,' and it was at the heart of what would become at once a catastrophic policy blunder and an attempt to escape blame for a crisis that had engulfed the country -- perhaps one of the greatest failures of presidential leadership in generations. Over a critical period beginning in mid-April, President Trump and his team convinced themselves that the outbreak was fading, that they had given state governments all the resources they needed to contain its remaining 'embers' and that it was time to ease up on the lockdown.... For scientific affirmation, they turned to Dr. Deborah L. Birx.... She was a constant source of upbeat news for the president and his aides, walking the halls with charts emphasizing that outbreaks were gradually easing." Emphasis added. ~~~
~~~ Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Almost everyone -- Trump, Meadows, Kushner, etc. -- comes off as a know-nothing nitwit in this story of how the administration failed the American people, but no one comes off worse than Debbie Birx, "the chief evangelist for the idea that the threat from the virus was fading." It's hard for me not to think of her jumping for joy, cheerleader-style, wearing one of those ridiculous flouncy skirts & flowing scarves she favors, her 1960s ponytail flying. ~~~
~~~ Scott Lemieux in LG&$: "Huge numbers of Americans will be dead, have permanent health issues, and/or be economically immiserated because the Trump administration's only significant COVID-19 focus was passing the buck and hoping things would go away[.]... [It's] it pretty clear [Trump is] not going to EMAILS! his way out of this one. Mass death and economic depression do tend to concentrate the mind."
Apoorva Mandavilli of the New York Times: "In the heated debate over reopening schools, one burning question has been whether and how efficiently children can spread the virus to others. A large new study from South Korea offers an answer: Children younger than 10 transmit to others much less often than adults do, but the risk is not zero. And those between the ages of 10 and 19 can spread the virus at least as well as adults do. The findings suggest that as schools reopen, communities will see clusters of infection take root that include children of all ages, several experts cautioned." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: This South Korean study offers one of those insights that should help us Americans curb the virus. But it won't. Because the POTUS* favors almost everything that spreads the virus: getting businesses back to normal, letting all the Christian congregations get together and sing, holding massive public events indoors and out, reopening schools. And although he is for handwashing, apparently something he does a lot himself, he is against requiring people to wear masks and social-distance. There is something very, very strange about this.
Maine. Shocking Stats. Maria Sachetti of the Washington Post: "Immigrants and refugees help power Maine, America's oldest and whitest state, by picking blueberries, packing meat and tending to the elderly far from the fancy resorts on Vacationland's rocky coast. But in a state that has one of the lowest rates of coronavirus infections, a pattern has emerged: Black Mainers -- many of them immigrants -- have been infected at disproportionate rates, accounting for approximately 23 percent of the cases in a state where they are less than 2 percent of the population.... The most recent state data show that at least 836 of more than 3,600 Mainers who have had the coronavirus are black."
Emily Gillespie & Rachel Siegel of the Washington Post: "The Oregon attorney general filed a lawsuit late Friday night alleging that the federal government had violated Oregonians' civil rights by seizing and detaining them without probable cause during protests against police brutality in the past week. The legal action comes after days of intensifying clashes between the Trump administration and Portland officials, who have accused federal agencies of heavy-handed tactics that inflame unrest and threaten citizens. Department of Homeland Security agents have swarmed the city in recent days, arguing that they are needed to restore order after nearly two months of demonstrations. But local officials, including Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D) and Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler (D), have implored the agency to step down, with the mayor calling the police force President Trump's 'personal army' and suggesting its tactics are only making things worse." ~~~
~~~ Conrad Wilson, et al., of Oregon Public Broadcasting: "The Oregon Department of Justice is suing several federal agencies for civil rights abuses, and state prosecutors will potentially pursue criminal charges against a federal officer who seriously injured a protester. The federal lawsuit names the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Marshals Service, the United States Customs and Border Protection and the Federal Protective Service, agencies that have had a role in stepped-up force used against protesters since early July."
~~~ Sergio Olmos, et al., of the New York Times: "The federal agents facing a growing backlash for their militarized approach to weeks of unrest in Portland were not specifically trained in riot control or mass demonstrations, an internal Department of Homeland Security memo warned this week. The message, dated Thursday, was prepared by the agency for Chad F. Wolf, the acting secretary of Homeland Security.... The tactical agents deployed by Homeland Security include officials from a group known as BORTAC, the Border Patrol's equivalent of a S.W.A.T. team, a highly trained group that normally is tasked with investigating drug smuggling organizations, as opposed to protesters in cities.... The pushback against the militarized federal deployment involving officers in fatigues and tactical gear has also extended to the streets, where the presence of those federal agents has rejuvenated a movement that had shown signs of finally slowing down after weeks of protest against police violence and militarization." The Hill has a summary report here. ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Knowing what he knew did not stop Chad Wolf from going on "Hannity" Thursday night and boasting that "brave law enforcement officers" were going to stop the "siege" of Portland by "lawless anarchists." ~~~
~~~ Dan Nexon of LG&$: "... it's ... clear that Trump's little green men aren't being deployed in a good faith way. People are being grabbed and detained as they walk home from protests. Even if legal, the totality of behavior is authoritarian by disposition. If normalized, it invites worse to come.... I don't think we can put the genie back in the bottle. The best hope remains a decisive electoral thrashing of Trump and the GOP, one that leaves the Mitt Romneys and Larry Hogans of the party vindicated. Still, recent developments underscore the need for major measures to prevent current abuses, as well as to make it harder to maintain and expand pockets of authoritarianism. One such measure is the abolition, or at least the partial dismemberment, of the Department of Homeland Security. DHS is a Frankenstein's monster, drawn on the back of a napkin and pursued for short-term political gain. It somehow manages to combine gross inefficiencies with dangerous concentrations of power. In other words, it's kind of Soviet."
Priscilla Alvarez of CNN: "The Trump administration must begin accepting new applications for the Obama-era program that shields undocumented immigrants who came to the US as children from deportation, a federal judge ruled Friday. The order comes nearly a month since the Supreme Court blocked the Trump administration's attempt to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. That ruling emphasized that the administration failed to provide an adequate reason to justify scrapping DACA. Judge Paul Grimm of the US District Court for the District of Maryland said Friday that the program is to be restored to its 'pre-September 5, 2017 status,' meaning the status quo before ... Donald Trump tried to terminate it, thereby giving hundreds of thousands of DACA-eligible immigrants the opportunity to apply."
Presidential Election
Mrs. McCrabbie: Headlines like this one get me: "Pandemic surge damages Trump, boosting Biden's White House bid: POLL." First, I hate the idea that death and severe illness are reduced to horse-race terms. Second, I'm horrified at what the poll numbers mean: that before tens of thousands of Americans died of Covid-19, millions of people thought, the racist, misogynistic, lying, narcissistic, corrupt, incompetent, cruel guy "is a pretty good president*. I'll vote for him again."
The Commentariat -- July 18, 2020
USA Today: "Rep. John R. Lewis, the civil rights icon whose fight for racial justice began in the Jim Crow south and ended in the halls of Congress, died Friday night.... The son of Alabama sharecroppers, Lewis served in Congress for more than three decades, pushing the causes he championed as an original Freedom Rider challenging segregation, discrimination and injustice in the Deep South -- issues reverberating today in the Black Lives Matter movement. He was an organizer of the March on Washington in 1963 along with Martin Luther King Jr., a seminal moment in the Civil Rights movement that led to the passage of voting rights for Blacks two years later. He became a community activist and member of the Atlanta City Council before winning a seat in Congress in 1986. He would go on to become a best-selling author and was awarded the nation's highest civilian award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, by President Barack Obama, the nation's first Black president. Lewis was elected to his 17th term in November 2018."
~~~ Rep. Lewis's New York Times obituary is here. The Washington Post's obituary is here. ~~~
~~~ "The Conscience of the Congress": ~~~
~~~ Barack Obama, in Medium, on the passing of John Lewis: "It's fitting that the last time John and I shared a public forum was at a virtual town hall with a gathering of young activists who were helping to lead this summer's demonstrations in the wake of George Floyd's death. Afterwards, I spoke to him privately, and he could not have been prouder of their efforts -- of a new generation standing up for freedom and equality, a new generation intent on voting and protecting the right to vote, a new generation running for political office."
Dan Lamothe of the Washington Post: "Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper effectively banned displays of the Confederate battle flag on U.S. military installations, saying in a memo Friday that the 'flags we fly must accord with the military imperatives of good order and discipline, treating all our people with dignity and respect, and rejecting divisive symbols.' The memo does not explicitly mention Confederate banners but states that the American flag is the 'principal flag we are authorized and encouraged to display.'... A defense official..., speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said the White House is aware of the new policy. It was not immediately clear if President Trump supports it.... Esper's new policy does not address the base-naming issue. An amendment in the new defense spending bill would require the Pentagon to change the names as well as remove other Confederate references, symbols and paraphernalia from installations within three years. Trump has threatened to veto the bill if the amendment is included." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Must Not Upset Trump. Lolita Baldor of the AP: "The [Confederate flag-ban] policy, laid out in a memo released Friday, was described by officials as a creative way to bar the flag's display without openly contradicting or angering ... Donald Trump, who has defended people's rights to display it." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Drumpf's Stasi
Erik Ortiz, et al., of NBC News: "Democratic members of Oregon's congressional delegation said Friday they will demand a federal investigation into the deployment of federal officers in Portland, where local leaders say their presence outside federal buildings has inflamed tensions during nightly protests and led to violent confrontations in recent weeks. The lawmakers want the inspectors general of the departments of Homeland Security and Justice to review the 'unrequested presence and violent actions' of 'paramilitary forces with no identification indicating who they are or who they work for.' A spokesman for Gov. Kate Brown, a Democrat, said she remains concerned about allegations that federal officers under the direction of ... Donald Trump may be arresting people in violation of their constitutional rights. Her office has asked the Department of Homeland Security to stand down its officers, spokesman Charles Boyle said, but 'federal law enforcement agencies are not communicating with us about their activities.... Governor Brown has called for Trump's federal officers to leave Portland and stay off our streets.'"
Emily Gillespie, et al., of the Washington Post: Portland, Oregon, "city officials on Friday demanded the Trump administration remove what they called a heavy-handed army of federal agents who have been grabbing protesters off the streets -- tactics that federal officials defended as legal and necessary to quell ongoing unrest.... One widely shared video showed two men in military garb on the street at night taking a young man wearing all black into custody.... The fight between the White House and the left-leaning city government intensified Friday amid videos and firsthand accounts of mysterious federal agents driving around in unmarked rental minivans and detaining protesters. Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler referred to the federal agents as Trump's 'personal army' and said they should leave the city.... Acting secretary of homeland security Chad Wolf traveled to Portland this week to supervise the federal actions there, and he sharply criticized local law enforcement for not getting tough with 'violent anarchists.' Wolf told Fox News on Thursday night that he offered law enforcement assistance to the mayor and local leaders but was asked to 'pack up and go home,' which he said is 'just not going to happen on my watch.'"
** Ryan Haas & Conrad Wilson of Oregon Public Broadcasting: "U.S. Attorney Billy Williams said Friday he wants an investigation into actions of federal officers who have pulled Portland protesters off the street and into unmarked vehicles. Federal officers with U.S. Customs and Border Protection have come under significant scrutiny after OPB first reported Thursday that they were involved in constitutionally questionable arrests in Portland.... 'Based on news accounts circulating that allege federal law enforcement detained two protesters without probable cause, I have requested the Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General to open a separate investigation directed specifically at the actions of DHS personnel,' Williams said in his statement. At least one officer with the Marshals Service is under investigation for severely injuring a Portland protester July 11 by shooting him in the face with an impact munition round." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Unless Williams' investigation turns out to be an "investigation," this is a big deal. The U.S. attorney works for Bill Barr, and Donald Trump nominated him. As Trump likes to say, we'll see what happens.
Sergio Olmos, et al., of the New York Times: "Federal agents dressed in camouflage and tactical gear have taken to the streets of Portland, unleashing tear gas, bloodying protesters and pulling some people into unmarked vans in what Gov. Kate Brown of Oregon has called 'a blatant abuse of power.' The extraordinary use of federal force in recent days, billed as an attempt to tamp down persistent unrest and protect government property, has infuriated local leaders who say the agents have stoked tensions.... Late Friday night, Oregon's attorney general said the office had opened a criminal investigation into how a protester was injured near a federal courthouse.... One Portland demonstrator, Mark Pettibone, 29, said he had been part of the protests before four people in camouflage jumped out of an unmarked van around 2 a.m. Wednesday. They had no obvious markings or identification, he said, and he had no idea who they were.... Mr. Pettibone said that he was terrified -- protesters in the city have in the past clashed with far-right militia groups also wearing camouflage and tactical gear -- and that at no point was he told why he was arrested or detained, or what agency the officers were with. He said he was held for about two hours before being released."; A related AP story is here.
Josh Marshall of TPM: "When asked about calls for an investigation into DHS police tactics in Portland, Oregon, Acting Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Ken Cuccinelli tells NPR not only are they not going to stop but they want to take the tactics nationwide."
This is terrifying and outrageous. Secret police are the purview of authoritarians. Trump is doing this months away from the election because he thinks it helps him. But imagine what happens if he gets four more years. -- Vanita Gupta of the Leadership conference on Civil & Human Rights, in a tweet
Charles Pierce of Esquire: "A major American city is being softly Pinochet'ed in broad daylight. And, if we know one thing, if this president* and his administration* get away with this, it will only get worse. You'd have to be out of your mind -- or comatose since the Fall of 2016 -- not to suspect that this could be a dry run for the kind of general urban mobilization at which the president* has been hinting since this summer's protests began.... Portland may be a dumbshow for dummies, but it also looks like a dress rehearsal. This is not an 'authoritarian impulse.' This is authoritarian government -- straight, no chaser. And this administration has a powerful thirst for it. It will do anything if it thinks it can get away with it in order to benefit a president* who wants to bring the Republic down on his head. Unmarked vehicles, disappearing people off the streets? We need a Truth and Reconciliation Commission now, before the dress rehearsal becomes a road show."
Even Ruth Marcus, the Washington Post's official handwringer, is exercised. She writes, "This is not America." Mrs. McC: Yeah, actually it is. Millions of Americans voted for just this very thing -- because there was not a chance in hell that those particular voters would be caught protesting for civil rights and swept into unmarked vans for their trouble.
Tessa Duvall & Darcy Costello of the Louisville Courier Journal: "Just after midnight March 13, three Louisville police officers fired more than 20 bullets into Breonna Taylor's apartment, striking her five times. But she was still alive -- at least briefly. For at least five minutes, she was coughing as she struggled to breathe, according to her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, who told investigators she was alive as he called her mom and yelled for help.... The Jefferson County coroner disputes that account, telling The Courier Journal that Taylor likely died within a minute of being shot and couldn't have been saved.... Records show that no effort was made to save her. For more than 20 minutes after Taylor was fatally shot at approximately 12:43 a.m. by Louisville officers, the 26-year-old emergency room technician lay where she fell in her hallway, receiving no medical attention, according to dispatch logs."
The Trumpidemic, Ctd.
The New York Times' live updates for coronavirus developments Friday are here: "As clashes over face-covering mandates and school reopening plans intensified throughout the United States, the country shattered its single-day record for new cases on Thursday -- more than 75,600, according to a New York Times database. This was the 11th time in the past month that the record had been broken. The previous single-day record, 68,241 cases, was announced last Friday. The number of daily cases has more than doubled since June 24, when the country registered 37,014 cases after a lull in the outbreak had kept the previous record, 36,738, standing for two months." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for Friday are here: "The nine largest brick-and-mortar retail companies, which the National Retail Federation ranks based on global sales, have adopted new policies to require customers to wear masks inside U.S. stores. Costco began enforcing masks on May 4, but two months passed before other top retailers followed suit. Walmart, Inc. seemed to have triggered a corporate landslide this week with its announcement on Wednesday that masks would be required in its namesake stores and Sam's Club locations. Seven more of the largest brick-and-mortar retailers in the U.S. announced similar policies within two days: Kroger, CVS Health, Walgreens, Target, Albertsons Companies (which owns Safeway, Tom Thumb, and Acme, among other brands). Lowe's and Home Depot both announced mask requirements Friday."
Griff Witte & Ben Guarino of the Washington Post: "For weeks this summer, it was a seeming paradox of the coronavirus pandemic: cases in the United States were rising but deaths were falling. To the Trump administration, this was evidence that its strategy for combating covid-19 was working. To medical experts, it was only a matter of time before the trajectory changed. And now it has. Nationwide, deaths have begun to rise again. In some of the worst-hit states, especially across the South and the West, new death records are being set daily. As a virus-scarred summer wears on, public health specialists say the numbers are almost certain to continue to climb.... That grim assessment came as the United States on Friday set another record for total cases, with more than 76,000 -- including a new high of nearly 15,000 in Texas alone. More than 900 people died, matching a death count of recent days that has consistently hovered just below 1,000."
Josh Katz, et al., of the New York Times have produced a detailed interactive map of where people say they are wearing masks when they expect to come into contact with others. "Our data comes from a large number of interviews conducted by the global data and survey firm Dynata at the request of The New York Times." Mrs. McC: My area is doing poorly, although I can say that when I do my 6 am grocery shopping, mask-wearers are 100% of the early birds. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
S.N.A.F.U. Dara Lind of ProPublica: "As hospitals across the United States brace for a difficult six months -- with the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic still raging and concerns about a second wave in the fall -- some are acutely short-staffed because of ... a proclamation issued by ... Donald Trump on June 22, barring the entry of most immigrants on work visas.... Hundreds of young doctors were unable to start their residencies on time.... The proclamation stated that doctors 'involved with the provision of medical care to individuals who have contracted COVID-19 and are currently hospitalized' should be exempt from the ban, but it delegated the issuing of guidance to the departments of State and Homeland Security. That guidance has been slow and inconsistent." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Dareh Gregorian of NBC News: "... Donald Trump on Friday continued muddying his administration's messaging on the use of masks to combat the spread of the coronavirus, saying he disagreed with his CDC director about how effective they would be in stopping COVID-19.... In [an] interview [with Chris Wallace]..., Wallace referred to recent comments from ... [CDC] head Robert Redfield that 'If we could get everybody to wear a mask right now, I really do think over the next four, six, eight weeks, we could bring this epidemic under control.'... [Trump told Wallace,] "... I want people to have a certain freedom, and I don't believe in that, no.... And I don't agree with the statement that if everybody would wear a mask, everything disappears.... Hey, Dr. (Anthony) Fauci said "don't wear a mask"; our Surgeon General -- terrific guy -- said don't wear a mask.... All of a sudden, everybody's got to wear a mask, and as you know, masks cause problems too. With that being said, I'm a believer in masks. I think masks are good," he continued."
Bianca Quilantan of Politico: "The White House is blocking CDC officials from testifying next week at a hearing on reopening schools, the House Education and Labor Committee told Politico on Friday. Separately, the CDC confirmed that more guidance for opening schools won't be released until later this month. Committee Chair Bobby Scott had invited CDC Director Robert Redfield, or a designee, to testify before the Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education Subcommittee on July 23 at a hearing on safely reopening schools. The chair asked Redfield to discuss the immediate needs of K-12 public schools as many districts look to reopen in the fall."
John Hudson & Nate Jones of the Washington Post: "The State Department has released an internal cable from 2018 detailing the concerns of U.S. Embassy officials in China about a lack of adequately trained personnel at a virology lab in Wuhan, the city that later became the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak. Leaked contents of the cable sparked unproven speculation from senior U.S. officials beginning in April that the outbreak occurred as a result of an accident at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. In May, President Trump said he had seen evidence that gave him a 'high degree of confidence' that the coronavirus originated in a Chinese lab. When asked why he was confident, Trump said, 'I can't tell you that. I'm not allowed to tell you that.'... The Washington Post filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit for the records. The Post sued in April after the State Department failed to produce the records in the time period required by the law. The full cable does not strengthen the claim that an accident at the lab caused the virus to escape, nor does it exclude the possibility. However, in recent months, skepticism of the accident theory has increased in the scientific community because the genetic sequences of isolates from the bat coronaviruses known to be under research at the lab do not match those of covid-19."
Mrs. McCrabbie: The monologue below is the most concise proof I've seen that Donald Trump cares nothing and knows nothing about governance. It's an amazing, unwitting admission he is clueless about what, if anything, his administration is doing and a four-alarm signal of his cognitive decline:
President* Trump on His Agenda -- White House Remarks, July 16
So we have many exciting things that we'll be announcing over the next eight weeks, I would say. Things that nobody has even contemplated, thought about, thought possible, and things that we're going to get done and we have gotten done -- and we've started in most cases. But it's going to be a very exciting eight weeks, a eight weeks, like I prob- -- I think, Mike, we can honestly say nobody has ever going to see eight weeks like we're going to have. Because we really have -- we have -- we're taking on immigration, taking on education, we're taking on so many aspects of things that people were hopelessly tied up in knots in Congress. They can't -- they've been working on some of these things for 25, 30 years. It wasn't happening. But you'll see levels of detail, and you'll see levels of thought that a lot of people believed very strongly we didn't have in this country. We're going to get things done. We're going to get things done that they've wanted to see done for a long, long time. So I think we'll start sometime on Tuesday. We'll be discussing our one plan on suburbia, but that's one of many, many different plans. Then we're going into the immigration -- the world of immigration, the world of education. We're going into the world of healthcare -- very complete healthcare. And we have a lot of very exciting things to discuss. But cutting of regulation has been really something that I felt we could do, and we could do fairly easily. Nothing is easy in this country. We had statutory requirements where we'd do phase one, and then we'd have to wait 90 days. We'd do phase two, and we'd have to wait 60 days. You'd do phase three, and we're set -- 'Let's do phase four, sir.' 'I'm sorry you have to wait one year.' But we were able to do things that nobody has ever been able to do, or even close, on deregulation.
Source: White House transcript, unedited. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Matthew Choi of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Friday broke his silence on a tell-all book [by his niece Mary Trump].... 'Mary Trump, a seldom seen niece who knows little about me, says untruthful things about my wonderful parents (who couldn't stand her!) and me, and violated her NDA,' Trump wrote on Twitter. 'She's a mess!...'... Speaking with CNN's Chris Cuomo hours after Trump's tweet, Mary Trump echoed previous comments in which she described her uncle as a racist.... Though she conceded it was difficult to maintain relations after her grandfather's death due to an intra-family lawsuit, Mary Trump pointed out that the president had requested she ghost write his second book. She also added that she and her grandmother were 'very close.... My grandfather didn't really have positive feelings for anybody except perhaps Donald,' she said. In response to the president calling her a 'mess,' Mary Trump replied: 'I think it's just an attack he hurls predominately at women and honestly, I'm in very good company. I believe he's said the same thing about Nancy Pelosi and I'm fine with that.'"
Jeff Zeleny & Kevin Liptak of CNN: "The official portraits of former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush were removed from the Grand Foyer of the White House within the last week, aides told CNN, and replaced by those of two Republican presidents who served more than a century ago. White House tradition calls for portraits of the most recent American presidents to be given the most prominent placement, in the entrance of the executive mansion, visible to guests during official events.... The Clinton and Bush portraits were moved into the Old Family Dining Room, a small, rarely used room that is not seen by most visitors."
A Binder Full of Lies. Reed Richardson of Mediaite: "A Reuters photograph of White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany's vast briefing binder offered a peek behind the curtain of the Trump administration's messaging priorities. Taken from the side of the White House briefing room podium, the photograph catches McEnany opening the book, exposing dozens of alphabetized tabs with short category names. During her tenure, McEnany has developed a reputation for flipping open her briefing book after a particularly confrontational question and reading verbatim from pre-written responses, which often included canned attacks on the press or praise from allies.... McEnany's tabs include a number evergreen topics, but several recent ones as well.... But many of the tabs spoke to this White House's favorite boogeymen, with categories such as 'Media,' 'Lies,' 'China,' 'BLM,' 'Privil' suggesting white privilege, and one simply labeled 'Absurd.'... Notably, one tab was labeled 'Karl,' which might be an oppo brief against ABC News White House correspondent Jon Karl, who has frequently clashed with Trump at press conferences."
Elections 2020
Will Weissert of the AP: "Joe Biden said Friday night that he’s begun receiving intelligence briefings as he warned that Russia, China and other adversaries were attempting to undermine the upcoming U.S. election in November.... [Biden] wasn't specific and offered no evidence while addressing a virtual fundraiser with more than 200 attendees. But, in the process, he confirmed receiving classified briefings after saying as recently as late last month that he wasn't getting them but might request one about reports of Russian bounties being offered on U.S. troops in Afghanistan." The Washington Post's story is here.
Brett Samuels of the Hill: "'Fox News Sunday' anchor Chris Wallace in a new interview shut down President Trump's claim that ... Joe Biden is in favor of defunding the police. The president blamed a recent rise in violence in ... major cities on Democratic leadership, saying urban centers are 'stupidly run.' When Wallace noted that Democrats have led cities for decades, Trump ... [said,] 'It's gotten totally out of control and it's really because they want to defund the police, and Biden wants to defund the police.'... 'Sir, he does not,' Wallace interjected. 'Look, he signed a charter with Bernie Sanders,' Trump shot back, referencing a lengthy unity platform unveiled by Biden and the Vermont senator that offers a number of progressive policy proposals. 'And it says nothing about defunding the police,' Wallace said. 'Oh really? It says abolish, it says defund. Let's go. Get me the charter, please,' Trump said, turning to staff off camera. Wallace recounted ... that Trump ... '... couldn't find any indication -- because there isn't any -- that Joe Biden has sought to defund and abolish the police.'... Biden has explicitly and repeatedly said that he does not support defunding or abolishing the police." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: In the exchange, Wallace struck a serious blow to Trump's re-election campaign inasmuch as Trump, in a leap of unintentional irony, is portraying himself as the law-and-order candidate and Biden as a presidential hopeful who would create chaos in America. ~~~
~~~ Trump told the same lie about Biden in the Rose Garden Tuesday: Louis Jacobson of Politifact: "Trump said that a Biden-Sanders 'unity' policy document shows that 'They now want to abolish our police departments. They want to abolish our prisons, I guess.' The document does not say anything about abolishing police departments or getting rid of all prisons."
What Happened to Honor Among Thieves? Sarah Rumpf of Mediaite: “Days after Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale was demoted, he may have new troubles.... A detailed report by Business Insider describes an internal audit the campaign is conducting of 'spending irregularities' during his time helming the president's reelection efforts. The new campaign manager, Bill Stepien, denied that Parscale was being audited but other sources for the story contradicted that. As the Business Insider report details, Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner brought in Jeff DeWit, an accountant and former chief financial officer of NASA, to join the campaign as its new chief operating officer. In an interview Friday, DeWit confirmed that he was 'reviewing all campaign contracts and examining all spending,' BI reports. DeWit denied that the audit was 'targeting' anyone specific, but other Republican sources familiar with the campaign's operations identified Parscale as a likely focus because 'he controlled all campaign spending, from polling and advertising to voter surveys, during a tenure that started in January 2017.'" ~~~
~~~ Grifters Grifting Grifters. Scott Lemieux in LG&$: "The last months of Trump are going to involve a lot of grifters stealing anything that isn't nailed down, which would be funny if the American people weren't going to be among the frequent targets."
Jesse McKinley of the New York Times: "Jamaal Bowman has scored a stunning victory over Representative Eliot L. Engel of New York in a Democratic primary, defeating the 16-term incumbent and overcoming the efforts of the Democratic establishment in a profound show of progressive political power. Mr. Bowman, a middle school principal from Yonkers, was declared the winner on Friday, after a count of absentee ballots verified what seemed clear on Primary Night, when he emerged with a commanding lead over Mr. Engel, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.... In the closing weeks of the campaign, as Mr. Bowman gained momentum and prominent backers, members of the Democratic old guard tried to salvage Mr. Engel's flagging campaign.... The Black Lives Matter movement ... gave a powerful talking point for Mr. Bowman, who is African-American and said he had been physically attacked by police as a child. The Black Lives Matter movement also served as backdrop for a cringe-inducing moment for Mr. Engel. At a news conference in the Bronx in early June, the congressman was caught on microphone suggesting that he was only there because of his contested race. 'If I didn't have a primary,' he said, 'I wouldn't care.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie Note to Donald Trump: "I really don't care" turns out not to be the best campaign message. And two-thirds of the country already knows that's your message, whether or not your wife has it painted on the back of her jacket.
Horrible News for Many Reasons. Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg announced Friday that she is being treated for a recurrence of cancer, this time on her liver, but says she remains able to do her work on the Supreme Court. 'I have often said I would remain a member of the court as long as I can do the job full steam,' Ginsburg said in a written statement. 'I remain fully able to do that.' Ginsburg, 87, and the court's oldest member, has battled cancer four times and has had other health concerns." An AP story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Beyond the Beltway
Wow! Deborah Yetter of the Louisville Courier Journal: "Jerry Lundergan, a former Kentucky Democratic Party chairman and the father of former Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, was sentenced Thursday to 21 months in federal prison for election finance violations related to his daughter's unsuccessful U.S. Senate campaign, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Kentucky. Lundergan, 73, of Lexington, was convicted last year along with Dale Emmons, of Richmond, for being part of a scheme to funnel more than $200,000 in illegal campaign donations to the Senate campaign in which Grimes, a Democrat, in 2014 ran unsuccessfully against Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell. Emmons, a campaign consultant hired by Lundergan, was sentenced to nine months in a halfway house, three years of supervised release and fined $50,000. Lundergan also was sentenced to two years of supervised release and fined $150,000." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Way Beyond
Israel. Mitch Prothero of Business Insider: "Israel is involved in an extended campaign to pressure or damage Iran before President Donald Trump can be voted out of office in the November election, a former Israeli defense official and a current European Union intelligence official told Insider.... These attacks have put the country on edge, with nearly daily reports of fires, explosions, and other mishaps treated as potential foreign sabotage.... The attacks appear to be part of a campaign of 'maximum pressure, minimal strategy,' said the EU intelligence official.... With a broad belief among America's allies that Trump is unlikely to win reelection, Israel's apparent shift in tactics toward high-pressure 'kinetic' operations seem to reflect a belief that under a Biden administration, there would be a move to save the 2015 nuclear deal that had been scuttled by Trump." --s (Also linked yesterday.)
~~~ As Hattie wrote in yesterday's thread: "Praying for RBG. Dancing for Sir Tom."
The Commentariat -- July 17, 2020
Afternoon Update:
President* Trump on His Agenda -- White House Remarks, July 16
So we have many exciting things that we'll be announcing over the next eight weeks, I would say. Things that nobody has even contemplated, thought about, thought possible, and things that we're going to get done and we have gotten done -- and we've started in most cases. But it's going to be a very exciting eight weeks, a eight weeks, like I prob- -- I think, Mike, we can honestly say nobody has ever going to see eight weeks like we're going to have. Because we really have -- we have -- we're taking on immigration, taking on education, we're taking on so many aspects of things that people were hopelessly tied up in knots in Congress. They can't -- they've been working on some of these things for 25, 30 years. It wasn't happening. But you'll see levels of detail, and you'll see levels of thought that a lot of people believed very strongly we didn't have in this country. We're going to get things done. We're going to get things done that they've wanted to see done for a long, long time. So I think we'll start sometime on Tuesday. We'll be discussing our one plan on suburbia, but that's one of many, many different plans. Then we're going into the immigration -- the world of immigration, the world of education. We're going into the world of healthcare -- very complete healthcare. And we have a lot of very exciting things to discuss. But cutting of regulation has been really something that I felt we could do, and we could do fairly easily. Nothing is easy in this country. We had statutory requirements where we'd do phase one, and then we'd have to wait 90 days. We'd do phase two, and we'd have to wait 60 days. You'd do phase three, and we're set -- 'Let's do phase four, sir. I'm sorry you have to wait one year.' But we were able to do things that nobody has ever been able to do, or even close, on deregulation.
Source: White House transcript, unedited.
Horrible News for Many Reasons. Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg announced Friday that she is being treated for a recurrence of cancer, this time on her liver, but says she remains able to do her work on the Supreme Court. 'I have often said I would remain a member of the court as long as I can do the job full steam,' Ginsburg said in a written statement. 'I remain fully able to do that.' Ginsburg, 87, and the court's oldest member, has battled cancer four times and has had other health concerns." An AP story is here.
Wow! Deborah Yetter of the Louisville Courier Journal: "Jerry Lundergan, a former Kentucky Democratic Party chairman and the father of former Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, was sentenced Thursday to 21 months in federal prison for election finance violations related to his daughter's unsuccessful U.S. Senate campaign, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Kentucky. Lundergan, 73, of Lexington, was convicted last year along with Dale Emmons, of Richmond, for being part of a scheme to funnel more than $200,000 in illegal campaign donations to the Senate campaign in which Grimes, a Democrat, in 2014 ran unsuccessfully against Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell. Emmons, a campaign consultant hired by Lundergan, was sentenced to nine months in a halfway house, three years of supervised release and fined $50,000. Lundergan also was sentenced to two years of supervised release and fined $150,000."
Dan Lamothe of the Washington Post: "Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper effectively banned displays of the Confederate battle flag on U.S. military installations, saying in a memo Friday that the 'flags we fly must accord with the military imperatives of good order and discipline, treating all our people with dignity and respect, and rejecting divisive symbols.' The memo does not explicitly mention Confederate banners but states that the American flag is the 'principal flag we are authorized and encouraged to display.'... A defense official..., speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said the White House is aware of the new policy. It was not immediately clear if President Trump supports it.... Esper's new policy does not address the base-naming issue. An amendment in the new defense spending bill would require the Pentagon to change the names as well as remove other Confederate references, symbols and paraphernalia from installations within three years. Trump has threatened to veto the bill if the amendment is included." ~~~
~~~ Must Not Upset Trump. Lolita Baldor of the AP: "The [Confederate flag-ban] policy, laid out in a memo released Friday, was described by officials as a creative way to bar the flag's display without openly contradicting or angering ... Donald Trump, who has defended people's rights to display it."
Mitch Prothero of Business Insider: "Israel is involved in an extended campaign to pressure or damage Iran before President Donald Trump can be voted out of office in the November election, a former Israeli defense official and a current European Union intelligence official told Insider.... These attacks have put the country on edge, with nearly daily reports of fires, explosions, and other mishaps treated as potential foreign sabotage.... The attacks appear to be part of a campaign of 'maximum pressure, minimal strategy,' said the EU intelligence official.... With a broad belief among America's allies that Trump is unlikely to win reelection, Israel's apparent shift in tactics toward high-pressure 'kinetic' operations seem to reflect a belief that under a Biden administration, there would be a move to save the 2015 nuclear deal that had been scuttled by Trump." --s
Josh Katz, et al., of the New York Times have produced a detailed interactive map of where people say they are wearing masks when they expect to come into contact with others. "Our data comes from a large number of interviews conducted by the global data and survey firm Dynata at the request of The New York Times." Mrs. McC: My area is doing poorly, although I can say that when I do my 6 am grocery shopping, mask-wearers are 100% of the early birds.
S.N.A.F.U. Dara Lind of ProPublica: "As hospitals across the United States brace for a difficult six months -- with the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic still raging and concerns about a second wave in the fall -- some are acutely short-staffed because of ... a proclamation issued by ... Donald Trump on June 22, barring the entry of most immigrants on work visas.... Hundreds of young doctors were unable to start their residencies on time.... The proclamation stated that doctors 'involved with the provision of medical care to individuals who have contracted COVID-19 and are currently hospitalized' should be exempt from the ban, but it delegated the issuing of guidance to the departments of State and Homeland Security. That guidance has been slow and inconsistent."
Jesse McKinley of the New York Times: "Jamaal Bowman has scored a stunning victory over Representative Eliot L. Engel of New York in a Democratic primary, defeating the 16-term incumbent and overcoming the efforts of the Democratic establishment in a profound show of progressive political power. Mr. Bowman, a middle school principal from Yonkers, was declared the winner on Friday, after a count of absentee ballots verified what seemed clear on Primary Night, when he emerged with a commanding lead over Mr. Engel, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.... In the closing weeks of the campaign, as Mr. Bowman gained momentum and prominent backers, members of the Democratic old guard tried to salvage Mr. Engel's flagging campaign.... The Black Lives Matter movement ... gave a powerful talking point for Mr. Bowman, who is African-American and said he had been physically attacked by police as a child. The Black Lives Matter movement also served as backdrop for a cringe-inducing moment for Mr. Engel. At a news conference in the Bronx in early June, the congressman was caught on microphone suggesting that he was only there because of his contested race. 'If I didn't have a primary, he said, I wouldn't care.'" ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie Note to Donald Trump: "I really don't care" turns out not to be the best campaign message. And two-thirds of the country already knows that's your message, whether or not your wife has it painted on the back of her jacket.
MEANWHILE, Across the Pond:
~~~~~~~~~~
The Trumpidemic, Ctd.
The New York Times' live updates for coronavirus developments Friday are here: "As clashes over face-covering mandates and school reopening plans intensified throughout the United States, the country shattered its single-day record for new cases on Thursday -- more than 75,600, according to a New York Times database. This was the 11th time in the past month that the record had been broken. The previous single-day record, 68,241 cases, was announced last Friday. The number of daily cases has more than doubled since June 24, when the country registered 37,014 cases after a lull in the outbreak had kept the previous record, 36,738, standing for two months."
The New York Times' live updates for coronavirus developments Thursday are here. Dr. Donnie prescribes PhucPsyence: "The White House press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, reiterated President Trump's view that schools must open in the fall. 'When he says open,' she said, 'he means open and full, kids being able to attend each and every day at their school. The science should not stand in the way of this.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
The Man with No Plan. Philip Rucker, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump has vowed that the nation's schools must reopen for the fall semester, but neither he nor his administration has detailed a plan for how to do so safely. Trump has boasted that the United States leads the world in coronavirus testing, yet he has declined to produce a national testing plan, and in many communities tests can take a week or longer to process, rendering their results all but useless in slowing the spread. And with case numbers spiking from coast..., Trump's most clearly articulated plan to end the covid-19 pandemic is to predict the virus will 'just disappear' and to bank on a vaccine being ready 'very, very soon.'... There is no cohesive national strategy, apart from unenforced federal health guidelines. Instead, the administration is offering a patchwork of solutions, often in reaction to outbreaks after they occur. Although Trump and his team declare sweeping objectives..., they have largely shirked responsibility for developing and executing plans to achieve them, putting the onus instead on state and local authorities." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
John Bresnahan & Jake Sherman of Politico: "... Donald Trump has signaled to Hill Republicans that he will not sign a new coronavirus stimulus package without the inclusion of a payroll tax cut, according to three sources close to the issue.... The president has been fixated on a payroll tax cut for months, even though it has fallen on deaf ears on Capitol Hill -- Senate Republicans and House Democrats don't care for the proposal, and have resoundingly rejected it." Mrs. McC: Not only would a payroll tax cut further explode the deficit, it obviously does nothing for people who have been laid off because of business shutdowns forced by the coronavirus. (Also linked yesterday.)
Gary Langer of ABC News: "With COVID-19 cases soaring nationally, Americans by nearly a two to one margin distrust what ... Donald Trump says about the pandemic, and six in 10 in a new ABC News/Washington Post poll disapprove of how he's handling it, up steeply since the early days of the outbreak. Just 38% in the national survey now approve of Trump's response, down from 46% in late May.... There's also a disconnect in terms of priorities, with Americans, by 63-33%, saying it's more important to control the spread of the virus than to restart the economy, a goal Trump has stressed.... Concern about catching the disease, moreover, remains persistently high. Sixty-six percent are very or somewhat worried that they or someone in their immediate family might become infected, and an additional 5% of Americans now say this already has happened." Mrs. McC: The amazing part is the huge 38% dingbat club that trusts a guy who suggested taking shots of bleach was a cure for the virus.
Lena Sun & Amy Goldstein of the Washington Post: "On the eve of a new coronavirus reporting system this week, data disappeared from a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website as hospitals began filing information to a private contractor or their states instead. A day later, an outcry -- including from other federal health officials -- prompted the Trump administration to reinstate that dashboard and another daily CDC report on the pandemic. And on Thursday, the nation's governors joined the chorus of objections over the abruptness of the change to the reporting protocols for hospitals, asking the administration to delay the shift for 30 days. In a statement, the National Governors Association said hospitals need the time to learn a new system, as they continue to deal with this pandemic. The governors also urged the administration to keep the information publicly available." CDC officials made the decision to take down the data dashboard. The article is free to nonsubscribers. A Politico story is here.
** White House Hides Bad News. Liz Whyte of the Center for Public Integrity: "A document prepared for the White House Coronavirus Task Force but not publicized suggests more than a dozen states should revert to more stringent protective measures, limiting social gatherings to 10 people or fewer, closing bars and gyms and asking residents to wear masks at all times. The document, dated July 14 and obtained by the Center for Public Integrity, says 18 states are in the 'red zone' for COVID-19 cases, meaning they had more than 100 new cases per 100,000 population last week. Eleven states are in the 'red zone' for test positivity, meaning more than 10 percent of diagnostic test results came back positive.... For instance, the document recommends that Georgia, in the red zone for both cases and test positivity, 'mandate statewide wearing of cloth face coverings outside the home.' But Gov. Brian Kemp signed an order Wednesday banning localities from requiring masks.' [More on Kemp linked below.] The 18 states that are included in the red zone for cases in the document are: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nevada, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Utah. The 11 states that are in the red zone for test positivity are Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, South Carolina, Texas and Washington."
Nathaniel Weixel of The Hill: "Top Trump administration officials are preparing guidance that will recommend people who test positive for COVID-19 do not need to get retested to prove they no longer have the disease. The move, previewed in a call with reporters by the administration's testing coordinator Brett Giroir, comes as the U.S. testing system faces severe strains and a national backlog of results.... Giroir said the guidance, which will be released in the coming days, will apply to people who are isolating at home after testing positive." --s
Trump's "Medical Experts" "Fact-Check" Fauci:
Morgan Chalfant of The Hill: "White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said on Thursday that Anthony Fauci was wrong to liken the coronavirus to the 1918 flu pandemic, calling his remarks 'false' and 'irresponsible.' Meadows made the comments on Fox News after rebuking White House trade adviser Peter Navarro's decision to pen an op-ed criticizing Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert, which the chief of staff said was 'not appropriate.' Meadows went on to argue that not everything that Fauci says is correct." --s ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: It's great for Meadows to share his medical expertise with Foxbots. But, gosh, it turns out Meadows does not have a background in the study of infectious diseases. Why, he's not even a doctor or scientist. In fact, he does not have so much as a bachelor's degree, although he lied about that in official documents until December 2018, when reporters at the Tampa Bay Times noticed Meadows had quietly changed his Wikipedia page to reflect that he had only a two-year degree (A.A.) just as he was being vetted for an administration job. But, hey, thanks, Mark, for correcting Dr. Fauci. ~~~
Joe Concha of The Hill: "Former game show host Chuck Woolery announced Wednesday his son has tested positive for COVID-19, just days after Woolery accused medical professionals and Democrats of lying about the virus in an effort to hurt the economy and President Trump's reelection chances.... The message comes after Woolery tweeted Monday denouncing 'outrageous lies' being told about the coronavirus, comments that Trump retweeted to his more than 83 million followers.... Woolery ... has since deleted his Twitter account[.]" --s ~~~
~~~ At least Peter Navarro does have a doctorate, albeit in economics. ~~~
~~~ Jeremy Barr of the Washington Post: "Facing intense criticism on social media, USA Today has admitted errors in an opinion piece written by a White House official that attacked Anthony S. Fauci..., saying in a post-publication note attached to the piece that it 'did not meet USA Today's fact-checking standards.' Published online Tuesday evening and in print on Wednesday, the opinion piece was authored by Peter Navarro, who heads the Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy, and was paired with the provocative headline: 'Anthony Fauci has been wrong about everything I have interacted with him on.' On Wednesday evening, editorial page editor Bill Sternberg added a note that both explained the piece's origins as well as its mistakes. 'Navarro's response echoed comments made to other news outlets in recent days,' he wrote, alluding to talking points critical of Fauci circulated by White House aides. 'We felt it was newsworthy because it expanded on those comments, put an on-the-record name to the attacks on Fauci, and contradicted White House denials of an anti-Fauci campaign.'... As part of the publication's response to the backlash that stemmed from publication of the piece, USA Today also published a 'fact check' piece on Wednesday night that concluded that 'Peter Navarro's claims about Dr. Anthony Fauci are misleading, lack context.'" (Also linked yesterday.) An AP story is here.
Noah Weiland of the New York Times: "The scientist leading the Trump administration's coronavirus vaccine program will be allowed to remain a government contractor, a decision that permits him to avoid ethics disclosures required of federal employees and maintain his investments in pharmaceutical companies. Two prominent watchdog groups as well as some Democrats in Congress had called for the Department of Health and Human Services to require that the scientist, Dr. Moncef Slaoui, a venture capitalist and a former executive at the pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, fall under the same ethics rules as federal employees. The office of the inspector general at H.H.S. responded this week that it could not require such a shift, citing the unusual role that Dr.Slaoui was playing in the administration amid the pandemic." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Common Dreams via RawStory: "Ethics watchdogs on Wednesday slammed a ruling by the Health and Human Services Department's inspector general, who decided this week that Moncef Slaoui, a former pharmaceutical executive now heading the Trump administration's coronavirus vaccine task force, does not have to disclose or divest his investments in the industry. As the co-director of Operation Warp Speed, a public-private partnership aimed at finding a vaccine for Covid-19 by the end of 2020, Slaoui is in the position to award contracts to pharmaceutical companies researching potential vaccines and treatments." --s (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Yeganeh Torbati of Propublica: "White House officials have pushed the U.S. Agency for International Development to purchase thousands of [ventilators] from U.S. companies and donate them abroad.... But the effort has been marked by dysfunction, with little clarity on how countries are chosen or how the ventilators are allocated. A USAID memo seen by ProPublica shows equipment donated to wealthy nations that typically do not get foreign aid, such as NATO countries, and to a few locations ill-equipped to use devices that require round-the-clock staffing and regular maintenance.... But public health experts said that without carefully assessing each country's health care expertise -- and following through to ensure hospitals can keep the machines running -- the donations could go to waste or even risk patients' lives." --s (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Jim Morelli of Boston 25 News: "COVID-19 can seem an indiscriminate killer, but a new study out of Brigham and Women's Hospital suggests several commonalities with its victims.... [T]he study found at least 15% of every age group -- including young adults -- did not survive the disease.... [T]he study found [people with] high rates of obesity ... raises the risk of death from COVID-19.... Other independent risk factors for death from COVID-19 include being male and having coronary artery disease or an active case of cancer. Two striking findings from the study: First, while African-Americans seemed to be admitted to hospitals and ICUs more frequently, they did not die from COVID-19 in disproportionate numbers.... Second, patients admitted to hospitals with fewer ICU beds to begin with had a much poorer prognosis than those treated in hospitals with large numbers of such beds." --s
Arizona, et al. Liz Essley Whyte of the Arizona Republic: "A document prepared for the White House Coronavirus Task Force but not publicized suggests more than a dozen states, including Arizona, should revert to more stringent protective measures, limiting social gatherings to 10 people or fewer, closing bars and gyms and asking residents to wear masks at all times.... The document, dated July 14 and obtained by the Center for Public Integrity, says 18 states are in the 'red zone' for COVID-19 cases, meaning they had more than 100 new cases per 100,000 population last week. Eleven states are in the 'red zone' for test positivity, meaning more than 10 percent of diagnostic test results came back positive." --s
Florida. Coronavirus Shuts Down Coronavirus Ops Center. Isaac Stanley-Becker of the Washington Post: "The coronavirus thrashing Florida has penetrated the state's emergency operations center, a clearinghouse for disaster-related information and a command center of sorts for the pandemic response. A new set of cases caused the center, located in Tallahassee, to shut down Thursday as staff shifted to remote work. One official with knowledge of the events, who spoke on the condition of anonymity..., said 13 people working at the center had tested positive for the novel coronavirus and that the office would be closed at least until Monday. Staff were in the process of clearing out essential equipment." Mrs. McC: How is that a coronavirus "command center" didn't plan for its employees contracting the coronavirus? ~~~
~~~ Chuck Weber of 12 News (Florida): "As local leaders debate the best way to reopen our schools, there's conflicting information about the actual COVID-19 health risks for kids. Palm Beach County School Board members were set to vote Wednesday afternoon on a reopening plan to submit to the state for approval. Last week, board members backed starting with virtual or distance learning when classes begin Aug. 10. But Gov. Ron DeSantis has repeatedly said it's safe to send kids to school and this month.... On Tuesday, Dr. Alina Alonso, the state health department director in Palm Beach County, brought up the positivity test rate among children [which] in the past week ... increased from 29 to above 33 percent. 'That literally means that a third of the age under 18 that we test are positive,' said Alonso, who also, for the second week in a row, mentioned lung damage showing up even in children who are asymptomatic." --s
Georgia. Veronica Stracqualursi & Paul LeBlanc of CNN: "Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp announced Thursday he is suing Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms over the city's mask mandate, claiming the measure violates his emergency orders.... The lawsuit marks a stunning escalation in the brewing feud between Kemp and Bottoms after the Atlanta mayor introduced her mandatory mask ordinance. Under her order, not wearing a mask within Atlanta's city limits was punishable by a fine and even up to six months in jail.... The lawsuit also comes just one day after Kemp suspended all local government mask mandates despite the rise in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations in his state....Kemp's executive order voids masks mandates imposed by some local governments as Covid-19 cases tick up in cities across the state, already claiming over 3,000 lives. Even as Kemp has been resistant to a statewide mask mandate for Georgia, other Republican governors are now requiring face coverings in their states." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Worth remembering that Kemp is the genius who said in early April that he had had no idea that asymptomatic people could transmit the coronavirus. Newsweek: "Kemp's remarks prompted shocked reactions on Twitter, with Shannon Watts, the founder of Moms Demand Action, noting: 'In a bizarre turn of events, information the rest of the nation had in January didn't reach Georgia Governor Brian Kemp until April.'" Rather than suing Mayor Bottoms, Kemp should be jailed for felony stupid.
Alexander Smith of NBC News: "Hackers from Russia's intelligence services have been attempting to steal information related to the development of a COVID-19 vaccine from the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, British officials said Thursday. The attacks have been carried out by a group called "APT29, also known as 'the Dukes' or 'Cozy Bear, which has been been using malware to target various organizations across the three countries, the United Kingdom's National Cyber Security Centre said in a statement. The United States' National Security Agency and Canada's Communications Security Establishment both agree with the assessment, the British officials said." Mrs. McC: IOW, another Russian attack on the U.S. & our allies that Trump will ignore. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Update: The Washington Post's report is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Sometimes a Great Moment. Katie Kindelan of ABC News: "The veteran known as Captain Tom who raised tens of millions of dollars for the British National Health Service during the coronavirus pandemic will receive a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth. Captain Sir Thomas Moore will receive the honor during an investiture ceremony on Friday at Windsor Castle. The investiture will be the first that the 94-year-old queen has taken part in since she began following strict stay-at-home orders in March during the pandemic.... Moore originally aimed to raise $1,000 for charity by walking laps in his garden while under lockdown in Buckinghamshire, England. He hoped to complete 100 laps before he turned 100 in late April. Moore's online campaign exploded and by the time he reached his 100th birthday on April 30, the World War II veteran had raised tens of millions of dollars. Moore also received a promotion from Queen Elizabeth to the rank of colonel and a special flyover to commemorate his achievements."
Now, here's a drug that has passed its field tests and is safe for men & women of all ages. Dr. Hattie prescribes:
Finally a job @IvankaTrump is qualified for. pic.twitter.com/dHMEJzB8lL
— Matt Ortega (@MattOrtega) July 15, 2020
~~~ Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Went to the freezer yesterday to find a delicious lunch, and there it was: Si es "Smart Ones" tiene que ser bueno: ~~~
~~~ Anonymous has a great comment in today's thread on Ted Cruz's obvious lie defending free speech & beans: "... My grandparents ate Goya black beans twice a day for nearly 90 years. And now the Left is trying to cancel Hispanic culture and silence free speech. The link Anonymous provides addresses much more than Ted's mythical math. For instance, Susie Meister: "What if, and I'm just spitballing here, Ted Cruz cared about the kids in cages at the border as much as he cares about beans?" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Here's how Republican political analysis works: If Joe Biden says, "Nice day!" he is finally admitting that climate change is a hoax. If Donald Trump says, "Nice day!" he has brought in the sunshine and saved the world from darkness. It's very nuanced.
Ha! Annals of Journalism, Ctd. Cavuto Gave Foxbots an Econ Lesson. Aidan McLaughlin of Mediaite: "Fox News host Neil Cavuto cut away from a speech by ... Donald Trump on deregulation to fact-check his claims regarding the economy of his predecessor. Trump went after the regulations put in place by former President Barack Obama following the 2008 financial crisis -- calling them 'job destroying regulations' -- in his speech from the Rose Garden on Thursday.... Cavuto said ... Trump had 'mischaracterized the regulations that were added under Barack Obama -- they were largely financial related.... You might recall we had this little thing called the financial meltdown,' Cavuto explained, 'and much of those regulations were geared to preventing banks from ever investing in things like risky mortgage securities, pooling them, selling them off.' The Fox News anchor also rejected Trump's premise that those financial regulations yielded devastating results. 'The unemployment rate did, under Barack Obama, go down from a high of 10% to around 4.7%. President Trump, of course, sent that even lower, eventually getting us down to a 3.5% unemployment rate.... 'It was not a disaster under Barack Obama,' Cavuto said. 'Not only did the Dow essentially triple during his tenure, but... those companies did very well. Americans did very, very well....'"
Oliver Darcy of CNN: "Mary Trump's tell-all book had sold a staggering 950,000 copies by the end of its first day on sale, publisher Simon & Schuster said Thursday. That figure, which included pre-sales, as well as e-books and audiobooks, is a new record for Simon & Schuster, the company said. The book ... went on sale Tuesday and portrays President Trump in an unflattering light."
When Crazy Conspiracy Theorists Conspire. Timothy Johnson of Mediaite: "Roger Stone signed a document to accept [Donald Trump's] commutation of his prison sentence during a broadcast of far-right conspiracy theory program The Alex Jones Show[, starring, of course, Alex Jones].... During his appearance, Stone also thanked several conservative media figures for cheerleading his commutation, which included Alex Jones ('who never abandoned me')."
It's About Time. Chris Walker of Truthout: "The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a nonprofit civil rights organization..., added a new entry to its database of extremists: White House senior adviser Stephen Miller. Miller was added to the organization's website on Wednesday, with the SPLC noting that ... Donald Trump's trusted confidante 'is credited with shaping the racist and draconian immigration policies of President Trump,' including the zero-tolerance policy that led to thousands of children being separated from their families. Miller also shaped the White House's early Muslim ban, pushed for the president to attempt to end the popular ... DACA program, and advised moves to halt the issuance of green cards for immigrants using the coronavirus pandemic as a means to do so, SPLC said." Mrs. McC: Why isn't the Extremist-in-Chief Donald Trump on the list? Miller may have instigated some of Trump's "racist and draconian" policies, but Trump -- at the very least -- embraced and signed off on them.
Carol Morello of the Washington Post: "Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday that the American way of life and its founding principles are 'under attack,' focusing his criticism on voices in the mainstream news media and protesters who have torn down statues of historical figures. Speaking in Philadelphia at the National Constitution Center..., Pompeo said the events roiling the United States today are antithetical to the nation's ideals. 'And yet today, the very core of what it means to be an American, indeed the American way of life itself, is under attack,' he said. 'Instead of seeking to improve America, leading voices promulgate hatred of our founding principles.'" Mrs. McC: If Mike & his boss are "leading voices," I he's right. (Also linked yesterday.)
Sarah Lynch of Reuters: "U.S. Attorney General William Barr installed a new interim U.S. attorney in the Northern District of Alabama on Thursday, the latest appointee to come out of the Justice Department in Washington to serve in an acting capacity as a top federal prosecutor. Prim Escalona, the department's principal deputy assistant attorney general for the Office of Legislative Affairs, will take over from Jay Towns, who resigned on Wednesday to take a job with a defense contractor. A Justice Department spokesman did not have any immediate comment on why Barr tapped Escalona, who does not appear to have a background prosecuting criminal cases based on her LinkedIn profile.... Separately, Barr also recently appointed Deputy Associate Attorney General Stephen Cox as the top prosecutor in the Eastern District of Texas." --s
** Oregon. Jonathan Levinson & Conrad Wilson of Oregon Public Broadcasting: "Federal law enforcement officers have been using unmarked vehicles to drive around downtown Portland and detain protesters since at least July 14. Personal accounts and multiple videos posted online show the officers driving up to people, detaining individuals with no explanation of why they are being arrested, and driving off. The tactic appears to be another escalation in federal force deployed on Portland city streets, as federal officials and ... Donald Trump have said they plan to 'quell' nightly protests.... [I]nterviews conducted by OPB show officers are also detaining people on Portland streets who aren't near federal property, nor is it clear that all of the people being arrested have engaged in criminal activity." --s ~~~
~~~ Samantha Vinograd in a CNN opinion piece (June 7th): "In Washington, DC, alone, there has been a dizzying array of security personnel deployed in the last few days. From members of the military to DC police to the US Bureau of Prisons, the streets have become an alphabet soup of acronyms when it comes to law enforcement and security personnel, all designated -- by various levels of government -- to seemingly promote safety. But, as Americans countrywide exercise their constitutional right to protest peacefully, unnecessary assaults on democratic freedoms and civil liberties have proliferated.... Unmarked officers and 'secret police' have been used in authoritarian crackdowns throughout history. We used to refer to Russian President Vladimir Putin's unidentified proxies during his annexation of Crimea as 'little green men' for wearing unmarked green uniforms. Unattributable shows of force just shouldn't happen in American democracy. They're dangerous on many levels both in the near and longer term." --s
Dan Diamond & Adam Cancryn of Politico: "Congressional Democrats on Thursday condemned Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma after a watchdog report found she mishandled millions of dollars in government contracts, with some lawmakers renewing or issuing new calls for ... Donald Trump to replace his controversial Medicare chief.... In a joint release, the chairs of the House Oversight and Energy and Commerce committees and the top Democrats on the Senate HELP and Finance committees ... also warned that their own year-long investigation -- which drew on 'tens of thousands of pages of documents' provided by contractors and the health department -- would contain further information about Verma's spending and decisions.”
This is another excerpt from the Business Insider piece linked yesterday that should be highlighted. We are all less safe: ~~~
~~~ "[A] NATO military intelligence official who regularly deals with Russian intelligence matters confirmed the nature of Russia's activity. He said NATO had limited some parts of its relationship with the US because of its closeness to Russia. Specifically some worried that US officials would send them its intelligence." --s (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Elections 2020
Jeffrey Jones of Gallup: "Since January, Americans' party preferences have shifted dramatically in the Democratic Party's direction. What had been a two-percentage-point Republican advantage in U.S. party identification and leaning has become an 11-point Democratic advantage, with more of that movement reflecting a loss in Republican identification and leaning (down eight points) than a gain in Democratic identification and leaning (up five points).... Currently, half of U.S. adults identify as Democrats (32%) or are independents who lean toward the Democratic Party (18%). Meanwhile, 39% identify as Republicans (26%) or are Republican leaners (13%)." --s
Elena Schneider of Politico: "Joe Biden has nearly closed the once-yawning cash gap between him and ... Donald Trump, with big donors flooding his campaign and the Democratic National Committee with money in recent months. Trump and the Republican National Committee have spent years building a formidable war chest, starting soon after he was elected and continuing as Democrats burned money in their own primary in 2019 and early 2020. The Trump campaign and its affiliated groups closed out June with $295 million in the bank. But Biden and the DNC, which outraised Trump and the RNC for two consecutive months, has rapidly cut down that advantage to just $53 million, according to Biden's campaign manager, Jen O'Malley Dillon."
Liar-in-Chief Tries out New Lies about Biden. Katie Glueck, et al., of the New York Times: "Facing weak poll numbers and criticism for failing to offer a second-term agenda or a cohesive case against Mr. Biden, the president is accelerating his attacks on his Democratic opponent -- a sign of nervousness for any incumbent.... He has shaken up his campaign staff and intensified a tear-down operation aimed at Mr. Biden with a dizzying barrage of attacks, highlighted by dark, and at times misleading, television ads. Deprived of his favored forum of raucous campaign rallies because of the coronavirus pandemic, Mr. Trump has road-tested his messages in the Rose Garden, at a staid appearance in Atlanta to announce rollbacks of environmental regulations and on Twitter, supplying an onslaught of scattershot and sometimes contradictory criticisms of the former vice president.... The president's lack of discipline is a caution against any Republican hopes that this might be the start of a new chapter."
Justine Coleman & Jonathan Easley of the Hill: "Republicans announced Thursday they will scale back the Republican National Convention in August as coronavirus cases rise in Florida, where President Trump is expected to deliver a speech accepting his party's nomination for reelection. Ronna Romney McDaniel, the chairwoman of the Republican National Committee (RNC), informed members of the decision in a letter on Thursday that blamed the pandemic for the changes. The letter states that admittance to the convention in Jacksonville, Fla., will be limited only to regular delegates for the first three days, amounting to a crowd of about 2,500 people. Trump shifted the site of the celebration from North Carolina to Florida when it appeared the Jacksonville site might allow for large gatherings.... The official business for the convention will still take place in Charlotte, [North Carolina,] but the four-day celebration has been moved to Jacksonville." (Also linked yesterday.)
Maggie Miller of The Hill: "Secretary of StateMike Pompeo on Wednesday expressed confidence that other countries, including potentially Russia and China, would attempt to interfere in the 2020 U.S. elections. 'Yes, I am confident that many countries will do their level best to have an impact on our election,' Pompeo said during a virtual event hosted by The Hill on the future of national security." --s
** Supremes Disenfranchise Florida's Ex-Felons. Gary Fineout of Politico: "In a blow to voting rights that could have consequences for the presidential election, the U.S. Supreme Court let stand a Florida law restricting felon voting rights. The result is that hundreds of thousands of people with past felony convictions in the battleground state likely will be ineligible to vote in the August state primaries and, possibly, the November presidential election.... The high court on Thursday did not explain its decision. Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg..., dissented. In a stinging rebuke, Justice Sotomayor said that 'this court's inaction continues a trend of condoning disenfranchisement.'... A study by University of Florida political professor Daniel Smith found that nearly 775,000 people with felony convictions have some sort of outstanding legal financial obligation.... Now the case will return to the appeals court, which is scheduled to hold a hearing Aug. 18, the same day as Florida's primary." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Amy Gardner & Lori Rozsa of the Washington Post: "The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Thursday to overturn a federal appeals court's decision that blocked some Florida felons' eligibility to participate in elections -- a major blow to efforts to restore voting rights to as many as 1.4 million people in the battleground state. The decision lets stand a temporary halt by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit of a judge's order that had cleared the way for hundreds of thousands of felons in the state to register to vote." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Mark Stern of Slate Says It Best: "The Supreme Court all but guaranteed that nearly 1 million Floridians will be unable to vote in the 2020 election because of unpaid court debts in a shattering order handed down on Thursday. Its decision will throw Florida's voter registration into chaos, placing a huge number of would-be voters in legal limbo and even opening them up to prosecution for casting a ballot. The justices have effectively permitted Florida Republicans to impose a poll tax in November."
Capitalism Is Awesome, Ctd. Ryan McCarthy of Propublica: "[A]n analysis by ProPublica and First Draft, a global nonprofit that researches misinformation, shows that Facebook is rife with false or misleading claims about voting, particularly regarding voting by mail.... Many of these falsehoods appear to violate Facebook's standards yet have not been taken down or labeled as inaccurate. Some of them, generalizing from one or two cases, portrayed people of color as the face of voter fraud.... The false claims, including conspiracy theories about stolen elections or outright misrepresentations about voting by mail by Trump and prominent conservative outlets, are often among the most popular posts about voting on Facebook[.]" --s (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Great. False and racist, too. Thanks, Zuck!
Michigan Congressional Race. Quint Forgey of Politico: "Rep. Justin Amash, the Libertarian Michigan congressman who abandoned the Republican Party after calling for ... Donald Trump's impeachment, appeared to confirm reports Thursday that he would not seek reelection to Congress. 'I love representing our community in Congress. I always will,' Amash wrote on Twitter. 'This is my choice, but I'm still going to miss it. Thank you for your trust.'... Amash's apparent acknowledgment that he will not seek reelection in November opens up a Republican-leaning district that both parties were prepared to contest, though Democrats would have had better odds with Amash in the race."
Racist ... and Sexist, Too. Will Hobson & Liz Clarke of the Washington Post: Fifteen "former female [Washington NFL team] employees ... told The Washington Post they were sexually harassed during their time at the club.... [Fourteen] women spoke on the condition of anonymity, citing a fear of litigation because some signed nondisclosure agreements with the team that threaten legal retribution if they speak negatively about the club. [Only one, Emily Applegate, would speak on the record.] The team declined a request from The Post to release former female employees from these agreements so they could speak on the record without fear of legal reprisal.... Team owner Daniel Snyder declined several requests for an interview. Over the past week, as The Post presented detailed allegations and findings to the club, three team employees accused of improper behavior abruptly departed, including Larry Michael, the club's longtime radio voice, and Alex Santos, the team's director of pro personnel. In a statement, the team said it had hired D.C. attorney Beth Wilkinson and her firm, Wilkinson Walsh, 'to conduct a thorough independent review of this entire matter and help the team set new employee standards for the future.'"
Way Beyond the Beltway
James Gallagher of BBC: "The world is ill-prepared for the global crash in children being born which is set to have a 'jaw-dropping' impact on societies, say researchers. Falling fertility rates mean nearly every country could have shrinking populations by the end of the century. And 23 nations - including Spain and Japan - are expected to see their populations halve by 2100. Countries will also age dramatically, with as many people turning 80 as there are being born.... It has nothing to do with sperm counts or the usual things that come to mind when discussing fertility. Instead it is being driven by more women in education and work, as well as greater access to contraception, leading to women choosing to have fewer children." --s (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Yemen/World. Patrick Wintour of the Guardian: "Time is running out to prevent a disastrous oil spill from a deteriorating tanker loaded with 1.1m barrels of crude that is moored off the coast of Yemen, the UN's environment chief has said. Inger Andersen told the UN security council that a spill from the FSO Safer, which has had no maintenance for more than five years, would wreck ecosystems and livelihoods for decades.... Houthi rebels who control the area where the ship is moored have insisted on setting conditions linked to Yemen's six-year civil war before allowing UN inspectors onboard.... The Safer contains 1,148,000 barrels of light crude oil, meaning that if a full spillage occurred the release would be four times larger than the Exxon Valdez disaster off Alaska in 1989, says the UN." --s
News Ledes
AP: "The Rev. C.T. Vivian, an early and key adviser to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. who organized pivotal campaigns in the civil rights movement and spent decades advocating for justice and equality, died Friday at the age of 95. Vivian began staging sit-ins against segregation in Peoria, Illinois, in the 1940s -- a dozen years before lunch-counter protests by college students made national news. He met King soon after the budding civil rights leader's leadership of the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott, and helped translate ideas into action by organizing the Freedom Rides that eventually forced federal intervention across the South.... President Barack Obama honored Vivian with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013, saying that 'time and again, Reverend Vivian was among the first to be in the action: in 1947, joining a sit-in to integrate an Illinois restaurant; one of the first Freedom Riders; in Selma, on the courthouse steps to register blacks to vote, for which he was beaten, bloodied and jailed.'"
The Wrap: "The Daily Beast foreign editor Chris Dickey died unexpectedly in Paris Thursday at the age of 68. The cause of death was heart failure, according to the Daily Beast's editor in chief Noah Shachtman. The outlet posted a tribute to Dickey's decades-long career, which included stints at the Washington Post and Newsweek, and praised his personality."