;)
The Commentariat -- August 24, 2020
Afternoon Update:
David Fahrenthold of the Washington Post: "The New York attorney general is investigating President Trump's private business for allegedly misleading lenders by inflating the value of its assets, the attorney general's office said Monday in a legal filing. In the filing, signed by a deputy to Attorney General Letitia James, the attorney general's office said it is investigating Trump's use of 'Statements of Financial Condition' -- documents Trump sent to lenders, summarizing his assets and debts. The filing asks a New York state judge to compel the Trump Organization to provide information it has been withholding from investigators -- including a subpoena seeking an interview with the president's son Eric. The attorney general's office said it began investigating after Trump's former lawyer and 'fixer,' Michael Cohen, told Congress in February 2019 that Trump had used these statements to inflate his net worth to lenders. The filing said that Eric Trump had been scheduled to be interviewed in the investigation in late July, but abruptly canceled that interview. The filing says that Eric Trump is now refusing to be interviewed...." A New York Times story is here.
Valerie Strauss of the Washington Post: "A Florida judge Monday granted a temporary injunction against the state's order requiring school districts to reopen schools during the novel coronavirus pandemic, saying in a harshly worded decision that safety concerns had been ignored. Circuit Court Judge Charles Dodson, in a 16-page decision, granted the request in a lawsuit filed by the Florida Education Association to block the order issued by state Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran on July 6 compelling schools to reopen five days a week for families who did not want their children to do all virtual learning. Districts were threatened with loss of state funding if they did not comply. Dodson said, however, that parts of the order were unconstitutional and that state officials 'have essentially ignored the requirement of school safety by requiring the statewide opening of brick-and-mortar schools to receive already allocated funding.' He also said the state had wrongly removed the right of local districts to decide for themselves on safe reopening plans." The Tampa Bay Times story is here.
The New York Times' live updates of Monday's Trump Show are here. The Washington Post's live updates are here. The Republicans have already held a live rollcall in Charlotte, N.C., but MSNBC played it on mute (Trump just complained that CNN didn't cover the rollcall at all; who knows if that's true); the audio was the House hearing on the USPS. Mrs. McC: Fortunately, I had already read a preview of the rollcall, thanks to historian Kevin Kruse (linked below), so I didn't miss a thing.
The Washington Post's live updates of the DeJoy hearing are here. "In one tense exchange, Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.) asked DeJoy 'what the heck are you doing,' complaining that the postmaster general had ended a 'once-proud tradition' of the Postal Service. Lynch asked, 'Will you put the machines back?' DeJoy said he would not." Here's the rant that contributor Jeanne mentions in today's Comments, which preceded his question of DeJoy:
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Molly Redden of the Huffington Post: "... Donald Trump's selection for a key Postal Service position, Robert M. Duncan, once ... steer[ed] the Republican Party while it undertook some of its most brazen voter suppression schemes. Duncan is now the chair of the Postal Service board of governors, but he previously served as general counsel and then chair of the Republican National Committee from 2002 to 2009, a time when the committee and its state counterparts oversaw an unprecedented escalation of voter disenfranchisement efforts in swing states. From 2004 to 2006, when Duncan was the committee's general counsel, party officials challenged the eligibility of at least 77,000 voters, a 2007 report by the nonpartisan group Project Vote found. As it happens, one of the party's favored tactics relied on the U.S. mail. In 2004, Republicans in Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania sent thousands of nonforwardable letters and postcards to select voters -- particularly minority voters -- and used the mail returned as undeliverable to come up with voter registration challenge lists."
The Washington Post's live updates of coronavirus developments Monday are here.
Jerry Likes to Watch. Aram Roston of Reuters: "In a claim likely to intensify the controversy surrounding one of the most influential figures in the American Christian conservative movement, a business partner of Jerry Falwell Jr has come forward to say he had a years-long sexual relationship involving Falwell's wife and the evangelical leader. Giancarlo Granda says he was 20 when he met Jerry and Becki Falwell while working as a pool attendant at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach hotel in March 2012. Starting that month and continuing into 2018, Granda told Reuters that the relationship involved him having sex with Becki Falwell while Jerry Falwell looked on.... Becki Falwell, 53, is a political figure in her own right. She served on the advisory board of the group Women for Trump...." ~~~
~~~ ** Update. Susan Svrluga, et al., of the Washington Post: "Jerry Falwell Jr. has agreed to resign as president of Liberty University on Monday, according to a school official.... Opposition to his presidency had been growing but came to a dramatic head after two new reports about a young man Falwell and his wife befriended at a Florida pool, went into business with and who allegedly was sexually connected to the couple.... Falwell had been placed on paid leave Aug. 7 after he posted a provocative picture of himself and his wife's assistant on social media." ~~~
~~~ Paul Campos in LG&$ righteously provides the Christian response: "Let he who has not made [a] fortune running a billion dollar non-profit boiler room cum 'Christian University' that obsessively monitors the romantic inclinations of its marks students, while recording three-ways between his wife, his wife's hot young Latin lover, and himself, cast the first stone." Mrs. McC: Thanks, Paul. Now I'm so ashamed of snickering.
** William Glucroft & Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post: “Alexei Navalny, the prominent Russian opposition figure and Kremlin critic, was poisoned, Berlin's Charité hospital said in a statement Monday, citing clinical results. Although the exact substance that poisoned Navalny is not yet known, it is believed to be a cholinesterase inhibitor, Charité's statement said, adding that the effect of the toxin -- blocking cholinesterase, an enzyme needed for the proper functioning of the nervous system -- was confirmed several times by independent laboratories.... Navalny remains in a medically induced coma but 'there is no acute danger to his life.' He is being given atropine, a medication used to treat certain types of nerve agent and pesticide poisonings."
Nick Schwellenbach & David Szakonyi of the Project on Government Oversight (POGO): "Ukrainian billionaire Rinat Akhmetov owns four coal mining operations sprinkled across Appalachia that received loans intended to help small businesses keep workers on payroll during the pandemic. They received a total of $21 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, according to a statement Akhmetov's company provided to the Project On Government Oversight (POGO).... [T]he oligarch's United Coal Company and its subsidiaries had estimated sales of $1.5 billion last year.... Akhmetov ... reportedly owns two of the planet's most expensive homes and ... had a cameo in ... Robert Mueller's report last year.... The total value of the loans also exceeds the amount of civil penalties United Coal has racked up [$13.4 million for 14,030] for federal worker health and safety violations.... Unlike past Small Business Administration programs, it does not matter if PPP loan recipients are owned by a wealthy foreign national." --s
Brazil. Tom Phillips of the Guardian: "A gospel-singing Brazilian congresswoman [Flordelis dos Santos de Souza] has been accused of masterminding the 'barbaric' murder of her preacher husband after at least six failed or aborted attempts to kill him with poison or in staged robberies. Anderson do Carmo was 42 when he was shot dead in June 2019 as he returned to the home he shared with the church crooner-turned-politician Flordelis dos Santos de Souza.... [A]llegations of a bizarre and lurid family plot to murder the evangelical preacher emerged on Monday as police arrested five of Flordelis' children and one granddaughter for involvement in the crime.... The 59-year-old lawmaker -- who has made records for one of Brazil's top gospel labels and was elected to congress in 2018 -- could not be arrested because she enjoys parliamentary immunity.... Do Carmo's grisly murder -- he was reportedly shot more than 30 times, predominantly in the groin and thighs -- made nationwide headlines and has continued to do so since." --s
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Presidential Race, Etc.
Annie Linskey of the Washington Post: "Joe Biden and Kamala D. Harris on Sunday night pushed back on accusations that they would defund police departments and increase taxes on the middle class or that the presidential nominee is facing mental decline, three narratives that Republicans have promoted and are expected to focus on as their convention begins Monday. In the Democratic duo's first joint television interview, aired Sunday night on ABC, Biden reiterated his support for increasing funding to police departments -- and noted that President Trump's budget would cut grants to local law enforcement.... The former vice president laughed as ABC anchor David Muir, noting Trump's criticisms, asked whether the 77-year old possessed the mental capacity to lead the country. 'Watch me,' he said. Biden also said he is 'absolutely' leaving open the idea of trying to serve two terms in the White House." ~~~
~~~ The Lout & the Gentlemen. Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: In the interview, Muir asks Harris about Trump's attacks on her. As Chris Lamb of the Indy Star wrote last week, "Two minutes after the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee selected U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate..., Donald Trump returned to the seventh grade. Trump called Harris 'nasty' several times and then used the words 'meanest' and 'most horrible' in his characterization of her." So I got to wondering what, if anything, candidates Obama & Biden had said about Sarah Palin after John McCain announced she was his V.P. pick in 2008. Here's the answer: John Harwood of CNBC (August 28, 2008) wrote: "In a joint statement, Obama and Biden congratulated Palin on her selection. 'It is yet another encouraging sign that old barriers are falling in our politics,' their statement said. 'While we obviously have differences over how best to lead this country forward Governor Palin is an admirable person and will add a compelling new voice to this campaign.'"
Sister Acts. Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Days before publication of Maryanne Trump Barry's scathing assessment of her brother Donald as lying, cruel, phony, unprincipled and unprepared (see yesterday's Commentariat for link), Joe Biden's sister Valerie Biden Owens told Bill Barrow of the AP what a smart, kind, decent person Joe had always been. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
The Washington Post Sounds the Alarm
** Washington Post Editors: "President Trump will make this argument [link fixed] to the American people: Things were great until China loosed the novel coronavirus on the world. If you reelect me, I will make things great again.... But, fittingly for a president who has spoken more than 20,000 lies during his presidency, [the argument] rests on two huge falsehoods. One is that the nation, his presidency and, above all, Mr. Trump himself are innocent victims of covid-19. In fact, his own negligence, ignorance and malpractice turned what would have been a daunting challenge for any president into a national disaster. The other is that there was anything to admire in his record before the virus struck. It is true that the economic growth initiated under President Barack Obama had continued, at about the same modest rate. Mr. Trump achieved this growth by ratcheting up America's deficit and long-term debt to record levels, with a tax cut that showered benefits on the wealthy.... History will record Mr. Trump's presidency as a march of wanton, uninterrupted, tragic destruction.... And so, over the coming weeks..., we will publish a series of editorials on the damage this president has caused -- and the danger he would pose in a second term." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ ** David Nakamura of the Washington Post: "Trailing in the polls and struggling to find a message, President Trump is leveraging one of the most powerful assets he has left -- his White House office -- in service of his reelection bid, obliterating the lines between governing and campaigning and testing legal boundaries.... In recent weeks, Trump has acknowledged he was opposed to funding for the U.S. Postal Service because he does not want the money used for universal mail-in voting. He sent Homeland Security authorities to quell social justice protests in what he termed 'Democrat cities.' He signed a stream of executive orders that circumvented Congress and delivered overtly partisan speeches at official White House functions, including a 54-minute Rose Garden monologue blasting Democratic rival Joe Biden last month. Trump also has used federal resources and personnel to re-create the enthusiasm of his campaign rallies.... He invited patrons at his private golf resort in Bedminster, N.J., to attend news conferences there, with many of them heckling reporters. And he held a campaign rally in Yuma, Ariz., last week with 200 off-duty Border Patrol union members, many wearing masks emblazoned with 'TRUMP' and 'MAGA.'&" Read on. A related NBC News story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ "Trump Has No Idea How to Run for Reelection." Ashley Parker of the Washington Post: "Typically, presidents run for reelection on the achievements of their first term.... But Trump has, from that first golden-escalator ride, campaigned, governed and wallowed in grievance, never once wavering from his outsider ethos.... Trump appears unwilling -- or unable -- to abandon his burn-it-all-down cri de coeur, even when the establishment he lambastes is run by himself and his appointees.... The decision to position himself as a permanent outsider is less strategic than pathological, say people close to the president, reflecting a man who since childhood has lusted after an elite that never truly welcomed him." (Also linked yesterday.)
Mrs. McCrabbie: Many news outlets are reporting on plans for the upcoming Big Trump Show, like this New York Times story on how two "Apprentice" producers are stage-managing the hoohah, or several reports that a whole lot of the featured speakers are either Trump or a member of the Crime Family Trump (although for some reason, Trump's sister Judge Maryanne Barry is not among them). But historian Kevin Kruse has the scoop on plans for the roll call. Here's how it starts: "ALABAMA: Roy Moore, legally standing a hundred feet outside a mall. ALASKA: Hunters lighting up caribou with AK-47s. ARIZONA: Joe Arpaio licking a taser." Many thanks to RAS for the link. Worth reading Kruse's roll call, so you won't have to watch whatever comes up on the teevee. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Donie O'Sullivan, et al., of CNN: "Twitter on Sunday slapped a label on a tweet from ... Donald Trump for 'making misleading health claims that could potentially dissuade people from participation in voting.' Trump claimed in posts on Twitter and Facebook early Sunday morning that mail drop boxes for voting 'are not Covid sanitized,' as well as a 'voter security disaster.' Hours after Trump sent the tweet, Twitter took action, saying, 'We placed a public interest notice on this Tweet for violating our Civic Integrity Policy for making misleading health claims that could potentially dissuade people from participation in voting.' Now accompanying the tweet is the full following security notice: 'This Tweet violated the Twitter Rules about civic and election integrity. However, Twitter has determined that it may be in the public's interest for the Tweet to remain accessible.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Fadel Allassan of Axios: "Former Republican Sen. Jeff Flake, along with more than two dozen former GOP members of Congress, signed onto a 'Republicans for Biden' effort, Fox News reports.... The group is part of the Biden campaign's strategy to appeal to moderate Republicans currently on the fence about backing President Trump. Its Monday launch was timed to coincide with the first day of the Republican National Convention."
Tim Alberta in Politico Magazine: "... Donald Trump's party is the very definition of a cult of personality. It stands for no special ideal. It possesses no organizing principle. It represents no detailed vision for governing. Filling the vacuum is a lazy, identity-based populism.... When I called one party elder, he joked that it's a good thing Republicans decided not to write a new platform for the 2020 convention -- because they have produced nothing novel since the last one was written.... The party is now defined primarily by its appetite for conflict, even when that conflict serves no obvious policy goal. The result is political anarchy.... At this week's Republican convention..., the party of rugged individualism will spend as much time whining as reveling."
Catie Edmondson & Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "Postmaster General Louis DeJoy will appear before lawmakers again on Monday, this time testifying to the House Oversight Committee, where he is expected to face much tougher questioning from lawmakers on the Democratic-run panel than he did during his Senate hearing on Friday.... Robert M. Duncan, the chairman of the Postal Service's board of governors, will also testify on Monday, the first public remarks he has given on the state of the embattled agency.... A central line of questioning on Monday is expected to focus on how the board of governors selected Mr. DeJoy, a logistics executive whose name was not on an initial list of candidates provided to the board."
** Massachusetts Congressional Race. Jeremy Peters of the New York Times: "On Aug. 7, the student newspaper at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst reported that the state chapter of the College Democrats had disinvited [Alex] Morse, a congressional candidate and former guest lecturer at the university, from its future events, claiming 'numerous incidents' of unwanted and inappropriate advances toward students.... Mr. Morse is a 31-year-old, gay, small-city mayor and a rising star in national progressive politics.... He quickly apologized to anyone he made uncomfortable..., while also acknowledging some consensual sexual relationships with college students over the years. He said none were with anyone he taught or supervised. Nevertheless, within hours after the story broke, Mr. Morse went from role model to pariah.... But then the story flipped.... Messages between some of the students that were published by The Intercept showed they had discussed how they might damage Mr. Morse's campaign, with one suggesting it might help his career prospects with Mr. Morse's opponent, Representative Richard E. Neal, the chairman of the ... Ways and Means Committee.... The Massachusetts Democratic Party acknowledged that it had provided legal advice to the College Democrats about the letter, leading Mr. Morse to accuse Mr. Neal and his allies in the state's Democratic leadership of having a hand in a homophobic plot to smear him. Mr. Neal has denied any involvement. Today, Mr. Morse is still in the race and says the allegations have only helped his campaign."
Kansas State Legislature. Marie Fazio of the New York Times: "The 19-year-old candidate for the Kansas Legislature who admitted to sending revenge porn and bullying girls online when he was in middle school plans to withdraw as the Democratic nominee, he announced on Sunday. The candidate, Aaron Coleman, said on Twitter that he had decided to withdraw from the race to 'focus on taking care of my family & surviving the COVID Great Depression.'"
The Trumpidemic, Ctd.
The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Sunday are here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) "Trump administration officials met with congressional leaders [July 30] and told them they would probably give emergency approval to a coronavirus vaccine before the end of Phase 3 clinical trials in the United States, perhaps as early as late September, according to two people briefed on the discussion. The move would be highly unusual and would most likely prompt concerns about whether the administration is cutting corners on approvals for political purposes. The two-hour meeting involving Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin; the White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows; House Speaker Nancy Pelosi; and Senator Chuck Schumer.... The projected timeline shows the administration's hopes for a major victory against the pandemic before the election.... Senior administration officials disputed the account, saying Mr. Meadows and Mr. Mnuchin were either being misrepresented or had been misunderstood on every major point." Mrs. McC: I guess we're supposed to think that Pelosi & Schumer are dumb as rocks and Meadows & Mnuchin are reliable truth-tellers.
Trump's Fake Covid-19 "Breakthrough." Sharon LaFraniere, et al., of the New York Times: "The Food and Drug Administration on Sunday gave emergency approval for expanded use of antibody-rich blood plasma to help hospitalized coronavirus patients, allowing President Trump, who has been pressuring the agency to move faster to address the pandemic, to claim progress on the eve of the Republican convention. Mr. Trump cited the approval, which had been held up by concerns among top government scientists about the data behind it, as welcome news.... At a news briefing, he described the treatment as 'a powerful therapy' made possible 'by marshaling the full power of the federal government.'... But the F.D.A. cited benefits for only some patients. And, unlike a new drug, plasma cannot be manufactured in millions of doses.... [Trump's unfounded claim] that the F.D.A.['s 'deep state'] was deliberately holding up decision-making until after the election ... exacerbated concerns among some government scientists, outside experts and Democrats that the president's political needs could undermine the integrity of the regulatory process, hurt public confidence in safety and introduce a different kind of public health risk. No randomized trials of the sort researchers consider most robust have yet shown benefit from convalescent plasma." ~~~
~~~ (Earlier.) Zachary Brennan of Politico: "The Food and Drug Administration will issue an emergency authorization for blood plasma as a coronavirus treatment..., Donald Trump is set to announce Sunday evening, according to three administration officials. The agency held off on the decision last week over concerns from government scientists that evidence for the treatment's effectiveness is thin -- prompting Trump to accuse the FDA of slow-walking the therapy to harm his re-election chances without offering any evidence to support his claim. It is not clear whether the FDA has received additional clinical trial data in the last week that would support the therapy's use.... Plasma treatment ... has not yet been proven to work against the coronavirus." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
A Patsy Runs the FDA. Sheila Kaplan of the New York Times: "... as head of the agency that will decide what treatments are approved for Covid-19 and whether a new vaccine is safe enough to be given to millions of Americans, Dr. [Stephen] Hahn may be pressured like no one else. Unlike Dr. Anthony S. Fauci or Dr. Francis S. Collins, leaders at the National Institutes of Health who have decades of experience operating under Republican and Democratic administrations, Dr. Hahn was a Washington outsider.... Last week Mr. Trump speculated that [a vaccine] could be ready by Election Day -- a timeline that is unrealistic, according to scientists, and shows the strain Dr. Hahn may be under. Many medical experts -- including members of his own staff -- worry about whether Dr. Hahn, despite his good intentions, has the fortitude and political savvy to protect the scientific integrity of the F.D.A. from the president. Critics point to a series of worrisome responses to the coronavirus epidemic under Dr. Hahn's leadership.... Dr. Hahn is not allowed to speak to the press without [a Trumpy babysitter] on the phone."
Republicans Really Don't Care. Do You? Hannah Denford & Taylor Telford of the Washington Post: "One of the most successful elements of the government's response to the coronavirus recession -- protecting people on the margins from falling into poverty -- is faltering as the safety net shrinks and federal benefits expire. Major recessions are especially fraught for low-income earners, whose finances can veer from tenuous to dire with one missed paycheck. But as the economy cratered this spring, economists and poverty experts were mildly surprised to discover that the torrent of government support that followed -- particularly the $600 a week in expanded unemployment benefits and one-time $1,200 stimulus checks -- likely lowered the overall poverty rate.... Now, data show, those gains are eroding as federal inaction deprives Americans on the financial margins of additional support. If the unemployment rate stays around 10 percent and no new stimulus is delivered, 'we can expect poverty rates to rise and climb higher than those observed in the Great Recession,' [Zach] Parolin [of Columbia University] said."
Annals of "Journalism" -- Literary Corner, Ha Ha
David Bauder of the AP: According to Brian Stelter in his book Hoax, "Several people at Fox privately expressed worry to him about the growing power of prime-time opinion hosts Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham at the expense of Fox's news operation, he said. 'There is a real resistance inside Fox News,' Stelter told The Associated Press. 'Nobody there would use that term. But there are many people there who are uncomfortable with Sean Hannity's lies and Tucker Carlson's xenophobia. It's just that they are powerless, or feel powerless, and the prime-time stars have all the power. There are Trump true believers at Fox, but there are many others who are concerned about the damage being done....'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
"Fox's Frankenstein." Margaret Sullivan of the Washington Post: "Not surprisingly, almost everyone spoke to [Brian Stelter] only on the condition of anonymity.... Still, the insider details are believable and often stunning -- like ultimate Trump loyalist Sean Hannity reportedly calling Trump 'bats--t crazy' when speaking privately. Or this, from someone identified as a Fox News star: 'Trump is like Fox's Frankenstein. They helped make him and he's out of control.' The book's depiction of the feedback loop between media company and president is undeniable.... 'Trump granted pardons because of Fox. ... He raged against migrant 'caravans' because of Fox. He accused public servants of treason because of Fox. And he got the facts wrong again and again because of mistakes and misreporting by the network,' [Stelter] writes." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
David Enrich of the New York Times: "... Fox News ... has spawned some of the defining myths of this presidency and spurred Trump to adopt positions so hard-line as to be unpalatable even to congressional Republicans.... 'Hoax,' the new book by the CNN journalist Brian Stelter..., provides a thorough and damning exploration of the incestuous relationship between Trump and his favorite channel -- and of Fox's democracy-decaying role as a White House propaganda organ masquerading as conservative journalism.... Stelter shows, for example, how spurious attacks by Fox hosts led Trump to fire cabinet secretaries and shut down the federal government. It is the type of old-school media muscle-flexing that would be impossible under a stronger president." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Trump's weakness is something I've been thinking about lately. He presents himself as an authoritarian strongman, but he's a 240-pound weakling, so beholden to Putin, Hannity, et al., that he will make foolish, embarrassing policy reversals at the first knock by a Fox "News" personality. He think firing staff makes him look strong, but -- as Stelter point out -- many of those chaotic staff shuffles are the product of Fox criticism. I hope the Biden campaign (or the Lincoln Project!) will run ads portraying Trump not just as a person with no convictions, but as someone whose lack of conviction is a product of the whims of jerks & enemies.
** All the Best People, Ctd. Career Setback for SNL's Kate McKinnon. Ashley Parker of the Washington Post: "Kellyanne Conway, a senior adviser to President Trump and one of his longest-serving aides, is leaving the White House at the end of the month. Conway, whose title is counselor to the president, was Trump's third campaign manager in 2016 and the first woman to successfully manage a presidential bid to victory. She joined the White House at the start of Trump's term and has been one of his most visible and vocal defenders. Conway informed Trump of her decision Sunday night in the Oval Office. Her husband, George T. Conway III, a conservative lawyer and outspoken critic of the president, is also stepping back from his role on the Lincoln Project, an outside group of Republicans devoted to defeating Trump in November. He will also take a hiatus from Twitter, the venue he has often used to attack the president. In a statement, Conway called her time in the Trump administration 'heady' and 'humbling,' and said she and George were making the decision based on what they think is best for their four children." A CNN story is here. ~~~
~~~ Adam Silverman of Balloon Juice, in a comment: "George and KellyAnne Conway's eldest daughter, Claudia, who is 15, went on twitter late last night and earlier today alleging that 1) her mother has been emotionally and physically abusing her for years, 2) her father is just as bad politically as her mom, except on Trump so no one should be giving him any credit, and 3) this is why she was seeking to be legally emancipated from both of her parents.... Conway [is] ... quitting because her eldest daughter ... has publicly accused her of being emotionally and physically abusive. And that this is the reason she is seeking to be legally emancipated.... George is a very, very, very good attorney. He knows exactly the jeopardy that has been created for them. As an officer of the court he's a mandatory reporter, so if there was abuse and he didn't report it, he's in almost as much trouble as KellyAnne may well be in if Claudia's allegations are substantiated. If they actually care about her and their other kids they're quitting the White House (KellyAnne) and the Lincoln Group (George) to try to get her help. If they're as transactional and psychopathic as I actually expect and believe, they're trying to figure out how to stay ahead of the authorities and how to keep Claudia from going forward with the emancipation she said she's pursuing and that would bring everything into the open. I expect someone flagged Claudia's tweets for DC's child protective services."
Erin Banco of the Daily Beast has a long piece on Jared Kushner's secret dealings with Vladimir Putin's money-man, Kirill Dmitriev, who is CEO of the "Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), one of the country's sovereign wealth funds, which is under U.S. sanctions."
Jerry, Becki, and the Pool Boy. Paul Bedard of the Washington Examiner: "Jerry Falwell Jr., suspended as president of Virginia's Christian-focused Liberty University after a string of embarrassing acts, today said that he has suffered depression caused by a former family friend who had an affair with his wife and has been threatening to expose it. In a statement exclusively to Secrets, Falwell revealed his wife Becki's affair for the first time, said it was short lived and that the two reconciled quickly. But, they claimed, her former lover has threatened them over the past several years and they are done with it hanging over their heads." Includes a long, self-serving statement by Jerry.
~~~ A New York Post story is here. "Although Falwell Jr. did not name the employee, the [Washington] Examiner identified him as [the pool boy] Giancarlo Granda.... Following the affair, the Falwells invested 1.8 million in a property deal with Granda to open up a youth hostel in Miami Beach.... Years later, Falwell Jr. claimed Granda became 'increasingly angry and aggressive,' and tried to extort the family by threatening to publicly reveal the relationship.... Granda ... denied making any threats toward the family, and told the Examiner in an email, 'The Falwell's attempt to sandbag me, and the Examiner, with a last-minute story without providing the Examiner clear evidence that this was not simply an "affair" with concocted allegations of extortion reeks desperation. The WHOLE truth will come out.'" --s
Wisconsin. Meg Jones of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "Kenosha police shot a man Sunday evening, setting off unrest in the city after a video appeared to show the officer firing several shots at close range into the man's back. The shooting victim has been identified as Jacob Blake, a Black man, by Wisconsin officials. He was in serious condition at Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee as of early Monday morning.... Police had been called to a domestic incident ... at 5:11 p.m. where the shooting later occurred.... The Kenosha News reported that neighbors said Blake was trying to break up a fight between two women. Bystanders said he was Tased and then shot several times.... As the man opens the door [of a van] to get in, an officer grabs his shirt to hold him still, then appears to shoot him in the back at close range."
Sidney Fussell of Wired: "Earlier this month, Amazon said it had received more than 3,000 requests from police for user data [from smart devices] in the first half of this year, and complied almost 2,000 times. That was a 72 percent increase in requests from the same period in 2016, when Amazon first disclosed the data, and a 24 percent jump in the past year alone.... Google's Nest unit reported increasing police demands for data from its smart speakers through 2018. Google then stopped reporting Nest data separately, including such requests in its broader corporate transparency report, which shows increased requests for Google user data. In their terms of service, most major apps and websites include a clause warning users that companies may hand over their data if requested by the government." --s
Way Beyond the Beltway
Brazil. Tom Phillips of the Guardian: "The Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro has told a journalist he would like to 'smash your face in' after being questioned over reports of a series of mystery payments into his wife's bank account [of at least 89,000 reais (about £12,000)] by a former police officer with alleged links to the Rio de Janeiro underworld.... As he stood outside the Catholic Cathedral of Brasília, Bolsonaro then branded the journalist a safado (dirtbag).... The mystery deposits were allegedly made by Fabrício Queiroz, a longtime friend of Bolsonaro who was recently arrested as part of a corruption investigation into one of the president's sons, and Queiroz's wife, Marcia Aguiar. Flávio Bolsonaro and Queiroz have denied the corruption allegations." --s
News Ledes
Weather Channel: "Tropical Storm Laura could strengthen quickly into a major hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico with a dangerous threat of storm surge along parts of the Louisiana and Texas coasts, and threats of flooding rain and strong winds extending well inland later in the week. Laura has prompted hurricane and storm surge watches for the Gulf Coast. A hurricane watch has been posted from Port Bolivar, Texas, to west of Morgan City, Louisiana. This means hurricane conditions are possible within 48 hours in the watch area. A storm surge watch has also been issued from San Luis Pass, Texas, to Ocean Springs, Mississippi. This watch, meaning life-threatening inundation of water moving ashore over land is possible within the area in 48 hours or less. The watch includes Galveston Bay, Lake Pontchartrain, Lake Maurepas and Lake Borgne for areas outside of the southeast Louisiana Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction System. Tropical storm warnings continue from parts of Cuba into the Middle and Lower Florida Keys[.]"
~~~ The New Orleans Times-Picayune has several stories linked on its front page. The Times-Picayune's live updates are here. Their coverage of the storms is free to nonsubscribers, but the links didn't seem to be working @9:30 pm ET Monday. The Washington Post has live updates here, but there's no indication the page is free to nonsubscribers.
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Melanie Paves Paradise. Parking Lot to Follow.
All we need now is a big yellow taxi to take away the old man (thanks, Joni Mitchell).
So, we all knew, based on former soft core porn model, Melanie Trumpy’s frigid, weird, and uninviting Christmas decorations (who can make Christmas decorations frigid, weird, and uninviting? The Trumps, natch!) that her sudden decision to destroy, er, I mean “renovate” Jackie Kennedy’s Rose Garden, had a very good chance of following the King Midas in Reverse MO of her criminal prick of a lying, philandering husband, which is to fuck up everything they touch.
Check out the before and after pictures. Jackie’s Rose Garden was bright, colorful, diverse in its plantings and graced with stately trees. Melanie chopped down the trees, tore up the plantings, put in boring hedges, and a paved sidewalk. Her flower choices are pale something and white. First, a paved sidewalk? Really? And of course, let’s tear out the colors and make it all whitey, white, white.
The stated reason for this dismaying destructo plan was because, according to noted horticulturist Melanie (I’ll refrain from the Dorothy Parker quip at this point), the Rose Garden needed to something, something, something, the “modern” presidency. I think she meant the sodden presidency. This plan is all wet.
These people are fucking brigands. Destroy everything by making it all in their own vacuous, soulless image.
Don’t worry, I read that Melanie has plans for the trees she chopped down.
She took all the trees and put ‘em in a tree museum, and she’ll charge people a thousand bucks just to see ‘em.
Now where’s that big yellow taxi?
https://www.vox.com/2020/8/22/21397346/melania-trump-rose-garden-trees-limestone-pavement-white-house
@Akhilleus: I beg your pardon. Melanie has to give a speech in that Rose Garden this very week. That requires, among other things, (1) adequate power for mic, teleprompters & flattering lighting (which I read elsewhere was being beefed up from the 1960s electrical panel), (2) flowers that coordinate with her outfit, (3) nothing to soil that outfit, and (4) a pavement suitable for traversing in 4" heels.
According to a gardening article I consulted, "Overripe [crabapples] fruit falling to the ground around the tree can be messy, especially if the tree is planted close to driveways and sidewalks." What if a crabapple were to fall from a tree & stain Melanie's dress right before she delivered that speech Michelle wrote for her? Most important, if you had tried crossing a lawn in stilettos, I think you would be a lot more appreciative of the new design. No doubt it was all the garden designer could do to keep Melanie from actually putting up a parking lot (of inlaid marble copied from a Trump Tower penthouse design).
Show some empathy, for Pete's sake, and look at things from Melanie's POV. God knows, nobody else will.
Marie,
No doubt Melanie’s parking lot plan would have specified faux marble. Like everything else Trumpy, the choices are all for a cheap, hollow display. Oh, wait... taxpayers are paying for the “renovation” (private funding, my ass, but even if it were, at least the Fattys wouldn’t be paying for it, cuz they don’t pay for shit) so she’d probably spec a square mile of calacatta marble. Either that or Fatty would demand that the Vatican hand over a bunch of Michelangelo sculptures so they could be crushed and the marble fragments be reused as part of Melanie’s parking lot.
Always classy, those Fattys.
Just when you think marriages like the Conways are too good to be true or too strange to decipher up pops the salacious workings within that relationship. Truth will out! Imagine the effort it must have taken Kellyanne to muster all that bravado, all that "talking the legs off a table" discourse––the loyal serf to the unctuous Overseer. And George––living with a wife who's married to "the Mob" that you distain–- a woman who you sleep with every night and is the mother of your children in which the oldest is now seeking. legal separation. Luckily there are no videos or transcripts from the Conway's micro-wave–-something Kellyanne once thought possible. So until Claudia spills all the beans in a court case ( or in a later book called "Mommy Dearest and Poppy, too.) we'll just have to put a lid on this Marriage Story until further notice.
I am deciding whether I can stomach watching the GOP dumpster otherwise known as their convention. I'm leaning toward not––why expose myself to rhetoric that's ribald and risible which is a polite way of describing a frigging shit=show. The mister and I have been streaming the well wrought series "Designated Survivor"––a political drama that portrays a man being put in the position of being president after a bomb destroys the acting president and all of congress*–-a zinger here that I won't reveal. So I think I'll continue watching how a decent human being handles this situation rather than watch unsavory ones slobbering all over a dying animal.
True confessions:
I'm developing a fondness for Jennifer Senior.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/24/opinion/republican-convention-trump-pat-buchanan.html?
BTW,
The column is worth a look if only for its memorable Molly Ivin's quote.
My comment:
"Love a column I can agree with and whose conclusions I can applaud, but have some serious doubts about the happy ending this one reaches.
Wish I didn't, because the scene of Trump and Trumpism tossed unceremoniously on history's ash heap can't come soon enough for me.
But his schtick (abetted by the Electoral College) worked one time. Four out of five Republican still think the liar in chief is still doing a "good job" and with the exception of the Lincoln Project folks, Republican leaders are obviously cowed into quiet submission.
There were many factors at work in 2016, only one of which was race. This time around the racial component will be far more prominent. After Trump's poorly produced presidential reality show this last four years, there will be no mistaking or denying it.
I therefore view this November primarily as a plebiscite on racial issues.
Have we learned anything at all in the last four years, and if we have, what have we learned?
I truly hope to see Ms.Senior's optimism borne out."
" 20 Strategists predict the U.S. presidential election and how stocks will react."
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/24/2020-election-us-presidential-predictions-and-stock-market-forecast.html
This speaks for itself.
Tales of Woe, by Jooonior.
It took a couple of weeks for Pants Open Jerry Falwell, Jooonior, to dream up some bullshit story to excuse his in flagrante-isms and make everyone feel sorry for him.
Well, maybe some people. The moron kind.
“Sorry, Jesus, I was depressed. Can I have my cushy, highly paid, no-work ‘job’ back now?”
But what kind of stupid story is this? I’m tempted to channel my inner Ricky Ricardo, “Jerry! You got some ‘splainin’ to do!” Falwell must think all his Christiany goobers are as stoopid as he is.
So here’s the layout (so to speak). Mrs. Jooonior and the pool boy decide to get a post doc in the horizontal tango. Jooonior finds out and has a very big sad. “Boo-boo, Becki and the pool boy up a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g! Or maybe some other “ing” activity, strictly forbidden, of course, (wink, wink) by Liberty School of What Would Jesus Do if He Were a Rat Bastard Pervert and Liar.
So, great big sad for poor Jerry. “Where’s my fucking Valium?”
What to do to feel better? I know! How ‘bout I give the pool boy who’s been banging ol’ Becki a couple million dollars for, um, fooooorr...a “youth hostel”! In South Beach, of course.
Youth.Hostel. Riiight.
Because that’s what Jesus would do, I guess. And yeah, if I found out the paperboy was rolling around with my wife while I was at work, I’d be depressed, but then, I’d sell the house and give every cent to that kid.
Wouldn’t you?
Does this Liberty place teach creative writing (ha..that first came out “creative writhing”... prob’ly more accurate)? Then hire a sophomore to make up something more believable. Like the pool boy is an alien experimenting on your wife with demon sperm.
Does money and unearned high positions make people stoopid? Or is it the other way around?
It sure do. The cult of personality has both good sides (Gandhi, MLK) and very bad sides (Stalin, Trump). But both sides are powered by the pull of the cult.
BTW, great song. Vernon Reid is a killer guitar player. He can rip it up, hammering his EMS guitar as in this video, but he is also adept at funk and jazz (he made an album with Bill Frisell (!) and has worked with guys like Jack Bruce (Cream), and Donald Byrd, who played with Art Blakey’s famous Jazz Messengers). A real talent.
@KW: I doubt seriously we've learned much if any at all. Remember, Trump was to give his acceptance speech in Jacksonville on the 60th anniversary of "Axe Handle Saturday". The Florida Times-Union ran a front page memorial with contemporary photos, stories, and modern commentary.
It could happen again somewhere this week or next.
@ PD
Maybe the microwave isn't recording the family chaos, but maybe child services could convince the police to request Alexia's recording (see Wired article above).
I'm betting there are some seriously sketchy convos on the smart devices over at the Conjobs. I wonder who's listening?
Here's the latest Randy Rainbow: KAMALA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RbKStEFNT8&feature=youtu.be
I found it interesting that the Fiends at Fox praised Biden's speech but had a hissy fit over Kamala's: ""worst speech I've ever heard" said one. Evidently she poses a risk to their agenda or they just think "womens should stick to cleaning and cooking." Nah––I think they know Kamala is goona get them where it hurts.
@PD Pepe: If it will make you feel any better, I too thought Kamala's speech was awful -- just pap from beginning to end. I hope she made a bad speech to make Joe look better. But I suspect she made a bad speech because it's the best she can do. I gladly watched speeches by Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama -- of course -- & even Michelle Obama's rather treacly girl-talk, but I got up and left after 5 minutes of Kamala's remarks -- though I heard them all.
@Ak, funny you should mention Art Blakey. Just last week I was listening to my Ginger Baker collection. One song in particular struck me enough that I had to check the title and see if there were any videos of it. As luck would have it, this is - Drum Battle. Art Blakey vs. Ginger Baker. The video quality isn't great but the drumming is outstanding. AB looks calm and controlled, GB looks deranged. I guess to play like him you need to be a little.
Worth only for the Fox headline which I saw last night and checked again this AM.
Graham complaining about double standard showing FBI "bias toward Trump."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OGgyYSOkGg
A minor amusement...but I was in the mood.
Oh good. I thought I was the only one not entranced with Kamala's speech. I think she is better at sticking the finger in the moist flesh of evil-doers and twisting it, a la Beer Boy of the SC and that Mountain of Toadness, the AG. But I do think we have to face the fact that not everyone is good at addresses, even people whose hearts might be pure. (Whomever that might be--) I have gone through this in church politics: should the next minister be fabulous at preaching, or at community and congregational outreach and organization... And that's with the Unitarians. I can't imagine what the Baptists do. Well, we know about ole Zipperdown, who has been toiling in the garden of zen to produce a credible excuse. Wonder how many affairs HE has had... Love the endless supply of hypocritical Christian repugs.
Must go now-- Q-tip is speaking at the "convention" and I have already swallowed a lot of righteous mumbling from those defending DeMisery, who is quite resentful today, as he is accused of doing what he has done. One Dem got way worked up-- I hoped he wouldn't have a heart event before they clocked him. Naturally, I loved his rant. Dunno who he was. Anyhow-- lunch break!
@Jeanne: I think that was Steve Lynch of Massachusetts who's a pretty conservative Democrat, but he did get worked up, and I too thought his rant was great.
Our whole family, wife, two sons and their wives would happily we-too the impressions shared here of the Harris speech. The convention's oratorical low point.
Presume she will shine more brightly in her prosecutorial mode, but she sure ain't no Clarence Darrow.
Have to go paint,. Let me know if DeMisery is ever asked (and answers) why the sorting machines were removed in the first place.
My wife tells me the Pretender said the were "unsanitary."
Really.
Unwashed,
A Ginger Baker collection? Geeez. Anyone who owns a Ginger Baker collection is someone I'd love to have a beer with. Been a GB fan since my first band (our drummer attempted "Toad" at rehearsal one day--we gave him credit for trying).
As for Art Blakey, a friend of mine who taught percussion at Berklee College of Music sat in with my band one night. I asked him how in the hell Blakey was able to play four different rhythms at the same time (one on the bass, one on the snare, another on the floor tom and a fourth on the hi-hat). He said it's not four different rhythms. Guys like that (and Baker did this as well), combine the different time signatures in their head and come up with a completely new one.
Whew. That's some crazy-ass drumming genius there.
As for Baker, I used to think that guys with two bass drums (usually these were also the dudes with a complete collection of roto toms and every size ride cymbal Zildjian ever made) were total wankers. Except for Ginger. He could make those big boys sing the prologue to "Pagliacci".
And while I'm on a drumming stream of consciousness, here's a little joke to brighten up the Trumpian pall.
A man on safari in Africa gets lost in the jungle. He comes across a guide who agrees to lead him to safety. As they make their way through the bush, they hear drums off in the distance. The guide, growing uneasy, gulps "C'mon, "Hurry up. We don't want to be anywhere near here when the drums stop." So off they trot. Suddenly the drumming ceases. "Oh No!" shouts the guide, gripped with fear. Then the drums start up again. "Thank god" he says, and they take off at a gallop. The drums come to a complete stop again. The lost man, now completely distraught asks "What happens? What happens when the drums stop?!?" "Never mind" says the guide, as the drums start up once again. "RUN!" And off they go. Then for a third time, the drums stop. The guide collapses in a paroxysm of fear. "Please" shouts the lost man. "Tell me what happens when the drums stop!!!"
"Bass solo!"
Steve Lynch IS a pretty conservative Democrat, but he represents (and is from) South Boston, with many working class constituents who rely on the postal service for any number of things. You can say a lot about South Boston natives, but one thing you can't say is that they'll happily take a lot of shit from snotty rich pricks like this Trump flunky.
I'm a bit concerned that if the storm surge from hurricane Biden goes high enough we may see congress getting involved in the management of the post office again.
I started with the USPS back when it was the USPO and the PMG was a political cabinet member. Congress controlled it, and it was a glorified clusterbump. In todays partisan divide, it could only be worse.
Ak, love the bass solo line. And agree with the sentiment. Steve Goodson's Saxgourmet.com has a nice collection of musician's humor.
Whyte,
I’ve heard a lot of musician jokes over the years (if you light a viola and an accordion on fire at the same time, which will burn faster? Answer: Who cares?) but a few of these are new to me. Especially liked the one about the crowd cheering after you’ve finished a particularly gnarly break only to realize that they’re yelling about some sports event they’re watching on the big screen and no one was actually listening to you (that’s happened to me).
Hahaha.
Thanks.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/23/opinion/trump-convention-economy.html?
A good summary of the real economy, laced with some fine ammunition should any of you talk to a Republican these days about the Pretender's vaunted economy--or about anything at all.
Reading Jimmy Carter's A Full Life. Here's an apt quote: "The primary objective of dictators is to stay in office, and we help them achieve this goal by punishing their already suffering subjects and letting the oppressors claim to be saviors. It's the RNC platform, if not mantra--