;)
The Commentariat -- August 27, 2020
Afternoon Update:
Max Cohen & Matthew Choi of Politico: "Support for Joe Biden's White House bid is growing among staffers of past presidential campaigns -- Republican ones, that is. Several dozen former staffers from Sen. Mitt Romney's (R-Utah) presidential campaign, the George W. Bush administration and the campaign and Senate staff of former Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) have signed on to an effort to elect Joe Biden. For the Romney and McCain staffers, they're working to elect the same man they tried to defeat in 2012 and 2008, respectively.... In an open letter obtained by Politico, the group 'Romney Alumni for Biden' says Trump's rhetoric and actions are antithetical to the Republican Party they believe in.... The 34 total signatories include finance, operations, policy and events staffers from Romney's presidential bid. Politico also received in advance a letter from Bush alumni supporting Biden, whose signatories include former Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, Bush domestic policy adviser Sally Canfield, former Ambassador James Glassman and former U.S. Treasurer Rosario Marin. The group praised Biden's decency and ability to work across party lines and launched a website raising money for ... [Biden]." ~~~
~~~ Rebecca Shabad & Mike Memoli of NBC News: "Several hundred former aides to President George W. Bush and Sen. John McCain announced Thursday that they are endorsing Joe Biden for president.... A political action committee, 43 Alumni for Biden, that launched last month posted a list of nearly 300 members of the Bush administration or campaigns who are publicly backing Biden.... Earlier this week, more than two dozen former Republican Congress members backed Biden for president." ~~~
~~~ Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "More than 100 former staff members for Senator John McCain are supporting Joseph R. Biden Jr., a show of support across the political divide that they hope amplifies the 'Country First' credo of the former Arizona senator. That motto and 'his frequent call on Americans to serve causes greater than our self-interest were not empty slogans like so much of our politics today,' the group of aides, most of them still Republicans, wrote in a joint statement, praising Mr. McCain and implicitly taking aim at President Trump.... The list of signatories includes a range of people -- from chiefs of staff in Mr. McCain's Senate office to junior aides on his campaigns -- who worked for him over his 35 years in Congress and during two presidential bids. Mark Salter, Mr. McCain's longtime chief aide and speechwriter, helped organize the letter.... Coinciding with Mr. Trump's renomination acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention on Thursday and the second anniversary of Mr. McCain's death this week, the joint endorsement of Mr. Biden represents the latest effort from anti-Trump Republicans to lure conservatives and moderates away from the president." ~~~
~~~ Salter's letter is published as an op-ed in the Washington Post. Here's the statement by the McCain group, published in Medium, & the list of signatories.
Glenn Kessler, et al., of the Washington Post: "The third night of the Republican National Convention yet again offered a cascade of false claims, especially in Vice President Pence's speech. Here are 20 claims that caught our attention." Mrs. McC: This is a remarkable list of whoppers. All of the puppet-makers in all the world could not make enough Pinocchio marionettes to cover one GOP convention.
Shutting the Stable Door After the Horse's Ass Has Bolted. Vivian Salama of CNN: "The Department of Homeland Security sent an agency-wide email to its employees Thursday morning reminding them not to participate in partisan politics, citing "heightened scrutiny." While directives like this are standard in election years, the warning comes days after acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf participated in a swearing in ceremony with ... Donald Trump for naturalized Americans as part of the Republican National Convention, raising ethics concerns.... Signed by Joseph Maher, the agency's designated ethics official, the email references the Hatch Act, which stipulates that most executive-branch officials must not engage in political activity in an official capacity at any time...." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: BTW, the official name of the Hatch Act is "An Act to Prevent Pernicious Political Activities." Nearly everything Trump does is a pernicious political activity.
Now, Don't Get Confused by Another Quasi-Reversal by Another Gutless Wonder. From Thursday's NYT coronavirus updates: "The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has scaled back the agency's recommendation advising some people not to get tested after exposure to the novel coronavirus, now saying 'testing may be considered for all close contacts of confirmed or probable Covid-19 patients.' The statement by Dr. Robert R. Redfield was issued to some news outlets late Wednesday, and more broadly Thursday morning, after a storm of criticism over the new C.D.C. guidelines -- involving potentially asymptomatic people -- which were the product of the White House Coronavirus Task Force and not C.D.C.'s own scientists. Dr. Redfield made the statement in an effort to clarify the new policy, an official said. However, the guidelines issued earlier this week remained on the C.D.C.'s website as of Thursday morning, and it appears unlikely that the agency will change them."
Dropping the Mic. Ben Strauss of the Washington Post: "About 30 minutes into a makeshift pregame show without any basketball to follow it, TNT's 'Inside the NBA' cut to former NBA star Chris Webber. Webber was supposed to call one of Wednesday night's playoffs games from the Orlando bubble. But all three games were postponed after players, led by the Milwaukee Bucks, said they would not play in protest of the shooting of Jacob Blake, the unarmed Black man, by police in Kenosha, Wis. Choking back tears, Webber delivered an impassioned monologue supporting the players' historic actions.... Webber's words came just a few minutes after the opening moments of the show, during which Kenny Smith, a former NBA player and host, walked off the set in solidarity with the players. 'For me, I think the biggest thing now -- as a black man and a former player -- I think it's best for me to support the players and just not be here tonight,' Smith said before taking off his microphone and leaving his chair." The Colbert segment embedded below has video of Smith's extraordinary protest.
Grifter-in-Chief. David Fahrenthold, et al., of the Washington Post: "Trump has now visited his own properties 270 times as president, according to a Washington Post tally -- with another visit planned for Thursday, when he is scheduled to meet GOP donors at his Washington hotel. Through these trips, Trump has brought the Trump Organization a stream of private revenue from federal agencies and GOP campaign groups. Federal spending records show that taxpayers have paid Trump's businesses more than $900,000 since he took office. At least $570,000 came as a result of the president's travel, according to a Post analysis. Now, new federal spending documents obtained by The Post via a public-records lawsuit give more detail about how the Trump Organization charged the Secret Service -- a kind of captive customer, required to follow Trump everywhere.... The documents show that the Trump Organization charged daily 'resort fees' to Secret Service agents guarding Vice President Pence in Las Vegas and in another instance asked agents to pay a $1,300 'furniture removal charge' during a presidential visit to a Trump resort in Scotland. In addition, campaign finance records have provided new details about the payments the Trump Organization received from GOP groups, as a result of the 37 instances in which Trump headlined a political event at one of his properties. Those visits have brought the company at least $3.8 million in fees, according to a Post analysis of campaign spending records." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie's Financial Planning Advice to Future Presidents & Vice Presidents: Buy or build an expensive resort in some isolated place in the USA & go there at every opportunity and charge the federal government exorbitant rates for every possible thing. I'm sure Republicans wouldn't mind if Joe Biden and Kamala Harris tried this stunt.
~~~ AND There's This from the WashPo report: "In response to questions for this report, White House spokesman Judd Deere said in a statement..., 'The Washington Post is blatantly interfering with the business relationships of the Trump Organization, and it must stop.... Please be advised that we are building up a very large "dossier" on the many false David Fahrenthold and others stories as they are a disgrace to journalism and the American people.'" ~~~
~~~ Oliver Darcy of CNN: David "Fahrenthold wrote on Twitter that if anyone knows 'anything about a dossier the White House has supposedly compiled' on him, to let him know or provide him a copy. Fahrenthold won a Pulitzer Prize in 2017 for 'casting doubt' on Trump's 'generosity toward charities' in his coverage. He has also reported on Trump's businesses. Last summer, The New York Times reported that allies of the White House had compiled dossiers on hundreds of people who work for top news organizations. The White House's boasting of building a dossier on Fahrenthold and other journalists is jarring, but perhaps not surprising from an administration that has branded the press as 'the enemy of the people.' Trump and his allies have for years aimed to discredit journalists and news organizations, often through the use of lies and dishonest rhetoric." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Jarring? Compiling dossiers on reporters & warning them off negative stories about a "leader" & his cohort are exactly what repressive dictators & their henchmen do in repressive, non-democratic regimes. I don't of an American president* who has done so and admitted to it. Richard Nixon, infamously, did have an "enemies list" (or two) that included journalists, the purpose of which was to "screw" the "enemies" with tax audits & other means. But Nixon didn't kept his tactics secret. John Dean revealed it to the Senate Watergate Committee during hearings, & journalist Daniel Schorr -- who made the list -- obtained a copy of the original list "and read names from the list live on CBS television on this day." (Schorr didn't realize he was included until he read it on TV.)
Gangsta Rap. David Corn of Mother Jones: "On December 10, 2015, Donald Trump took time off from campaigning for the Republican presidential nomination to spend hours sitting for a videotaped deposition in a lawsuit alleging that he and Trump University had defrauded people who had plunked down thousands of dollars to learn the secrets of his financial success as a developer. During a break in the proceedings, the camera continued to roll. And Trump and his attorney, Daniel Petrocelli ... were captured discussing the case. In this 13-minute hot-mic video ... Trump boasted about how his company threatened the Better Business Bureau to change the D rating it had assigned Trump University to an A. He complained about the federal judge overseeing the suit, Gonzalo Curiel, elliptically talking about how to challenge him and referring to 'the Spanish thing.' Trump also griped that he had been sued personally in this case, and Petrocelli had to explain to Trump that he, not just Trump University itself, was in the legal crosshairs because Trump had been accused of making false statements to promote the venture. And Petrocelli pointed out that the case was not a lock for Trump because some of Trump's 'guys' had been 'sloppy.'"
~~~~~~~~~~
Presidential Race, Etc.
~~~ As NiskyGuy writes in today's Comments, "Colbert got it right last night. Again."
Matt Flegenheimer & Katie Glueck of the New York Times: "The America that many speakers described on Wednesday at the Republican National Convention did not sound like a desirable place: fractious, violent, functionally lawless in some pockets. But their case that only President Trump could shield Americans from this fate was complicated by a nettlesome fact. He is in charge, at present.... The third night of the Republican convention steered into a bit of messaging jujitsu that has become a dominant theme of the week: Mr. Trump's ability to turn back Trump-era ills that have, in this telling, been largely out of his hands to date.... 'You won't be safe,' [Mike Pence] said, 'in Joe Biden's America.' Even as president, Mr. Trump has often appeared most comfortable in the role of back-seat driver, jeering his own government like a common bystander, insisting that someone really ought to do something about all this.... Through it all, the intended takeaway has seemed clear: Mr. Trump is in control of the good but not responsible for the bad, worthy of praise for America's successes and exoneration for its struggles." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I can tell you right now why Republicans, especially evangelicals, will buy this paradox: it is exactly what they believe of the Hebrew God. Their god is almighty, but bad things befall believers because they -- or someone -- has succumbed to Satan. Trump and his disciples are presenting him as an earthly god, while Joe Biden and "Democrat mayors" are Satan and his band of evil-doers. Trump is no theologian, but he has -- perhaps intuitively -- recognized & adopted the structural core of Christianity & Judaism.
Seung Min Kim, et al., of the Washington Post: "Republicans used the third day of their national convention to portray President Trump as a strong defender of conservative principles on law enforcement, defense and the economy -- emphasizing his law-and-order credentials as social unrest flared again after another police shooting of a Black man.... None of the speakers specifically addressed the police shooting of Jacob Blake Jr., a Black man, in Kenosha, Wis., on Sunday...."
Politico has a "highlights" report of Wednesday night's The New Trump Show, featuring women who said what a caring feminist Trump is. The fact-checking here is weak, though. For instance, one of Kayleigh McEnany's big points was that Trump would make sure people with pre-existing conditions were guaranteed coverage, even though Trump has fought throughout his presidency* to repeal the Affordable Care Act, the law that guarantees coverage for pre-existing conditions.
Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: One likely outcome of the Republican National Convention: it will become a coronavirus super-spreader. Besides a number of maskless people sitting together for Melanie's speech Tuesday night, there were even more maskless people sitting close together for pence's speech at Fort McHenry Wednesday. Then Donald Trump showed up. According to CNN, a number of audience members Wednesday said they were not tested for coronavirus, and at Tuesday's event, only the people sitting closest to Trump were tested. After pence's speech, Trump & the Mrs. stood around chatting with guests.
The New York Times' live updates of Wednesday's episode of Trump TV programming are here. The Washington Post's live updates are here. The Guardian's live updates are here. ~~~
~~~ Here's New York Times reporters' live snark chat about the convention's Wednesday session. Politico reporters' live analysis is here.
Gene Robinson of the Washington Post: "What country does Vice President Pence live in? During his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday, Pence sounded as though he lived in some kind of fantasyland that perhaps had encountered a few tiny little bumps in the road. His party has spent the week claiming to represent 'the common man,' but Pence spoke as though he knew next to nothing about the daunting challenges that Americans are having to deal with every day. The most he could muster was an acknowledgement that 'we're passing through a time of testing,' as though he were consoling a motorist after a fender bender. He did offer 'our prayers' for victims of Hurricane Laura, and he acknowledged there had been deaths from the coronavirus pandemic, though not how many. But his only pointed and specific words were his attacks against the Democratic nominee -- 'You won't be safe in Joe Biden's America' -- and his full-throated endorsement of President Trump's 'law and order' rhetoric."
Abraham Lincoln once famously said, 'America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.' -- Lara Trump, Wednesday at Republican convention, citing a right-wing meme which both PolitiFact and Snopes have debunked
At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide. -- @Real Abraham Lincoln, January 1838
What would make anyone think Lara's "quote" reads anything like something Lincoln would have said? And yeah, if we Americans re-elect Lara's father-in-law we will ourselves be the authors & finishers of our own destruction. -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie
** Rebecca Beitsch of the Hill: "The National Park Service (NPS) is in hot water with ethics watchdogs for a slickly produced video promoting President Trump along with its plans to host a fireworks spectacle after his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention. Trump is slated to give his convention speech on Thursday from the White House South Lawn, followed by fireworks at the nearby Washington Monument on Park Service property. Those plans come on the heels of an NPS video publicly praising the president for his involvement in legislation providing more funding to parks. The two instances are leading to allegations that federal employees are engaging in political activity while at work -- a violation of the Hatch Act." --s
Yes, Donald Trump Can Go Lower. Tax Axelrod of the Hill: "President Trump is calling for drug tests to be administered before the first presidential debate between him and Democratic nominee Joe Biden next month. Trump made the demand in an Oval Office interview with The Washington Examiner Wednesday, saying he noted a sudden improvement in Biden's primary debate performance against Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in March. He offered no evidence to support his suggestion that the improvement could have been the result of a drug.... The president said he was going solely based off of his own observations and not any inside knowledge into Biden's campaign. 'All I can tell you is that I'm pretty good at this stuff,' he said." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Mrs. McCrabbie: Remember the Taco Bowl! When considering Trump's "message" in pardoning a Black felon and in attending a naturalization ceremony for people of color at the White House yesterday, then playing back video of these events at the convention last night, we should bear in mind Trump's infamous May 2016 tweet in which he is pictured sticking a fork in a Trump Tower Grill taco bowl and declaring "I love Hispanics!" These White House events are not efforts to "soften" his image, as most in the media have asserted. Trump is a cruel person, and all of these "gestures" are, to put it as delicately as possible, mind-fucking exercises. He knows you know he is a racist xenophobe, and his intention is to mess with you.
Jonathan Easley of the Hill: "One of the GOP founders of the anti-Trump group The Lincoln Project said Wednesday that polls undercount the level of support that exists for President Trump. 'It is historically difficult to defeat an incumbent president, No. 1,' Steve Schmidt, a former adviser to Sen.& John McCain (R-Ariz.), told Andrea Mitchell on MSNBC. 'I suspect there is at least a point or two of undercount for Trump voters.'... [Joe] Biden has smaller leads in most of the six core battleground states, although recent surveys have found the race is tightening." --s
Julian Barnes of the New York Times: "Mail-in voting for the November presidential election is safe from foreign intervention, intelligence and election security officials said on Wednesday, saying that standard security measures and decentralization make the United States' election system extremely difficult for a foreign power to penetrate and change the results. The assessment contradicts President Trump's attacks on mail-in voting and comments by Attorney General William P. Barr that have also sowed doubt about its security.... 'You guys like to talk about Russia and China and other places,' Mr. Trump said in July. 'They'll be able to forge ballots. They'll forge them. They'll do whatever they have to do.'... Mr. Barr ... told NPR News in June that he did not think an election conducted by mail-in vote could be secure. Mr. Barr told lawmakers in July that ... mail-in voting increased the risk of fraud. And he defended Mr. Trump's claim that foreign governments could print fake mail-in ballots, saying that 'it is not disinformation.' The United States ... has no intelligence that any nation-state is making a coordinated attempt to undermine absentee voting or create fake mail-in ballots, a senior official from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said."
Black Lives Matter, Ctd.
Here are the New York Times live updates of the police shooting of Jacob Blake and of the Trump supporter's killing of two protesters in Kenosha, Wisconsin: "Wisconsin's attorney general Josh Kaul on Wednesday identified the white police officer who shot Jacob Blake, a Black man, multiple times in Kenosha, Wis., as Rusten Sheskey, a seven-year veteran of the city's police force."
Julie Bosman of the New York Times: "An Illinois resident has been arrested in connection to a shooting that left two people dead and another person wounded during a chaotic night of demonstrations over the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wis., officials said on Wednesday. A court document from Lake County, Ill., shows that Kyle Rittenhouse, 17, was arrested in Antioch, Ill., on Wednesday morning after being charged with first degree intentional homicide in the fatal shooting that took place only hours earlier. Antioch is about 30 minutes southwest of Kenosha, just over the Illinois line." This is an update of a story linked yesterday. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
** Ellie Hall, et al., of BuzzFeed News: "The law enforcement-obsessed 17-year-old who was charged with shooting and killing two people and injuring another in Kenosha, Wisconsin, during protests for Jacob Blake appeared in the front row at a Donald Trump rally in January. Kyle Howard Rittenhouse's social media presence is filled with him posing with weapons, posting 'Blue Lives Matter,' and supporting Trump for president. Footage from the Des Moines, Iowa, rally on Jan. 30 shows Rittenhouse feet away from the president, in the front row, to the left of the podium. He posted a TikTok video from the event." Read on. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: If you wove this detail into a work of fiction, you (or your editor) would take it out as too trite.
Travis Gettys of the Raw Story, citing a tweet by Shannon Watts: "'Cell phone footage shows Kenosha police telling armed insurrectionists, 'We appreciate you guys. We really do,' and giving them bottles of water. Shortly after this video was taken, one of these men shot and killed two protesters and wounded another.' Another video shows Rittenhouse open fire with a rifle after he fell to the ground and then calmly walk toward police vehicles with his hands raised in surrender. Other people can be heard yelling that he had shot someone. However, no officers are seen getting out of the vehicles, which continue advancing toward protesters, to apprehend Rittenhouse -- who then fled the state and was considered a fugitive." Mrs. McC: An eyewitness told Anderson Cooper on CNN Wednesday that he saw the shooter talking to police, who were in their vehicle, and he heard a cop tell the shooter to clear away from the area. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Time to Fire the Kenosha Police Chief. Jeremy Stahl of Slate: "During the Kenosha Police Department's first press conference in response to the Blake shooting and subsequent protests, Chief Daniel Miskinis blamed the unidentified victims in Tuesday night';s shooting for their own deaths, saying the violence was the result of the 'persons; involved violating curfew[.]... 'It is the persons who were involved after the legal time, involved in illegal activity, that brought violence to this community,' Miskinis [said].... In describing the shooting of two protesters, Miskinis also declined to call it a homicide and instead referred to it by various euphemisms often used to describe killings by a police officer, which [Kyle] Rittenhouse is not. He said that the shooter 'was involved in the use of firearms to resolve whatever conflict was in place' and that there was a 'disturbance that led to the use of deadly force.' Additionally, Miskinis refused to comment on the video of [Jacob] Blake's shooting, but offered that there may have been a reasonable explanation for the man being shot seven times.... When asked about the vigilante groups, Miskinis defended them as civilians out to protect property and 'exercise their constitutional right.'"
Marc Stein of the New York Times: "The Milwaukee Bucks responded to the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man in Wisconsin, by refusing to take the court Wednesday afternoon for their N.B.A. playoff game against the Orlando Magic. An hour later, the N.B.A. postponed two other playoff games scheduled for Wednesday night, thrusting its ambitious restart at Walt Disney World during the coronavirus pandemic into sudden chaos and doubt. The postponed games were first-round playoff matchups pitting the Houston Rockets against the Oklahoma City Thunder, and the Los Angeles Lakers against the Portland Trail Blazers. All three games will be rescheduled. Players from the N.B.A. and the W.N.B.A. have long been at the forefront of protests against racism and police brutality but especially this year, after the police killings of George Floyd, a Black man in Minnesota, and Breonna Taylor, a Black woman in Kentucky. Still, the boycott was an extraordinary escalation in the athletes' demonstrations, a move that had virtually no precedent in the league's history." A Deadline story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Carla Russo of the Huffington Post: "Several Major League Baseball teams postponed their games on Wednesday in an apparent show of protest against the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The Milwaukee Brewers and the Cincinnati Reds were the first MLB teams to postpone their game, multiple sources reported. They made their decision not long after the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks staged a walkout during a playoff game against the Orlando Magic, also on Wednesday. Later Wednesday, the Seattle Mariners and San Diego Padres decided to postpone their Wednesday game as well, according to multiple reports." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
~~~ Scott Lemieux in LG&$: "Critically, the Reds decided to join the strike rather than undermine it by accepting a forfeit. This is a big deal.... I dunno, making a lifelong champion of arbitrary violence against Black people president of the United States seems like a bad idea in retrospect." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Russell Brandom of the Verge: "In the wake of an apparent double murder Tuesday night in Kenosha, Facebook has faced a wave of scrutiny over posts by a self-proclaimed militia group called Kenosha Guard, which issued a 'call to arms' to in advance of the protest. Facebook took down Kenosha Guard's Facebook page Wednesday morning, identifying the posts as violating community standards. But while the accounts were ultimately removed, new evidence suggests the platform had ample warning about the account before the shooting brought the group to prominence. At least two separate Facebook users reported the account for inciting violence prior to the shooting.... In each case, the group and its counter-protest event were examined by Facebook moderators and found not to be in violation of the platform's policies."
Minnesota. Michael Levenson of the New York Times: "A Black man who was wanted in a homicide fatally shot himself as the police closed in on a downtown Minneapolis street on Wednesday evening, prompting a fresh round of protests and looting, the authorities said, three months after the killing of George Floyd in the city set off global demonstrations against police violence. Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota said the State Patrol was headed to the city to help restore order, and that he had deployed the National Guard. Mayor Jacob Frey of Minneapolis said he had ordered an immediate curfew.... Wednesday evening, the police released video of the man shooting himself, saying it was important to quell rumors that he had been killed by the police."
The Trumpidemic, Ctd.
Fred Imbert of CNBC: "The number of Americans who filed for unemployment benefits for the first time came in above 1 million for a second consecutive week as the economy tries to recover from the coronavirus pandemic, the Labor Department said Thursday.... Last week marked the 22nd time in 23 weeks that initial claims were above 1 million."
The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Thursday are here: "Over the past six months, about 1.5 billion children around the world have been told to stay home from school to help minimize transmission of the coronavirus. More than 30 percent of these students -- around 463 million -- were unable to gain access to remote learning opportunities when their schools closed, according to a report on Wednesday by Unicef, the United Nations agency for children.... Henrietta Fore, the executive director of Unicef, said in a statement. 'The repercussions could be felt in economies and societies for decades to come.'"
The Washington Post's live updates of coronavirus developments Wednesday are here. The New York Times live updates Wednesday are here: "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was instructed by higher-ups in the Trump administration to modify its coronavirus testing guidelines this week to exclude people who do not have symptoms of Covid-19 -- even if they have been recently exposed to the virus, according to two federal health officials. One official said ... the guidelines were not written by the C.D.C. but were imposed." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Nick Valencia, et al., of CNN: "A sudden change in federal guidelines on coronavirus testing came this week as a result of pressure from the upper ranks of the Trump administration, a federal health official close to the process tells CNN. 'It's coming from the top down,' the official said of the new directive from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The new guidelines raise the bar on who should get tested, advising that some people without symptoms probably don't need it -- even if they've been in close contact with an infected person. Previously, the CDC said viral testing was appropriate for people with recent or suspected exposure, even if they were asymptomatic.... A CDC spokesperson referred all questions to the Department of Health and Human Services.... The new directive also lines up with a trend in policy and rhetoric from the White House.... Donald Trump has repeatedly suggested the US should do less testing." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Amy Goldstein & Lena Sun of the Washington Post: "An abrupt shift this week in government testing guidelines for Americans exposed to the novel coronavirus was directed by the White House's coronavirus task force, alarming outside public health experts who warn the change could hasten the disease's spread. The new guidance, introduced this week without any announcement on the website of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, replaces advice that everyone who has been in close contact with an infected person should get tested to find out whether they had caught the virus. Instead, it says that those without symptoms 'do not necessarily need a test.' Several leading infectious-disease experts predicted that, after months of public health exhortations encouraging people to get tested, the turnaround could heighten public confusion, impede contact tracing and lead to more cases. The CDC estimates that 40 percent of those who test positive for the coronavirus have no symptoms but may be highly infectious and spread it to other people.... On Wednesday, Brett Giroir, an assistant HHS secretary who oversees testing, denied the impetus for the shift came from the White House. He said the idea of altering the testing guidance originated with him and CDC Director Robert Redfield, based on concerns that people can have negative results if the test is given too early." ~~~
~~~ Then, this: "On a conference call with reporters, Giroir said they discussed the idea with all the physicians on the White House's coronavirus task force, including Anthony S. Fauci ... and Scott Atlas, a new member influential with Trump from his appearances on Fox News who is a fellow at Stanford University's conservative Hoover Institution. Atlas has said fewer people need tests for the virus, which has led to more than 5.7 million cases in the United States and at least 175,000 deaths. He is not an infectious-disease specialist. 'All the docs signed off on this ... before it got to a place where the political leadership would have ever seen it,' Giroir said." Emphasis added.
~~~ Really, Brett? Jeremy Diamond, et al., of CNN: "White House Coronavirus Task Force member Dr. Anthony Fauci said he was undergoing surgery and not in the August 20 task force meeting for the discussion on updated US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines that suggest asymptomatic people may not need to be tested for Covid-19, even if they've been in close contact with an infected person. 'I was under general anesthesia in the operating room and was not part of any discussion or deliberation regarding the new testing recommendations' at that meeting, Fauci told ... Dr. Sanjay Gupta. 'I am concerned about the interpretation of these recommendations and worried it will give people the incorrect assumption that asymptomatic spread is not of great concern. In fact it is,' said Fauci.... Fauci's comments undercut claims by Adm. Brett Giroir.... Asked whether Fauci signed off on the guidelines, Giroir said, 'Yes, all the docs signed off on this before it even got to the task force level.' 'We worked on this all together to make sure that there was absolute consensus that reflected the best possible evidence, and the best public health for the American people,' Giroir also said earlier in the call...." ~~~
~~~ Conspiracy Theory Alert. Mrs. McCrabbie: The change in the guidelines sounds like it was organized by a conspiracy of task members to sabotage the guidelines in response to Trump's "asks" to reduce testing in order to keep the number of cases down. On August 20, Bill Chappell of NPR reported, "Dr. Anthony Fauci underwent surgery to remove a polyp from one of his vocal cords Thursday, according to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the agency Fauci has led for decades." This wasn't a scoop; Fauci's surgery was widely reported. Moreover, it's the type of surgery for which a patient makes an appointment. In one story I read, Fauci said he had been trying for a while to find a time to schedule the surgery. So you can bet people on the task force were forewarned Fauci would be unavailable on August 20, the day of their task force meeting. Scott Atlas, called the "anti-Fauci" in this headline, had joined the task force just ten days earlier. I know it seems unlikely that Trump could plan anything ten days in advance, but mike pence runs the task force, and mikey can plan. ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: By the way, Admiral Giroir isn't a "real" admiral who might have commanded a ship sailing the high seas or at least held a Pentagon post. Rather, Trump appointed him as a direct-commission officer with the rank of admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, which has no enlisted ranks & reports to the Department of Health & Human Services.
Quoctrung Bui, et al., of the New York Times: "On March 15, as the novel coronavirus was beginning to surge in the United States, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci accomplished a rare Washington feat: He appeared on all five major Sunday talk shows. But the White House worried that Dr. Fauci might upstage (and sometimes contradict) President Trump, and soon his media handlers were no longer approving his high-profile interview requests. So Dr. Fauci found another way to get his message out: He said yes to pretty much every small offer that came his way: academic webinars, Instagram feeds and niche science podcasts, as well as a few celebrity interviews. That's how Dr. Fauci, the country's leading infectious disease scientist, found himself talking to the American Urological Association in June; the Economic Club of Chicago in July; and the 'Brazda Breakfast' briefing this month." Mrs. McC: I once heard a rabbi say, "Absent evil, there are no heroes." Covid-19 has given us many heroes, most of them unsung. There's a good chance you're one yourself.
Caitlin O'Kane of CBS News: "The annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota drew hundreds of thousands of bikers to the small town earlier this month -- despite coronavirus concerns. Now, about three weeks after the rally kicked off, the repercussions are starting to become clear. More than 100 cases of COVID-19 connected to the rally have been reported in at least eight states, the Associated Press reports."
Another Gross Failure of Leadership. Tessa Stuart of Rolling Stone: "The National Hurricane Center has warned [Hurricane Laura] could bring with it an 'unsurvivable' surge -- waves up to 20 feet high that may cause 'catastrophic' damage up to 30 miles inland.... If those predictions bear out, Laura could be one of the most destructive Gulf hurricanes on record. It's particularly bad timing considering that, less than three weeks ago, instead of working with Congress to craft comprehensive legislation to address the ongoing crisis and deliver desperately-needed aid, President Trump looted FEMA's Disaster Relief Fund to the tune of $44 billion -- authorizing the agency to pay for a $300 per week supplement to regular unemployment benefits.... [In other words] because the Senate won't sign off on the House bill and Trump didn't work with lawmakers to reach a compromise, the unemployment supplement isn't coming from money appropriated by Congress. It's coming from the government account meant to cover natural disasters like the one presently bearing down on Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas." --s ~~~
~~~ Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "Just before the election in 2012, Donald Trump scolded President Barack Obama for campaigning while victims of Hurricane Sandy were still reeling. 'Yesterday Obama campaigned with JayZ & Springsteen while Hurricane Sandy victims across NY & NJ are still decimated by Sandy. Wrong!' Trump tweeted eight days after the storm struck. Actually..., both Obama and Mitt Romney had suspended their campaigns for a while -- and now his old criticism of Obama makes Trump look ridiculous. On Wednesday, Hurricane Laura approached the Gulf Coast of Louisiana and Texas with a storm surge that the National Hurricane Center called 'unsurvivable' and 'catastrophic.' But Trump decreed that the show would go on.... Just two weeks earlier he signed an executive order stripping the Federal Emergency Management Agency of up to $44 billion from its Disaster Relief Fund. Before that, he did everything in his power to dismantle efforts to ameliorate climate change, which is fueling higher-intensity storms. It's another timely reminder that Trump is a man without a plan."
CPB Suggested Microwaving Asylum-Seekers. Michael Shear of the New York Times: "Fifteen days before the 2018 midterm elections, as President Trump sought to motivate Republicans with dark warnings about caravans heading to the U.S. border, he gathered his Homeland Security secretary and White House staff to deliver a message: 'extreme action' was needed to stop the migrants.... At a meeting with top leaders of the Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection officials suggested deploying a microwave weapon -- a 'heat-ray' designed by the military to make people's skin feel like it is burning when they get within range of its invisible beams. Developed by the military as a crowd dispersal tool two decades ago, the Active Denial System had been largely abandoned amid doubts over its effectiveness and morality. Two former officials who attended the afternoon meeting ..., said the suggestion that the device be installed at the border shocked attendees, even if it would have satisfied the president. Kirstjen Nielsen, then the secretary of Homeland Security told an aide after the meeting that she would not authorize the use of such a device, and it should never be brought up again in her presence, the officials said." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Beyond the Beltway
Missouri. Morgan Gstalter of the Hill: "The GOP-controlled Missouri House on Tuesday advanced a bill that would make it legal to give guns to children without their parents' permission. The bill comes after Gov. Mike Parson (R) called lawmakers back for a special summer session on crime and asked the legislature to penalize criminals who unlawfully use firearms, then pass them off on children to avoid detection. The legislation is the exact opposite of what Parson called for, according to The Associated Press." --s
News Ledes
New York Times: “Hurricane Laura pounded the Louisiana and Texas coasts as it made landfall near Cameron, La., as a Category 4 storm early Thursday, delivering a barrage of 150-mile-an-hour winds and a surge of water that was predicted to reach as high as 20 feet. The National Hurricane Center called the expected storm surge 'unsurvivable,' and said that it could push as far as 40 miles inland. Officials also said that low-lying areas facing the brunt of the storm, like Cameron Parish in Louisiana, would essentially be annexed by the Gulf of Mexico until floods receded. Landfall came after officials in both states issued the gravest of warnings, sounding the alarm about a storm that could be one of the worst to hit the region in decades." This is a live-update report. Access to the WashPo's live updates is free. ~~~
~~~ The AP's live updates of Hurricane Laura news are here. The Weather Channel's main report is here.
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Reader Comments (27)
Regarding Covid testing: My colleague and I arrived in the Midwest today for three weeks of intensive work. I agreed to drive, live, and work with my colleague for the next three weeks because we were able to get tested to make sure we aren't going to infect each other or the people we will interact with during our time here.
If we could not get tests, I would be sitting at home on Unemployment. How does that make America stronger?
I love my work, but I am not willing to put my health and the health of my colleagues at risk when there are practical solutions available.
@Nisky Guy: If cheap spit tests were readily available to all Americans, say weekly, we could probably gear up our economy to maybe 80% of what it was in the near term. Not only that, the lives of millions of Americans, especially schoolchildren, would be infinitely richer.
I picture a scenario where you pop into your local drugstore, town hall, school, wherever, get a test, wait for the results and if you test negative, you pick up a dated badge that's good for a week & allows admission to practically everywhere till the week is up.
We would probably look back on the period this was necessary as something like the hassle of ration stamps of WWII, and we'd be glad when that was over, but it would be worth it to keep us all fairly safe.
There's a full two page political ad buy in the Florida Times-Union this morning with photos and quotes from former GOP officials in support of Joe Biden. No formal organization, just "approved and paid for by the above residents of Northeast Florida".
The test test is only one more test the Pretender and the entire Republican Party fails again and again.
There's a reason for that. Testing would be a rational approach to problem solving. Covid is a problem. It's easily transmissible. It kills people. The Pretender administration bumbled its response, and determining and acknowledging the extent of the virus' spread only makes the extent of that bumbling clearer.
To use one of the Pretender' favorite misapplied words, it's a "disaster."
But Covid is only one of the many real disasters the entire Republican Party refuses to face. Bea suggests above that the Evangelical religion has something to do with it and its base's penchant for denial and avoidance. She's probably right, for the other paradox that powers that brand of belief is that while God is all powerful and we exist at his whim, we're only truly special in the eyes of the Lord because we know how powerless we really are.
And. being powerless, since the state of the world is all in God's hands, we don't have to do shit about it. Evangelicalism offers a convenient excuse for intellectual and moral laziness, in the face of real disasters like climate change, for deadly incuriosity.
Another real disaster is, of course, our economic system, which we also treat as a god, taking its ills as a given we can do nothing about, and currently willing to sacrifice thousands to Wall St. demigods.
Fundamentally, Evangelicals are trained to be supine. Special maybe, because of their close relationship with God ( or the Pretender or their AK-47?) but fundamentally powerless and hence gloriously irresponsible, armed with hundred of excuses and justifications for accepting things the way they are.
Inequality? I work harder. They don't.
Climate change? A hoax.
Racism? Doesn't exist....or white folks like myself really are superior.
Health Care? Too much craziness here to account for in a few sentences, but it all starts with a mindless devotion to seeking a private solution to a public problem....
In short, in the world of Evangeligal capitalism, "It is what it is."
And that is all ye know on Earth and all ye need to know.
Feel better now?
@safari, there appears to be a minor mis-attribution. I think you meant to write Rolling Stone for the magazine rather than The Rolling Stones for the rock group.
@unwashed: Thanks. Fixed. An old codger like me should have caught that.
The Policy Convention
Okay, it really isn't, at least in the sense that anyone has broached the subject of actual policies that don't involve stepping on anyone daring to protest the militarized policing supported by the Orange Monster and his GOP acolytes.
But out in the real world, beyond the confederate bubble of ignorance and hatred, Trump/GOP policies are on garish display.
Since the fat man's coronation began, over 3,000 Americans have died of the Trump virus. People who could still be alive except that the Trump/GOP policy is "You must die, so we can steal this election."
Tens of thousands have contracted the virus in just the last few days, while GOPers were clapping each other on the back and bowing before Fatty's Medical Expertise. But by the time of the election, another 70,000 Americans will have died, many (MOST) of whom should not have, had the Trump policy of killing Americans for his personal glorification not been imposed.
The lovely Melanie, who really doesn't care, mentioned the Trump virus (awwww...), but not how many people have succumbed to it, nor the reason it is so prevalent and still killing Americans. But hey, nice job chopping down those trees, Mel (a corollary to the usual anti-environmental policies of her husband and his GOP sycophants).
Down in the Gulf and up into Texas and Louisiana, followed by Oklahoma, Arkansas, and eventually into Kentucky, and perhaps as far east as West Virginia, an enormous storm, born of another Trump/GOP policy, is hammering Americans in those regions. The storm, which achieved a category 4 rating before slamming into the mainland, gained its strength because of the frightening speed at which climate change, staunchly denied by the GOP and Trump, all of whom have fought any attempt to turn it back, has heated up the water in the Gulf of Mexico.
Water temperatures across that body of water are up to 90 degrees. Think of that! 90 degrees. This is only a few degrees less than the water you use in a hot shower. Warm...no, HOT water is like a battery charger for a storm. Another GOP policy success. Somewhere, Jim Inhofe is taking a bow. Far away from the storm he helped create.
Up in Wisconsin, a cop shot a man in the back. Seven times. In front of his children. Why? Wrong color. So then people (normal people) protest. Then a Trump supporter comes along and shoots the protesters. From his throne, the fat little king decrees that He Will Restore LAW and ORDER and take care of those meddling protesters, by sending in federal troops.
So, to sum up, the GOP policy of ensuring that unarmed black people continue to be murdered, shot, paralyzed, maimed, because LAW and ORDER (and, more importantly, BLACK), gets yet another innocent man shot by a cop. Then because Trump and the GOP policy of demonizing protesters is in full force, a MAGA moron (a front row MAGA moron) murders people protesting Trump's other policy. The shooter walked right by the cops who said nothing to him. Imagine if he were black and walked by the cops brandishing a rifle. If he survived, he'd be in the hospital from the beating he'd take.
Finally, because Policy A and Policy B were successful, Trump threatens to unleash Policy C (attack the protesters with even more deadly force).
Finally, there is the little matter of law. For the LAW and ORDER president*, this means "Law for you, but not for me". So we have illegal use of government property to shore up his faltering reelection campaign. And we have government officials, forbidden from electioneering, (lookin' at you fat Pompouseo), electioneering in the most painfully obvious way. But, as Mark Meadows sez, it's only a law (the Hatch Act). No one cares about it anyway. Sure, but if Meadows called for a curfew in order to halt protests against his boss, and a single black person was out on the street three seconds after the deadline, he or she would be imprisoned, or worse. Law for us, not for them. How does it square that a LAW and ORDER administration official--the Chief of Staff--sez some laws just don't matter?
This too is a Trump/GOP policy.
So while there is no mention of any policies that will make life better for Americans, Trump/GOP policies in support (and creation) of death, destruction, virulent racism, hatred, and ignorance, are everywhere in evidence.
Oh yeah. I forgot. The other Trump/GOP policy about elections is....there shouldn't be any elections. None that they lose, anyway.
Are we great yet?
Gene Robinson of the Washington Post: “What country does Vice President Pence live in?" kinda sums up the whole kit and caboodle of the GOPees––it's that alternative universe that delivers those "alternative facts" that Kellyanne told us were viable.
Last night I managed, but only half heartedly (I was involved in something else while listening with only one ear) some of the speeches; twas the night of Women's rights and means ignoring the fact that THEIR man of the hour dwells in the duplicitous house of "grab" and "release." But it was Mike Pence who caught my attention:
He can deliver, unlike the man he serves, a speech that has a beginning, a middle and an ending that one can follow and understand, however bland. There is not a hair out of place–-Mike presents as a band box replica of the tailor's well dressed dummy.
The number of lies, half lies, and fabrications of minor concern made me perk up and pay attention. And then I realized I was listening to someone who follows a strict script couched in religious overtones and that will color everything he does and says no matter how utterly fatuous it be. In that he's the perfect foil for Fatty who knows a sycophant when he sees one. Big TRUMP and underneath small Pence/
The "Fear the Deer" guys and the other players boycotting is exactly what we need––people power ( and lost revenue always gets attention). One of the black coaches, Doc Rivers from the Los Angeles Clippers said this:
"We love America, why doesn't America love us?"
That's enough to break your heart.
GOP "logic"...Again
I know, I know...oxymoron time.
But I heard something the other day I just couldn't stop laughing about (ruefully, but still laughing).
little mikey pence, the half-pence, sed, with that cracked-face smile he has copyrighted, that he and the fat king were going to Make 'Merica Great Again, Again!
Say what? So...if you've already made America great, what's up with the again part? Did is slip back into pre-greatness while you were painting Mother's toe nails? Did that awful Joe Biden slash your MAGA tires?
But if, in fact, you haven't succeeded in Making America Great (again), after almost four years, two years of which you controlled the presidency, the congress, the Supreme Court, dozens of confederate states, a universe of right-wing media liars, and the pillow guy, why should anyone think you'll be able to Make America Great Again Again?
Never mind. This turd monkey bullshit doesn't even rise to the level of eighth grade paradox. It's just another lie (booooorrrring).
So get your little bigot butt back to the state you almost ruined again. Again. Schmucko.
@ unwashed
Thanks for catching that, my mind isn't where it should be these last few weeks. It did make me LOL a little, though. So there's that.
Colbert got it right last night. Again.
Our system of democracy seems to be a lot more fragile than we thought. Elect a corrupt, amoral president with enough support in his party and it's off to the races.
I started out thinking Trump was a joke. I was right, but the joke is on all of us, and that wasn't a creme pie we just took in the face.
Sadly it's not impossible that America will repeat the mistake.
@Ken: After reading your comments I remembered something that Psychologist Hank Davis wrote in his book "The Persistence of Primitive Thinking in the Modern World"
"There is a popular bumper sticker that says: SHIT HAPPENS. These two words are all but incomprehensible to the majority of people. The sticker does not say I CAUSED SHIT TO HAPPEN. It does not say SHIT WAS DONE TO ME BY A VENGEFUL GOD. It simply says that . . SHIT does happen from time to time.
This is not just an account of human reactions to everyday experiences, It also applies on the cosmic scale where great philosophers, scientists, and theologians -- as well as the typical churchgoer -- find it difficult to
grasp how the universe could exist without cause. Well, modern physics and cosmology tells us that it does. The universe is an accident. SHIT HAPPENED."
Full page ad taken out by Trevor Noah in major newspapers today (WAPO, NYT). https://bit.ly/31yy2mb
@Yamiche Alcindor is getting major outrage over her tweet about the new poster man for the RNC, Madison Cawthorn:
"Madison Cawthorn made it a point to stand, suggesting that all Americans should stand during the pledge of allegiance & national anthem.
It was a direct rebuke of actions by ppl -- including black athletes who are currently sitting out games -- protesting police brutality."
As you might imagine, Cawthorn turns out to be a paper hero, who lied about his acceptance to Annapolis prior to the car accident+ other allegations. You can still be a conman and disabled.
Good piece at https://nomoremister.blogspot.com/ this morning on "Gaslighting their own talking points"
Marie,
Your assessment of the connection between Trumpian godhood, Biblical teaching, and Evangelical oohing and aahing over a criminal who causes the death of Americans to get elected seems right on the money.
One of the great win-this-argument-free cards held by Evangelicals is the old "Man proposes, God disposes" meme, otherwise known as "farther along, we'll understand it, but right now, shut your mouth and say your prayers".
On a more secular note, it's true that we are not privy to the secrets of the universe. We don't know where all that dark matter is hiding, never mind what's up with dark energy, but at least we can try to answer the questions. We're not prevented from asking.
There have been a lot of attempts to reconcile the idea of an all powerful, all loving god with the fact that horrible people (like Trump) still cause a lot of misery and suffering ("Why Bad Things Happen to Good People"), and I get why believers need some way to accommodate this apparent paradox, but applying the same logic (it's not for us to know the mind of God), to a human, especially such a warped and craven human as Trump, seems an orthodoxical bridge too far.
I've long believed that the demand for unquestioning obedience demanded by Evangelicals allows them to check their brains at the church door. No need to think or to question what's going on, God will take care of everything.
So Fatty's obviously fantastical declaration that only he can fix things must have the church bell ring of familiarity.
Just do what he tells you and shut up about it.
You wouldn't even use this rule to wash your clothes. How come they think it's the way to run the country?
Bobby Lee,
But not without plenty of help from Russian, Qanon, Fox frauds, GOP ratfucking, and Trump's little thumb on the scale.
Safari,
Hey man, I kinda liked "Tessa Stuart of the Rolling Stones". 'bout time those old codgers got some new blood into the band, even if she played the glockenspiel. I always thought "Sympathy for the Devil" could use a little ringy-dingy.
Pleased to meet you
Hope you guess my name, (ding-ding)
Ah, what's puzzling you
Is the nature of my game, (ding-ding)
But no Sympathy for Trump (dong-dong)
Ken wrote above : "... And. being powerless, since the state of the world is all in God's hands, we don't have to do shit about it. Evangelicalism offers a convenient excuse for intellectual and moral laziness ... "
Fun religious fact: That's also a key tenet of Islam, the "Inshallah" exclaiming "if God wills", a to-the-bone fundamental belief of even the most casual observing Muslim.
Fundamentalism is pretty much the same in all of the religions: nothing is my problem and my faith saves me.
I remember being an Ugly American in Egypt once when I asked one of my section chiefs to ensure that a specific job was done by a certain deadline. When he said "Inshallah" I barked "Fine, but I need you to will it too !!!" I have always regretted that outburst, because it probably sounded pretty blasphemous. And the fact that I even recall it indicates how strongly the idea of "God willing" is woven into religious-based cultures.
A not-so-funny thing about "our" evangelicals is how strongly they fear Islam, as if they know what type of trouble militant faith can cause. It takes one to know one.
@AK I'm sure there will be plenty of all that and I see the marks all around, like baby birds with their mouths open, waiting to be fed.
“Furniture removal fee”? What the hell is that? A Fatty flunky tells a Secret Service guy to slide a chair over a few inches and John and Mary Taxpayer get a bill for $1,300, payable to Trump Crime Family, NLC (no liability company)? These guys just make shit up on the fly. How about a two-ply toilet paper charge? $1,000 a roll for each Trump hotel room? Why not a hot water charge? That should be at least $100 every time you turn on the hot water. Oh, and there should be an extra charge for the Kanye West music in the elevators. Five grand sounds about right. Fucking crooks.
Re: the sports world's (specifically on the part of the players) recognition that they don't need to be locked in to the Bread and Circus department of the Trump-GOP "Racism is the MAGA way" carnival.
As much as I applaud the actions of LeBron James, Mookie Betts and other stars in standing down and refusing to play in order to support the idea that it is NOT OKAY to keep murdering unarmed black men, as much as Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson and Trump and Miller and the rest of the fucking race-baiting Nazis in the Party of Traitors and their media handmaidens love it, we should not forget that it was the decision of one guy, Colin Kaepernick, who lost his career because he refused to knuckle under to the racist overlords of the NFL and the Trump Administration*, that started this thing.
Also, let us not overlook the fact that much of the impetus for the sports world stars to get on board started with the women of the WNBA who all knelt during the anthem. These women kick ass, and the big stars in that league don't make a fraction of what guys riding the bench in the NBA or other major sports take home.
Nonetheless, we're seeing the arc of the universe starting to bend. And Fatty and his racist party are all gonna be sucked into a black hole (get it? Heh-heh.) I hope they're all conscious long enough to feel the pain and recognize that history will hold every last KKK motherfucker of them in enormous contempt.
Bobby Lee,
Baby vultures, you mean. Raptors, all.
Akhilleus: re furniture removal -- when the Secret Service sets up in a hotel they usually create a paired suite (two connecting rooms) as office and squad room. All the beds and dressers go out, tables and chairs come in. The White House Communications Agency (WHCA, pronounced like Fozzy Bear would) does the same. And so does the Presidential Advance Team. And maybe the doc. Most hotels don't charge for the furniture swaps, at least not as a line item. But none of them lose money. Presidentials take up a LOT of everything. As DiJiT would say, "like you've never seen." The hotel makes big bucks.
Big Donnies headed to the gulf coast this weekend! I hope the folks there are ready to catch some paper towels.
He's gonna come to regret ripping dunds from FEMA for his band aid unemployment scam before this is over. There's three more months left in hurricane season.
Patrick,
I had an idea it was something like that, but thanks for the confirmation. I realize that protecting a president is serious business (more than just sliding a chair), but we’ve never had a president*, or even a real president, who gobbled up the money for those efforts. And I have no doubt that what he’s charging us is far and away more than it should be. But thanks for the inside baseball. You’re a great source for this stuff.
There is a great video embedded in this story, where the recent DHS Asst Sec for Counterterrorism flat-out states that in January DiJiT stopped the agencies from executing the pandemic plan. No beating around the bush.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/08/27/another-insider-attests-trumps-threat-americans/?hpid=hp_opinions-float-right-4-0_opinion-card-b-right%3Ahomepage%2Fstory-ans
@safari, no harm, no foul. I know what you mean. I tell myself that I'm suffering from Covid-brain. My short-term memory lately has been following the rule - 10 feet or ten seconds, whichever is shortest. I find myself standing in a room not knowing why I went there in the first place. It's quite annoying. Too much time living in my own head.