U.S. Senate Results

Republicans will regain the Senate majority. As of Thursday, November they hold 53 seats.

Unless otherwise indicated, the AP has called these races:

Arizona. Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego is projected to have defeated the execrable Kari Lake.

California. Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff is projected to win. Schiff will have won both the general election and a special election to fill the seat of former Sen. Dianne Feinstein, deceased, which is currently held by Laphonza Butler, a "placeholder" appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D). Schiff will be seated immediately.

Connecticut: Democrat Chris Murphy is projected to win re-election.

Delaware: Democrat Lisa Blunt is projected to win.

Florida: Republican Rick Scott is projected to win re-election.

Hawaii. Democratic Sen. Mazie Hirono is projected to win re-election.

Indiana: Republican Jim Banks is projected to win.

Maine: Independent Sen. Angus King is projected to win re-election. King caucuses with Democrats.

Maryland. Democrat Angela Alsobrooks is projected to win over former Republican Gov. Larry Hogan. Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin (D) is retiring.

Massachusetts: Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren is projected to win re-election.

Michigan: Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin is projected to win.

Minnesota. Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar is projected to win re-election.

Mississippi: Republican Roger Wicker is projected to win re-election.

Missouri. Republican Road Runner Sen. Josh Hawley is projected to win re-election.

Montana. Republican Tim Somebody-Shot-Me-Sometime Sheehy is projected to have defeated Sen. Jon Tester.

Nebraska. Republican Sen. Deb Fischer has held off a challenge from an Independent candidate.

Nebraska. Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts is projected to win re-election. This is a special election.

Nevada: Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen is (at long last) projected to win re-election.

New Jersey: Democrat Rep. Andy Kim is projected to win the seat previously vacated by Democrat Bob Menendez, who resigned in disgrace after being convicted on federal bribery & corruption charges. Kim will be the first Korean-American to hold a U.S. Senate seat.

New Mexico. Democratic Sen. Martin Heinrich is projected to win re-election.

New York. Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is projected to win re-election.

North Dakota. Republican Sen. Kevin Kramer is projected to win re-election.

Ohio. Republican Bernie Moreno is projected to have defeated Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown. This is the second pick-up for Republicans Tuesday.

Pennsylvania. Republican Dave McCormick is projected to have defeated incumbent Democrat Bob Casey, although Casey has not conceded.

Rhode Island: Democrat Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse is projected to win re-election.

Tennessee: Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn is projected to win re-election.

Texas: Republic Sen. Ted Cruz, the most unpopular U.S. senator, is projcted to win re-election.

Utah. Republican Rep. John Curtis is projected to win the seat currently held by Sen. Mitt Romney (R).

Vermont: Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders is projected to win re-election.

Virginia. Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine is projected by NBC News to win re-election.

Washington. Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell is projected to win re-election.

West Virginia: Republican Gov. Jim Justice is projected to win the seat currently held by Independent Joe Manchin, who is retiring.

Wisconsin. Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin is projected to win re-election. Hurrah!

Wyoming. Republican Sen. John Barrasso is projected to win re-election.

U.S. House Results

By 1:30 am ET Tuesday, the AP had called 211 seats for Democrats & 219 seats for Republicans. (A majority is 220.)

Gubernatorial Results

Delaware: Democrat Matt Meyer is projected to win.

Indiana: Republican Sen. Mike Braun is projected to win.

Montana. Horrible person Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte is projected to win re-election.

New Hampshire. Republican Kelly Ayotte, a former U.S. Senator is projected to win.

North Carolina. Democrat Josh Stein is projected to win, besting Trump-endorsed radical loon Mark Robinson.

North Dakota. Republican U.S. Rep. Kelly Armstrong is projected to win.

Utah. Republican Gov. Spencer Cox is projected to win re-election.

Vermont: Republican Phil Scott is projected to win re-election.

Washington: Democrat Bob Ferguson, the Washington State attorney general, is projected to win.

West Virginia: Republican Philip Morrisey is projected to win.

Other Results

Colorado. NBC News projects that the abortions-rights constitutional amendment will pass.

Florida. NBC News projected the abortion-rights state constitutional amendment will fail.

Georgia. Fani Willis is projected to win re-election as Fulton County District Attorney.

Missouri. The New York Times projects that Missouri voters have passed a measure to protect abortion rights.

Nebraska. New York Times: "A ballot amendment prohibiting abortion beyond the first three months of pregnancy passed in Nebraska, according to The Associated Press, outpolling a competing measure that would have established a right to abortion until fetal viability."

***********************************************

The Ledes

Tuesday, November 12, 2024

New York Times: Married to each other for 54 years, two Democratic Missouri poll workers died together in an Election-Day flood.

New York Times: “Law enforcement officials have captured a man who was wanted for murder in rural Tennessee, ending a multistate manhunt in a bizarre case involving a suspicious emergency call, a false identity and a fake bear attack. Sheriff Tommy J. Jones II of Monroe County, Tenn., announced on Sunday that Nicholas Wayne Hamlett, 45, had been taken into custody in Columbia, S.C., more than three weeks after police found a dead body near a bridge on the Cherohala Skyway.... Mr. Hamlett faces first-degree murder charges related to the death of Steven Douglas Lloyd, 34, of Knoxville, Tenn.... Mr. Lloyd’s body was discovered by the police as they responded to a 911 call made on Oct. 18. The caller, who had identified himself as Brandon Kristopher Andrade, told the dispatcher that he had been chased off a cliff by a bear, leaving him injured and partially submerged in the water. When the police arrived at the scene, they found a deceased man with the ID of Mr. Andrade. But the injuries on the body, the sheriff’s office said, weren’t consistent with a bear attack or a fall. And neither the deceased man nor the 911 caller, they determined, were Mr. Andrade. It was a case of stolen identity, and Mr. Andrade’s name had been used on multiple occasions in other fraudulent schemes.”

The Wires
powered by Surfing Waves

Public Service Announcement

Washington Post: "Americans can again order free rapid coronavirus tests by mail, the Biden administration announced Thursday. People can request four free at-home tests per household through covidtests.gov. They will begin shipping Monday. The move comes ahead of an expected winter wave of coronavirus cases. The September revival of the free testing program is in line with the Biden administration’s strategy to respond to the coronavirus as part of a broader public health campaign to protect Americans from respiratory viruses, including influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), that surge every fall and winter. But free tests were not mailed during the summer wave, which wastewater surveillance data shows is now receding."

Help!

To keep the Conversation going, please help me by linking news articles, opinion pieces and other political content in today's Comments section.

Link Code:   <a href="URL">text</a>

OR here's a link generator. The one I had posted died, then Akhilleus found one, but it too bit the dust. He found yet another, which I've linked here, and as of September 23, 2024, it's working.

OR you can always just block, copy and paste to your comment the URL (Web address) of the page you want to link.

Note for Readers. It is not possible for commenters to "throw" their highlighted links to another window. But you can do that yourself. Right-click on the link and a drop-down box will give you choices as to where you want to open the link: in a new tab, new window or new private window.

Thank you to everyone who has been contributing links to articles & other content in the Comments section of each day's "Conversation." If you're missing the comments, you're missing some vital links.

New York Times: “Chris Wallace, a veteran TV anchor who left Fox News for CNN three years ago, announced on Monday that he was leaving his post to venture into the streaming or podcasting worlds.... He said his decision to leave CNN at the end of his three-year contract did not come from discontent. 'I have nothing but positive things to say. CNN was very good to me,' he said.”

New York Times: In a collection of memorabilia filed at New York City's Morgan Library, curator Robinson McClellan discovered the manuscript of a previously unknown waltz by Frédéric Chopin. Jeffrey Kallberg, a Chopin scholar at the University of Pennsylvania as well as other experts authenticated the manuscript. Includes video of Lang Lang performing the short waltz. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The Times article goes into some of Chopin's life in Paris at the time he wrote the waltz, but it doesn't mention that he helped make ends meet by giving piano lessons. I know this because my great grandmother was one of his students. If her musical talent were anything like mine, those particular lessons would have been painful hours for Chopin.

New York Times: “Improbably, [the political/celebrity magazine] George[, originally a project by John F. Kennedy, Jr.] is back, with the same logo and the same catchy slogan: 'Not just politics as usual.' This time, though, a QAnon conspiracy theorist and passionate Trump fan is its editor in chief.... It is a reanimation story bizarre enough for a zombie movie, made possible by the fact that the original George trademark lapsed, only to be secured by a little-known conservative lawyer named Thomas D. Foster.”

Washington Post: “Comedy news outlet the Onion — reinvigorated by new ownership over this year — is bringing back its once-popular video parodies of cable news. But this time, there’s someone with real news anchor experience in the chair. When the first episodes appear online Monday, former WAMU and MSNBC host Joshua Johnson will be the face of the resurrected 'Onion News Network.' Playing an ONN anchor character named Dwight Richmond, Johnson says he’s bringing a real anchor’s sense of clarity — and self-importance — to the job. 'If ONN is anything, it’s a news organization that is so unaware of its own ridiculousness that it has the confidence of a serial killer,' says Johnson, 44.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I'll be darned if I can figured out how to watch ONN. If anybody knows, do tell. Thanks.

Washington Post: “First came the surprising discovery that Earth’s atmosphere is leaking. But for roughly 60 years, the reason remained a mystery. Since the late 1960s, satellites over the poles detected an extremely fast flow of particles escaping into space — at speeds of 20 kilometers per second. Scientists suspected that gravity and the magnetic field alone could not fully explain the stream. There had to be another source creating this leaky faucet. It turns out the mysterious force is a previously undiscovered global electric field, a recent study found. The field is only about the strength of a watch battery — but it’s enough to thrust lighter ions from our atmosphere into space. It’s also generated unlike other electric fields on Earth. This newly discovered aspect of our planet provides clues about the evolution of our atmosphere, perhaps explaining why Earth is habitable. The electric field is 'an agent of chaos,' said Glyn Collinson, a NASA rocket scientist and lead author of the study. 'It undoes gravity.... Without it, Earth would be very different.'”

The New York Times lists Emmy winners. The AP has an overview story here.

New York Times: “Hvaldimir, a beluga whale who had captured the public’s imagination since 2019 after he was spotted wearing a harness seemingly designed for a camera, was found dead on Saturday in Norway, according to a nonprofit that worked to protect the whale.... [Hvaldimir] was wearing a harness that identified it as “equipment” from St. Petersburg. There also appeared to be a camera mount. Some wondered if the whale was on a Russian reconnaissance mission. Russia has never claimed ownership of the whale. If Hvaldimir was a spy, he was an exceptionally friendly one. The whale showed signs of domestication, and was comfortable around people. He remained in busier waters than are typical for belugas....” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Oh, Lord, do not let Bobby Kennedy, Jr., near that carcass. ~~~

     ~~~ AP Update: “There’s no evidence that a well-known beluga whale that lived off Norway’s coast and whose harness ignited speculation it was a Russian spy was shot to death last month as claimed by animal rights groups, Norwegian police said Monday.... Police said that the Norwegian Veterinary Institute conducted a preliminary autopsy on the animal, which was become known as 'Hvaldimir,' combining the Norwegian word for whale — hval — and the first name of Russian President Vladimir Putin. 'There are no findings from the autopsy that indicate that Hvaldimir has been shot,' police said in a statement.”

New York Times: Botswana's “President Mokgweetsi Masisi grinned as he lifted the diamond, a 2,492-carat stone that is the biggest diamond unearthed in more than a century and the second-largest ever found, according to the Vancouver-based mining operator Lucara, which owns the mine where it was found. This exceptional discovery could bring back the luster of the natural diamond mining industry, mining companies and experts say. The diamond was discovered in the same relatively small mine in northeastern Botswana that has produced several of the largest such stones in living memory. Such gemstones typically surface as a result of volcanic activity.... The diamond will likely sell in the range of tens of millions of dollars....”

Click on photo to enlarge.

~~~ Guardian: "On a distant reef 16,000km from Paris, surfer Gabriel Medina has given Olympic viewers one of the most memorable images of the Games yet, with an airborne celebration so well poised it looked too good to be true. The Brazilian took off a thundering wave at Teahupo’o in Tahiti on Monday, emerging from a barrelling section before soaring into the air and appearing to settle on a Pacific cloud, pointing to the sky with biblical serenity, his movements mirrored precisely by his surfboard. The shot was taken by Agence France-Presse photographer Jérôme Brouillet, who said “the conditions were perfect, the waves were taller than we expected”. He took the photo while aboard a boat nearby, capturing the surreal image with such accuracy that at first some suspected Photoshop or AI." 

 

Contact Marie

Email Marie at constantweader@gmail.com

Friday
Feb212020

The Commentariat -- February 22, 2020

Afternoon Update:

The New York Times has live updates of the Nevada Democratic caucuses here. The Washington Post's live updates are here. NPR's caucus liveblog is here.

Holly Otterbein of Politico: "Nevada is a notoriously tough place for presidential candidates to attract volunteers. But Bernie Sanders has somehow amassed an army. Thousands of the Vermont senator's volunteers and aides in the state have knocked on 500,000-plus doors, two-thirds of which took place in February, according to his campaign. Those mega-fans helped propel his strong grassroots performances in Iowa and New Hampshire -- and now appear poised to help him turn out the vote and cinch a victory in Nevada."

Animal Cruelty Masquerading as Satire. Anita Hassan & David Li of NBC News: "Pigeons with tiny Make American Great Again hats glued to their heads were released in downtown Las Vegas this week in what appears to be a sarcastic statement of loyalty to ... Donald Trump and a mock protest of Nevada's coming Democratic presidential caucuses. A group calling itself P.U.T.I.N., Pigeons United To Interfere Now, claimed responsibility for the stunt. The pigeons were set loose Tuesday, according to the group."

Michael Crowley & David Sanger of the New York Times: "When President Trump's national security adviser, Robert C. O'Brien, convenes meetings with top National Security Council officials at the White House, he sometimes opens by distributing printouts of Mr. Trump's latest tweets on the subject at hand. The gesture amounts to an implicit challenge for those present. Their job is to find ways of justifying, enacting or explaining Mr. Trump's policy, not to advise the president on what it should be. That is the reverse of what the National Security Council was created to do at the Cold War's dawn -- to inform and advise the president on national security decisions. But under Mr. O'Brien, the White House's hostage negotiator when Mr. Trump chose him to succeed John R. Bolton in September, that dynamic has often been turned on its head.... In the fourth year of his presidency and in his fourth national security adviser, Mr. Trump has finally gotten what he wants -- a loyalist who enables his ideas instead of challenging them." Mrs. McC: We're paying these people ... to stroke Trump & promote his Fox-generated "ideas."

Kyle Cheney of Politico: "... Roger Stone, sentenced to 40 months in prison this week..., moved Friday to disqualify the judge in his case, claiming her remarks at his sentencing rendered her unable to fairly rule on his bid for a new trial. Stone's lawyers say, in particular, that Judge Amy Berman Jackson's decision to assert that jurors in the case 'served with integrity' strikes at the heart of Stone's motion for a new trial, which they indicated is largely based on whether at least one juror was inappropriately biased against him.... Stone's latest motion appears to be a last-ditch, longshot bid to forestall his imminent prison sentence. But it will also likely reach the receptive ears of the president, who has repeatedly amplified criticism of Jackson and repeated false claims about the nature of the charges against Stone."

Mark Stern of Slate: "On Friday evening, by a 5-4 vote, the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration's wealth test for immigrants to take effect in Illinois. All four liberal justices dissented from the order, which changes relatively little.... What's most remarkable about the decision is Justice Sonia Sotomayor's withering dissent, which calls out -- with startling candor -- a distressing pattern: The court's Republican appointees have a clear bias toward the Trump administration.... When some of the most despised and powerless among us ask the Supreme Court to spare their lives, the conservative justices turn a cold shoulder. When the Trump administration demands permission to implement some cruel, nativist, and potentially unlawful immigration restrictions, the conservatives bend over backward to give it everything it wants. There is nothing 'fair and balanced' about the court's double standard that favors the government over everyone else. And, as Sotomayor implies, this flagrant bias creates the disturbing impression that the Trump administration has a majority of the court in its pocket."

Anderson Cooper Had a Blago Sandwich Last Night:

~~~~~~~~~~

     ~~~ Really terrific! Thanks to PD Pepe for the link.

NBC News: The Nevada caucuses are today. "Check-in begins at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT. The actual call to caucus is at 3 p.m ET/12 p.m. PT.... The state [Democratic] party participated in early voting for the first time this year and turnout was robust; the state party said that almost 75,000 people voted early." ~~~

~~~ Alex Seitz-Wald & Garrett Haake of NBC News: "Nevada Democrats have hired a professional call center with 200 paid operators and dedicated reporting lines to help take in results from caucus sites around the state, diverging from Iowa where lightly trained volunteers manned the phones and reported chaos and jammed phoned lines after an app that was supposed to process most of the results malfunctioned. 'We have been working around the clock to ensure that what happened in Iowa will not happen here, which is why we're taking no chances when it comes to reporting,' Molly Forgey, spokesperson for the Nevada Democratic Party, told NBC News."

Zack Montellaro of Politico: "The Iowa state Democratic Party announced Friday it accepted a limited recount request from the two top candidates in this month's caucuses: Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders. An unsigned statement from the state party said it will recount 10 precincts requested by the Sanders campaign and 14 by the Buttigieg campaign, for a total of 23 unique precincts. The party accepted the entirety of Sanders' recount request, according to data it released earlier this week. However, the party did not accept the entirety of Buttigieg's campaign request. His campaign requested a recount in 54 precincts, but just 14 were accepted, according to a list released by the state party."

The Guardian has a liveblog of Friday's campaign events. (Also linked yesterday.)

Shane Harris, et al., of the Washington Post (Updated): "U.S. officials have told Sen. Bernie Sanders that Russia is attempting to help his presidential campaign as part of an effort to interfere with the Democratic contest, according to people familiar with the matter. President Trump and lawmakers on Capitol Hill have also been informed about the Russian assistance to the Vermont senator, according to people familiar with the matter.... 'I don't care, frankly, who Putin wants to be president,' Sanders said in a statement to The Washington Post. 'My message to Putin is clear: Stay out of American elections, and as president I will make sure that you do. In 2016, Russia used Internet propaganda to sow division in our country, and my understanding is that they are doing it again in 2020. Some of the ugly stuff on the Internet attributed to our campaign may well not be coming from real supporters.'... At a Democratic candidates debate Wednesday in Las Vegas, Sanders indirectly blamed Russia, saying it was possible that malign actors were trying to manipulate social media to inflame divisions among Democrats.... After Sanders's remarks..., some social media analysts were skeptical of the notion that Russians already were masquerading as the candidate's supporters.... Sanders told reporters Friday after The Post's report was published that he received the briefing 'about a month ago.'" (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times has a story here. NBC News has a related story here. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: It seems Bernie had no trouble condemning Russia at the first opportunity. So why can't Donald do the same after years & years of pleas from reporters? Instead, Trump blames Democrats for spreading a "hoax," then fires the top White House intelligence officials who actually provided the information to Congress, and -- as it turns out -- to the Sanders campaign. Trump isn't just a flagrant liar; he's a 'fraidy-cat wuss who can't own up to the free help he's getting from foreign subversives. ~~~

~~~ Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), appearing on CNN, suggests that Trump may be "working as an agent of Russia," feeding Russia information on what Democratic candidate he prefers; i.e., Sanders. Mrs. McC: One might, for instance, see this as a signal to Russia: Morgan Chalfant of the Hill: "... at a Nevada campaign rally Friday..., Trump ... suggested that Moscow would prefer to see Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) ... in the White House, noting that he 'honeymooned' in the Soviet Union." ~~~

~~~ Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "President Trump said Friday that a disclosure by American intelligence officials that Russia was again meddling in a presidential election in his favor was merely another partisan campaign against him, dismissing the warning as a hoax cooked up by rivals. 'Another misinformation campaign is being launched by Democrats in Congress saying that Russia prefers me to any of the Do Nothing Democrat candidates who still have been unable to, after two weeks, count their votes in Iowa,' Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter. 'Hoax number 7!'... Mr. Trump has a long history of discarding assessments made by intelligence agencies that he has deemed unfair or unflattering.... Mr. Trump, with the assistance of his Justice Department, has moved to retaliate against the intelligence community rather than Mr. Putin...." The Hill has a report here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: "Trump and his GOP defenders appear to be actively abetting an attack on our country. By contrast, Democrats can be accused only of passivity -- a serious abdication, but not remotely comparable to what Trump and his defenders are orchestrating.... Trump is angry because our intelligence officials followed the law and informed members of both parties about what the intel indicated about new Russian efforts.... So now the media scrutiny must fall heavily on what the administration is doing to mitigate the threat that its own intelligence has identified. Is Trump facilitating or hindering those efforts?... There is no longer any excuse for failing to ramp up the oversight immediately."

~~~ Julian Barnes, et al., of the New York Times: "Richard Grenell's tenure as the nation's top intelligence official may be short-lived, but he wasted no time this week starting to shape his team of advisers, ousting his office's No. 2 official -- a longtime intelligence officer -- and bringing in an expert on Trump conspiracy theories to help lead the agency, according to officials. Mr. Grenell has also requested the intelligence behind the classified briefing last week before the House Intelligence Committee where officials told lawmakers that Russia was interfering in November's presidential election and that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia favored President Trump's re-election.... Joseph Maguire, the former acting director of national intelligence, and his deputy, Andrew P. Hallman, resigned on Friday. Mr. Grenell told Mr. Hallman, popular in the office's Liberty Crossing headquarters, that his service was no longer needed, according to two officials. Mr. Hallman ... has worked in the office or at the C.I.A. for three decades.... One of [Grenell's] first hires was Kashyap Patel, a senior National Security Council staff member and former key aide to Representative Devin Nunes.... Mr. Patel will have a mandate to 'clean house,' CBS News reported...." ~~~

     ~~~ Isaac Arnsdorf of ProPublica: "... Donald Trump's new acting intelligence director, Richard Grenell, used to do consulting work on behalf of an Eastern European oligarch who is now a fugitive and was recently barred from entering the U.S. under anti-corruption sanctions imposed last month by the State Department. In 2016, Grenell wrote several articles defending the oligarch, a Moldovan politician named Vladimir Plahotniuc, but did not disclose that he was being paid, according to records and interviews. Grenell also did not register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which generally requires people to disclose work in the U.S. on behalf of foreign politicians. FARA is the same law that Trump's former campaign manager Paul Manafort and former deputy campaign manager Rick Gates were convicted of violating. (Manafort went to trial. Gates pleaded guilty.)"

~~~ Ha Ha. According to Nicolle Wallace of MSNBC, Trump considered Rep. Chris Stewart (R-Utah) to be Director of National Intelligence, but dropped him when a 2016 video resurfaced featuring Stewart calling Trump "Our Mussolini." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Stephen Collison of CNN: "America is blundering into a new Russia election-meddling hall of mirrors that's already doing Moscow's work: tearing fresh political divides and threatening to again tarnish democracy's most sacred moment, a national election.... Trump was informed that the House Intelligence Committee was told of the Russian intelligence operation last week by Rep. Devin Nunes..., a source told CNN.... Partisan uproar over the new claims, meanwhile, suggests that the alleged operation is again delivering for Russia on its intended goals: sowing distrust in the US system and turning Americans against themselves in a way that weakens national unity." --s (Also linked yesterday.)

Steve Contorno of the Tampa Bay Times: "Just as the 2020 U.S. Census count is about to begin, the Republican National Committee is sending people across the country a letter it confusingly labeled as a '2020 Congressional District Census.' Like the census, the piece of mail includes a survey. But unlike the official decennial questionnaire the federal government will soon send out to millions of Americans, this one is asking for donations to the GOP and a loyalty pledge to ... Donald Trump. And it's 'Commissioned by the Republican Party,' according to the form, not the U.S. Department of Commerce. A Democratic Party spokesman called the GOP mailers 'reprehensible' and 'intentionally deceptive,' according to the Los Angeles Times, which reported on the letters Friday after they arrived in California mailboxes. The mailer also appeared in Florida this month and the Tampa Bay Times recently obtained one sent to a Tallahassee voter.... An envelope claims the mail is an 'official document,' according to the Los Angeles Times. 'Do not destroy,' it says, while telling recipients, 'Your participation is urgently needed.'"

Dareh Gregorian of NBC News: "Mike Bloomberg said Friday his company would release from nondisclosure agreements three women who complained about inappropriate comments they said he made, two days after he was pressed to do so by Elizabeth Warren during the Democratic debate. 'Bloomberg LP has identified 3 NDAs signed over the past 30+ years with women to address complaints about comments they said I had made. If any of them want to be released from their NDAs, they should contact the company and they'll be given a release'" Bloomberg tweeted Friday." (Also linked yesterday.)

Biden Appears to Make up a Dramatic Story. Katie Glueck & Thomas Kaplan of the New York Times: "In at least three campaign appearances over the past two weeks, Joseph R. Biden Jr. has told a similar story as he tries to revive his campaign in states with more diverse voters. On a trip to South Africa years ago, he has said, he [& the U.N. ambassador were] arrested as [they] sought to visit Nelson Mandela in prison.... But if Mr. Biden, then a United States senator from Delaware, was in fact arrested while trying to visit Mr. Mandela, he did not mention it in his 2007 memoir when writing about a 1970s trip to South Africa, and he has not spoken of it prominently on the 2020 campaign trail. A check of available news accounts by The New York Times turned up no references to an arrest.... Andrew Young .., who was the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations from 1977 to 1979, said that he had traveled with Mr. Biden over the years, including to South Africa. But Mr. Young said that he had never been arrested in South Africa and expressed skepticism that members of Congress would have faced arrest there. 'No, I was never arrested and I don't think he was, either,' Mr. Young, now 87, said in a telephone interview." Mrs. McC: If you read the whole article, you'll see how Biden embellishes the story as he repeats it. Pretty soon he'll have himself chained to Mandella, like Tony Curtis & Sidney Poitier in "The Defiant Ones."

San Diego Union-Tribune Editors endorse Pete Buttigieg in the Democratic presidential primary.

San Francisco Chronicle Editors endorse Amy Klobuchar in the Democratic primary.

Seattle Times Editors endorse Amy Klobuchar.


Jeremy Diamond
, et al., of CNN: "... Donald Trump's new personnel chief told agency officials at a meeting on Thursday to expect staffing changes and movements across the government, people familiar with the meeting told CNN. A White House official said John McEntee, the President's former body man who was elevated to run the presidential personnel office, made it clear his office will be on the lookout for staffers across the bureaucracy who are seen as disloyal to Trump. Another official said McEntee indicated he plans to first focus his efforts on personnel at the State Department and Department of Defense. He also told the liaisons that promotions and significant staff changes should not occur without prior approval from the presidential personnel office." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: McEntee, who is 29 years old & had an illustrious career ordering burgers & fries for President Big MacDonald before John Kelly had him frog-marched out of the White House because of security issues related to possible financial crimes, is now moving career officials around, nixing their promotions & whatever based upon his judgment of their "loyalty" to Trump. ~~~

~~~ Jonathan Swan & Alayna Treene of Axios: "Trump has empowered McEntee -- whom he considers an absolute loyalist -- to purge the 'bad people' and 'Deep State.'" According to Swan & Treene, McEntee will stifle only political appointees. (Also linked yesterday.)

Josh Dawsey, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump has directly weighed in on the White House review of a forthcoming book by his former national security adviser, telling his staff that he views John Bolton as 'a traitor,' that everything he uttered to the departed aide about national security is classified and that he will seek to block the book's publication, according to two people familiar with the conversations. The president's private arguments stand in contrast to the point-by-point process used to classify and protect sensitive secrets and appears to differ from the White House's public posture toward Bolton's much-anticipated memoir. The National Security Council warned Bolton last month that his draft 'appears to contain significant amounts of classified information,' some of it top secret, but pledged to help him revise the manuscript and 'move forward as expeditiously as possible.'... But the president has insisted to aides that Bolton's account of his work in Trump's White House ... should not see the light of day before the November election, according to the two people.... Trump told national television anchors on Feb. 4 during an off-the-record lunch that material in the book was 'highly classified'according to notes from one participant in the luncheon. He then called him a 'traitor.' 'We're going to try and block the publication of the book,' Trump said, according to the notes. 'After I leave office, he can do this. But not in the White House.'"

Jeff Stein & Laura Reiley of the Washington Post: "President Trump promised in an all-caps tweet Friday to provide additional bailout funding to American farmers if necessary, as questions arise over whether China's purchases of agricultural products will fall short of what it pledged in the recently signed trade deal. Trump said he may expand the nearly $30 billion bailout program until the administration's recently struck trade deals with China, Canada, and Mexico 'kick in.' On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief economist, Robert Johansson, projected that agricultural exports to China would reach roughly $14 billion in the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30, far short of what White House officials said would take place.... Trump also said in the tweet that the federal bailout funding will be 'PAID FOR OUT OF THE MASSIVE TARIFF MONEY COMING INTO THE USA!' But critics have noted tariffs are paid by U.S. consumers in the form of higher prices."(Also linked yesterday.)

Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "The Supreme Court on Friday night removed the remaining obstacle to the Trump administration's plan to implement new 'wealth test' rules making it easier to deny immigrants residency or admission to the United States if they might depend on public-assistance programs. Although legal challenges will continue on the merits of the policy in lower courts, the justices voted 5 to 4 to remove the last remaining judicial order blocking the new standards from going into effect while those battles play out. Critics say the rules, which the administration plans to begin enforcing Monday, replace decades of understanding and would place a burden on poor immigrants from non-English-speaking countries."

Moooo! Josh Gerstein of Politico: "A federal judge has tossed out a racketeering lawsuit House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes filed last year against the private investigation firm at the heart of the Trump-Russia saga. Alexandria, Virginia-based U.S. District Court Judge Liam O'Grady's two-page order made short work of Nunes' suit, which sought $9.9 million in damages from Fusion GPS, its founder Glenn Simpson and a nonprofit watchdog group, Campaign for Accountability. The judge also signaled that pressing on with the legal battle could result in sanctions against Nunes and his attorney, Steven Biss."

Hound Bites Border Patrol. Gene Johnson of the AP: "Greyhound, the nation's largest bus company, said Friday it will stop allowing Border Patrol agents without a warrant to board its buses to conduct routine immigration checks. The company's announcement came one week after The Associated Press reported on a leaked Border Patrol memo confirming that agents can't board private buses without the consent of the bus company. Greyhound had previously insisted that even though it didn't like the immigration checks, it had no choice under federal law but to allow them. In an emailed statement, the company said it would notify the Department of Homeland Security that it does not consent to unwarranted searches on its buses or in areas of terminals that are not open to the public -- such as company offices or any areas a person needs a ticket to access. Greyhound said it would provide its drivers and bus station employees updated training regarding the new policy, and that it would place stickers on all its buses clearly stating that it does not consent to the searches.... Border Patrol arrests videotaped by other passengers have sparked criticism, and Greyhound faces a lawsuit in California alleging that it violated consumer protection laws by facilitating raids."

Eric Levenson, et al., of CNN: "Jurors in Harvey Weinstein's trial asked the judge Friday if they can be hung on some counts but unanimous on others....In response to Friday's note, the judge charged the jury to go back and continue deliberations.... Deliberations ended for the day at 3 p.m., and jurors are expected to return to court to continue deliberations Monday morning." The two charges the jurors appear to be hung on relate to predatory sexual assault. (Also linked yesterday.)

Beyond the Beltway

Florida/Turkmenistan. Eric Lavai & Scot Stedman of Forensic News: "Florida's official Republican Party Facebook page, along with nine other Florida Republican county Facebook pages, have a page manager located in Turkmenistan, a country in Central Asia with no public affiliation to Florida Republicans or political social media consultants. All ten of the Facebook page managers from Turkmenistan disappeared after Forensic News contacted the Florida GOP page owner for comment.... Because Facebook does not require page managers to reveal their names, there is no way to know who is managing the pages from Turkmenistan. There was, however, a page owner, the person who runs the entire Florida GOP Facebook page, listed as longtime GOP social media strategist Jordan Gibson.... Turkmenistan's government maintains total control over their Internet. All major social media sites, including Facebook, are banned." --s (Also linked yesterday.)

Way Beyond

U.K. Royal No More. Mark Landler of the New York Times: "Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, will give up the name 'royal' as they withdraw from official duties as members of the British royal family and embark on new lives in the private sector, the couple confirmed on Friday. Harry and Meghan, who are also known as the duke and duchess of Sussex, had planned to use the name SussexRoyal as an umbrella brand for their new charitable foundation and social media accounts. But after protracted and difficult negotiations with Buckingham Palace, the couple has agreed not to use 'royal' in any of their philanthropic or commercial activities after this spring. They will withdraw trademark applications using the name and remove it from their Instagram account and website."

News Lede

The New York Times' live updates of developments in the coronavirus epidemic are here.

Reader Comments (7)

THE DAY DEMOCRACY DIED:

High in the heavens a group of old men, every Friday night, get together for their weekly poker game. They are a motley crew but all stellar fellas known back in the day as "The Founders"––George, John, Tom, the two Jimmies, good old Ben and of course Alexander Hamilton who constantly reminds the guys "They made a musical about me!" then prances around and belts out a few of his favorites. The lone wolf here is John Jay who joins in the game but refuses to play for money.

Now given that all are political creatures they keep a keen eye on how their Founding has flourished or faltered. Since Trump has entered the stage all eight have been shocked, then saddened, which led to deep depression but now–– their ire is up! So last Friday, instead of poker, Alex suggested they send a song of sagacity to the populace below. "Wake up, people! Can't you see what's happening?" cries Ben, who was always able to see what was happening before it happened. Here is the result:
https://youtu.be/-Ue5F57dZMU

February 22, 2020 | Unregistered CommenterPD Pepe

Last night Lawrence gave us two minutes (from his radio show of shows) of Rush Limbaugh's explanation of what he sees happening re: the "so called" Russian interference. He posits that just like the intelligence guys and CIA made up the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq during the Bush administration, so have they now made up shit about Russia interfering with our elections. It's all a hoax to implicate Trump. Deep state stuff––very bad!

As Lawrence said, here is the guy millions listen to in their cars––filling their ears with outrageous junk day after day after day. And this is the guy who received a medal from Fatty for lying to the public and doing his best to satisfy the King. He called it freedom or honor or something––I forget what spurious special tag was given.

February 22, 2020 | Unregistered CommenterPD Pepe

"... Partisan uproar over the new claims, meanwhile, suggests that the alleged operation is again delivering for Russia on its intended goals: sowing distrust in the US system and turning Americans against themselves in a way that weakens national unity."
Yes,

February 22, 2020 | Unregistered CommenterProcopius

Bernie's condemnation of Russia was great, but then he and his campaign's questioning of the timing of the news plays right into the hands of Russia and the paranoid Bernie bros.

February 22, 2020 | Unregistered CommenterRAS

I wonder if Jon Stewart is going honor his deal to hug Blago if he got acquitted?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzMleJlVABo

Granted, acquittal is not the same as pardon. Maybe just a handshake then.

February 22, 2020 | Unregistered Commenterperiscope

Re: “The Day Democracy Died”

So excellent, PD Pepe!
The animation *and* your lead-in narrative.

grazie mille

February 22, 2020 | Unregistered CommenterHattie

From above —

". . . Pigeons with tiny Make American Great Again hats glued to their heads . . . A group calling itself P.U.T.I.N. . . . “

Animal Cruelty, indeed! Surprised the hats weren’t soldered on and the creatures stomped, shot or ignited for a splashing finale.

It’s been noted that those possessing zero compunctions about torturing animals are also those most likely to move on . . .

February 22, 2020 | Unregistered CommenterHattie
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