;)
The Commentariat -- July 17, 2020
Afternoon Update:
President* Trump on His Agenda -- White House Remarks, July 16
So we have many exciting things that we'll be announcing over the next eight weeks, I would say. Things that nobody has even contemplated, thought about, thought possible, and things that we're going to get done and we have gotten done -- and we've started in most cases. But it's going to be a very exciting eight weeks, a eight weeks, like I prob- -- I think, Mike, we can honestly say nobody has ever going to see eight weeks like we're going to have. Because we really have -- we have -- we're taking on immigration, taking on education, we're taking on so many aspects of things that people were hopelessly tied up in knots in Congress. They can't -- they've been working on some of these things for 25, 30 years. It wasn't happening. But you'll see levels of detail, and you'll see levels of thought that a lot of people believed very strongly we didn't have in this country. We're going to get things done. We're going to get things done that they've wanted to see done for a long, long time. So I think we'll start sometime on Tuesday. We'll be discussing our one plan on suburbia, but that's one of many, many different plans. Then we're going into the immigration -- the world of immigration, the world of education. We're going into the world of healthcare -- very complete healthcare. And we have a lot of very exciting things to discuss. But cutting of regulation has been really something that I felt we could do, and we could do fairly easily. Nothing is easy in this country. We had statutory requirements where we'd do phase one, and then we'd have to wait 90 days. We'd do phase two, and we'd have to wait 60 days. You'd do phase three, and we're set -- 'Let's do phase four, sir. I'm sorry you have to wait one year.' But we were able to do things that nobody has ever been able to do, or even close, on deregulation.
Source: White House transcript, unedited.
Horrible News for Many Reasons. Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg announced Friday that she is being treated for a recurrence of cancer, this time on her liver, but says she remains able to do her work on the Supreme Court. 'I have often said I would remain a member of the court as long as I can do the job full steam,' Ginsburg said in a written statement. 'I remain fully able to do that.' Ginsburg, 87, and the court's oldest member, has battled cancer four times and has had other health concerns." An AP story is here.
Wow! Deborah Yetter of the Louisville Courier Journal: "Jerry Lundergan, a former Kentucky Democratic Party chairman and the father of former Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, was sentenced Thursday to 21 months in federal prison for election finance violations related to his daughter's unsuccessful U.S. Senate campaign, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Kentucky. Lundergan, 73, of Lexington, was convicted last year along with Dale Emmons, of Richmond, for being part of a scheme to funnel more than $200,000 in illegal campaign donations to the Senate campaign in which Grimes, a Democrat, in 2014 ran unsuccessfully against Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell. Emmons, a campaign consultant hired by Lundergan, was sentenced to nine months in a halfway house, three years of supervised release and fined $50,000. Lundergan also was sentenced to two years of supervised release and fined $150,000."
Dan Lamothe of the Washington Post: "Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper effectively banned displays of the Confederate battle flag on U.S. military installations, saying in a memo Friday that the 'flags we fly must accord with the military imperatives of good order and discipline, treating all our people with dignity and respect, and rejecting divisive symbols.' The memo does not explicitly mention Confederate banners but states that the American flag is the 'principal flag we are authorized and encouraged to display.'... A defense official..., speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said the White House is aware of the new policy. It was not immediately clear if President Trump supports it.... Esper's new policy does not address the base-naming issue. An amendment in the new defense spending bill would require the Pentagon to change the names as well as remove other Confederate references, symbols and paraphernalia from installations within three years. Trump has threatened to veto the bill if the amendment is included." ~~~
~~~ Must Not Upset Trump. Lolita Baldor of the AP: "The [Confederate flag-ban] policy, laid out in a memo released Friday, was described by officials as a creative way to bar the flag's display without openly contradicting or angering ... Donald Trump, who has defended people's rights to display it."
Mitch Prothero of Business Insider: "Israel is involved in an extended campaign to pressure or damage Iran before President Donald Trump can be voted out of office in the November election, a former Israeli defense official and a current European Union intelligence official told Insider.... These attacks have put the country on edge, with nearly daily reports of fires, explosions, and other mishaps treated as potential foreign sabotage.... The attacks appear to be part of a campaign of 'maximum pressure, minimal strategy,' said the EU intelligence official.... With a broad belief among America's allies that Trump is unlikely to win reelection, Israel's apparent shift in tactics toward high-pressure 'kinetic' operations seem to reflect a belief that under a Biden administration, there would be a move to save the 2015 nuclear deal that had been scuttled by Trump." --s
Josh Katz, et al., of the New York Times have produced a detailed interactive map of where people say they are wearing masks when they expect to come into contact with others. "Our data comes from a large number of interviews conducted by the global data and survey firm Dynata at the request of The New York Times." Mrs. McC: My area is doing poorly, although I can say that when I do my 6 am grocery shopping, mask-wearers are 100% of the early birds.
S.N.A.F.U. Dara Lind of ProPublica: "As hospitals across the United States brace for a difficult six months -- with the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic still raging and concerns about a second wave in the fall -- some are acutely short-staffed because of ... a proclamation issued by ... Donald Trump on June 22, barring the entry of most immigrants on work visas.... Hundreds of young doctors were unable to start their residencies on time.... The proclamation stated that doctors 'involved with the provision of medical care to individuals who have contracted COVID-19 and are currently hospitalized' should be exempt from the ban, but it delegated the issuing of guidance to the departments of State and Homeland Security. That guidance has been slow and inconsistent."
Jesse McKinley of the New York Times: "Jamaal Bowman has scored a stunning victory over Representative Eliot L. Engel of New York in a Democratic primary, defeating the 16-term incumbent and overcoming the efforts of the Democratic establishment in a profound show of progressive political power. Mr. Bowman, a middle school principal from Yonkers, was declared the winner on Friday, after a count of absentee ballots verified what seemed clear on Primary Night, when he emerged with a commanding lead over Mr. Engel, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.... In the closing weeks of the campaign, as Mr. Bowman gained momentum and prominent backers, members of the Democratic old guard tried to salvage Mr. Engel's flagging campaign.... The Black Lives Matter movement ... gave a powerful talking point for Mr. Bowman, who is African-American and said he had been physically attacked by police as a child. The Black Lives Matter movement also served as backdrop for a cringe-inducing moment for Mr. Engel. At a news conference in the Bronx in early June, the congressman was caught on microphone suggesting that he was only there because of his contested race. 'If I didn't have a primary, he said, I wouldn't care.'" ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie Note to Donald Trump: "I really don't care" turns out not to be the best campaign message. And two-thirds of the country already knows that's your message, whether or not your wife has it painted on the back of her jacket.
MEANWHILE, Across the Pond:
~~~~~~~~~~
The Trumpidemic, Ctd.
The New York Times' live updates for coronavirus developments Friday are here: "As clashes over face-covering mandates and school reopening plans intensified throughout the United States, the country shattered its single-day record for new cases on Thursday -- more than 75,600, according to a New York Times database. This was the 11th time in the past month that the record had been broken. The previous single-day record, 68,241 cases, was announced last Friday. The number of daily cases has more than doubled since June 24, when the country registered 37,014 cases after a lull in the outbreak had kept the previous record, 36,738, standing for two months."
The New York Times' live updates for coronavirus developments Thursday are here. Dr. Donnie prescribes PhucPsyence: "The White House press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, reiterated President Trump's view that schools must open in the fall. 'When he says open,' she said, 'he means open and full, kids being able to attend each and every day at their school. The science should not stand in the way of this.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
The Man with No Plan. Philip Rucker, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump has vowed that the nation's schools must reopen for the fall semester, but neither he nor his administration has detailed a plan for how to do so safely. Trump has boasted that the United States leads the world in coronavirus testing, yet he has declined to produce a national testing plan, and in many communities tests can take a week or longer to process, rendering their results all but useless in slowing the spread. And with case numbers spiking from coast..., Trump's most clearly articulated plan to end the covid-19 pandemic is to predict the virus will 'just disappear' and to bank on a vaccine being ready 'very, very soon.'... There is no cohesive national strategy, apart from unenforced federal health guidelines. Instead, the administration is offering a patchwork of solutions, often in reaction to outbreaks after they occur. Although Trump and his team declare sweeping objectives..., they have largely shirked responsibility for developing and executing plans to achieve them, putting the onus instead on state and local authorities." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
John Bresnahan & Jake Sherman of Politico: "... Donald Trump has signaled to Hill Republicans that he will not sign a new coronavirus stimulus package without the inclusion of a payroll tax cut, according to three sources close to the issue.... The president has been fixated on a payroll tax cut for months, even though it has fallen on deaf ears on Capitol Hill -- Senate Republicans and House Democrats don't care for the proposal, and have resoundingly rejected it." Mrs. McC: Not only would a payroll tax cut further explode the deficit, it obviously does nothing for people who have been laid off because of business shutdowns forced by the coronavirus. (Also linked yesterday.)
Gary Langer of ABC News: "With COVID-19 cases soaring nationally, Americans by nearly a two to one margin distrust what ... Donald Trump says about the pandemic, and six in 10 in a new ABC News/Washington Post poll disapprove of how he's handling it, up steeply since the early days of the outbreak. Just 38% in the national survey now approve of Trump's response, down from 46% in late May.... There's also a disconnect in terms of priorities, with Americans, by 63-33%, saying it's more important to control the spread of the virus than to restart the economy, a goal Trump has stressed.... Concern about catching the disease, moreover, remains persistently high. Sixty-six percent are very or somewhat worried that they or someone in their immediate family might become infected, and an additional 5% of Americans now say this already has happened." Mrs. McC: The amazing part is the huge 38% dingbat club that trusts a guy who suggested taking shots of bleach was a cure for the virus.
Lena Sun & Amy Goldstein of the Washington Post: "On the eve of a new coronavirus reporting system this week, data disappeared from a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website as hospitals began filing information to a private contractor or their states instead. A day later, an outcry -- including from other federal health officials -- prompted the Trump administration to reinstate that dashboard and another daily CDC report on the pandemic. And on Thursday, the nation's governors joined the chorus of objections over the abruptness of the change to the reporting protocols for hospitals, asking the administration to delay the shift for 30 days. In a statement, the National Governors Association said hospitals need the time to learn a new system, as they continue to deal with this pandemic. The governors also urged the administration to keep the information publicly available." CDC officials made the decision to take down the data dashboard. The article is free to nonsubscribers. A Politico story is here.
** White House Hides Bad News. Liz Whyte of the Center for Public Integrity: "A document prepared for the White House Coronavirus Task Force but not publicized suggests more than a dozen states should revert to more stringent protective measures, limiting social gatherings to 10 people or fewer, closing bars and gyms and asking residents to wear masks at all times. The document, dated July 14 and obtained by the Center for Public Integrity, says 18 states are in the 'red zone' for COVID-19 cases, meaning they had more than 100 new cases per 100,000 population last week. Eleven states are in the 'red zone' for test positivity, meaning more than 10 percent of diagnostic test results came back positive.... For instance, the document recommends that Georgia, in the red zone for both cases and test positivity, 'mandate statewide wearing of cloth face coverings outside the home.' But Gov. Brian Kemp signed an order Wednesday banning localities from requiring masks.' [More on Kemp linked below.] The 18 states that are included in the red zone for cases in the document are: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nevada, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Utah. The 11 states that are in the red zone for test positivity are Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, South Carolina, Texas and Washington."
Nathaniel Weixel of The Hill: "Top Trump administration officials are preparing guidance that will recommend people who test positive for COVID-19 do not need to get retested to prove they no longer have the disease. The move, previewed in a call with reporters by the administration's testing coordinator Brett Giroir, comes as the U.S. testing system faces severe strains and a national backlog of results.... Giroir said the guidance, which will be released in the coming days, will apply to people who are isolating at home after testing positive." --s
Trump's "Medical Experts" "Fact-Check" Fauci:
Morgan Chalfant of The Hill: "White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said on Thursday that Anthony Fauci was wrong to liken the coronavirus to the 1918 flu pandemic, calling his remarks 'false' and 'irresponsible.' Meadows made the comments on Fox News after rebuking White House trade adviser Peter Navarro's decision to pen an op-ed criticizing Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert, which the chief of staff said was 'not appropriate.' Meadows went on to argue that not everything that Fauci says is correct." --s ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: It's great for Meadows to share his medical expertise with Foxbots. But, gosh, it turns out Meadows does not have a background in the study of infectious diseases. Why, he's not even a doctor or scientist. In fact, he does not have so much as a bachelor's degree, although he lied about that in official documents until December 2018, when reporters at the Tampa Bay Times noticed Meadows had quietly changed his Wikipedia page to reflect that he had only a two-year degree (A.A.) just as he was being vetted for an administration job. But, hey, thanks, Mark, for correcting Dr. Fauci. ~~~
Joe Concha of The Hill: "Former game show host Chuck Woolery announced Wednesday his son has tested positive for COVID-19, just days after Woolery accused medical professionals and Democrats of lying about the virus in an effort to hurt the economy and President Trump's reelection chances.... The message comes after Woolery tweeted Monday denouncing 'outrageous lies' being told about the coronavirus, comments that Trump retweeted to his more than 83 million followers.... Woolery ... has since deleted his Twitter account[.]" --s ~~~
~~~ At least Peter Navarro does have a doctorate, albeit in economics. ~~~
~~~ Jeremy Barr of the Washington Post: "Facing intense criticism on social media, USA Today has admitted errors in an opinion piece written by a White House official that attacked Anthony S. Fauci..., saying in a post-publication note attached to the piece that it 'did not meet USA Today's fact-checking standards.' Published online Tuesday evening and in print on Wednesday, the opinion piece was authored by Peter Navarro, who heads the Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy, and was paired with the provocative headline: 'Anthony Fauci has been wrong about everything I have interacted with him on.' On Wednesday evening, editorial page editor Bill Sternberg added a note that both explained the piece's origins as well as its mistakes. 'Navarro's response echoed comments made to other news outlets in recent days,' he wrote, alluding to talking points critical of Fauci circulated by White House aides. 'We felt it was newsworthy because it expanded on those comments, put an on-the-record name to the attacks on Fauci, and contradicted White House denials of an anti-Fauci campaign.'... As part of the publication's response to the backlash that stemmed from publication of the piece, USA Today also published a 'fact check' piece on Wednesday night that concluded that 'Peter Navarro's claims about Dr. Anthony Fauci are misleading, lack context.'" (Also linked yesterday.) An AP story is here.
Noah Weiland of the New York Times: "The scientist leading the Trump administration's coronavirus vaccine program will be allowed to remain a government contractor, a decision that permits him to avoid ethics disclosures required of federal employees and maintain his investments in pharmaceutical companies. Two prominent watchdog groups as well as some Democrats in Congress had called for the Department of Health and Human Services to require that the scientist, Dr. Moncef Slaoui, a venture capitalist and a former executive at the pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, fall under the same ethics rules as federal employees. The office of the inspector general at H.H.S. responded this week that it could not require such a shift, citing the unusual role that Dr.Slaoui was playing in the administration amid the pandemic." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Common Dreams via RawStory: "Ethics watchdogs on Wednesday slammed a ruling by the Health and Human Services Department's inspector general, who decided this week that Moncef Slaoui, a former pharmaceutical executive now heading the Trump administration's coronavirus vaccine task force, does not have to disclose or divest his investments in the industry. As the co-director of Operation Warp Speed, a public-private partnership aimed at finding a vaccine for Covid-19 by the end of 2020, Slaoui is in the position to award contracts to pharmaceutical companies researching potential vaccines and treatments." --s (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Yeganeh Torbati of Propublica: "White House officials have pushed the U.S. Agency for International Development to purchase thousands of [ventilators] from U.S. companies and donate them abroad.... But the effort has been marked by dysfunction, with little clarity on how countries are chosen or how the ventilators are allocated. A USAID memo seen by ProPublica shows equipment donated to wealthy nations that typically do not get foreign aid, such as NATO countries, and to a few locations ill-equipped to use devices that require round-the-clock staffing and regular maintenance.... But public health experts said that without carefully assessing each country's health care expertise -- and following through to ensure hospitals can keep the machines running -- the donations could go to waste or even risk patients' lives." --s (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Jim Morelli of Boston 25 News: "COVID-19 can seem an indiscriminate killer, but a new study out of Brigham and Women's Hospital suggests several commonalities with its victims.... [T]he study found at least 15% of every age group -- including young adults -- did not survive the disease.... [T]he study found [people with] high rates of obesity ... raises the risk of death from COVID-19.... Other independent risk factors for death from COVID-19 include being male and having coronary artery disease or an active case of cancer. Two striking findings from the study: First, while African-Americans seemed to be admitted to hospitals and ICUs more frequently, they did not die from COVID-19 in disproportionate numbers.... Second, patients admitted to hospitals with fewer ICU beds to begin with had a much poorer prognosis than those treated in hospitals with large numbers of such beds." --s
Arizona, et al. Liz Essley Whyte of the Arizona Republic: "A document prepared for the White House Coronavirus Task Force but not publicized suggests more than a dozen states, including Arizona, should revert to more stringent protective measures, limiting social gatherings to 10 people or fewer, closing bars and gyms and asking residents to wear masks at all times.... The document, dated July 14 and obtained by the Center for Public Integrity, says 18 states are in the 'red zone' for COVID-19 cases, meaning they had more than 100 new cases per 100,000 population last week. Eleven states are in the 'red zone' for test positivity, meaning more than 10 percent of diagnostic test results came back positive." --s
Florida. Coronavirus Shuts Down Coronavirus Ops Center. Isaac Stanley-Becker of the Washington Post: "The coronavirus thrashing Florida has penetrated the state's emergency operations center, a clearinghouse for disaster-related information and a command center of sorts for the pandemic response. A new set of cases caused the center, located in Tallahassee, to shut down Thursday as staff shifted to remote work. One official with knowledge of the events, who spoke on the condition of anonymity..., said 13 people working at the center had tested positive for the novel coronavirus and that the office would be closed at least until Monday. Staff were in the process of clearing out essential equipment." Mrs. McC: How is that a coronavirus "command center" didn't plan for its employees contracting the coronavirus? ~~~
~~~ Chuck Weber of 12 News (Florida): "As local leaders debate the best way to reopen our schools, there's conflicting information about the actual COVID-19 health risks for kids. Palm Beach County School Board members were set to vote Wednesday afternoon on a reopening plan to submit to the state for approval. Last week, board members backed starting with virtual or distance learning when classes begin Aug. 10. But Gov. Ron DeSantis has repeatedly said it's safe to send kids to school and this month.... On Tuesday, Dr. Alina Alonso, the state health department director in Palm Beach County, brought up the positivity test rate among children [which] in the past week ... increased from 29 to above 33 percent. 'That literally means that a third of the age under 18 that we test are positive,' said Alonso, who also, for the second week in a row, mentioned lung damage showing up even in children who are asymptomatic." --s
Georgia. Veronica Stracqualursi & Paul LeBlanc of CNN: "Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp announced Thursday he is suing Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms over the city's mask mandate, claiming the measure violates his emergency orders.... The lawsuit marks a stunning escalation in the brewing feud between Kemp and Bottoms after the Atlanta mayor introduced her mandatory mask ordinance. Under her order, not wearing a mask within Atlanta's city limits was punishable by a fine and even up to six months in jail.... The lawsuit also comes just one day after Kemp suspended all local government mask mandates despite the rise in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations in his state....Kemp's executive order voids masks mandates imposed by some local governments as Covid-19 cases tick up in cities across the state, already claiming over 3,000 lives. Even as Kemp has been resistant to a statewide mask mandate for Georgia, other Republican governors are now requiring face coverings in their states." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Worth remembering that Kemp is the genius who said in early April that he had had no idea that asymptomatic people could transmit the coronavirus. Newsweek: "Kemp's remarks prompted shocked reactions on Twitter, with Shannon Watts, the founder of Moms Demand Action, noting: 'In a bizarre turn of events, information the rest of the nation had in January didn't reach Georgia Governor Brian Kemp until April.'" Rather than suing Mayor Bottoms, Kemp should be jailed for felony stupid.
Alexander Smith of NBC News: "Hackers from Russia's intelligence services have been attempting to steal information related to the development of a COVID-19 vaccine from the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, British officials said Thursday. The attacks have been carried out by a group called "APT29, also known as 'the Dukes' or 'Cozy Bear, which has been been using malware to target various organizations across the three countries, the United Kingdom's National Cyber Security Centre said in a statement. The United States' National Security Agency and Canada's Communications Security Establishment both agree with the assessment, the British officials said." Mrs. McC: IOW, another Russian attack on the U.S. & our allies that Trump will ignore. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Update: The Washington Post's report is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Sometimes a Great Moment. Katie Kindelan of ABC News: "The veteran known as Captain Tom who raised tens of millions of dollars for the British National Health Service during the coronavirus pandemic will receive a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth. Captain Sir Thomas Moore will receive the honor during an investiture ceremony on Friday at Windsor Castle. The investiture will be the first that the 94-year-old queen has taken part in since she began following strict stay-at-home orders in March during the pandemic.... Moore originally aimed to raise $1,000 for charity by walking laps in his garden while under lockdown in Buckinghamshire, England. He hoped to complete 100 laps before he turned 100 in late April. Moore's online campaign exploded and by the time he reached his 100th birthday on April 30, the World War II veteran had raised tens of millions of dollars. Moore also received a promotion from Queen Elizabeth to the rank of colonel and a special flyover to commemorate his achievements."
Now, here's a drug that has passed its field tests and is safe for men & women of all ages. Dr. Hattie prescribes:
Finally a job @IvankaTrump is qualified for. pic.twitter.com/dHMEJzB8lL
— Matt Ortega (@MattOrtega) July 15, 2020
~~~ Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Went to the freezer yesterday to find a delicious lunch, and there it was: Si es "Smart Ones" tiene que ser bueno: ~~~
~~~ Anonymous has a great comment in today's thread on Ted Cruz's obvious lie defending free speech & beans: "... My grandparents ate Goya black beans twice a day for nearly 90 years. And now the Left is trying to cancel Hispanic culture and silence free speech. The link Anonymous provides addresses much more than Ted's mythical math. For instance, Susie Meister: "What if, and I'm just spitballing here, Ted Cruz cared about the kids in cages at the border as much as he cares about beans?" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Here's how Republican political analysis works: If Joe Biden says, "Nice day!" he is finally admitting that climate change is a hoax. If Donald Trump says, "Nice day!" he has brought in the sunshine and saved the world from darkness. It's very nuanced.
Ha! Annals of Journalism, Ctd. Cavuto Gave Foxbots an Econ Lesson. Aidan McLaughlin of Mediaite: "Fox News host Neil Cavuto cut away from a speech by ... Donald Trump on deregulation to fact-check his claims regarding the economy of his predecessor. Trump went after the regulations put in place by former President Barack Obama following the 2008 financial crisis -- calling them 'job destroying regulations' -- in his speech from the Rose Garden on Thursday.... Cavuto said ... Trump had 'mischaracterized the regulations that were added under Barack Obama -- they were largely financial related.... You might recall we had this little thing called the financial meltdown,' Cavuto explained, 'and much of those regulations were geared to preventing banks from ever investing in things like risky mortgage securities, pooling them, selling them off.' The Fox News anchor also rejected Trump's premise that those financial regulations yielded devastating results. 'The unemployment rate did, under Barack Obama, go down from a high of 10% to around 4.7%. President Trump, of course, sent that even lower, eventually getting us down to a 3.5% unemployment rate.... 'It was not a disaster under Barack Obama,' Cavuto said. 'Not only did the Dow essentially triple during his tenure, but... those companies did very well. Americans did very, very well....'"
Oliver Darcy of CNN: "Mary Trump's tell-all book had sold a staggering 950,000 copies by the end of its first day on sale, publisher Simon & Schuster said Thursday. That figure, which included pre-sales, as well as e-books and audiobooks, is a new record for Simon & Schuster, the company said. The book ... went on sale Tuesday and portrays President Trump in an unflattering light."
When Crazy Conspiracy Theorists Conspire. Timothy Johnson of Mediaite: "Roger Stone signed a document to accept [Donald Trump's] commutation of his prison sentence during a broadcast of far-right conspiracy theory program The Alex Jones Show[, starring, of course, Alex Jones].... During his appearance, Stone also thanked several conservative media figures for cheerleading his commutation, which included Alex Jones ('who never abandoned me')."
It's About Time. Chris Walker of Truthout: "The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a nonprofit civil rights organization..., added a new entry to its database of extremists: White House senior adviser Stephen Miller. Miller was added to the organization's website on Wednesday, with the SPLC noting that ... Donald Trump's trusted confidante 'is credited with shaping the racist and draconian immigration policies of President Trump,' including the zero-tolerance policy that led to thousands of children being separated from their families. Miller also shaped the White House's early Muslim ban, pushed for the president to attempt to end the popular ... DACA program, and advised moves to halt the issuance of green cards for immigrants using the coronavirus pandemic as a means to do so, SPLC said." Mrs. McC: Why isn't the Extremist-in-Chief Donald Trump on the list? Miller may have instigated some of Trump's "racist and draconian" policies, but Trump -- at the very least -- embraced and signed off on them.
Carol Morello of the Washington Post: "Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday that the American way of life and its founding principles are 'under attack,' focusing his criticism on voices in the mainstream news media and protesters who have torn down statues of historical figures. Speaking in Philadelphia at the National Constitution Center..., Pompeo said the events roiling the United States today are antithetical to the nation's ideals. 'And yet today, the very core of what it means to be an American, indeed the American way of life itself, is under attack,' he said. 'Instead of seeking to improve America, leading voices promulgate hatred of our founding principles.'" Mrs. McC: If Mike & his boss are "leading voices," I he's right. (Also linked yesterday.)
Sarah Lynch of Reuters: "U.S. Attorney General William Barr installed a new interim U.S. attorney in the Northern District of Alabama on Thursday, the latest appointee to come out of the Justice Department in Washington to serve in an acting capacity as a top federal prosecutor. Prim Escalona, the department's principal deputy assistant attorney general for the Office of Legislative Affairs, will take over from Jay Towns, who resigned on Wednesday to take a job with a defense contractor. A Justice Department spokesman did not have any immediate comment on why Barr tapped Escalona, who does not appear to have a background prosecuting criminal cases based on her LinkedIn profile.... Separately, Barr also recently appointed Deputy Associate Attorney General Stephen Cox as the top prosecutor in the Eastern District of Texas." --s
** Oregon. Jonathan Levinson & Conrad Wilson of Oregon Public Broadcasting: "Federal law enforcement officers have been using unmarked vehicles to drive around downtown Portland and detain protesters since at least July 14. Personal accounts and multiple videos posted online show the officers driving up to people, detaining individuals with no explanation of why they are being arrested, and driving off. The tactic appears to be another escalation in federal force deployed on Portland city streets, as federal officials and ... Donald Trump have said they plan to 'quell' nightly protests.... [I]nterviews conducted by OPB show officers are also detaining people on Portland streets who aren't near federal property, nor is it clear that all of the people being arrested have engaged in criminal activity." --s ~~~
~~~ Samantha Vinograd in a CNN opinion piece (June 7th): "In Washington, DC, alone, there has been a dizzying array of security personnel deployed in the last few days. From members of the military to DC police to the US Bureau of Prisons, the streets have become an alphabet soup of acronyms when it comes to law enforcement and security personnel, all designated -- by various levels of government -- to seemingly promote safety. But, as Americans countrywide exercise their constitutional right to protest peacefully, unnecessary assaults on democratic freedoms and civil liberties have proliferated.... Unmarked officers and 'secret police' have been used in authoritarian crackdowns throughout history. We used to refer to Russian President Vladimir Putin's unidentified proxies during his annexation of Crimea as 'little green men' for wearing unmarked green uniforms. Unattributable shows of force just shouldn't happen in American democracy. They're dangerous on many levels both in the near and longer term." --s
Dan Diamond & Adam Cancryn of Politico: "Congressional Democrats on Thursday condemned Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma after a watchdog report found she mishandled millions of dollars in government contracts, with some lawmakers renewing or issuing new calls for ... Donald Trump to replace his controversial Medicare chief.... In a joint release, the chairs of the House Oversight and Energy and Commerce committees and the top Democrats on the Senate HELP and Finance committees ... also warned that their own year-long investigation -- which drew on 'tens of thousands of pages of documents' provided by contractors and the health department -- would contain further information about Verma's spending and decisions.”
This is another excerpt from the Business Insider piece linked yesterday that should be highlighted. We are all less safe: ~~~
~~~ "[A] NATO military intelligence official who regularly deals with Russian intelligence matters confirmed the nature of Russia's activity. He said NATO had limited some parts of its relationship with the US because of its closeness to Russia. Specifically some worried that US officials would send them its intelligence." --s (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Elections 2020
Jeffrey Jones of Gallup: "Since January, Americans' party preferences have shifted dramatically in the Democratic Party's direction. What had been a two-percentage-point Republican advantage in U.S. party identification and leaning has become an 11-point Democratic advantage, with more of that movement reflecting a loss in Republican identification and leaning (down eight points) than a gain in Democratic identification and leaning (up five points).... Currently, half of U.S. adults identify as Democrats (32%) or are independents who lean toward the Democratic Party (18%). Meanwhile, 39% identify as Republicans (26%) or are Republican leaners (13%)." --s
Elena Schneider of Politico: "Joe Biden has nearly closed the once-yawning cash gap between him and ... Donald Trump, with big donors flooding his campaign and the Democratic National Committee with money in recent months. Trump and the Republican National Committee have spent years building a formidable war chest, starting soon after he was elected and continuing as Democrats burned money in their own primary in 2019 and early 2020. The Trump campaign and its affiliated groups closed out June with $295 million in the bank. But Biden and the DNC, which outraised Trump and the RNC for two consecutive months, has rapidly cut down that advantage to just $53 million, according to Biden's campaign manager, Jen O'Malley Dillon."
Liar-in-Chief Tries out New Lies about Biden. Katie Glueck, et al., of the New York Times: "Facing weak poll numbers and criticism for failing to offer a second-term agenda or a cohesive case against Mr. Biden, the president is accelerating his attacks on his Democratic opponent -- a sign of nervousness for any incumbent.... He has shaken up his campaign staff and intensified a tear-down operation aimed at Mr. Biden with a dizzying barrage of attacks, highlighted by dark, and at times misleading, television ads. Deprived of his favored forum of raucous campaign rallies because of the coronavirus pandemic, Mr. Trump has road-tested his messages in the Rose Garden, at a staid appearance in Atlanta to announce rollbacks of environmental regulations and on Twitter, supplying an onslaught of scattershot and sometimes contradictory criticisms of the former vice president.... The president's lack of discipline is a caution against any Republican hopes that this might be the start of a new chapter."
Justine Coleman & Jonathan Easley of the Hill: "Republicans announced Thursday they will scale back the Republican National Convention in August as coronavirus cases rise in Florida, where President Trump is expected to deliver a speech accepting his party's nomination for reelection. Ronna Romney McDaniel, the chairwoman of the Republican National Committee (RNC), informed members of the decision in a letter on Thursday that blamed the pandemic for the changes. The letter states that admittance to the convention in Jacksonville, Fla., will be limited only to regular delegates for the first three days, amounting to a crowd of about 2,500 people. Trump shifted the site of the celebration from North Carolina to Florida when it appeared the Jacksonville site might allow for large gatherings.... The official business for the convention will still take place in Charlotte, [North Carolina,] but the four-day celebration has been moved to Jacksonville." (Also linked yesterday.)
Maggie Miller of The Hill: "Secretary of StateMike Pompeo on Wednesday expressed confidence that other countries, including potentially Russia and China, would attempt to interfere in the 2020 U.S. elections. 'Yes, I am confident that many countries will do their level best to have an impact on our election,' Pompeo said during a virtual event hosted by The Hill on the future of national security." --s
** Supremes Disenfranchise Florida's Ex-Felons. Gary Fineout of Politico: "In a blow to voting rights that could have consequences for the presidential election, the U.S. Supreme Court let stand a Florida law restricting felon voting rights. The result is that hundreds of thousands of people with past felony convictions in the battleground state likely will be ineligible to vote in the August state primaries and, possibly, the November presidential election.... The high court on Thursday did not explain its decision. Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg..., dissented. In a stinging rebuke, Justice Sotomayor said that 'this court's inaction continues a trend of condoning disenfranchisement.'... A study by University of Florida political professor Daniel Smith found that nearly 775,000 people with felony convictions have some sort of outstanding legal financial obligation.... Now the case will return to the appeals court, which is scheduled to hold a hearing Aug. 18, the same day as Florida's primary." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Amy Gardner & Lori Rozsa of the Washington Post: "The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Thursday to overturn a federal appeals court's decision that blocked some Florida felons' eligibility to participate in elections -- a major blow to efforts to restore voting rights to as many as 1.4 million people in the battleground state. The decision lets stand a temporary halt by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit of a judge's order that had cleared the way for hundreds of thousands of felons in the state to register to vote." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Mark Stern of Slate Says It Best: "The Supreme Court all but guaranteed that nearly 1 million Floridians will be unable to vote in the 2020 election because of unpaid court debts in a shattering order handed down on Thursday. Its decision will throw Florida's voter registration into chaos, placing a huge number of would-be voters in legal limbo and even opening them up to prosecution for casting a ballot. The justices have effectively permitted Florida Republicans to impose a poll tax in November."
Capitalism Is Awesome, Ctd. Ryan McCarthy of Propublica: "[A]n analysis by ProPublica and First Draft, a global nonprofit that researches misinformation, shows that Facebook is rife with false or misleading claims about voting, particularly regarding voting by mail.... Many of these falsehoods appear to violate Facebook's standards yet have not been taken down or labeled as inaccurate. Some of them, generalizing from one or two cases, portrayed people of color as the face of voter fraud.... The false claims, including conspiracy theories about stolen elections or outright misrepresentations about voting by mail by Trump and prominent conservative outlets, are often among the most popular posts about voting on Facebook[.]" --s (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Great. False and racist, too. Thanks, Zuck!
Michigan Congressional Race. Quint Forgey of Politico: "Rep. Justin Amash, the Libertarian Michigan congressman who abandoned the Republican Party after calling for ... Donald Trump's impeachment, appeared to confirm reports Thursday that he would not seek reelection to Congress. 'I love representing our community in Congress. I always will,' Amash wrote on Twitter. 'This is my choice, but I'm still going to miss it. Thank you for your trust.'... Amash's apparent acknowledgment that he will not seek reelection in November opens up a Republican-leaning district that both parties were prepared to contest, though Democrats would have had better odds with Amash in the race."
Racist ... and Sexist, Too. Will Hobson & Liz Clarke of the Washington Post: Fifteen "former female [Washington NFL team] employees ... told The Washington Post they were sexually harassed during their time at the club.... [Fourteen] women spoke on the condition of anonymity, citing a fear of litigation because some signed nondisclosure agreements with the team that threaten legal retribution if they speak negatively about the club. [Only one, Emily Applegate, would speak on the record.] The team declined a request from The Post to release former female employees from these agreements so they could speak on the record without fear of legal reprisal.... Team owner Daniel Snyder declined several requests for an interview. Over the past week, as The Post presented detailed allegations and findings to the club, three team employees accused of improper behavior abruptly departed, including Larry Michael, the club's longtime radio voice, and Alex Santos, the team's director of pro personnel. In a statement, the team said it had hired D.C. attorney Beth Wilkinson and her firm, Wilkinson Walsh, 'to conduct a thorough independent review of this entire matter and help the team set new employee standards for the future.'"
Way Beyond the Beltway
James Gallagher of BBC: "The world is ill-prepared for the global crash in children being born which is set to have a 'jaw-dropping' impact on societies, say researchers. Falling fertility rates mean nearly every country could have shrinking populations by the end of the century. And 23 nations - including Spain and Japan - are expected to see their populations halve by 2100. Countries will also age dramatically, with as many people turning 80 as there are being born.... It has nothing to do with sperm counts or the usual things that come to mind when discussing fertility. Instead it is being driven by more women in education and work, as well as greater access to contraception, leading to women choosing to have fewer children." --s (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Yemen/World. Patrick Wintour of the Guardian: "Time is running out to prevent a disastrous oil spill from a deteriorating tanker loaded with 1.1m barrels of crude that is moored off the coast of Yemen, the UN's environment chief has said. Inger Andersen told the UN security council that a spill from the FSO Safer, which has had no maintenance for more than five years, would wreck ecosystems and livelihoods for decades.... Houthi rebels who control the area where the ship is moored have insisted on setting conditions linked to Yemen's six-year civil war before allowing UN inspectors onboard.... The Safer contains 1,148,000 barrels of light crude oil, meaning that if a full spillage occurred the release would be four times larger than the Exxon Valdez disaster off Alaska in 1989, says the UN." --s
News Ledes
AP: "The Rev. C.T. Vivian, an early and key adviser to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. who organized pivotal campaigns in the civil rights movement and spent decades advocating for justice and equality, died Friday at the age of 95. Vivian began staging sit-ins against segregation in Peoria, Illinois, in the 1940s -- a dozen years before lunch-counter protests by college students made national news. He met King soon after the budding civil rights leader's leadership of the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott, and helped translate ideas into action by organizing the Freedom Rides that eventually forced federal intervention across the South.... President Barack Obama honored Vivian with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013, saying that 'time and again, Reverend Vivian was among the first to be in the action: in 1947, joining a sit-in to integrate an Illinois restaurant; one of the first Freedom Riders; in Selma, on the courthouse steps to register blacks to vote, for which he was beaten, bloodied and jailed.'"
The Wrap: "The Daily Beast foreign editor Chris Dickey died unexpectedly in Paris Thursday at the age of 68. The cause of death was heart failure, according to the Daily Beast's editor in chief Noah Shachtman. The outlet posted a tribute to Dickey's decades-long career, which included stints at the Washington Post and Newsweek, and praised his personality."
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Last night Rachel had her interview with Mary Trump. Here's a bit of it–-would be helpful to get a full transcript so that we could learn how Mary fully sliced and diced her uncle Donny. My takeaway was, yeah, her psychological portrait was/is how we have been dissecting this fruitcake from the get-go. It's pathetic and infuriating to realize that this sick man was allowed to run roughshod over this country and we couldn't stop him––-WE COULDN'T STOP HIM!
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/mary-trump-president-racial-anti-semitic-slurs_n_5f10dc79c5b6d14c33653b1d
A word about skinny McNinny: Her "The science should not stand in the way of this [opening schools]" You hear that and you think, surely she can't mean –––and then you realize that yes, since she speaks for the Trump administration, their message is: any scientific information that interferes with THEIR agenda should be ignored, dismissed and tossed out even if it means people will die.
And then we have Big and getting bigger Mike Pompeo who says: oh, my golly, all this turmoil about race and statues and stuff that is
roiling the United States today are antithetical to the nation’s ideals. "'And yet today, the very core of what it means to be an American, indeed the American way of life itself, is under attack,' he said. 'Instead of seeking to improve America, leading voices promulgate hatred of our founding principles.'”
You betcha, Mike––if you and your pal locked hands and took a peek in the mirror would you recognize those leading voices who promulgate hatred of our founding principles? and those principles are what again, Mike?
THE GREAT DIVIDE:
Private schools are reopening while public schools are not:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/16/upshot/coronavirus-school-reopening-private-public-gap.html?action=click&module=Well&pgtype=Homepage§ion=The%20Upshot
The Twitter trolls are certainly taking advantage of the Princess Bean meme. Via a friend of mine sent this morning, text superimposed over the photo of bb's:
"What's the difference between a garbanzo bean and a chickpea?
Daddy never had a garbanzo bean on his face."
@PD Pepe: On Mac-a-Ninny: MSNBC host Ayman Mohyeldin was leading a discussion on Mac-a-Ninny's to-hell-with-science remark when a guest doctor said McEnany must have "misspoken" or "garbled her message" and could not possibly have meant that "science should not stand in the way of" opening schools. Mohyeldin had the good sense to counter the doctor, saying the topic was "too important to get wrong" and that he was not giving McEnany the benefit of the doubt.
@unwashed: Eeew! and ha ha.
I'll add to the bean business with this bit from Masha Gessen:
"The Trumps are, without a doubt, corrupting the Presidency in the sense that they are changing it beyond recognition, but they are doing it in plain view...
On the face of it, the shilling for beans is trolling. Like Trump’s lies, it’s a demonstration of power—he is saying, in effect, No matter how absurd, how blatantly false, how clearly spiteful and meaningless my statement or picture or post might be, you have no choice but to engage with it, because I am the President. Here, he wins every time: we do engage with his latest outrage, because ignoring it is the worse option."
One wonders, with all those bean lovers if we might have a Blazing Saddles redux air wise?
Thanks Marie for the Ayman retort––love it!
As a bit of a word nut, one of my favorite lexical lagniappes has always been collective nouns. A murder of crows, for instance, or the amazingly applicable congress of baboons, especially considering all the baboons on the right.
I’ve been thinking that we need some helpful way to refer to (and take the Mickey out of) the crime family that has been debasing the nation on a daily basis, also their enablers and fellow crooks in official Washington.
So, I put it to you, my brothers and sisters here in RC land, to see if we can put shoulders to the wordstone and rhetorically skewer these misanthropic momzers.
To wit: a treason of Trumps
A dunce of Republicans
A moron of MAGAs
A solipsism of Trumps
A chickpea of Donalds (nod to Unwashed—it being early, I had to think about that one for a second, but hahahaha...)
A dimwit of Erics
A dontcare of Melanies
A jackal of Juniors
A dilettante of Jareds
A pickpocket of Ivankas
A debauchery of Trumps
You get the idea. Have at it, if you’re of a mind. I may add more as the brain cells wake up.
Truth is the enemy
There is a clear assumption underlying a stunningly self-serving and dangerous statement like “Science should not get in the way”, and that is that the science is correct.
This is about as clear an admission as one could hope for that the Trump criminals don’t care a whit about what’s true, what’s factual, and what is scientifically incontestable, they only care about hanging on to power.
If thousands of Americans have to sicken and die for Trump to retain his ill gotten hold on that power, so be it. Truth, facts, decency, humanity, and science will not get in the way.
To add: I hope I'm doing this right––if not you can accuse me of being too left.
The Chotchkes of Crackers (southern and salty)
The Miller Meshuggeners
The Pomposity of Pompeos
The Dummkopfs of Trumps
The Jared Jamokes
The Congressional Cow Tailers
The Mountebanks of McConnells
P.S. Like you, Ak. it took me a few seconds to get the "chickpea"––that's really very funny.
@Akhilleus: I was all excited about "congress of baboons" -- a collective I'd never heard before -- till I found out it was wishful -- albeit entirely appropriate -- thinking. The proper collective, apparently, is "troop of baboons."
Not the best news of the day:
https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/17/politics/ruth-bader-ginsburg-cancer-chemotherapy/index.html
Marie,
I’ve seen “congress of baboons” in several collective lists. Some animals, it appears, are awarded several noun forms, baboons, via “troop” and “congress” seem to be one of the lucky ones, but ya can’t always trust what you read online. I have an entire book of collective nouns, and if I can locate it, I’ll report back.
Will someone smarter than I please explain how the orange menace & Republican enablers think that letting the pandemic run wild helps the economy. Businesses are closing, schools are strapped and plenty of people are out of work. I, for one, am sticking close to home and spending far less $$ than I did 6 months ago. What is the upside?
As if we didn't have enough to think on and worry about, RBG drops her diagnosis, Mitch has probably been playing with his voodoo doll all day.
@Akhilleus: While there's no reason not to try to coin a new term, I'm going with the lexicographers & anthropologists who says it's a "troop of baboons," at least until I get my Oxford Dictionary out of storage and find out the servant Brainworm said something about a "congress of baboons" in Ben Jonson's "Every Man in His Humour." Or something.
PD,
A pomposity of Pompeos is a keeper. I thought of that exact same one earlier but then I’d be getting into cabinet mambas (as in snakes) and it would be off to the races. A dunce cap of DeVoses...a consigliere of Barrs... a counterfeit of Mnuchins...you see what I mean.
@Bobby Lee: Yeah, today turns out to be a good day for Mitch.
“How Donald Trump plans to scapegoat George Soros to win re-election — Philanthropist George Soros reemerges as a favorite target of right-wing groups that support Donald Trump”
This appears on Salon. Unfortunately, since my Apple Support session, I’m now unable to (even) provide (my low-tech / non-live) “links”. If of interest,sincere apologies for leaving ya’ll to DYI the HTML.
Following, an with my signature *DIY* (correction to previous, dyslexically distorted acronym) “creative” punctuation. (It’s a Brain Thing. What more can I say? LOL)
“What better scapegoat than a wealthy, uber-liberal currency speculator who helped fund Obama and Hillary Clinton, supports abortion, gay and trans rights and gives generously to the electoral campaigns of liberal public defenders and prosecutors . . . [along with] . . . supporting Palestinian rights.”.
P.S.
Praying for RBG
Dancing for Sir Tom
Joynone,
It’s a classic category error. You’re confusing Fatty and acolytes of the Party of Treason with A. People for whom cogency and rationality are important, and B. Those who care about human lives that may not be of immediate use to them.
If Fatty demands that schools reopen as if there’s not a chance of millions dying, in order for him to be re-elected, confederate co-conspirators are thrilled to go along with it and order Dick and Jane, and their parents, siblings, and grandparents to die for Der Führer.
Heil Drumpf!
I was wondering what sort of jaw dropping hypocritical dung splatter Moscow Mitch is thinking up right now to justify his insistence that the Dear Leader, with potentially mere months left in office, be allowed to pick ANOTHER Supreme Court justice, when he screeched to the high heavens that Obama, with almost a year left in office had NO RIGHT to choose his own nominee, and that it HAD to be left for the next president* to make the choice because frreeeedom or the Pppeeeeple, or some bullshit.
But then I realized that he doesn’t care about looking reasonable or responsible or fair.
He’ll just say “Fatty picks”!
And that’s it.
And really, this is where Democrats always get tripped up. They still play by the rules and they expect that treasonous fucks like McConnell will too.
He won’t. He never has. He never will.
If I’m a Democrat on the Judiciary committee, right now, I’m pulling out all the stops to find any way short of sedition to keep this fascist fuck from putting one more right wing rapist on the Supreme Court.
Get well soon, RGB!
Sorry...RBG!
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/507795-conway-says-trump-should-resume-giving-regular-coronavirus-briefings
That oughta go well. It sure did the last time.
The Pretender's problem is that to the nation at large he is already unmasked--and overexposed.
BTW, my cursory research uncovered a "congress of salamanders."
Must be some kind of group grope that goes much farther than mutual back-scratching.
Didn't know salamanders were Republicans.
@Ken Winkes:
Mrs. McCrabbie's Biology Lesson.
I don't think it's really a "congress of salamanders." A species of salamanders commonly called "marbled salamanders" apparently has a unique breeding ritual (and don't we all?) in which they migrate annually to dry pools in the Carolinas to breed. Some while back, a biologist called this ritual a "breeding congress." But the "congress" ("congress" also meaning in common lexicon any animals -- including humans -- having sex) in this case is specific to the breeding behavior; if you happen upon a bunch of salamanders frolicking by the creek in May, they would not constitute a "congress." I'd probably call them a "colony," in that case, or -- as I did above, a "bunch."
Were I to come upon an actual breeding congress of salamanders, I probably would run away screaming, "Eeew! It's newts doing it!"
Were I to come upon former Speaker of the House Gingrich in flagrante, I definitely would run away screaming, "Eeew! It's Newt doing it."
"Eeew" appears to be a popular expression today. Seems apt for the last 4 years.
Bea,
According to other sources I checked, it is a congress of salamanders (the alternative is "herd,") but that's no matter. What counts to me is the image the phrase called to mind, and I have to say you filled the noisome details in almost too nicely.
BTW, one species of salamanders congresses in New Hampshire.
Watch your step.
How far are we from achieving eeewtopia in America?
What you don't know....
https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/17/politics/white-house-cdc-house-testimony-schools/index.html