;)
The Commentariat -- May 23, 2020
Afternoon Update:
The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Saturday are here. The Washington Post's live updates for Saturday are here.
GOP Governor: Wear a Mask! Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: North Dakota's Republican governor "Doug Burgum on Friday offered a plea to stop the madness. Burgum suggested the debate over masks was being needlessly politicized and that those who are bucking federal health officials' guidance should rethink their posture. 'I would really love to see in North Dakota that we could just skip this thing that other parts of the nation are going through where they're trading a divide -- either it's ideological or political or something -- around masks versus no mask,' Burgum said. 'This is a, I would say, senseless dividing line, and I would ask people to try to dial up your empathy and your understanding.... If someone is wearing a mask, they're not doing it to represent what political party they're in or what candidates they support,' Burgum said, before his voice began breaking. 'They might be doing it because they've got a 5-year-old child who's been going through cancer treatments. They might have vulnerable adults in their life who currently have covid, and they're fighting.'"
Minnesota. Kaelan Deese of the Hill: "A reporter was allegedly harassed for wearing a mask outside an Albany, Minn., tavern's reopening that turned into a protest following a judge's move to impose a restraining order keeping the bar shut.... In video footage captured from the event, two women appeared to be chanting, 'Take it off!' at [KARE 11 reporter Lou] Raguse, referring to a mask he was wearing. Sounds of coughing could be heard as protesters followed him while he walked away from the scene.... The reopening of the tavern was intended to be a celebration before Attorney General Keith Ellison filed a lawsuit and requested an injunction by Stearns County Judge William Cashman to stop its reopening. The gathering of 200 people outside the tavern quickly became a protest of the judge's order. Reopening the tavern would have directly violated Democratic Gov. Tim Walz's 'Stay Safe Minnesota' order....
Florida. Kaelan Deese of the Hill: "A Florida man who spat and coughed on a police officer after claiming to have COVID-19 was indicted on federal terrorism charges. A federal grand jury in Tampa returned the indictment Wednesday against James Jamal Curry, 31, for committing a biological weapon hoax, a local CBS affiliate in Miami reported."
** The Big Grift, Ctd. Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times: "Many Americans understand that Trump bungled the public health response to the coronavirus, but polls suggest that they don't appreciate the degree to which Trump and Congress also bungled the economic response -- or manipulated it to benefit those who least need help.... While ... Trump and his allies in Congress seek to tighten access to food stamps, they are showing compassion for one group: zillionaires. Their economic rescue package quietly allocated $135 billion ... for the likes of wealthy real estate developers. [The average benefit to these developers is $1.6 million.] My Times colleague Jesse Drucker notes that Trump himself, along with his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, may benefit financially from this provision.... A single mom juggling two jobs gets a maximum $1,200 stimulus check -- and then pays taxes so that a real estate mogul can receive $1.6 million.... The fine print was mysteriously slipped into the March economic relief package, even though it has nothing to do with the coronavirus and offers retroactive tax breaks for periods long before Covid-19 arrived. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island and Representative Lloyd Doggett of Texas, both Democrats, have asked the Trump administration for any communications that illuminate how this provision sneaked into the 880-page bill.... The House of Representatives is trying to repeal the Zillionaire Giveaway, but Trump and his congressional allies are resisting."
The federal government needs to get its s@#t together. -- Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, in a tweet March 14 ~~~
~~~ ** Greg Miller, et al., of the Washington Post: "In the final days before the United States faced a full-blown epidemic, President Trump made a last-ditch attempt to prevent people infected with the coronavirus from reaching the country. 'To keep new cases from entering our shores,' Trump said in an Oval Office address on March 11, 'we will be suspending all travel from Europe to the United States for the next 30 days.'... Harrowing scenes of interminable lines and unmasked faces crammed in confined spaces [at airports] spread across social media. The images showed how a policy intended to block the pathogen's entry into the United States instead delivered one final viral infusion. As those exposed travelers fanned out into U.S. cities and suburbs, they became part of an influx from Europe that went unchecked for weeks and helped to seal the country's coronavirus fate. Epidemiologists contend the U.S. outbreak was driven overwhelmingly by viral strains from Europe rather than China.... The travel mayhem was triggered by many of the same problems that plagued the U.S. response to the pandemic from the outset: Early warnings were missed or ignored. Coordination was chaotic or nonexistent. Key agencies fumbled their assignments. Trump's errant statements undermined his administration's plans and endangered the public." This is a damning report of how Trump & his administration, which should have known better after the chaos caused by his Muslim ban, exacerbated the coronavirus pandemic.
News Flash: Darryl Issa Is Still a Jerk. Jeremy White of Politico: "Republican congressional candidate Darrell Issa and a conservative group [Judicial Watch] are suing to block California's move to an all-mail November election. They are legally challenging Gov. Gavin Newsom's directive that elections officials mail every registered voter a ballot for the November election, making California the first state to switch to vote by mail due to coronavirus concerns. Newsom called the move a necessary response to the pandemic since voters at crowded vote centers could be exposed if they cast in-person ballots." Issa is the Republicans' nominee in California's 50th Congressional district.
~~~~~~~~~~
The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Friday are here. The Washington Post's live updates for Friday are here. (Also linked yesterday.)
Alayna Treene of Axios: "President Trump announced Friday that he was declaring churches and places of worship as 'essential places that provide essential services,' and said that he would override governors to allow them to open 'right now.'... 'Some governors have deemed liquor stores and abortion clinics as essential, but have left out churches and other houses of worship. It's not right,' Trump said from the White House podium." Mrs. McC: Trump took no questions & of course he didn't elaborate on what authority a president* has to "override governors." Because Article II, I guess. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
The most frightening thing about Trump's threat to order churches reopened isn't that he has the power to do that -- he doesn't. It's that Republican judges will be emboldened to order churches reopened now that the president is calling for it. -- Ian Millhiser of Vox, in a tweet (via LG&$) ~~~
~~~ Peter Baker of the New York Times: "Mr. Trump ... [read] from a prepared text before leaving after just about a minute without taking questions. The White House could not explain what power the president actually has to override the governors, and legal experts said he did not have such authority, but he could take states to court on religious freedom grounds, which could be time consuming. Attorney General William P. Barr ... has been threatening legal action against California.... Mr. Trump took a far more confrontational approach on Friday than his public health advisers. After delays and revisions ordered by the White House, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released nonbinding guidelines for places of worship to reopen while still advising them to act 'in accordance with the guidance and directives of state and local author.'" ~~~
~~~ So like, this would seem to be out: ~~~
~~~ Elana Schor of the AP: "... Donald Trump's declaration that religious services should be 'essential' comes at a precarious point in the national balancing act that pits the call of worship against the risk of coronavirus. Even before Trump's comments Friday, which came alongside the release of guidance for reopening faith organizations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Christian leaders in several states made plans to welcome back congregants on the week of Pentecost, May 31. The new CDC guidance could energize houses of worship that might want to reopen their doors, despite evidence of ongoing risk of the virus spreading through communal gatherings. While it suggests steps such as asking congregants to cover their faces and limiting the sharing of worship aids, the CDC document says it is 'not meant to regulate or prescribe standards for interactions of faith communities.'" ~~~
~~~ Because here's what happened when some Americans went to church during the pandemic: ~~~
~~~ Jill Colvin of the AP: "Twice this week, Trump has not only dismissed the findings of studies but suggested -- without evidence -- that their authors were motivated by politics and out to undermine his efforts to roll back coronavirus restrictions. First it was a study funded in part by his own government's National Institutes of Health that raised alarms about the use of hydroxychloroquine, finding higher overall mortality in coronavirus patients who took the drug while in Veterans Administration hospitals.... The Lancet, one of the world's oldest and most well respected medical journals, published a new study Friday that echoed those findings. 'If you look at the one survey, the only bad survey, they were giving it to people that were in very bad shape. They were very old, almost dead,' Trump told reporters Tuesday. 'It was a Trump enemy statement.' He offered similar pushback Thursday to a new study from Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. It found that more than 61% of COVID-19 infections and 55% of reported deaths -- nearly 36,000 people -- could have been been prevented had social distancing measures been put in place one week sooner.... 'Columbia's an institution that's very liberal,' Trump told reporters Thursday. 'I think it's just a political hit job, you want to know the truth.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Roger Cohen of the New York Times: "The European Union, that entity with a stubborn heartbeat, has emerged better from the pandemic than China or the United States. The fear-driven Chinese cover-up of the coronavirus and the chaotic denialism of the Trump administration have been the two main contributors to the disaster.... This is the Age of Undoing -- of world order, of international law, of truth, of America's word. It is a dangerous time, as Germany knows better than any nation. Autocracy feeds on fear, misery, resentment and lies. It did in the 1930s; it does now. Better to love your country with a broken heart than to love it blind." Thanks to P.D. Pepe for the link. ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I have long cringed at the notion of "American exceptionalism." I did not fully imagine how far down that embarrassing, xenophobic concept would take us nor how quickly, but here we are. And the country can descend further. Politicians will never stand up to exceptionalists, many or most of whom are nationalists in see-through disguise. Rather, even relatively liberal democrats like Barack Obama embrace the myth of American exceptionalism, although liberal politicians will temper it a bit with aspirations for improvement. We have been carefully taught.
Monica Hesse of the Washington Post: "... a lot of bonkers behavior can be overlooked when it's committed by a man in a suit at a lectern." ~~~
How to testing pic.twitter.com/y9iwLK0N12
— Sarah Cooper (@sarahcpr) May 9, 2020
~~~ Also watch Cooper's "How to Medical" at the WashPo link above. (If you don't have a WashPo subscription, here's the Twitter link for "How to Medical.") Thanks to Ken W. for the links.
Reid Wilson of the Hill: "In an interview with The Hill, Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), urged caution and said the rapid development of a safe and effective vaccine was not guaranteed.... Vaccine candidates, even promising ones, fail more often than they succeed, [Fauci indicated].... Fauci said he was 'fairly certain' that if production is started this summer and ramped up, 'you could have 100 million doses by the end of the year and maybe a couple of hundred million doses by the beginning of next year.' 'I mean that's aspirational,' he said. 'The companies think that they can do that with the right financial backing.'... Fauci declined to comment on President Trump's decision to take hydroxychloroquine, a drug that studies show is actually associated with higher death rates among those who take it."
Laura Reiley of the Washington Post: "The Trump administration withdrew one of the largest contracts in its signature effort to use farm surplus to feed hungry Americans, capping a chaotic process that industry experts say relied too heavily on companies with little demonstrated experience in farming, food chains or food banks. Contracts totaling more than $107 million went to a San Antonio event planner, an avocado mail-order company, a health-and-wellness airport kiosk company and a trade finance corporation, according to the Agriculture Department's announcement of contract awards. But the USDA bypassed the country's three largest food distribution companies, as well as nonprofit organizations with long histories of feeding the poor on a large scale, according to Tom Stenzel, president of the United Fresh Produce Association (UFPA).... The contracts were awarded under the Farmers to Families Food Box program, launched last week with a visit by Ivanka Trump to a Laurel, Md., wholesale produce company. About $1.2 billion in contracts have been awarded." Mrs. McC: Obviously, food is rotting & people are going hungry unnecessarily because the Trump administration can't do anything right. But, hey, all that matters is that Ivanka got a nice photo-op out of it. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Yet Another Trumpy Grifter. Yeganeh Torbati & Derek Willis of ProPublica: "A former White House aide won a $3 million federal contract to supply respirator masks to Navajo Nation hospitals in New Mexico and Arizona 11 days after he created a company to sell personal protective equipment.... Zach Fuentes..., Donald Trump's former deputy chief of staff, secured the deal with the Indian Health Service with limited competitive bidding and no prior federal contracting experience. The IHS told ProPublica it has found that 247,000 of the masks delivered by Fuentes' company -- at a cost of roughly $800,000 -- may be unsuitable for medical use. An additional 130,400, worth about $422,000, are not the type specified in the procurement data, the agency said. What's more, the masks Fuentes agreed to provide -- Chinese-made KN95s -- have come under intense scrutiny from U.S. regulators amid concerns that they offered inadequate protection."
** Doctor Trump, Medicine Man, Ctd. Ariana Cha & Laurie McGinley of the Washington Post: "A study of 96,000 hospitalized coronavirus patients on six continents found that those who received an antimalarial drug promoted by President Trump as a 'game changer' in the fight against the virus had a significantly higher risk of death compared with those who did not. People treated with hydroxychloroquine, or the closely related drug chloroquine, were also more likely to develop a type of irregular heart rhythm, or arrhythmia, that can lead to sudden cardiac death, it concluded." This story is free to nonsubcribers. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Joseph Goldstein & Jesse McKinley of the New York Times: "Even as doctors and scientists around the world race to develop treatments and vaccines for Covid-19, New York State has become the center of a parallel effort to investigate an unnerving aspect of the outbreak: an illness that is sickening a small but growing number of children. The ailment has now been reported in at least 161 children in New York[, three of whom died], making the state's caseload one of the largest publicly reported anywhere. Hundreds of other children across the United States and in Europe have also been sickened with the illness, now called multisystem inflammatory syndrome.... The inquiries into why it is occurring, and whether a treatment can be found, could have an impact on how the authorities handle the reopening of schools and other activities for children."
Joel Achenbach, et al., of the Washington Post: "The coronavirus may still be spreading at epidemic rates in 24 states, particularly in the South and Midwest, according to new research that highlights the risk of a second wave of infections in places that reopen too quickly or without sufficient precautions.... Some states have had little viral spread or 'crushed the curve' to a great degree and have some wiggle room to reopen their economies without generating a new epidemic-level surge in cases. Others are nowhere near containing the virus. The [study's] model, which has not been peer reviewed, shows that in the majority of states, a second wave looms if people abandon efforts to mitigate the viral spread.... Other models released in recent days captured a similarly mixed picture." The main model cited, created by Imperial College London, is explained here. Mrs. McC: Either I'm too dense or the report is too dense, but I found it too difficult for the casual reader to follow.
California. Garcetti Hurt Trump's Feelings. Brooke Seipel of the Hill: "Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti received a letter from the Trump administration on Friday warning extended or 'heavy-handed' stay-at-home orders may be illegal. 'Reports of your recent public statements indicate that you suggested the possibility of long-term lockdown of the residents in the City and County of Los Angeles, regardless of the legal justification for such restrictions, reads the letter addressed to Garcetti and Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer. 'Any such approach may be both arbitrary and unlawful.'... The letter from the Trump administration comes a day after Garcetti swiped at Trump for not wearing a face mask at many of his public outings. Asked during an interview with MSNBC about Trump's decision against wearing a face mask, Garcetti responded: 'Simply put, I say real men wear face masks.'" Not specified in the Hill story who signed the retribution letter.
New York. Bernard Condon, et al., of the AP: "More than 4,300 recovering coronavirus patients were sent to New York's already vulnerable nursing homes under a controversial state directive that was ultimately scrapped amid criticisms it was accelerating the nation's deadliest outbreaks, according to a count by The Associated Press.... Whatever the full number, nursing home administrators, residents' advocates and relatives say it has added up to a big and indefensible problem for facilities that even Gov. Andrew Cuomo -- the main proponent of the policy -- called 'the optimum feeding ground for this virus.'... Cuomo, a Democrat, on May 10 reversed the directive, which had been intended to help free up hospital beds for the sickest patients as cases surged. But he continued to defend it this week...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Geoff Bennett & Monica Alba of NBC News: "It's been more than six months since ... Donald Trump claimed to have started his annual physical at Walter Reed hospital but the White House is declining to explain why he has yet to complete the yearly doctor's examination ... despite Trump announcing this week he was taking an unproven and potentially dangerous drug after being exposed to an aide who tested positive for coronavirus."
Matt Zapotosky & Devlin Barrett of the Washington Post: "FBI Director Christopher A. Wray has ordered an internal review of how the bureau handled its investigation of Michael Flynn..., the bureau said in a statement Friday. The review, which will be handled by the FBI's inspection division, will both seek to 'determine whether any current employees engaged in misconduct' and evaluate broader FBI policies and procedures to 'identify any improvements that might be warranted,' the statement said. The review is unusual, particularly because Attorney General William P. Barr already had commissioned St. Louis U.S. Attorney Jeff Jensen earlier this year to examine the handling of Flynn's case. The statement said the FBI's review will 'complement' that work, and Jensen's examination will take priority. Jensen is one of a number of U.S. attorneys whom Barr has commissioned to investigate matters of interest to [Donald] Trump." Mediaite has an item here.
John Hudson & Paul Sonne of the Washington Post: "The Trump administration has discussed whether to conduct the first U.S. nuclear test explosion since 1992 in a move that would have far-reaching consequences for relations with other nuclear powers and reverse a decades-long moratorium on such actions, said a senior administration official and two former officials familiar with the deliberations. The matter came up at a meeting of senior officials representing the top national security agencies May 15, following accusations from administration officials that Russia and China are conducting low-yield nuclear tests -- an assertion that has not been substantiated by publicly available evidence and that both countries have denied."
Annie Karni of the New York Times: "... on Friday, Kayleigh McEnany, the White House press secretary, did not just reveal that the president was sending his salary to the Department of Health and Human Services to help 'support the efforts being undertaken to confront, contain and combat the coronavirus.' She also displayed the president's private bank account and routing numbers.... For an average civilian, that information could be used to withdraw or deposit money, make online purchases or hack an account.... A bank was almost certain to have additional protections in place on the account of a high-profile person like the president." Mrs. McC: So if you've been laid off or otherwise financially damaged by the coronoavirus, it seems completely legit for you to arrange for Donald J. Trump to transfer some of his ill-gotten gains into your account. If you're questioned, just say McEnany made clear, by the very nature of the donation, that Trump wants to help you.
Presidiential Race
Quint Forgey of Politico: "Former Vice President Joe Biden told a popular black radio personality Thursday that he 'ain't black' if he was still weighing whether to support ... Donald Trump in November's general election -- provoking outrage from the White House's Republican allies and inducing queasiness among even some Democratic operatives." Mrs. McC: Chuck Todd was very upset by Biden's remark. I'm not. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Astead Herndon & Katie Glueck of the New York Times: "Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. ... apologized Friday afternoon for telling a radio host that black voters torn between voting for him and President Trump 'ain't black,' remarks that ignited a firestorm online. 'I shouldn't have been such a wise guy,' Mr. Biden said in a call with the U.S. Black Chambers. 'I shouldn't have been so cavalier.'" Mrs. McC: Sorry. If you're still trying to decide between Biden & Trump, you ain't black, you ain't female, you ain't woke, you ain't hardly a human bean. ~~~
~~~ Jonathan Capehart of the Washington Post: "What has been described as a 'testy exchange' between the popular African American interviewer [Charlamagne tha God] with 2.1 million Twitter followers and the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee was nothing of the sort.... When heard in the context of the previous 17 minutes and 21 seconds, you know that Biden is joking around. Perhaps he got a little too comfortable talking to a community with which he has a strong relationship that spans decades." ~~~
Lisa Lerer, et al., of the New York Times: "The lawyer for Tara Reade, the former Senate aide who has accused Joseph R. Biden Jr. of sexual assault, said Friday that he was no longer representing her, just two weeks after taking her on as a client.The lawyer, Douglas H. Wigdor, has been a leading plaintiff's attorney of the #MeToo era. His firm is best known for bringing discrimination cases against Fox News -- and its former star host Bill O'Reilly -- and Harvey Weinstein, and his presence at Ms. Reade's side gave her claims added legal heft.... Mr. Wigdor, a conservative Republican [who supported] ... President Trump in 2016 ..., had a parting shot for the news media.... 'Much of what has been written about Ms. Reade is not probative of whether then-Senator Biden sexually assaulted her, but rather is intended to victim-shame and attack her credibility on unrelated and irrelevant matters,' he said." (This is an update of a story linked early yesterday.) A Politico story is here.
~~~ Gabby Orr of Politico: "The anxiety over Trump's standing with the Christian right surfaced after a pair of surveys by reputable outfits earlier this month found waning confidence in the administration's coronavirus response among key religious groups, with a staggering decline in the president's favorability among white evangelicals and white Catholics. Both are crucial constituencies that supported Trump by wide margins in 2016 and could sink his reelection prospects if their turnout shrinks this fall. The polls paint a bleak picture for Trump, who has counted on broadening his religious support by at least a few percentage points to compensate for weakened appeal with women and suburban populations.... To safeguard his relationship with religious conservatives, Trump on Friday demanded that America's governors permit houses of worship to immediately reopen, and threatened to 'override' state leaders who decline to obey his directive." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Joe Biden, BTW, is an actual, practicing white Roman Catholic. If you're still trying to decide between Biden & Trump, you ain't Catholic. ~~~
~~~ Trump Prefers Fake Polls. Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "Every once in a while, President Trump tweets something like this: '96% Approval Rating in the Republican Party. Thank you!'... He doesn't offer a source for the purported poll number because there is literally no evidence that a source exists. For more than a year, Trump's just occasionally shared random assessments of his popularity within his party, never offering any explanation for where the figure came from.... Unlike any real poll number, the figure never goes down, only up. This is as good a sign as any that Trump's just making this up. Real polling shows that Trump's approval with Republicans, while high, is substantially less than 96 percent.... [Poor] poll results from Trump's favorite network [Fox 'News'] clearly stung. The next tweet after Trump shared his fake 96 percent approval rating was one disparaging Fox's legitimate poll as fake. '.FoxNews should fire their Fake Pollster. Never had a good Fox Poll!'"
Annals of Journalism, Ctd. Justin Baragona of the Daily Beast: "Fox News anchor Chris Wallac debunked ... Donald Trump's false claims that fraud is rampant in mail-in voting, noting on Friday morning that there is simply no evidence to support the president's assertions. With Trump threatening to withhold federal funds from Nevada and Michigan if they went forward with sending absentee ballots and applications to voters, Wallace -- who has been a favorite target of Trump's -- pointed out that the president's repeated complaints about mail-in voting are largely baseless."
Congressional Races
Alabama. Dennis Romero of NBC News: "Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions stood up to his old boss Friday after ... Donald Trump encouraged Alabama voters to reject Sessions in his bid to return to the U.S. Senate. Trump on Friday afternoon once again tweeted his endorsement for Sessions' rival, college football coach Tommy Tuberville, in the primary contest for the seat Sessions held before joining Trump's Cabinet. Trump tweeted, 'Alabama, do not trust Jeff Sessions.'... Sessions responded ... on Twitter, 'Your personal feelings don't dictate who Alabama picks as their senator, the people of Alabama do.'... Sessions and Tuberville finished neck and neck in March in a Republican primary, setting up the July 14 runoff contest. The winner of the runoff will face Sen. Doug Jones, D-Ala., in November."
California. AP: "National and state Republicans have withdrawn their support from a California congressional candidate over offensive online posts about Muslims and Hillary Clinton that he says are not his words. House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy has called the posts disturbing but has not withdrawn his endorsement of Ted Howze, who is facing freshman Democrat Josh Harder in the farm belt's swing 10th District. However, McCarthy said in a statement that he 'will take action immediately if Mr. Howze is found to be the originator of these posts.'... Howze said he was the target of 'maliciously false attacks...,' [which] he attributed ... to 'national Democrats and their left-wing media' who see him as a threat to Harder, who ousted Republican Rep. Jeff Denham in 2018."
Georgia. Maggie Haberman, et al., of the New York Times: "President Trump's advisers are increasingly concerned about Senator Kelly Loeffler's campaign in Georgia, a newly competitive state where the president's own poll numbers have tightened against former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., according to people briefed on the discussions. Ms. Loeffler, a financial services executive with no previous government experience, was appointed to the position in December 2019 [by Gov. Brian Kemp] after the long-serving Republican, Johnny Isakson, announced he would retire for health reasons. She is running in a special election for the seat this fall, facing nearly two dozen candidates in the jumbled race, including two well-financed Democrats. One opponent in particular -- Representative Doug Collins, a Republican ally of Mr. Trump -- has gained strength in the field.... Because the field is so crowded, Georgia officials expect no candidate to get a majority, forcing a runoff. And the president's team is planning to stay out of the race until the runoff approaches, which wouldn't be until January 2021, according to the people briefed on the discussions."
Oregon. Will Steakin & Meg Cunningham of ABC News: "Republicans in Oregon this week nominated a Senate candidate [-- Jo Rae Perkins --] with a deep history of promoting and vowing support for the QAnon conspiracy theory, providing the fringe movement its largest electoral platform yet and roiling Republicans over having a candidate who openly embraces baseless conspiracy theories.... When asked about supporting Perkins in the general election, the Republican National Committee did not comment. The Oregon state Republican Party issued a lukewarm and seemingly reluctant statement saying, 'By virtue of being the GOP nominee, this is what we do - support them in winning the general election.' The National Republican Senatorial Committee would not express support for Perkins and instead responded when asked with a list of unrelated allegations against Democratic Senate candidates before saying 'and THIS is what ABC News is focused on.'"
South Carolina. Jonathan Capehart of the Washington Post: "A new ad out today from LindseyMustGoPAC, a super PAC with an obvious objective, uses the three-term senator's own words to dramatize what happened to [Lindsey] Graham in an effort to destroy his credibility and sow doubts about his character." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
Ted Johnson of Deadline: "A federal judge in San Diego dismissed One America News Network's defamation lawsuit against Rachel Maddow, MSNBC and Comcast, concluding that Maddow was stating her opinion when she said that the right-leaning channel 'really, literally is paid Russian propaganda.' [U.S. District Judge Cynthia Bashant] also said that the defendants could seek attorneys fees and costs.... Herring Networks, the owner of One America, said that it would appeal."
Way Beyond the Beltway
Valerie Pacheco of AFP: "Brazilians got a shocking look Friday at an expletive-laced meeting between President Jair Bolsonaro and his cabinet when a Supreme Court judge released a video at the center of an investigation targeting the far-right leader. The April 22 cabinet meeting is under scrutiny by prosecutors probing allegations by former justice minister Sergio Moro that Bolsonaro tried to interfere in federal police investigations. But it could prove just as damaging to Bolsonaro's 18-month-old government for other sordid details it contains. They include the president using profanity to insult governors, the education minister calling to throw Supreme Court justices in jail and the environment minister urging the government to legalize mining and farming in the Amazon rainforest while the world is distracted by the coronavirus pandemic. The video came to light when Moro resigned two days after the meeting. In a damaging final press conference, the then-justice minister, a popular anti-corruption crusader, accused Bolsonaro of 'political interference' in the federal police." Mrs. McC: Obviously Bosonaro, like Trump, suffers from Ditator Personality Disorder.
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Reader Comments (9)
Don't know if this will work, but I finally found a use for Twitter.
A young woman, Sarah Cooper, lip--syncs. the Pretender.
https://twitter.com/sarahcpr/status/1259223035971805185
Also in WAPO:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/women-on-tiktok-have-cracked-the-code-on-how-to-satirize-trump/2020/05/19/d002086e-9602-11ea-82b4-c8db161ff6e5_story.html
Wait, wait. Fatty “started” his physical 6 months ago but hasn’t been back since? Musta been the “Whoa!” he got from the nurse who was weighing his lard butt.
But seriously...I can imagine that he refuses to have either his weight or height checked. Same with temperature and BP. He probably instructs the nurse what to put down. “Just write ‘Perfect. Best I’ve ever seen!’”
Germany's Lesson for China & America: Roger Cohen NYT
"This is the Age of Undoing–-of world order, of international law, of truth, of America's word. It is a dangerous time, as Germany knows better than any nation. AUTOCRACY FEEDS ON FEAR, MISERY, RESENTMENT AND LIES. [emphasis mine] It did in the 1930s; it does now. Better to love your country with a broken heart than to love it blind."
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/22/opinion/coronavirus-germany-china-america.html?referringSource=articleShare
Don't know why, maybe because I take pleasure in his pain, but gave Bret Stephens a try last night, to see if in the Age of the Pretender he (like David Brooks before him) would be displaying his usual sweaty-browed desperation to find something "conservative" to praise.
He did and it was desperate. If I read him right, in the name of "fairness," he was giving Flynn a partial (tho' legal) pass, which to me implied a very worrisome comfort with the entire Barr effort to discount the Russia investigation story in all its parts.
It made me wonder where Mr. Stephens' fundamentally deplorable politics would be taking him over the next few months.
My response:
"Kinda torturous, Mr. Stephens.
I guess you're saying this slime ball (I know, not a crime) got a bad deal from the FBI because he was ambushed by his questioners...and lied....and pled guily to the lying rather than having his illicit (probably a crime) dealings with Turkey prosecuted.
And somehow that sequence becomes all the FBI's fault?
I'm all for distrust, and skepticism is always a good place to start.
Both requirements, in fact, in the Age of Trump.
But what, pray tell, exactly did the FBI do wrong in the Flynn case? They were aware of multiple contacts between the Trump campaign and Russia. By some counts those contacts approached 200. Flynn's "innocent" outreach was just part of an already established pattern, which the government' security apparatus was properly looking into. Whether there was collusion as the law defines it is not the issue. The issue is and was at the time the contacts with a foreign power working to infuence our election, and it's clear Flynn was at least a bit player in that effort, if a high profile one.
No doubt thousands who cannot afford good lawyers have copped to lesser pleas to avoid possible harsher punishment, but Flynn belonged to the privileged class It was his arrogance, not his ignorance that undid him.
He has absolutely no excuse for what he did, so while your argument might in other cirucumstance be one worth making, Flynn does not begin to support it.
Call him the ultimate straw man."
Slow grinding in Israel:
https://www.npr.org/2020/05/23/860166840/what-to-know-as-israels-netanyahu-goes-on-trial-for-corruption-charges
Fatty accuses Eric Garcetti of acting in an “unlawful and arbitrary” manner. Gee, you’d think he’d be pleased. Imitation IS a form of flattery, ain’t it?
Why is it that when given a chance to do the right, decent, good thing, the constitutional thing, the American thing, Trump and his party choose to be ungenerous, deceitful, inhumane, scurrilous, hurtful, insulting, stupid, and downright evil?
Pick a topic. Any topic. See where these people come down. If they do the right thing it’s always (not even almost always) because they were backed into a corner. Otherwise it’s it’s hooray for us and to hell with all of you. “If we have to force you to die so der Führer can maintain his illegitimate stranglehold on power, and we get to go along for the ride, then, by Jesus, you will die.”
Does it get more evil than that?
Randy Rainbow, "Distraction"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d02A9nmJxcM&feature=emb_rel_end
It’s not like this race is Biden’s to lose. He’s not just running against the Orange Menace, he’s running against Russian hackers, Trump hackers (same thing, really), a battalion of lies spread by the Party of Traitors and State TV, not to mention an MSM that has largely given up on trying to report truthfully about Trump but will latch on immediately to any shiny object that reflects badly on the former Vice President. He cannot take a single vote for granted. So when he says something like “If you’re for Trump, you ain’t black” (or, as Marie adds, human), which is absolutely true, he is still making an assumption about millions of voters that some may find irksome.
Normally I’d probably be okay with this sort of thing, but these ain’t normal times.
This is the sort of thing that Trump gets away five times an hour, but they will jump on Biden for this stuff. Be tough, be forthright, be resolute, but don’t make unforced errors.
Democrats can not afford to take a single vote, or voting bloc, for granted. The Black community already feels like they’re considered a lock by the party. They’re not (although in this case they should be).
Just a warning. Biden is a tad gaffe prone, and what wouldn’t make the fifth graf on page 33 if Trump said it will be front page news for weeks if it’s Biden.
Be smart, Joe.