;)
The Commentariat -- November 2, 2020
Afternoon Update:
From the WashPo's live election updates Monday: "A federal judge has rejected Republicans' attempt to invalidate tens of thousands of ballots cast via 'drive-through' voting in Harris County, which is home to Houston. But he also cautioned those who haven't yet voted to avoid using drive-through centers on Election Day because of outstanding questions about the method's legality. U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, found that the plaintiffs did not have standing to challenge the validity of the ballots. The decision follows a string of Republican attempts to limit the expansion of voting options in the Texas, particularly in Democratic-led Harris County, where local officials have spent tens of millions of dollars trying to making voting easier during the coronavirus pandemic." Mrs. McC: According to CNN on-air reporting, the plaintiffs plan to appeal the decision. Also linked below. Free to non-subscribers.
Stephanie Becker of CNN: "A Nevada judge rejected a GOP lawsuit seeking to halt early vote counting in Clark County, which includes Las Vegas, over stringency of signature-matching computer software and how closely observers can watch votes being counted. With less than 24 hours before Election Day, District Court Judge James Wilson denied the Nevada Republican Party and the Trump campaign their request challenging procedures for poll observation and mail-in ballot processing in heavily Democratic Clark County.... Donald Trump has consistently criticized Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak, a Democrat, for the decision to send ballots to all active voters because of the pandemic, and the battleground state is one of several where Republicans have tried to limit mail-in voting activity."
The New York Times live election updates for Monday are here. The Washington Post's live election updates Monday are here. The Post's updates are free to non-subscribers.
Alicia Parlapiano of the New York Times writes a general explanation of how votes will be counted, and how the early returns may be skewed one way or the other, then helpful state-by-state mini-analyses of when the polls close, the types of ballots that will be reported first, & the likely timing of unofficial reports. The Times will update the page as states release more information.
Paul LeBlanc of CNN: "Federal authorities are expected to put back into place a 'non-scalable' fence around the entire perimeter of the White House on Monday as law enforcement and other agencies prepare for possible protests surrounding the election.... Washington, DC, Metro Police Chief Peter Newsham warned the District's City Council last month there was wide expectation of some type of civil unrest following the election. And many businesses in the downtown DC area in the proximity of the White House have boarded up doors and windows in the last couple of days in anticipation of possible protests. During this past summer, some businesses saw their windows smashed and other property damaged by protesters." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: So maybe the reason Trump cancelled his plans to party at the Trump Hotel on Election Night was not that he needed to hole up with his aides at the White House to scheme to steal the election or that he planned to use the People's House as a party venue. Instead, maybe he just wanted to be sure he could get to his hidey-hole in the basement bunker toot sweet.
Antonia Farzan, et al., of the Washington Post have a sort of round-up of world news, centering on the U.S., on the status of the coronavirus. This is a bit different from their usual updates, in that it is not broken into several discrete items. The article is free to non-subscribers.
~~~~~~~~~~
Presidential Race, Etc.
Michael McDonald of the University of Florida is keeping track of early voting -- both mail-in and in-person -- state-by-state and, where available, by party affiliation. Thanks to Ken W. for the link. As of early Monday, about 94 million people have voted.
Nate Silver of 538: "I'm Here To Remind You That Trump Can Still Win. A 10 percent chance isn't zero. And there's a chance of a recount, too." Read it & weep. But good material for masochists.
The Washington Post's live election updates Sunday are here. The page is free to non-subscribers. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Annie Linskey of the Washington Post: "On the final Sunday before an election that could secure the prize that has eluded him in two previous national campaigns, Joe Biden hardened his pitch in the state that more than any other could decide the presidency.... His campaign events in Philadelphia marked the kickoff to a 36-hour blitz of Pennsylvania, broken only by an added side trip to next-door Ohio, where a victory would offer another pathway to the 270 electoral votes the winner needs. As Biden focused on a narrow corner of the country, President Trump scoured multiple states trying to ensure that his loyal followers come out to vote."
Katie Glueck & Annie Karni of the New York Times: "... President Trump and Joseph R. Biden Jr. are barreling into Pennsylvania and turning it into the top battleground in Tuesday's election, with Democrats flooding in with door-knockers and Republicans trying to parlay Mr. Trump's rallies into big turnout once again. Both campaigns see Pennsylvania as increasingly crucial to victory: Mr. Trump now appears more competitive here than in Michigan and Wisconsin, two other key northern states he hopes to win, and Mr. Biden's clearest electoral path to the White House runs through the state. Pennsylvania has more Electoral College votes, 20, than any other traditional battleground except Florida, and Mr. Trump won the state by less than one percentage point in 2016. Mr. Trump devoted Saturday to four rallies across the state, and he and Mr. Biden planned campaign events for the final 48 hours of the race as well, with a wave of prominent Democrats and celebrities slated to arrive. On Monday the president was set to make an appeal to white, working-class voters in Scranton, where Mr. Biden was born, while the Democratic nominee was aiming to solidify a broad coalition of white suburbanites and voters of color on a two-day swing through Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and elsewhere in western Pennsylvania.... Mr. Trump's rallies have energized many Republican voters, and his team is already preparing legal challenges over the vote if it ends up being close. On Sunday, the president told reporters, 'as soon as that election's over, we're going in with our lawyers.'" An AP story is here.
Jonathan Swan of Axios: "President Trump has told confidants he'll declare victory on Tuesday night if it looks like he's 'ahead,' according to three sources familiar with his private comments. That's even if the Electoral College outcome still hinges on large numbers of uncounted votes in key states like Pennsylvania.... Speaking to reporters on Sunday evening, Trump denied that he would declare victory prematurely, before adding, 'I think it's a terrible thing when ballots can be collected after an election. I think it's a terrible thing when states are allowed to tabulate ballots for a long period of time after the election is over.... I think it's terrible that we can't know the results of an election the night of the election.... We're going to go in the night of, as soon as that election's over, we're going in with our lawyers.... We don't want to have Pennsylvania, where you have a political governor, a very partisan guy. ... We don't want to be in a position where he's allowed, every day, to watch ballots come in. See if we can only find 10,000 more ballots." ~~~
~~~ Richard Hasen in Slate: "... such a claim is preposterous because no state fully counts their ballots on election night. Returns are unofficial and always contain errors. Many states allow military ballots to arrive for days after election day. Counting generally continues for days and weeks after election day and results are not certified until weeks after.... That's what makes the Trump campaign efforts to cast doubts on even the counting of ballots after election day, even of military ballots, so unprecedented. As Slate's Will Saletan noted, Trump adviser Jason Miller, speaking on ABC News' This Week, signaled a legal battle against ballots not yet counted by Tuesday. 'If you speak with many smart Democrats, they believe that President Trump will be ahead on election night,' Miller said. 'And then they're going to try to steal it back after the election.' Counting legitimate ballots is not stealing of flipping the election, and no amount of spin can make it otherwise.... Trump's blatant telegraphing of this strategy through leaks to Axios is a blessing in disguise. The public is now going to be hearing from the media about Trump's plans over the next few days...." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Look at this impending fake declaration of victory not only as a plan to steal the election but also as a way for Trump to claim he's not a loser -- a conceit that seems to be important to him. If he can tell himself he won, but Joe Biden or the Supreme Court or Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf or whoever stole the election from him, then he won't have to go crouch in a corner of the Oval Office (ha ha) in a catatonic state save the suck-suck-sucking on his tiny thumb.
For Want of a Surprise, the Kingdom Was Lost (Maybe). Shane Goldmacher & Adam Nagourney of the New York Times: "President Trump began the fall campaign rooting for, and trying to orchestrate, a last-minute surprise that would vault him ahead of Joseph R. Biden Jr. A coronavirus vaccine. A dramatic economic rebound. A blockbuster Justice Department investigation. A grievous misstep by a rival he portrayed as faltering. A scandal involving Mr. Biden and his son Hunter. But as the campaign nears an end, and with most national and battleground-state polls showing Mr. Trump struggling, the cavalry of an October surprise that helped him overtake Hillary Clinton in 2016 has not arrived. That has left Mr. Trump running on a record of an out-of-control pandemic, an economy staggered by disease, and questions about his own style and conduct that have made him a polarizing figure.... That is not to say Mr. Trump did not try to use the levers of the government to shake up the race, and he has lashed out at cabinet officials who would not do his bidding."
Kansas. Tim Hrenchir of the Topeka Capital-Journal: "Three people were shot late Saturday in North Topeka after a man confronted people he thought had committed past thefts of signs promoting the campaign of ... Donald Trump, a Topeka police supervisor said Sunday.... One person was taken by ambulance to a hospital with gunshot wounds that were considered potentially life-threatening, said police Lt. Joe Perry.... Two other people later sought hospital treatment in Topeka after arriving by private vehicle after suffering from gunshot wounds, Perry said. The seriousness of their injuries wasn't clear. The names, ages and genders of those wounded weren't available Sunday morning. Perry said two people were brought to police headquarters for questioning but he wasn't aware of any arrests having been made. The case remained under investigation. At least one man was taken away was in handcuffs, neighbors told a Capital-Journal reporter...." Mrs. McC: I wonder if Trump will praise the perps.
New Jersey & New York. WTF Is the Point? Neil Vigdor, et al., of the New York Times: "... on Sunday, caravans of Mr. Trump's supporters blockaded the Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge and the Garden State Parkway, snarling traffic on two of the busiest highways in the New York metropolitan area.... Videos taken by motorists showed the president's backers parked in the middle of the westbound lanes of the bridge, which carries Interstate 287 across the Hudson River and is named for the father of the current governor, Andrew M. Cuomo. A number of them exited their vehicles in the rain and waved Trump banners and American flags as motorists honked their horns.... [The Cuomo Bridge] replaced the Tappan Zee Bridge.... William Duffy, a spokesman for the New York State Police, said that troopers had monitored the protest, but that there were no arrests.... In New Jersey, a caravan of Trump supporters snarled traffic on the northbound lanes of the Garden State Parkway near the Cheesequake Service Area in South Amboy, according to videos and local media reports."
North Carolina. Racist Voter Suppression, Cop-Style. Carli Brousseau of the (Raleigh) News & Observer: "Pepper spray and handcuffs won't end his quest to lead voters to the polls in Alamance County, Rev. Greg Drumwright said during a news conference Sunday. He announced a march in Graham on Election Day. 'We're coming even stronger,' Drumwright said ... in Burlington, his childhood neighborhood. His release from jail the day before, following a get-out-the-vote march that never made it to the polling place, was conditioned on staying out of Graham[, N.C.] for 72 hours. On Saturday, Drumwright, a pastor in Greensboro, led about 200 people from Wayman Chapel AME Church in Graham to the town's Court Square, the site of frequent demonstrations this summer calling for justice.... The rally [on Saturday] ended with pepper spray. Alamance County sheriff's deputies began dismantling the group's audio equipment and used the spray when demonstrators intervened. More than a dozen people, including Drumwright, were arrested. The pepper fog caused several children who attended the march to throw up. Janet Johnson, a 56-year-old minister from Graham who attended the rally in a motorized scooter, had a panic attack and began to convulse." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: The police boasted that they did not spray the pepper solution in the marchers' faces but aimed it at the ground. Well, where the hell do they think the faces of little children & wheel-chair riders are? Why, close to the ground. In other words, they aimed their weapons at the most vulnerable.
Texas. Jolie McCullough of the Texas Tribune: "A legal cloud hanging over nearly 127,000 votes already cast in Harris County was at least temporarily lifted Sunday when the Texas Supreme Court rejected a request by several conservative Republican activists and candidates to preemptively throw out early balloting from drive-thru polling sites in the state's most populous, and largely Democratic, county. The all-Republican court denied the request without an order or opinion, as justices did last month in a similar lawsuit brought by some of the same plaintiffs. The Republican plaintiffs, however, are pursuing a similar lawsuit in federal court, hoping to get the votes thrown out by arguing that drive-thru voting violates the U.S. constitution. A hearing in that case is set for Monday morning in a Houston-based federal district court, one day before Election Day. A rejection of the votes would constitute a monumental disenfranchisement of voters -- drive-thru ballots account for about 10% of all in-person ballots cast during early voting in Harris County." ~~~
~~~ See also Mark Stern's Slate post on this, linked yesterday.
"Law & Order" President* Knocks FBI Investigation. Allan Smith & Julia Ainsley of NBC News: "... Donald Trump lashed out at the FBI on Sunday after it said it was investigating reports that a caravan of his supporters harassed a bus belonging to Joe Biden's campaign. 'In my opinion, these patriots did nothing wrong,' Trump said in a tweet. 'Instead, the FBI & Justice should be investigating the terrorists, anarchists, and agitators of ANTIFA, who run around burning down our Democrat run cities and hurting our people!'" ~~~
~~~ Matthew Schwartz of NPR: "President Trump is celebrating a caravan of supporters who followed [Mrs. McC: make that "harassed," at the very least] a Biden-Harris campaign bus in Central Texas.... Trump discussed the caravan at a Michigan campaign event on Sunday. 'Did you see the way our people, they were, ya know, protecting this bus ... because they're nice,' he said. 'They had hundreds of cars. Trump! Trump! Trump and the American flag.'" ~~~
~~~ Kate McGee, et al., of the Texas Tribune: "The Federal Bureau of Investigation is looking into a Friday incident in which a group of Trump supporters, driving trucks and waving Trump flags, surrounded and followed a Biden campaign bus as it drove up I-35 in Hays County, a law enforcement official confirmed to The Texas Tribune Saturday. The confrontation, captured on video, featured at least one minor collision and led to Texas Democrats canceling three scheduled campaign events on Friday. The campaign officials cited 'safety concerns' for the cancellations.... On Saturday night, Trump tweeted a video of the Trump supporters following the Biden bus saying, 'I LOVE TEXAS!'" Mrs. McC: Again, it is beyond extraordinary that a POTUS* would encourage dangerous, violent actions that the FBI is investigating as criminal activity. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Virginia. Matthew Brown of USA Today: "A group of protesters gathered in front of Attorney General William Barr's McLean, Virginia home on Saturday evening where they called for Barr to 'lock up' ... Joe Biden. Photos of the event showed a crowd of about a dozen men, donned in clothing and messages supportive of President Donald Trump, held signs with slogans such as 'Biden Lies Matter,' 'Equal Justice Is Coming' and 'They that forsake the law praise the wicked.' Others wore 'Trump 2020' flags and 'Crooked Hillary for Prison' T-shirts." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Peter Baker of the New York Times: "Born amid made-up crowd size claims and 'alternative facts,' the Trump presidency has been a factory of falsehood from the start, churning out distortions, conspiracy theories and brazen lies at an assembly-line pace that has challenged fact-checkers and defied historical analogy. But now..., the consequences of four years of fabulism are coming into focus as President Trump argues that the vote itself is inherently 'rigged,' tearing at the credibility of the system. Should the contest go into extra innings through legal challenges after Tuesday, it may leave a public with little faith in the outcome -- and in its own democracy. The nightmarish scenario of widespread doubt and denial of the legitimacy of the election would cap a period in American history when truth itself has seemed at stake.... Even if the election ends with a clear victory or defeat for Mr. Trump, scholars and players alike say the very concept of public trust in an established set of facts necessary for the operation of a democratic society has eroded during his tenure with potentially long-term ramifications." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Witness to Treachery. The Last Tell-All Book. Natasha Bertrand of Politico: "As Rudy Giuliani searched for damaging information on the Bidens in Ukraine, waged shadow diplomatic campaigns in Venezuela and Turkey, and spoke regularly to ... Donald Trump about all of it, [Aaron Parnas, son of Lev,] a 19-year-old law student, was quietly watching and soaking it all in.... And he has now written an eyewitness account of many of the back-channel dealings conducted by Giuliani and a small group of his confidants.... The 153-page memoir ... traces [Aaron] Parnas' journey from an enthusiastic Trump supporter in 2016 ... to an eager Biden voter in 2020.... [Aaron] Parnas was ... a witness to Giuliani's dirt-digging missions targeting Joe and Hunter Biden, during which his father was with Giuliani 'almost every day.... Since they were inseparable during this time, I would often meet with the two of them together,' Parnas writes. 'During our meetings, I was able to witness Rudy talk with the President multiple times on the phone.... It was clear to me that everything the Mayor and my father did through the summer months of 2019 related to Ukraine and the Bidens was done at the direction and with the consent of President Trump.'"
The Trumpidemic, Ctd.
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Sunday are here: "As Election Day nears and the United States reports its highest daily case totals yet, battleground Great Lakes states that could help decide the presidency are enduring some of the most alarming coronavirus surges. While the surge quickens and early voting draws to a close, President Trump has continued downplaying the virus and falsely saying the country is 'rounding the turn.' And on Thursday, Donald Trump Jr. tried to minimize the death toll, claiming it was 'almost nothing' in an appearance on Fox News. But deaths are beginning to rise across the country, averaging 818 a day over the last week, up nearly 15 percent since Oct. 1, according to a New York Times database. More than 84,000 new cases were announced Saturday in the United States, pushing the seven-day average for new cases above 80,000 for the first time, a rise of 86 percent over the same period." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Kevin Liptak of CNN: "... Donald Trump suggested to a Florida crowd he may fire Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's leading expert on infectious diseases, after the election. Speaking after midnight following a full day of campaigning, the President was complaining about the news media coverage of Covid-19 when the crowd broke out into a 'Fire Fauci' chant. 'Don't tell anybody but let me wait until a little bit after the election,' Trump said to cheers. 'I appreciate the advice.' Later, Trump claimed Fauci is 'a nice guy but he's been wrong a lot.'" Mrs. McC: Fauci is a civil servant, so I don't think Trump can "fire" him without cause. However, Trump can diminish Fauci's profile, removing him from the now-eviscerated White House Coronavirus Task Force, engineering Fauci's removal from his head-of-department status, etc.
~~~ Thanks to Forrest M. for the lead.
John Amato of the Crooks & Liars: "As many of the networks ask Trump administration health officials to join their shows, Trump's new favorite propaganda toy, Dr. Scott Atlas, instead went on Russian TV to attack the media, Dr. Fauci, and all health officials over their policies to ensure the public's safety from COVID. Dr. Atlas, who is not an epidemiology specialist, has become Trump's go-to COVID influencer since he became Tucker Carlson's favorite doctor. His job is to attack CDC officials trying to do their jobs, to spread misinformation, and to ignore the severity of COVID-19, all in an effort to help Trump's reelection campaign.... Atlas claimed the lock downs are not sparing Americans from the virus: 'The lock downs will go down as an epic failure of public policy.' Then he went so far as to tell Russian TV that Dr. Fauci's measures are actually killing people: 'The public health leadership has failed egregiously and they are killing people with their fear-inducing shutdown policies.'" Mrs. McC: Since the White House must approve Task Force members' interviews, either Atlas went rogue or Kremlin TV is a favored Trump outlet. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Update. Maria Arias of Axios: "President Trump's favorite coronavirus adviser Scott Atlas apologized on Twitter for appearing Saturday on Russia's state-controlled RT network, where he insisted that the U.S. is turning the corner on the pandemic and that lockdowns are actually 'killing people.' RT, formerly known as Russia Today, is a Russian state-owned media outlet registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. This means that all of its content is labeled as propaganda attempting to influence U.S. public opinion, policy and laws.... 'I recently did an interview with RT and was unaware they are a registered foreign agent,' Atlas tweeted.... Atlas appeared on RT just hours after the Washington Post released an interview with Anthony Fauci, who criticized Atlas for his controversial views on the pandemic." Mrs. McC: It's certain part of the job of a presidential advisor to find out who the hell he's talking to. But since Atlas doesn't know what the hell he's talking about, I guess we should not be surprised.
U.K. Karla Adam of the Washington Post: "Prince William caught the novel coronavirus in the spring around the same time that his father, Prince Charles, also tested positive, according to various British media reports. The Duke of Cambridge, 38, was left 'struggling to breathe,' according to the Sun newspaper, which first published the story. The British tabloid said that William, the second in line to the throne, kept the diagnosis secret because 'he didn't want to alarm the nation.' His diagnosis came a few days after the palace revealed in late March that Charles, the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II, had the virus." A BBC News story is here.
Not Their First Rodeo. Aaron Davis, et al., of the Washington Post: "On April 30, outside the Michigan Capitol, protesters gathered to demand that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer end the business closures and other measures she had imposed to slow the transmission of the coronavirus.... In the crowd that day, according to photos and videos, were Adam Fox and at least five others who are now charged in the plot to kidnap Whitmer or, in related cases, providing material support for a planned terrorist act.... Although charging documents placed them at one political rally, a Washington Post examination of images and video found that the men were present at at least seven rallies in Michigan in the six months before their arrests.... At events where the men were present, protest organizers, conservative activists and even law enforcement officers told crowds that the governor had grievously infringed on Michiganders' rights, the Post examination found."
Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post: "Former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden will apply for Russian citizenship while also keeping his U.S. nationality, he said Monday. Snowden, who fled the United States and was given asylum in Russia after leaking top-secret files on U.S. government surveillance activities, has lived in Moscow for the past seven years. He received permanent residency last month, his lawyer told the Tass state news agency."
Beyond the Beltway
Kentucky. Jaclyn Peiser of the Washington Post: "The 33-page slide show used to train cadets for the Kentucky State Police encouraged ethical and moral decision-making, selflessness, pride and honor. But in doing so, the police also quoted Adolf Hitler and Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, and encouraged trainees to pursue violence at all costs. 'The very first essential for success is a perpetually constant and regular employment of violence,' Hitler wrote in his anti-Semitic manifesto 'Mein Kampf,' which was included on a police training slide entitled 'Violence of Action.' The line was one of three times the state police quoted the Nazi leader in the training material. The slide show was first reported Friday by Manual Redeye, a student newspaper at Louisville's duPont Manual High School. The students were given the documents by a local lawyer, who received them through an open records request for a lawsuit against the police agency. After the report published, state officials responded with anger and condemnation. In a statement to the Redeye, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) called the materials 'unacceptable.' 'We will collect all the facts and take immediate corrective action,' Beshear said." ~~~
~~~ Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs of the New York Times: "A slide show once shown to cadets training to join the Kentucky State Police includes quotations attributed to Adolf Hitler and Robert E. Lee, says troopers should be warriors who 'always fight to the death' and encourages each trooper in training to be a 'ruthless killer.' The slide show, which came to light on Friday in a report from a high school newspaper, brought harsh condemnation from politicians, Jewish groups and Kentucky residents, but not from the Kentucky State Police department itself which said only that the training materials were old. Morgan Hall, a spokeswoman for the Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, which oversees the State Police, said that the slide show was 'removed' in 2013 and was no longer in use but declined to answer a list of questions.... Many of the nation's police academies and departments have long emphasized a warrior mentality, experts have said, with officers trained for conflict and equipped with the gear and weapons of modern warfare." A USA Today story is here.
Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Both the Daily Beast & Slate now have gone almost entirely subscriber-firewalled. Add them to the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, many local newspapers (like the Houston Chronicle), New Yorker, Atlantic, New York, New Republic, Nation, etc., and my options are limited. Obviously, our sources of news & opinion are now extremely restricted. If you have an idea of how to get around this, let me know. One avenue could be (haven't checked it out yet for myself) is connecting up with your local library to "borrow" their subscriptions, if they have them.
Share Article
Reader Comments (23)
As I mentioned to my wife, Dr. Atlas apparently knows as little about American media and its national security as he does about the "Chinese virus."
I'm sure his apology was genuine.
What If? I keep wondering where we would be if Jim Comey hadn't let loose his October surprise & Hillary Clinton had won the 2016 election. In some ways we would be better off today, the day before the 2020 presidential election. But in other ways, maybe not. For instance, it's likely we would still have an all-GOP Congress because there would have been no cause for a huge 2018 protest, one that bore no fruit for changing the Senate. Hillary would have been investigated down to her toenails. She probably would have been impeached for some nothing-burger & maybe tossed out of office. There would be no Neil Gorsuch on the Supreme Court, but Hillary might have had to nominate a fairly conservative justice to replace Scalia. There would be no Bart O'Kavanaugh either, because Anthony Kennedy is still kicking & he likely would not have retired. There would be no Amy Covid Barrett but Ruth Bader Ginsburg would still be gone, & Senate Republicans would not have confirmed any Clinton nominee. The environment, international relations, domestic labor, etc. etc., would all be in much better shape.
If she weren't impeached & convicted, no doubt Clinton would have run for a second term. Or maybe Tim Kaine (who?) would be the Democrats' nominee. But there would still be a coronavirus devastating the world. Perhaps 100,000 more Americans (or even more than that) would still be alive, but no matter how many died, Republicans would blame Hillary (or Obama!). The economy would still be in the tank, though perhaps not as badly so. Ted Cruz or Marco Rubio would be on the cusp of an historic win tomorrow.
Yes, we would be far better off. And so would the state of what was once a nominal democratic republic. But it would all be about to end.
Mrs Bea: If you have a friend with An Amazon Prime account they can add you on with access to the Washington Post. That's how I access the paper. Likewise there is a similar arrangement with the New York Times, but I can't remember the specifics.
If Oliver's messages, without the corn, had been televised on a weekly basis on every network ( a fantasy on my part) would that have reached all those who insist "He's done the best he can"? Would that have changed their minds or at least made them doubt their intense fealty to "the passer of pens president?"
It's pretty clear, isn't it, that millions of Americans want four more years of this sociopath but like a belief in a deity, they just won't "Quit him!"
"One avenue could be (haven't checked it out yet for myself) is connecting up with your local library to "borrow" their subscriptions, if they have them." Good idea––I think or How about we R.C.ers help with subscriptions by sending you checks? Perhaps I'm confused about this but would this be something we could do?
Marie,
I've gone through the same mental (one can infer the use of that word in its more, shall we say, colloquial form, as well) gyrations.
Regardless of the outcome, Comey should be held accountable in history for unleashing the monster Trump on the United States. All so he could feel superior. I say that I hope his sleep is fitful and hard won, but Comey is a narcissist and career climbing bureaucrat very much like Rod Rosenstein, neither of whom lose a second of sleep over putting themselves and their own agenda ahead of their oaths and the United States itself.
That being said, I have no doubt that another (giant) thorn in Clinton's side, had she won, would have been the continued presence of Trump, constantly attacking, spreading his vitriolic lies, ginning up conspiracy theories, triggering nonsensical "investigations", appearing as a daily guest on right-wing media outlets, screaming, pointing fingers, howling about how the presidency was stolen from him. And he would most certainly be running for president right now. AND he would have a completely confederate-controlled congress to do his bidding when he won (and I firmly believe, in this extended hypothetical, that he would win). Unfortunately for Clinton (and us), there would be no Androcles in sight.
Our Androcles might be Joe Biden, but should he win, against all odds (I do not believe those polls), the same fate that would have befallen Hillary, will come down on his administration in full force. The Trump Crime Family will be everywhere, every day, lying, continuing to grift, trying out every roadblock they can think of to disrupt the business of America as they attempt to complete their masterwork of destroying democracy in America.
And speaking of roadblocks...
Marie wonders what is the point for Trump thugs to stop traffic, try to run buses off the road, possibly killing passengers, shooting those they believe have tried to fuck with their holy Trump signs, threatening those they feel are not appropriately fascist enough.
There is a point. That point is one of the lessons they've absorbed from five years of Trump. Publicity. Any kind. Just get people talking about you. Plus, they might get a shout out from the head fascist.
I've been reading, with growing consternation, about the many, many, many white supremacist and Trumpish militias, who have been training with weapons and explosives, waiting for the right time to unleash their hatred and violence. I see, this morning, that the Kentucky State Police are trained with the words of Adolf Hitler in the use of constant violence. This is Trump well. Strike hard and hit those you consider enemies.
And cheering on supporters committing illegal acts of violence and harassment is very much a fascist move. We long ago passed the point where Trump is acting "like" a fascist. He IS a fascist. Always has been.
Tomorrow and the next few weeks, we will see how bad things can get with a fascist in the White House pulling the strings on his violent puppets. And the puppets will love it. They'll get their fifteen minutes (or a lot more) of fame on the nightly news. This will compel other Trump brownshirts to outdo their brethren and impress Der Führer.
And violence will be upon the land.
Wait until the Michigan militia read (I'm assuming a lot) about our Governor's latest restrictions to control the virus.
Things like mandatory masks when in public, bar patrons must be seated at a table, no standing at the bar and those tables must be six feet apart. Restaurants can only serve at 50% capacity and will be required to secure the phone number of every customer and also record the day and time they were at a table of no more than six people, with tables at least six feet apart.
I'm thinking Gretchen may need her security really needed up.
One more thought about the Trump roadblocks. The droolers who are blocking public roads are acting out, on a smaller stage, what the Fat Fascist has been doing on the main stage: illegally impeding the progress of America. Sowing chaos and bringing life to a standstill so everyone can marvel at their “power”. This will only get worse.
Never watched "The Apprentice" so can only speculate, but that's something I'v always been willing enough to do.
Like I've said, I believe I understand the Pretender. All the words we've used apply: everything from big baby to narcissist to fascist and ever other epithet but stable or genius we've tossed at him.
But his followers? They still puzzle me, maybe because I never understood the appeal of the Pretender's long running and popular "reality" show in which I understand he presented himself as a smart, successful master of the universe who was always on top of things, always knew what he was doing and never hestitated to judge others and fire them if they didn't satisfy him or somehow "meassure up."
If that is assessment is at all accurate, on the show the Pretender played the same role of self-aggrandizing despot that he had rehearsed over the years in which he had built has shaky business empire. Lots of talk, lots of publicity, lots of pretense, maybe more show than substance, for for many always entertaining.
I didn't understand the appeal, but it was clearly there. Millions liked the show enough to tune in. Maybe to admire someone who portrayed himself as smart and successful and maybe for the schadenfreude that accompanied his famous "you're fired," when he judged the show's victims and found them wanting.
From what I sensed, there was always that meanness there. That tendency to treat others poorly, to seek out, identify, and call out the "losers."
Now I'm wondering if the line between those who watched and liked the show, not to mention the show itself and the Pretender's presidency, is more direct than I had thought.
Maybe, beyond the fantasy they present, it's the permission to be mean, the presentation of meanness as a virtue, that appeals and binds them together.
From the snippets of the rallies I've seen, both the Pretender and his supporters delight in displaying the ill-temper and unreasoning credulity that define them. Other than the silly lies, that's pretty much all there is to the Pretender's shows, on TV of in now in the Whitey House.
Yesterday it was "Fire Fauci." Fire that voice of reason that respects reality and conveys concern for others.
Fire the Pretender's real opponent: Not Fauci, not Hillary, not Joe.
Fire reality, just like on TV.
WAPO’s headline for Phillip Bump's piece titled: In Scranton, Biden’s team turns out voters, while Trump supporters turn up the volume
" Video sez it all" about intellectual capabilities of the Trump voters in Scranton.
"Last stand of the Republican Moderate" by WaPo writer Jada Yaun's reads like a PR puff release for Collins! Yaun writes: "Collins, who is famously moderate, said she didn’t want to see one-party control of Washington because it would lead to “a far-left agenda” and a Democrat-led expansion of the Supreme Court following three conservative appointments."
Famously moderate ? " What a joke!" Ugh!
Please, let this all be over soon.
Here's a scenario that crossed my mind this weekend. What if, MOOM manages to steal the office again by hook and by crook via the electoral college despite an overwhelming defeat in the popular vote. That vote results in a solid Democratic House, and a flipped Senate.
First order of business for the D-held legislative branch - get rid of the filibuster. Second order - initiate impeachment proceedings.
This weekend I significantly cut down the time I usually spend reading and following news. We’ve all had our fill, but it is undeniably a train wreck and difficult to ignore. The caravans of Trump supporters waving the flag and impeding traffic were a version of those familiar ISIS caravans. Cultlike, filled with loud Americans armed, brandishing flags and hate. The difference between ISIS and Americans is Americans love their creature comforts. They go back home and eat burgers and watch reality TV after their Sunday outing. Some will not. We’ve seen the result already. A few have been radicalized and have actually committed terrorist acts. Trump has fomented chaos to the point of frenzy. Out of control mobs act like a single seething entity and are extremely dangerous, especially when untethered hatred is the catalyst.
Trump is a malignant narcissist. He will not stop creating unrest and he will use a flame thrower to incite mobs straight thru to inauguration. I have always thought the period between election and inauguration will be the most dangerous time. There is no denying that a significant amount of sworn LE are behind Trump. The ‘few bad apples” meme is and has always been BS. Yes, I think Biden will win, both the popular vote and the electoral college. Actually assuming the presidency is going to be a tough road. As president, governing an ignorant mob will be a monumental undertaking.
Ken,
Your sense of the primary quality of meanness in both of Trump's "reality" shows, the one on which NBC promoted him as a genius and his current show on which he promotes himself as a genius, is spot on. And has there ever been a more outstandingly oxymoronic title than "reality" show? What's real about having strangers stranded on an island and pitting them against each other to find a "winner", or a pitiful show that takes a loser and perpetually bankrupt self-promoter and presents him as a billionaire savant who can pass judgment on others?
But there has always been a hunger for a certain kind of narrative in which one character must battle another for the approval of the mob. Gladiator games were a spectacular version of this sort of simplistic, bloody storyline. Modern wrestling is another. Funnily enough, a lot of these narratives are often presented as comic-booky, but comic books, at least since I was reading them back in the 60's, and certainly today, as far as I can tell, rarely indulge in such simple-minded fare as "Us: Winners! Them: Losers! KILL THEM!" But this is the basis of the entire Trump oeuvre. I'm great. If I choose you, you're great too, not as great as me, but not a loser like the ones I FIRE!
For Trump, and his supporters and sycophants, the world is a dark scary place populated only by a few winners (Trump is the king) and mostly dirtied up by losers. A show like "The Apprentice" needed to go out of the way to promote Trump as the uber winner in order to satisfy the desires of its fans to see a winner emerge victorious, with the blessing and imprimatur of the Show King, and to watch in glee as the losers are humiliated by the King and cast out.
That same dynamic of bullies and meek, weak losers, still obtains. By linking themselves with the bully, even unemployed, poorly educated (or very well educated), out of work red staters who live off state and federal assistance, can convince themselves that they really aren't the kind of losers Trump routinely spits on. All they have to do is cheer wildly while he steps on those they can view as enemies.
This is just more bread and circus. And the unreality of it all goes back to the game shows of the fifties. "Twenty One", the infamous quiz show, decided that, after a period of outstanding play, its then champion, Herb Stempel, should be overthrown by the professorial Charles Van Doren. The game was rigged all the way through. Even Stempel's games were rigged, with his agreement. But then it seemed to the producers that Stempel, a bit of a schmoe (and made to seem more so by the producers) would "lose" to the handsome, smooth (and non-Jewish) Van Doren.
Bread and Circus. Ratings were through the roof. And that's what Trump looks for as well.
And now he is trying that same old gag. Rigging the game in his favor. He's always succeeded in rigging the game, or having it rigged for him by daddy and others, and now he's hoping to rig the biggest game of all. Again.
Because the world, and Trump and his minions, hate a loser.
The early vote now tops 96 million.
Think we'll bust through 100 with half a day to go?
Wouldn't that be (as my grandfather used to say) somethin'?
Last night I was afflicted with reflux/heartburn, and realized just watching teevee was making me sick! I know nothing is "over" tomorrow, but I imagine those of us who are agitated and upset will feel somewhat better to know that what we feared will perhaps come true OR there is light at the tunnel's end. Just less uncertainty will be better than this terror. I don't know what to think-- whether one or the other will win, so to speak, but I know we aren't ridding ourselves of Covid, and two weeks from now, we will have spikes from rallies. I think we will trade one disaster for another or end up with two disasters together. Our newspaper begged people not to go to the Lancaster airport rally, but you can't really fix idiocy. At least the indigestion is at bay this morning, I am cleaning house, feeling mildly hopeful that the polls are not wrong, and the sun is out. Peace be to RC-ers, one and all.
@ unwashed: that doesn't solve the problem of having 40+% of the population furiously sewing their brown shirts in preparation for the command of Il Duce; and Marie, I don't think Comey's letter was the trigger - the first toppled domino that lead us to this moment. The sea change of ill will and self interest-with-impunity was brewing in the population long before that, with a generation and a half of video gamers strung out on shoot-em-up war games, a significant proportion of prime time TV slots devoted to cop shows, hyper-masculine heroism, a bizarre marriage of football, patriotism, and expressions military power. We have a culture that glorifies everything that is "bad ass" - Harley-riding, tattoozled arms with Mauri warrior designs, jacked-up pickup trucks, open displays of personal weapons. This isn't something hidden in the shadows - its promoted the main stream media. 'Bad ass' expressions of crude power are baked into American culture in a schizophrenic way.
"The shadow" (a la Jung) is in each of us, but you won't find much help in wrestling with it at a scale that makes any difference to society from our political leaders, or main stream media heroes, or business leaders, or the fundamentalist religious leaders.
The bike trial I ride goes past a farm that had build a paintball setting in their side yard a few years ago, maybe to make a few extra dollars. Last Saturday the parking lot was filled to overflowing. Shoot-em-up for fun?
Pray for peace.
For those of us of a certain age who grew up unable to fathom how Germans & Japanese could be such villains have got our answer in the Age of Trump. To see those great crowds of idiots chanting "Fire Fauci," a man whose "crime" has been trying to save their lives, really is to better understand the fools & miscreants who saluted Hitler & worshiped the Japanese emperor as a living god.
To those politicians who say otherwise: no, we're not better than that. At least a lot of us aren't.
@MAG: I read Bump's piece & even watched the video. Maybe I just missed it, but I could never figure out what it was the Biden worker yelled at the Trump caravan. Could you?
@Mrs. McCrab: I couldn't either, I reread it and couldn't figure out what the 'withering' remark was. Nothing was within quote marks or highlighted in a significant way.
Last Saturday, coming back from a walk, I slipped on black ice at the beginning of our long driveway–-cracked my head* and came down hard on my left buttock. I have been sore pained since then which makes me concentrate on my body aches rather than my heart aches. However––under a warm throw I got to read the very long piece in the New Yorker from Nicholas Lemann–-"The After- Party"–-the Trump Presidency poses stark questions for Republicans and Democrats about their ideological future.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/11/02/the-republican-identity-crisis-after-trump
By the way–-knew the Evangelicals are smitten with their Savior but didn't realize that Fatty, nearly twenty years ago, Lemann tells us, formed a public relationship with Paula White, a popular televangelist, (you can see her on one of the Lincoln Projects videos) who said she guided Trump toward active Christianity, sure enough! Read how he has manipulated this segment of our society for his own power grabs.
* So if in the coming days my comments are "way out there" you'll understand why.
Marie I'm posting this with a little trepidation however I agree about your statement about Germany.
My father served in the Pacific and was in a fury when his class mates were killed on the Arizona (his sister ship was the Nevada). He and another classmate basically mutinied until the were relieved of duty at Annapolis and allowed to go to the Pacific. I have never sorted out quite what my father did out there other than serve under one of the fleet admirals as his communication specialist on whatever ship he was on. My father went into Japan during the occupation and found a family friend (Shio Sakanishi sp) who was working for the US Army after the war. She immediately helped the US. Shio took Dad out to dinner with a businessman and friends. Their son told Dad he was grateful the war ended since he was being trained to fly airplanes to take off but not how to land them.
Added to this background is that my grandfather was at Scripp's Inst. in La Jolla, Ca during the 20's and 30's. There his job as Director was to change Scripps into an Oceanographic Inst. So he switched from paleo foraminifera to studying pacific corals. Hirohito also collected and studied corals. He asked my grandfather to assised in documenting his collection. My grandfather turned the job over to two other scientists. However his feeling which my father didn't refute after he came back and served in Naval Security and NSA for the remainder of his 30 years in the US Navy was that Hirohito was a figure head with no other option. Knowing some of Japan's history I am not certain that the general population had much choice except to follow. Perhaps I'm wrong. The Japanese military were a whole another ballgame and they always were. I will never accept or understand what happened in Germany or the Japanese attack and willingness to torture with impunity. But I'm not certain Japan's population's background can be looked at in the same manner as Germany's.
As an aside I have letters from German scientists asking my Grandfather if he could find work for various scientists. I have been a coward and have never pursued whether he was able to do this.
PD: Ice is the worst. I have quit cross-country skiing, as we never have good snow, too much ice, and I have a dent in MY derriere from a fall amid clatter of skis on ice. I almost think we should all wear helmets in the winter when going out! I am so glad you were not worse hurt. Keep enjoying your cuddle blankie: tomorrow would be a fine day to vege under it. Thinking of you.
@Dede: Thank you for writing. I think you're probably right about the Japanese people, who had little influence over their own government.