;)
The Commentariat -- October 20, 2020
Afternoon Update:
Katie Thomas & Noah Weiland of the New York Times: "The chief executive of Pfizer said on Friday that the company would not apply for emergency authorization of its coronavirus vaccine before the third week of November, ruling out President Trump's assertion that a vaccine would be ready before Election Day on Nov. 3. In a statement posted to the company website, the chief executive, Dr. Albert Bourla, said that although Pfizer could have preliminary numbers by the end of October about whether the vaccine works, it would still need to collect safety and manufacturing data that will stretch the timeline to at least the third week of November."
Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: "It's a perverse paradox of the 2020 election. On one front after another, President Trump has been extraordinarily brazen about his efforts to corrupt the election on his own behalf. And it's precisely because of this shamelessness that his schemes keep imploding on him.... It's obvious that [Trump] equates his naked displays of corruption with shows of strength."
Kate Bennett of CNN: "Melania Trump is canceling her first campaign appearance in months because she is not feeling well as she continues to recover from Covid-19. She had been set to join ... Donald Trump's rally in Pennsylvania on Tuesday night, but she has decided not to go. 'Mrs. Trump continues to feel better every day following her recovery from Covid-19, but with a lingering cough, and out of an abundance of caution, she will not be traveling today,' said Stephanie Grisham, the first lady's chief of staff."
Florida. Amy Gardner of the Washington Post: "Slightly more registered Republicans than Democrats voted on the first day of early voting in Florida on Monday, according to statewide turnout numbers published Tuesday, bucking the trend so far in other battlegrounds where Democrats have logged a sizable early-voting advantage. Roughly 339,152 voted in person across the state, exceeding the vote count four years ago, when about 290,000 cast ballots on the first day of in-person voting, according to the Florida Department of State. About 43 percent of Monday's voters are registered Republicans, while 42 percent are Democrats and the rest are third-party or unaffiliated. As in other states, Democrats retain a distinct advantage among the 2.7 million Floridians who have mailed in their ballots so far; the breakdown among those voters is 49 percent Democratic and 30 percent Republican, according to the state figures."
Tony Romm of the Washington Post: "The Justice Department on Tuesday sued Google over allegations that its search and advertising empire violated federal antitrust laws, launching what is likely to be a lengthy, bruising legal war between Washington and Silicon Valley that could have vast implications for the entire tech industry. The federal government's landmark lawsuit caps off a roughly year-long investigation, which found Google wielded its digital dominance to the detriment of corporate rivals and consumers. The complaint contends that Google relied on a mix of special agreements and other problematic business practices to secure an insurmountable lead in online search, capturing the market for nearly 90 percent of all queries in the United States."
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Presidential Race, Etc.
Extraordinary Times. Zack Budryk of the Hill: "USA Today, the nation's highest-circulation newspaper, made its first presidential endorsement on Tuesday, announcing its support for Democratic nominee Joe Biden." ~~~
~~~ USA Today Editors: "In 2016, we broke tradition in urging you not to vote for Trump. Now we're making our first presidential endorsement. We hope it's our last.... This year, the Editorial Board unanimously supports the election of Joe Biden, who offers a shaken nation a harbor of calm and competence."
Felicia Sonmez & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "The Commission on Presidential Debates said Monday night that it will mute Trump's and Biden's microphones during parts of Thursday's presidential debate at Belmont University in Nashville. The 90-minute debate will be broken up into six 15-minute segments, each with a different topic. The commission said it will give Trump and Biden two minutes apiece to speak uninterrupted at the start of each segment. A period of 'open discussion' will follow until the next segment begins. Trump's campaign has repeatedly opposed the idea of granting the moderator the power to shut off a candidate's microphone -- an idea that has been floated in the aftermath of the first debate, during which Trump repeatedly interrupted and jeered at Biden." This is part of the WashPo's election updates Monday & is free to non-subscribers. Also from Monday's election updates: ~~~
~~~ Felicia Sonmez: "Trump's campaign urged the Commission on Presidential Debates on Monday to change the topics for this Thursday’s debate, arguing that 'only a few' of the ones selected by NBC News's Kristen Welker 'even touch on foreign policy.'... In a letter to members of the debate commission, Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien said the event 'was always billed as the "Foreign Policy Debate"'[*] and suggested, without evidence, that other topics were included because Biden is 'desperate to avoid conversations about his own foreign policy record.'... Stepien said in Monday's letter that such a move would be 'completely unacceptable' but did not detail what action the Trump campaign might take if the debate commission chooses to do so." ~~~
* According to Rachel Maddow, both campaigns agreed that during pre-debate negotiations that the moderator would choose the topics. ~~~
~~~ David Jackson of USA Today (Oct. 18): "... Donald Trump is already trying to pressure and intimidate the moderator, NBC News White House correspondent Kristen Welker. 'She's always been terrible & unfair, just like most of the Fake News reporters, but I'll still play the game,' Trump tweeted Saturday." ~~~
~~~ AND, as Haberman, et al., report in the story linked below, "Officials have said they're not planning the kind of structured preparation sessions that they held with Mr. Trump before the first debate, an encounter that left aides cringing...." Mrs. McC: So no prep. We'll see how that goes.
Colin Kalmbacher of Law & Crime: "... Donald Trump dazzled a rally audience in Arizona on Monday by describing a scenario in which he could -- if he really wanted to do so, that is -- shake down a company like ExxonMobil for millions of dollars in campaign cash.... Exxon even felt the need to respond.... 'We are aware of the President's statement regarding a hypothetical call with our CEO ... and just so we're all clear, it never happened,' the company said from its official Twitter account."
Aila Slisco of Newsweek: "... Donald Trump has called CNN 'dumb bastards' for focusing news coverage on the COVID-19 pandemic. Trump made the remarks during a campaign rally in Prescott, Arizona on Monday. The president's supporters cheered when he said that the public was tiring of the pandemic, while insulting the news network and claiming it is attempting to dissuade voters from participating in the election. 'Pandemic, they're getting tired of the pandemic, aren't they?' Trump said. 'You turn on CNN, that's all they cover. "Covid, covid, pandemic. Covid, covid, covid." You know why? They're trying to talk everybody out of voting. People aren't buying it, CNN, you dumb bastards. They aren't buying it. It's all they talk about.'" Links to more on Trump's attacks on media coverage & Anthony Fauci under the "Trumpidemic" heading below.
Maggie Haberman, et al., of the New York Times: "President Trump's re-election campaign on Monday announced a $55 million advertising blitz for the final two weeks of the race in a string of battleground states, as the president spent the day unleashing attacks against Joseph R. Biden Jr., Dr. Anthony S. Fauci and the news media.... Once more, his slash-and-burn commentary swamped most news coverage, even as his advisers used conventional levers to try to pull him across the finish line on Election Day.... At a campaign rally on Monday in Arizona, where polls show that the president is trailing Mr. Biden, Mr. Trump attacked Mr. Biden as a 'criminal' and then attacked a reporter as a 'criminal' for not reporting on an unsubstantiated article by The New York Post about Mr. Biden's son. He also faulted the news media for what he called excessive coverage of the coronavirus."
Michele Goldberg of the New York Times succinctly tells the story of how Donald Trump, through his personal lawyer & America's Mayor Rudy Giuliani, is colluding with Russians again to, once again, produce fake "dirt" on his opponent. "If there's an important story here, it's almost certainly about Giuliani's dirty tricks, not any wrongdoing by Joe Biden." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: One thing that distinguishes this year's Trumpy effort from 2016's is Trump's willingness to brazenly collude in plain sight. Most of the elements of the story were known to thousands of people when the New York Post produced its "scoop," a scoop so dicey that even the reporter who wrote the story wouldn't attach his byline to it. But perhaps what this story most reveals is that Trump is a one-trick pony. His 2020 campaign is the image of his 2016 campaign, even though outside circumstances are complete different. Trump has a horrible record to run on now, the public do not view his 2020 opponent as unfavorably as they did his 2016 opponent, third-party candidates have not gain much traction, no one so far has delivered a Jim-Comey-style October surprise, & the country is in a deep recession, thanks in large part to Trump's own mismanagement. Also, Trump's 2016 plan was not much of a "winner": he lost the popular vote by millions & he won the Electoral College by about 80,000 votes. The 2016 election clearly could have gone the other way. Trump could win another election on flukes & voting irregularities, but to count on luck again is not much of a strategy. ~~~
~~~ Kevin Liptak of CNN: "President Trump called Tuesday on his attorney general to 'appoint somebody' to investigate baseless claims about Democratic rival Joe Biden.... Trump made no attempt to veil the political necessity of his request. 'This is major corruption and this has to be known about before the election,' he said." This is an item in CNN's election updates for Tuesday. Mrs. McC: Of course the rule and practice were, until Comey & Trump came along, that although the DOJ might investigate matters involving candidates at any time, they would not reveal anything about the investigations -- including whether or not there even was an investigation into a candidate's activities -- close to an upcoming election in which the candidate was running. ~~~
~~~ Spencer Ackerman & Will Sommer of the Daily Beast: "The FBI is investigating the purloined laptop materials from Joe Biden's son as part of a possible foreign disinformation operation, a congressional source told The Daily Beast -- an investigation at odds with a statement from President Trump's director of national intelligence. John Ratcliffe, the director of national intelligence, told Fox Business on Monday that the dissemination of materials from Hunter Biden's alleged laptop was not part of a Russian disinformation campaign.... But that assessment gets out in front of the FBI, which took custody of the laptop and an external hard drive as early as in December, according to the New York Post. The bureau, according to the congressional source, is looking into the provenance of the material. And among the questions they're seeking to answer is whether the laptop dump is part of what the intelligence community's counterintelligence chief has already described as a Russian disinformation effort targeting the 2020 election." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Annals of Journalism, Ctd. Too Phony for Fox. Colby Hall of Mediaite: "Mediaite has learned that Fox News was first approached by Rudy Giuliani to report on a tranche of files alleged to have come from Hunter Biden's unclaimed laptop left at a Delaware computer repair shop, but that the news division chose not to run the story unless or until the sourcing and veracity of the emails could be properly vetted.... Giuliani ultimately brought the story to the New York Post, which shares the same owner, Rupert Murdoch. The tabloid has been exhaustively covering the contents of the laptop.... Some of Fox News' top news anchors and reporters have distanced themselves from the story. During an on-air report that largely focused on how social media platforms handled this story, Bret Baier said, 'Let's say, just not sugarcoat it. The whole thing is sketchy.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Natasha Bertrand of Politico: "More than 50 former senior intelligence officials have signed on to a letter outlining their belief that the recent disclosure of emails allegedly belonging to Joe Biden's son 'has all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.... While the letter's signatories presented no new evidence, they said their national security experience had made them 'deeply suspicious that the Russian government played a significant role in this case' and cited several elements of the story that suggested the Kremlin's hand at work.... Nick Shapiro, a former top aide under CIA director John Brennan..., noted that 'the IC leaders who have signed this letter worked for the past four presidents, including Trump. The real power here however is the number of former, working-level IC officers who want the American people to know that once again the Russians are interfering.'" ~~~
~~~ Will Sommer, et al., of the Daily Beast: "Some of Trump's staunchest allies conceded recently that they are reluctant to attack former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter over the more salacious content purportedly found on the now infamous laptop. Raising concerns about Hunter Biden's overseas business ethics may be kosher, they argue. But going after his personal demons by attacking his drug use, suggesting the existence of lurid photos, and using it all as a means to question Joe Biden's judgment as a politician and parent -- all of which Giuliani has done -- are most decidedly not."
Michael Schmidt & Nicole Perlroth of the New York Times: "The Justice Department on Monday announced indictments of six Russian military intelligence officers in connection with major hacks worldwide, including of the Winter Olympics and elections in France as well as an attack in 2017 aimed at destabilizing Ukraine that spread rapidly and was blamed for billions of dollars in damage. Prosecutors said the suspects were from the same Russian unit that conducted one of the Kremlin's major operations to interfere in the 2016 American election: the theft of Democratic emails.... The case was another effort by Trump administration officials to punish Russia for its meddling in other countries' affairs, even as President Trump has adopted a more accommodating stance toward Moscow. The charges did not address 2020 election interference; American intelligence agencies have assessed that Russia is trying to influence the vote in November." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Matthew Rosenberg of the New York Times: "Across the country..., longstanding [Republican] party members who could hardly be described as fringe radicals -- are embracing QAnon. The followers of this online phenomenon believe that the Democratic establishment and much of the Republican elite are deeply corrupt, and that Mr. Trump was delivered to save America from both.... In August, the president described followers of QAnon -- several of whom have been charged with murder, domestic terrorism and planned kidnapping -- as 'people that love our country.'... Urged on by the president, whose espousal of conspiracy theories has only intensified in the waning weeks of his campaign, QAnon adherents are pushing such ideas into the conservative mainstream alongside more traditional issues like low taxes and limited government.... Even people who explicitly dismissed QAnon as lunacy often volunteered similar conspiracy theories."
Florida. Amy Gardner, et al., of the Washington Post: "Thousands of voters flocked to the polls throughout Florida on the state's first day of in-person voting Monday despite heavy rains across the state, adding to evidence that Americans are unusually eager to cast ballots in this year's presidential election.... Meanwhile, statewide data from Friday showed a distinct advantage for Democrats among mail voters, with more than 1 million Democrats casting ballots by mail compared to about 620,000 Republicans, according to the Florida Democratic Party." ~~~
~~~ Matt Dixon of Politico: "Florida shattered its opening day record for in-person early voting Monday, with at least 350,000 people casting ballots and election officials continuing to count statewide late into the night. The trend continues a record-setting pace in the battleground state that is viewed as a must-win for ... Donald Trump. Voting by mail, which started earlier this month, racked up more than 2.5 million ballots headed into Monday, more than double the 1.2 million during the same timeframe in 2016."
** Pennsylvania. Oh, Yeah. Amy Will Make a BIG Difference. Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "The Supreme Court Monday night allowed Pennsylvania election officials to count mail-in ballots received up to three days after Election Day, refusing a Republican request to stop a pandemic-related procedure approved by the state's supreme court. The court was tied, but that means a request to put the state's court ruling on hold failed. The court's four most conservative justices -- Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr., Neil M. Gorsuch and Brett M. Kavanaugh -- said they would have granted the stay. But it takes five votes to issue a stay, and that means Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. sided with liberal Justices Stephen G. Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan."
Texas. Amateurs Will Decide if Your Vote Counts. Karen Harper of the Texas Tribune: "If they decide the signature on the ballot can't be verified, Texas election officials may continue rejecting mail-in ballots without notifying voters until after the election that their ballot wasn't counted, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday. The appeals court halted a lower court's injunction, which had not gone into effect, that would have required the Texas secretary of state to either advise local election officials that mail-in ballots may not be rejected using the existing signature-comparison process, or require them to set up a notification system giving voters a chance to challenge a rejection while their vote still counts.... Before mail-in ballots are counted, a committee of local election officials reviews them to ensure that a voter's endorsement on the flap of a ballot envelope matches the signature that voter used on their application to vote by mail. They can also compare it to signatures on file with the county clerk or voter registrar that were made within the last six years. The state election code does not establish any standards for signature review, which is conducted by local election officials who seldom have training in signature verification."
The Trumpidemic, Ctd.
Lena Sun, et al., of the Washington Post: "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday strongly recommended in newly issued guidelines that all passengers and workers on planes, trains, buses and other public transportation wear masks to control the spread of the novel coronavirus. The guidance was issued following pressure from the airline industry and amid surging cases of the coronavirus and strong evidence on the effectiveness of masks in curbing transmission, according to CDC officials. The recommendations fall short of what transportation industry leaders and unions had sought, and come long after evidence in favor of mask-wearing was well established. The CDC had previously drafted an order under the agency's quarantine powers that would have required all passengers and employees to wear masks on all forms of public transportation, according to a CDC official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.... Such orders typically carry penalties. The order was blocked by the White House...."
What should a leader do when he learns a beloved & highly-respected member of his team has received death threats & so have his family members? (a) Express great confidence in & support for his aide & outrage at the perps. (b) Call the aide a disgrace and an idiot whom people are sick of. Now -- no peeking -- guess which choice Donald Trump made Monday after Anthony Fauci said Sunday night on "60 Minutes" that he & his family required Secret Service protection because of death threats against him.
Morgan Chalfant of the Hill: "President Trump derided Anthony Fauci as a 'disaster' and claimed that Americans have tired of the novel coronavirus during a call with campaign staff on Monday. 'People are tired of COVID. Yup, there's going to be spikes, there's going to be no spikes, there's going to be vaccines. With or without vaccines, people are tired of COVID,' Trump said, according to audio of the call obtained by The Hill. 'I have the biggest rallies I have ever had and we have COVID. People are saying whatever, just leave us alone. They're tired of it.' Trump then accused Fauci ... of providing inconsistent advice about the coronavirus pandemic and claimed baselessly that if he had followed all of Fauci's advice the United States would have '700,000 to 800,000 deaths right now.'" Blah-blah. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Michael Sherer & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "'People are tired of listening to Fauci and these idiots,' Trump said, baselessly suggesting that Fauci's advice on how best to respond to the outbreak was so bad it would have led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands more people.... Trump also argued that the American people were no longer interested in taking precautions to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, even as the number of confirmed cases has been rising in a majority of states.... The call, which some reporters were invited to listen in on, appeared to have been motivated by recent news stories about internal concerns about the president's reelection chances and division within the president's team.... 'I go to a rally I have 25,000 people,' Trump said, greatly exaggerating the size of his crowds while making a comparison with Democrat Joe Biden. 'He goes to a rally, he has four people.'... Trump, phoning in from Las Vegas, sounded angry and defiant on the call and made a range of startling accusations and comments, including that Biden should be 'in jail.' 'He&'s a criminal,' Trump said, without offering evidence what crime he had committed.... Trump made a number of dubious or false statements...." Blah-blah. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Rebecca Shabad & Monica Alba of NBC News: "... Donald Trump on Monday attacked Dr. Anthony Fauci during a phone call with campaign staff... saying every time he goes on television there is a 'bomb,' but there would be 'a bigger bomb if you fire him,' according to a recording of the call obtained by NBC News." Mrs. McC: Trump, BTW, does not have the authority to outright fire Fauci, but of course Trump could further sideline Fauci.
~~~ Jemima McEvoy of Forbes: Trump continued to attack Fauci throughout the day in tweets & in a campaign appearance in Arizona.
Dr. John Barry, in a New York Times op-ed, takes a balanced look at how herd immunity would work -- or not. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Iowa. Jason Clayworth of the Des Moines Register: "Iowa's government misallocated at least $21 million of federal assistance intended for COVID-19 relief and must correct the error by the end of the year or face having to repay the money, State Auditor Rob Sand [D] says. Iowa used the money from the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security, or CARES, Act to help pay for a new accounting system. Sand and the U.S. Treasury Department's inspector general last week advised Gov. Kim Reynolds' [R] administration that the software is not an allowable use of the money, according to a review Sand released Monday."
New York. Dana Rubenstein & David Goodman of the New York Times: "... nearly three weeks into [New York City's] in-person school year, early data from the city's first effort at targeted testing has shown ... a surprisingly small number of positive cases [of Covid-19]. Out of 16,348 staff members and students tested randomly by the school system in the first week of its testing regimen, the city has gotten back results for 16,298. There were only 28 positives: 20 staff members and eight students. And when officials put mobile testing units at schools near Brooklyn and Queens neighborhoods that have had new outbreaks, only four positive cases turned up -- out of more than 3,300 tests conducted since the last week of September.... The absence of early outbreaks, if it holds, suggests that the city's efforts for its 1.1 million public school students could serve as an influential model for school districts across the nation." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Charles Kaiser, in the Guardian, reviews David Rothkopf's book Traitor, which is about Donald Trump. "'Trump is despicable,' he writes. 'But beyond his defective or perhaps even non-existent character, there are the near-term and lasting consequences of his actions. We must understand these to reverse them, and we must understand how easily Russia achieved its objectives in order to prevent such catastrophes in the future.'... Rothkopf provides an important roadmap through the massive evidence of collaboration between the Trump campaign and the Russian secret services -- including 272 contacts between 'Trump team members and Russian-linked individuals...'... Rothkopf is appropriately harsh about the shortcomings of Robert Mueller, including his failure as special counsel to secure an in-person interview with the president and his refusal to indict the president for any of the crimes his report describes, including as many as 10 counts of obstruction of justice." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Ann Miramow of the Washington Post: "President Trump's lawyers and the Justice Department will return to court Tuesday to try to stop House Democrats from enforcing their subpoena for the president's tax and financial records. The Supreme Court this summer said the president is not immune from congressional investigation, but the justices put the subpoena on hold. The case is now back before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit for a more detailed review of Congress's request to access Trump's personal financial records held by his longtime accounting firm."
Benjamin Weiser & Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "The Justice Department said on Monday that President Trump should not be sued personally for having denied a rape allegation because he made the statement while acting in his official capacity as president. Lawyers for the government made the argument as they defended Attorney General William P. Barr's decision to intervene in a defamation lawsuit filed in a New York court against President Trump by E. Jean Carroll, the writer.... Using a law designed to protect federal employees from defamation suits when they perform their duties, Mr. Barr sought to transfer the lawsuit from state court to Federal District Court in Manhattan and to substitute the federal government for Mr. Trump as the defendant. That maneuver, if approved by a judge, would have the practical effect of dismissing Ms. Carroll's lawsuit because government employees enjoy immunity from most defamation claims."
** Law professor & former Reagan Solicitor General Charles Fried, in a New York Times op-ed, lays the gauntlet at the feet of Johnny & the Dwarfs: "Joe Biden got it exactly right in expressing an ambivalent openness to pushing for legislation -- entirely constitutional -- enlarging the number of Supreme Court justices, if Democrats win the presidency and the Senate in November.... With the seemingly inevitable rise of Amy Coney Barrett to the court, this impending six- person majority is poised to take a constitutional wrecking ball to generations of Supreme Court doctrine...." Fried lists numerous "frankly reactionary decisions [which] are incurable by legislation because they were said to be based in the Constitution. And every one of them favors, and was favored by, partisan Republican interests and was decided 5 to 4 by Republican-appointed justices.... Let's see if the current Supreme Court majority overplays its hand. If it does, then Mr. Biden's nuclear option might not only be necessary but it will be seen to be necessary. But for now, let him not overplay his hand." Thanks to Ken W. for the link.
Suspended Animation. Laura Wagner of Vice: "The New Yorker has suspended reporter Jeffrey Toobin. Sources tell VICE it's because he exposed himself during a Zoom call last week between members of the New Yorker and WNYC radio. Toobin said in a statement to Motherboard: 'I made an embarrassingly stupid mistake, believing I was off-camera. I apologize to my wife, family, friends and co-workers.... I believed I was not visible on Zoom. I thought no one on the Zoom call could see me. I thought I had muted the Zoom video,' he added.... Toobin's Conde Nast email has been disabled and he has not tweeted since October 13. He did, however, appear on CNN, where he is the network's chief legal analyst, on Saturday. 'Jeff Toobin has asked for some time off while he deals with a personal issue, which we have granted,' CNN said in a statement." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Toobin is a good reporter & analyst, but he is, well, a dickhead, so his "inappropriate behavior" is, after all, appropriate. See, Jeff, on Zoom you can tell when the video is off because there's a slash across the video symbol. Also, there's a little screen -- usually at the top of the page -- that shows just your name on a black screen & not a video of your dick. And, really, why would anybody flash his colleagues?
~~~ Mrs. McC Update. So I wrote the comment above before I came upon Vice's UPDATED LEDE or "How to End Your Career in Journalism": ~~~
~~~ "The New Yorker has suspended reporter Jeffrey Toobin for masturbating on a Zoom video chat between members of the New Yorker and WNYC radio last week. Toobin says he did not realize his video was on.... [Two participants on the call] said that they saw Toobin jerking off." Emphasis added, and why not? ~~~
~~~ So it seems like a good day to chat up Anthony Weiner. NBC New York video.
Florida. Amy Gardner, et al., of the Washington Post: "Thousands of voters flocked to the polls throughout Florida on the state's first day of in-person voting Monday despite heavy rains across the state, adding to evidence that Americans are unusually eager to cast ballots in this year's presidential election.... Meanwhile, statewide data from Friday showed a distinct advantage for Democrats among mail voters, with more than 1 million Democrats casting ballots by mail compared to about 620,000 Republicans, according to the Florida Democratic Party."
Beyond the Beltway
Virginia. Ian Shapira of the Washington Post: "Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) ordered an investigation into the culture at the Virginia Military Institute on Monday after Black cadets and alumni described relentless racism at the nation's oldest state-supported military college. The governor, who graduated in VMI's Class of 1981, co-wrote a letter to the college's Board of Visitors informing it that the state will fund an independent probe into the school's treatment of its Black students. His action followed a Washington Post story detailing a lynching threat, Klan reminiscences and Confederacy veneration at the Lexington school, whose cadets fought and died for the slaveholding South during the Civil War. The letter -- signed by Northam, Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax (D), Attorney General Mark R. Herring (D), and several House and Senate leaders, including Del. Lamont Bagby (D-Henrico), the chair of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus -- said the state is directing an 'independent, third-party review' of what officials called 'the clear and appalling culture of ongoing structural racism at the Virginia Military Institute.'... Northam has made racial equity in Virginia a cause since he was caught up in a blackface scandal over his 1984 Eastern Virginia Medical School yearbook."
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Reader Comments (25)
Re Jeffrey Toobin, on behalf of women everywhere, I just want to say this: We do not love your dick. We certainly do not love it as much as you seem to. And we definitely do not want to see it. WT fkg F??
Eww. Just eww.
TV = "tube"
A tube is a long cylinder.
"Toobin' " will be a new slang word by week's end.
Who says the culture is going down the tubes?
Must add, somewhat reluctantly, to the theme here. Rush has finally discovered that his diagnosis means curtains. Good thing the Orange one already granted that medal, eh?
At least he didn't "elect" to show it to some unsuspecting woman like these dumb men usually do-- How unfair that he was taking it for a drive for his own amusement and neglected to assure privacy... This one will "go down in history--" :)
@RockyGirl
Being a non-empathetic sort, can't easily access a woman's feelings. Have enough trouble getting in touch with my own.
But have to say, this male is not at all interested in Toobin's dick either.
Again, "What is wrong with these people?" applies.
I’m having a (okay, not gonna day it...)..a DIFFICULT time, understanding what is so exciting about a Zoom chat. Did the topics suddenly veer into the salacious? Or was Jeffrey simply that bored he decided it was time for a little self abuse while everyone else talked shop? Good thing we only get head shots when he’s on camera, Jesus.
@Akhilleus: According to the Vice story, Toobin & other reporters were doing some kind of election simulation, & each reporter was playing a "part." Toobin's assigned part was "the courts." Although the key moment apparently took place during a break in the simulation, maybe Toobin's "point" was that judges & justices would be jerking off. Whatever his excuse, it won't be good enough for me.
Besides, the whole premise sounds stupid & was never -- even absent the masturbation segment -- going to make it into Great Moments in Journalistic History.
Amy will make a big difference...
She certainly will. And the biggest difference (aside from dragging the country down the path of harsh theocracy and off the chain wingnuttery) will be to John Roberts. He could soon be Chief Justice in name only. The term “Roberts Court” is a thing of the past, soon yo be replaced by the Amy-Sam-Clarence-Bart-Neil Court, or worse, the Trump Jackboot Court.
He has already lost his position as possible linchpin and legal arbiter in using his weight to sway decisions one way or the other. Even if he decides, on occasion, to side with the forces of honesty, probity, and respect for precedence, and against hypocrisy and hyper-partisan, naked power grabbing, it won’t be enough. Even when he sides with the Nazis, liars, and rapists, it won’t matter. His vote will be inconsequential.
Judge Amy will be the Sister Mary Elephant on this court.
Johnny is toast.
But we’re the ones who will be getting burned.
Marie,
As we all learned in grammar school, once a kid gets a nickname, especially a memorable one, they are very hard to un-get.
“Ol’ Jag off Jeffrey“ is not a sobriquet I would hope for. He might be back on camera at some point, but no matter how accurate and perspicacious his observations, more than half the viewers will be thinking “Yeah, okay. Now go play with yourself.”
He’s toast too.
With all the latest news about Hillary's and Hunter's emails, I'm definitely not voting for either of them. Don't try to change my mind.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-gops-agenda-under-trump-voter-suppression-pandemic-denial-and-a-personality-cult/2020/10/19/49000fe6-1235-11eb-ad6f-36c93e6e94fb_sto ry.html
Still wondering how a personality cult can arise around a person with such a gag-inducing personality, daily on full display.
So, in sum, according to Gerson we have a Let's Pretend Party intent on destroying the foundations of our democracy, headed by a mental and moral defective.
Can't argue with that.
So, Toobin has brought a whole new meaning to the expression - to go tubin'. As kids we used truck and tractor-tire inner tubes as recreation equipment. In winter we'd go careening down snow-covered hills, even making trails with banked curves around trees like a bobsled run. In summer we'd use them as floats in lakes and down creeks/rivers. Those with a death wish would get towed behind a snowmobile or speedboat as they played crack the whip. Even now there are businesses that rely on tubin'.
Not sure how to apply its latest use in a sentence though...
Forrest,
Talk about fighting the last war...
But hey, if these idiots want to waste time digging dry holes, less power to them. Any day now I expect Fatty to announce that peace talks with North Vietnamese are being canceled and he personally will be going after that mean ol’ Ho Chi Minh.
@unwashed: "When @RockyGirl was invited to go tubin' with Jeff, she said, 'Eww.'"
Unwashed,
The latest iteration of “going toobin’” involves smacking into one of those trees. A nice way to Ethan Frome your career.
I wish I could shake the feeling that five people are going to decide this election.
@Akhilleus: You would drop Toobin's troubles into a literary framework!
Marie,
Just call me Steve McGarrett, the Hawaii 5-O guy whose catchphrase was “Book ‘im”.
A mute button!?!?
How can that possibly be fair to Fatty? No chance to interrupt 150 times during the “debate” (which should really be called the presidential talky-thing)? That can’t be fair. But it’s fair to Biden, right? Oh, suuuure. Let’s be fair to Biden but never to Trump.
Because fairness, to Trump, means “all the breaks for me and fuck the other guy”. But isn’t interrupting and shouting and insulting his actual talky-thing tactic? His only tactic?
What will he do? Plus—and this is great—no preparation this time unlike LAST TIME!?
Wow. He was “prepared” for that horror show? Can’t wait to see what “unprepared” looks like.
But back to the mute button. Trump will still shout and scream and make faces and gesticulate like a St Vitus Dance patient who self medicates with crack.
Unless Biden’s mic is highly directional, viewers will still hear Fatty yelping. But more importantly, so will Biden, and that’s the point. If you got nothin’ to say, trying to disrupt your opponent, who does, is the best way to try to camouflage your ignorance.
Kinda confused by the Justice Department's Google filing.
Don't they know the company motto is "Don't be evil"--or did they change it?
Surely there's a really evil company out there they could go after?
I'd help them make a list.
Ken,
The Trump Company?
@Ken: Besides all the"wacking off" dick talk today the sentence that brought me up short is your "Being a non-empathetic sort, can't easily access a woman's feelings." I don't believe that for one minute cuz having gotten to know you as well as one can get to know another in our virtual reality I'd say you do not fit that bill––at all!
@AK: Your mention of Ho Chi Minh reminded me of that little lifeless leader in South Viet Nam, Diem, who, during his reelection, had ballots for him colored green and those for the opposition party colored red so at the end when counting said ballots you knew which ones to throw out.
And speaking of throwing or in this case dumping: According to Mary Trump, her father, when a boy, dumped a bowl of mashed potatoes on Fatty's head during a family dinner because little Donny wouldn't shut up about something. This episode would be brought up quite a few times during family get-togethers; instead of Trump laughing along with others, he became furious. With this little incident alone, if we knew nothing about Trump, we could ascertain a whole lot about the man whose thin skin has always been in the sink with those potato ones.
PD,
I do overstate, but I have copious evidence I often don't think or feel like many women do.
That said, I like the idea of a mashed potato mute.
Think Biden could have a bowl handy?
I was thinking today that if the Dumpster is reelected, the rest of the world will never forgive U.S.
PD,
History shows us that apparently small events can have huge repercussions. Trump’s cavalier approach to international politics could have some terrible after effects. How do we know?
The historian Margaret MacMillan, in her wonderful account of the Treaty of Versailles, “Paris 1919”, passes on the anecdote of a busboy working at the Ritz in Paris who wrote a passionate letter to the Big Three (Woodrow Wilson, David Lloyd George, and George Clemenceau) who were busy, at Versailles, carving up the world in the aftermath of WWI, begging them for relief from the colonial French government running his country. He received no reply. The country was Vietnam. The busboy was Ho Chi Minh.
By the way, MacMillan knows whereof she speaks. She is the great granddaughter of former British PM Lloyd George.
Who knows what future Ho Chi Minh Fat Fuck Trump’s ignorance is unleashing upon the world?