;)
The Commentariat -- October 8, 2020
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
AP: "Six people plotted to try to kidnap Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer at her vacation home, according to a criminal complaint unsealed Thursday in federal court. Four of the six men had planned to meet Wednesday to 'make a payment on explosives and exchange tactical gear,' the FBI said in the cour filing. The FBI quoted one of the accused as saying Whitmer 'has no checks and balances at all. She has uncontrolled power right now. All good thing must come to an end.'" This is a breaking story.
Dan Mangan, et al., of CNBC: "Elliott Broidy, a formerly influential campaign fundraiser for ... Donald Trump and the Republican party, was charged Thursday by federal authorities with violating a foreign lobbying law. Broidy was charged in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., with an instrument known as as a criminal information, which is typically used when a defendant has agreed to plead guilty. The charging document says Broidy agreed to lobby the Trump administration and the Justice Department to drop or favorably resolve the investigation of a foreign national for his role in the embezzlement of billions of dollars from the Malaysia state development fund...."
Jodi Kantor of the New York Times examines the claims by Amy Dorris, who said that in 1997 Donald Trump "groped & forcibly kissed her." Two then-friends of Dorris said she shared the story with them in 1997 and that they believed her. Dorris's mother & another friend also said she called them for advice shortly after Trump attacked her.
Rebecca Shabad of NBC News: z'House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., says she plans to talk about the 25th Amendment, which outlines presidential transfer of power procedures, on Friday. Pelosi told reporters during her weekly press conference at the Capitol Thursday to come to the Hill 'tomorrow' because she said, 'We're going to be talking about the 25th Amendment.'... In an interview immediately after her press conference, Pelosi suggested that the president may not be thinking clearly because of the drugs he has taken while being treated for the disease. 'The president is, shall we say, in an altered state right now,' Pelosi said on Bloomberg TV."
Another Trumpertantrum. Morgan Chalfant of the Hill: "President Trump said Thursday that he would not participate in a virtual debate, minutes after the organizing commission announced that next week's event would be virtual to protect the health of those involved. 'I'm not going to do a virtual debate,' Trump ... said in an interview on Fox Business, claiming the Commission on Presidential Debates is 'trying to protect' Democratic nominee Joe Biden. 'I'm not going to waste my time with a virtual debate. That's not what debating is all about. You sit behind a computer and do a debate, that is ridiculous,' Trump continued. He indicated that his campaign was not informed of the decision before it was announced.... Biden's campaign indicated that the former vice president would participate.... Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien, who also was diagnosed with COVID-19 last week, issued a statement later Thursday morning, describing the decision by the commission as a 'pathetic' effort to 'rush to Joe Biden's defense.' He said that Trump would hold a campaign rally instead." Mrs. McC: It isn't just that Trump doesn't care if he infects others with the coronavirus; he seems to want to infect Joe Biden. The idea that the committee would protect Biden & others from Trump's deadly virus offends Trump. ~~~
~~~ Update. Chelsea Janes & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "... Joe Biden, speaking to reporters in Wilmington, Del., before boarding a flight to Arizona, said he is unsure what will happen now. 'We don't know what the president is going to do. He changes his mind every second, so for me to comment on that now would be irresponsible,' Biden said. 'I'm going to follow the commission's recommendations. If he goes off and he has a rally, I don't know what I'll do.'... Both campaigns said that their organizations had not been consulted about the switch to a virtual debate. Frank J. Fahrenkopf Jr., the head of the Presidential Debate Commission, said that both campaigns were given five minutes' notice before the decision was announced, and that they were not asked to consent to the decision."
"Truly Unbelievable." Will Feuer of CNBC: "... Donald Trump said Thursday that he's not contagious 'at all' days after he was discharged from the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center after a brief stay to treat him for Covid-19. 'First of all, I think I'm better. I'd love to do a rally tonight. I wanted to do one last night, but I think I'm better to a point that I feel better than I did, I jokingly said, 20 years ago. I feel perfect. There's nothing wrong,' he told Fox Business' Maria Bartiromo on a call Thursday morning. 'I don't think I'm contagious at all.'... Dr. Leana Wen, former Baltimore health commissioner, said the president's comments are 'truly unbelievable.'"
Quint Forgey of Politico: "... Donald Trump suggested Thursday that he might have contracted Covid-19 from Gold Star family members who were too close to him when telling stories of their loved ones who died in the line of duty. In an interview on Fox Business, Trump told host Maria Bartiromo that he 'figured there would be a chance' he would become infected with the coronavirus, citing his meetings with the families of America's war dead.... Trump explained that as he was being told these stories about fallen soldiers, 'I can't say, "Back up, stand 10 feet," you know? I just can't do it.'... Trump's remarks Thursday were most likely in reference to a White House event on Sept. 27 celebrating Gold Star families, which several high-ranking military leaders also attended."
Elizabeth Thomas of ABC News: "... Donald Trump on Thursday attacked Sen. Kamala Harris as 'a monster' the day after the vice presidential debate. 'This monster that was on stage with Mike Pence, who destroyed her last night by the way, but this monster, she says no no there won't be fracking, everything she said is a lie'" Trump said in an interview with Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo. He went on to call her 'horrible,' and 'totally unlikeable,' as well as a 'communist.'"
From the Washington Post's live election updates Thursday, also linked below. Felicia Sonmez @ 10:59 am ET: "The organizers of last night's vice-presidential debate had strict rules regarding mask use amid the coronavirus pandemic: Anyone not wearing a mask could be ejected from the venue. But that didn't stop Karen Pence from appearing maskless onstage as she greeted her husband at the end of the debate. By contrast, Harris's husband, Doug Emhoff, was wearing a face mask as he joined his wife onstage at the debate's end.... After the debate, former Wisconsin governor Scott Walker (R) tweeted a photo of himself posing with a group including [mike] Pence and Pence's chief of staff, Marc Short. Members of the group were smiling, embracing -- and not wearing masks." Mrs. McC: Too bad a burly security guard didn't wrangle Karen to the ground. That would have been more amusing than the fly alighting on mike's head.
Griff Witte of the Washington Post: "In interviews, Americans whose lives have been upended by the [corona]virus said they felt disappointed that the president missed an opportunity to model responsible behavior. They expressed anger that Trump has continued to minimize the virus's threat after receiving deluxe care that the vast majority of people can only dream of at a time when testing and treatments are running low. And they voiced fear that Trump's words and actions would lead to more reckless behavior among his supporters."
Leslie Josephs of CNBC: "Airline stocks fell Thursday after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said there won't be a standalone bill for additional aid for carriers without a larger coronavirus stimulus package. Pelosi's comments come two days after ... Donald Trump halted talks for a national coronavirus package until after the election, but urged additional aid for the ailing airline sector." Mrs. McC: Stand-alone bills tend to be poison. They allow Republicans to pick & choose among bills so that poor people, supported only by Democrats, get nothing while wealthier entities get support from both Republicans & Democrats, & those bills pass.
Ha Ha. Jennifer Kelleher of the AP: "The U.S. surgeon general was cited for being in a closed Hawaii park in August while in the islands helping with surge testing amid a spike in coronavirus cases, according to a criminal complaint filed in court. A Honolulu police officer cited Jerome Adams after seeing him with two men 'looking at the view taking pictures' at Kualoa Regional Park on Oahu's northeastern coast, the citation said."
Mike's Lesson on How to Deflect without Lying. Jen Christensen of CNN: "Asked [during last night's debate] if the human-caused climate crisis made wildfires bigger and hurricanes wetter, slower and more damaging, Pence did not answer the question directly. Instead, he claimed that, 'with regard to hurricanes, the National Oceanic Administration tells us that actually, and as difficult as they are, there are no more hurricanes today than there were 100 years ago.' This needs context. Mike Pence is correct, based on the limited data we have on storms from that time period. The number of hurricanes generally are about the same as they were 100 years ago, according to historical records. However, scientists also believe hurricanes today are becoming stronger and potentially more deadly as the planet warms due to the climate crisis, according to a 2020 study from the US government's own researchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The scientists also said the data did not go back far enough for them to definitively link the strength of storms to human-induced global warming. Researchers have found that the probability of storms reaching major hurricane status has increased decade after decade."
Administration Officials Scramble to Send Bribe Letters. Dan Diamond of Politico: "Caught by surprise by ... Donald Trump's promise to deliver drug-discount cards to seniors, health officials are scrambling to get the nearly $8 billion plan done by Election Day, according to five officials and draft documents obtained by Politico. The taxpayer-funded plan, which was only announced two weeks ago ... is being driven by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.... The administration is seeking to finalize the plan as soon as Friday and send letters to 39 million Medicare beneficiaries next week, informing seniors of Trump's new effort to lower their drug costs although many seniors would not receive the actual cards until after the election."
~~~~~~~~~
The Vice Presidential Debate
Alexander Burns & Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Kamala Harris clashed over the Trump administration's handling of the coronavirus pandemic on Wednesday night, with Mr. Pence defending the White House's record without addressing its fundamental failures, while Ms. Harris accused him and President Trump of presiding over a catastrophic failure in public-health policy. Ms Harris, the California Democrat who is Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s running mate, delivered a comprehensive denunciation of the Trump administration's policies, ranging from the economy and climate change to health care regulation and taxes. As Ms. Harris attacked Mr. Trump, the vice president sought to recast Mr. Trump's record on the pandemic and other issues in conventional and inoffensive terms, often in plain defiance of the facts. The vice president made misleading or plainly false claims about White House policies on a range of subjects weighing down Mr. Trump in the presidential race.... Mr. Pence repeatedly attempted to interrupt Ms. Harris -- usually without success -- and also talked over the moderator, Susan Page of USA Today." Here's the Times' highlights reel:
Dave Weigel, et al., of the Washington Post: "Both Vice President Pence and Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.) returned again and again to attacking the top of the other campaign's ticket. Harris went after Trump's efforts to stem the coronavirus, his attempts to upend President Barack Obama's health-care program, his trade policies and his reluctance to condemn white supremacists at the first presidential debate last week.... Pence focused on Biden's plan to raise some taxes for the wealthy and his efforts to move past fossil fuels, repeatedly returning to mentions of the 'Green New Deal.' He called Biden a 'cheerleader for communist China' and attacked the former vice president for recommending that Obama delay the raid that killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden."
The debate transcript, courtesy of Rev, is here.
Astead Herndon & Adam Nagourney of the New York Times: "By the standards set by President Trump at his debate with Joseph R. Biden Jr., the matchup on Wednesday night between Senator Kamala Harris and Vice President Mike Pence was almost civil. Almost.... They were as likely not to answer a question as to answer one.... Even by the standards of modern debates, Mr. Pence ignored questions he presumably did not want to answer and often spoke over Ms. Harris and the moderator, Susan Page of USA Today, though at considerably less volume than Mr. Trump." Herndon & Nagourney point to key moments.
Ha! whaur ye gaun, ye crowlin ferlie?
Your impudence protects you sairly;
I canna say but ye strunt rarely,
Owre pence's face;
Tho', faith! I fear ye dine but sparely
On sic a place.-- Apologies to Robert Burns ~~~
~~~ Politico reporters choose some highlights. Here's one: "An uninvited guest stole the spotlight for a portion of the debate: a fly that perched upon Pence's hair. The fly remained on the vice president's head for about two minutes. As Harris and Pence spoke about racial justice and police brutality, it did not budge, nor did Pence acknowledge its presence.... The black fly was hard to miss against Pence's white hair...." Mrs. McC: Had the fly landed in Trump's "hair," it would have nested & laid maggots.
The Way We Were. Ryan Lizza of Politico: "... This was a boring, unfocused debate between two well-prepared and polished candidates who had little interest in answering the questions posed to them -- and were under virtually no pressure from the moderator to do so. In other words, it was sort of how debates used to be: professional politicians who are mostly civil to each other making their points, occasionally skirting the rules, and frequently spinning the facts. There was a lot to critique, but the participants were bound by some shared sense of propriety.... Considering the challenges anyone would have defending the Trump record on the pandemic, Pence's ability to leave the stage after 90 minutes without being gutted by Harris was a bar cleared.... Like the fly, the physical barriers were more memorable and more embarrassing to Pence than anything Harris said.... The vice presidential debate did nothing to alter the course of the race.... Pence's robotic drone and Harris's practiced jabs won't get the media to avert its eyes as Trump tweets conspiracy theories in all caps and praises criminal acts against protesters...."
Ken Meyer of Mediaite: "Vice President Mike Pence decided to invoke the 2009 H1N1 health crisis in order to defend President Donald Trump's leadership against the coronavirus pandemic -- and he chose to invent a nonexistent, worse-case scenario about the 'swine flu' to make his administration's performance look better.... 'If the swine flu had been as lethal as the coronavirus in 2009, when Joe Biden was vice president, we would have lost 2 million American lives.'" Mrs. McC: Yes, and what if the common cold were as lethal? Or headaches? What did you do about migraines, Joe? Here's more about H1N1 (August 2020).
Justin Baragona of the Daily Beast: "At the tail end of Wednesday night's vice-presidential debate -- one that was noticeably less fiery and chaotic than last week's presidential clash -- Vice President Mike Pence completely avoided answering what he would do if ... Donald Trump refuses to step down if he loses the election."
Glenn Kessler, et al., of the Washington Post: "In the vice-presidential debate, Vice President Pence took a number of flimsy claims out of the Trump playbook, although he often delivered them more deftly. Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.) also stretched the truth at times. Here is a roundup of 15 suspect claims that were made." ~~~
~~~ Dan Merica & CNN Staff: "Vice President Mike Pence echoed some of ... Donald Trump's most common falsehoods and misleading statements during the lone vice presidential debate with Sen. Kamala Harris on Wednesday night -- though in a more restrained, neatly packaged way. The Salt Lake City debate was a less chaotic affair when compared to September's first meeting between Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden. But there were traces of that event in Pence's delivery of some of the same lines that the President often repeats. Harris, too, made some claims that were misleading or lacked context, but those paled in comparison to the litany of statements from Pence that were either untrue or needed additional context." The report lists some of pence's & Harris's false or misleading claims.
Jennifer Agiesta of CNN: "More Americans said Sen. Kamala Harris did the best job in the vice presidential debate Wednesday night, according to a CNN Instant Poll of registered voters who watched. About 6 in 10 (59%) said Harris won, while 38% said Vice President Mike Pence had the better night. Those results roughly matched voters' expectations heading into the debate. In interviews conducted before the debate, 61% of those same voters said they expected Harris to win, 36% thought Pence would."
Defending the Indefensible. Richard Wolffe of the Guardian: "The night did not start well for Pence because it started with the pandemic.... 'Our nation has gone through a very challenging time this year,' lamented our vice-veterinarian. 'But I want the American people to know that from the very first day, President Donald Trump has put the health of America first.' This will be news to the families of more than 200,000 dead Americans, as well as the White House staff currently struggling with a president spreading a full viral load around the executive mansion and the West Wing. 'When you [Harris] say what the American people have done over these last several months hasn't worked, that's a great disservice to the sacrifices the American people have made,' said Pence, as if his boss was the entire American population rolled into the Covid-filled body of a former reality TV star.... This kind of piously indignant pabulum is not a new performance for the current vice-president but rather something he perfected as a talkshow radio host in Indiana in the late 1990s. Pence styled himself as 'Rush Limbaugh on decaf' which is just the kind of awshucks deception that is so vital to serving as a cardboard cutout behind Donald Trump's shoulder."
Tim Murphy of Mother Jones: Pence "spoke directly to 'the American people' a few times, furrowed his brow when he wanted to look disappointed (which was often), and even said something nice about Sen. Kamala Harris, congratulating her on her selection to the ticket. But his performance showed just how weak the Republican ticket's hand really is right now.... Pence did his best to pick and choose stats and moments that would demonstrate leadership, but there's not really anything he can say that can reverse what Trump has done.... The best card in Pence's hand -- the one that at one point they believed made them favorites for reelection -- was the economy.... But it's not 2019 anymore. The economy is a disaster.... At this point, trying to brag about the economy is only reminding voters how bad things have gotten -- and how much worse they'll likely get."
New York Times reporters' live snark analysis of the debate is here. It includes video of the debate.
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: In the first series of questions, pence did nearly all the talking, refusing to shut up when Page tried to stop him & talking over Harris's brief responses. He did this without raising his voice, but he's still bullying the women. I think I've had enough already. Update: I stuck it out for about an hour, & pence continued in the same vein. Were I Page, I would have calmly told him that if he interrupted again, he would have to leave the stage & she would devote the rest of the time to chatting with Harris about house pets. I'm not kidding. Meanwhile, the NYT reporters are so accustomed to Trumpertantrums that they kept calling the debate "civil." Thanks to Trump, the candidates have to get in the equivalent of a bar brawl for people to label their exchanges "uncivil." And I remain surprised that Harris, who has years of experience in the courtroom, is not a better debater. If pence had not been so obnoxious, she would have lost the debate. However, being a good debater is not a qualification for the top jobs. On the job, presidents & veeps don't engage in public debates.
Patrick Hipes of Deadline on where to watch the debate, which begins at 9 pm ET Wednesday.
Shane Goldmacher & Adam Nagourney of the New York Times on what to watch for: "It is difficult to overstate how much this debate has been shaped by the Covid-19 pandemic.... Mr. Pence, as the head of the White House task force on the coronavirus, will presumably be pressed to account for the faltering White House response to a pandemic that has killed over 200,000 people in the United States. Since returning from the hospital, Mr. Trump has sought to recast the entire discussion on the pandemic, arguing that the virus is in fact not that serious and that Americans should continue to live their lives.... Vice-presidential candidates have only two things to accomplish in a debate: Defend the person at the top of your ticket. And attack the person at the top of the opposition ticket. But that basic rule of thumb got a little more tricky for Ms. Harris. With Mr. Trump's Covid-19 diagnosis and him just being back at the White House after three nights in a hospital, harsh attacks against an ailing president might be politically unwise."
Apoorva Mandavilli of the New York Times: "Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Kamala Harris will be seated more than 12 feet apart on the podium, with plexiglass barriers between them. Mr. Pence and his aides had objected to the barriers, but relented on Tuesday night. The barriers might make more sense if Mr. Pence and Ms. Harris were seated more closely together on the podium, scientists said. But the risk in this setting is airborne transmission of the coronavirus, and the barriers will do nothing to protect Ms. Harris and the moderator, Susan Page, Washington bureau chief of USA Today, if Mr. Pence were infected. Linsey Marr, an expert on airborne viruses at Virginia Tech..., laughed outright when she saw a picture of the debate setup. 'It's absurd,' she said." The plexiglass barriers will do nothing to mitigate an airborne disease.
Being in the same office, likely unmasked, counts as close contact. It is irresponsible for VP Pence to debate Senator Harris in person tonight, and it is unfortunate that the director of the CDC has chosen to overrule his own agency’s guidelines. -- Angela Rasmussen, Columbia University virologist ~~~
~~~ Lena Sun & Yasmeen Abutaleb of the Washington Post: "A letter sent by the top public health official attesting to Vice President Pence's health and proclaiming him safe to debate Wednesday night is sparking outcry from public health experts. The letter was released Tuesday evening by the White House. It was sent by Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to Marc Short, Pence's chief of staff. In his three-paragraph letter, Redfield said he had a 'detailed discussion' with Pence's physician about the vice president's possible exposure to 'persons with COVID-19.' Based on the consultation with Pence's doctor, Jesse Schonau, and Schonau's 'investigation and the serial negative testing results of the Vice President, the CDC concludes from a public health standpoint, it is safe for the Vice President to participate in the upcoming Vice-Presidential debate,' Redfield wrote.... Redfield said Pence was not a 'close contact' of anyone who was infected.... It is highly unusual, and perhaps unprecedented, for the CDC director to release a letter vouching for the health of a top public official."
The Trumpidemic, Ctd.
The New York Times' live updated of Covid-19 developments Thursday are here.
The New York Times' live updated of Covid-19 developments Wednesday are here. The Washington Post's live updates for Wednesday are here.
Quint Forgey of Politico: "The White House's top doctor relayed an optimistic assessment from his patient Wednesday, the second public update on ... Donald Trump's health since he returned from the hospital with Covid-19 two days ago. 'The President this morning says "I feel great!"' Trump's physician, Sean Conley, wrote in a memo released by the White House press office. Trump's vital signs, oxygen saturation level and respiratory rate 'all remain stable and in normal range' Conley wrote." ~~~
~~~ Orion Rummler of Axios: "President Trump has been 'symptom-free' from the coronavirus for over 24 hours, White House physician Sean Conley said in a Wednesday update." Mrs. McC: Really?? I just heard Trump in a rambling, 5-minute infomercial-type videotape he cut Wednesday, & he was hoarse. Isn't "hoarse" a "symptom"? Also, one has to wonder if that odd new shade of make-up he's wearing for the camera is to cover up another symptom. In the infomercial he pushes Regeneron, which he promises to get you, too, and for free! ~~~
~~~ Maggie Haberman & Katie Thomas of the New York Times: "President Trump claimed on Wednesday that catching the coronavirus was 'a blessing from God' and portrayed as a miracle cure the unproven therapeutic drug he was given after testing positive last week for the virus. Mr. Trump said he planned to make the antibody cocktail being developed by the drug maker Regeneron, which does not yet have government approval, free to anyone who needs it. He did not explain how he would do it, although on Wednesday night, Regeneron said it had submitted an application to the Food and Drug Administration for emergency approval. The president's statement, in a video released early Wednesday evening by the White House, was his latest effort to repair the political damage he has suffered after months of trying to minimize the effects of a pandemic that has killed more than 211,000 Americans.... In the video released Wednesday night, Mr. Trump, whose skin appeared darkened by makeup and who appeared to struggle to get air at times, seemed to be saying that he had discovered, without evidence, a new drug that suddenly made him feel better and could do the same for everyone else with Covid-19." Mrs. McC: Actually what he said that was, although the medical profession calls Regeneron a "therapeutic," he considers it to be a "cure" for Covid-19.
** About That "Blessing from God.” Antonio Regalado in MIT's Technology Review: "This week..., Donald Trump extolled the cutting-edge coronavirus treatments he received as 'miracles coming down from God.' If that's true, then God employs cell lines derived from human fetal tissue. The emergency antibody that Trump received last week was developed with the use of a cell line originally derived from abortion tissue, according to Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, the company that developed the experimental drug. The Trump administration has taken an increasingly firm line against medical research using fetal tissue from abortions.... But when the president faced a deadly encounter with covid-19, his administration raised no objections over the fact that the new drugs also relied on fetal cells, and anti-abortion campaigners were silent too." The story is subscriber-firewalled, but you get three freebies.
Jordan Phelps of ABC News: "Even as ... Donald Trump remained infected with the novel coronavirus and contagious, he returned to the Oval Office Wednesday, disregarding isolation rules and putting staffers at increased risk. White House chief of staff Mark Meadows ... said ... that safety precautions would be taken to accommodate the president ... and said that those who have direct contact with the president at this time are wearing 'full PPE, masks, goggles, and the like.'... The president's return to the Oval Office comes as he is supposed to be observing a period of self-isolation, in accordance with CDC guidelines.... A White House official said the president used an outdoor entrance to access the Oval Office Wednesday to avoid contacts with White House staff and that only a select few staff members are coming into direct contact with the president." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: To demonstrate what a big, whiney, demanding baby Trump is, it was entirely unnecessary for him to "work" out of the Oval Office. According to the ABC News report, "The White House had outfitted the Map Room and Diplomatic Reception Room in the White House residence as remote working spaces for the president during his period of expected isolation after his made-for-TV return from three nights in the hospital on Monday." BTW, here's the "work" Trump did Tuesday night & Wednesday: ~~~
~~~ "Arrest Somebody!" Kyle Cheney of Politico: "Donald Trump mounted an overnight Twitter blitz demanding to jail his political enemies and call out allies he says are failing to arrest his rivals swiftly enough. Trump twice amplified supporters' criticisms of Attorney General William Barr, including one featuring a meme calling on him to 'arrest somebody!' He wondered aloud why his rivals, like President Barack Obama, Democratic nominee Joe Biden and former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton hadn't been imprisoned for launching a 'coup' against his administration. 'Where are all of the arrests?' Trump said, after several dozen tweets on the subject over the past 24 hours. By early afternoon, Trump was letting loose his frustrations in an all-caps missive that seemed aimed at nobody in particular. 'DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS, THE BIGGEST OF ALL POLITICAL SCANDALS (IN HISTORY)!!! BIDEN, OBAMA AND CROOKED HILLARY LED THIS TREASONOUS PLOT!!! BIDEN SHOULDN'T BE ALLOWED TO RUN - GOT CAUGHT!!!' Trump tweeted. The day-long run of tweets and retweets marked the most frantic stretch of Trump's public activity since he left the presidential suite at Walter Reed Medical Center.... They also underscored the degree to which Trump remains fixated on his grievances over the Russia probe, and often on obscure aspects of that investigation that are unintelligible to all but its most careful followers."
Spencer Ackerman, et al., of the Daily Beast: "On the same day President Trump acknowledged contracting the coronavirus, the White House quietly informed a veterans group that there was a COVID-19 risk stemming from a Sept. 27 event honoring the families of fallen U.S. service members, the head of that charitable organization told The Daily Beast. The White House warning, which came on Oct. 2 [last Friday], is the earliest known outreach to visitors of the complex that there was a risk of coronavirus emerging from the grounds where the president, the first lady, and at least 17 of his aides, according to Politico, have now tested positive for the virus.... Pictures from the Gold Star family event, which Trump attended, show minimal mask wearing and social distancing. It took place indoors, though attendees said they were tested prior to attending."
** Josh Margolin & Lucien Bruggeman of ABC News: "The coronavirus outbreak has infected '34 White House staffers and other contacts' in recent days, according to an internal government memo, an indication that the disease has spread among more people than previously known in the seat of American government. Dated Wednesday and obtained by ABC News, the memo was distributed among senior leadership at FEMA.... The new figures underscore both the growing crisis in the White House and the lengths to which government officials have gone to block information about the outbreak's spread." Mrs. McC: You knew this would prove the case.
White House Keeps Secret "Gravely Ill" Staffer. Aris Folley of the Hill: “A White House security official is reportedly 'gravely ill' after contracting COVID-19 in September, Bloomberg reports. The publication identified the official as Crede Bailey, who heads the White House's security office. He has reportedly been receiving hospital care since September.... According to Bloomberg, which cited four sources familiar with official's condition, Bailey grew sick before the Rose Garden event held on Sept. 26, in which President Trump nominated Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court."
All the Best Super-spreaders. Josh Salman & Dinah Pulver of USA Today: "... Donald Trump and other White House insiders infected with COVID-19 carried the virus across the country in a matter of days, potentially exposing hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people as they went about their business, a USA Today investigation found. From a religious summit outside Atlanta to a campaign rally at a Pennsylvania airport and a private fundraiser in Minnesota, Trump, his aides and political allies attended events with thousands of people, often without masks and little regard for social distancing."
Missy Ryan of the Washington Post: "A senior military official who was quarantining following interaction with another uniformed leader who contracted covid-19 has tested positive for the coronavirus, the Marine Corps said on Wednesday. Gen. Gary Thomas, the assistant commandant of the Marine Corps, received the positive test a day after he began quarantining, the service said in a statement."
Presidential Race, Etc.
The Washington Post's live election updates Thursday are here. John Wagner (@7:28 am ET): "The second presidential debate will be virtual, with Trump and Biden appearing 'from separate remote locations,' the Commission on Presidential Debates announced Thursday morning. The Oct. 15 town-hall-style debate had been planned for Miami with a live audience asking questions.... [The commission] said the change was being made 'to protect the health and safety of all involved.'"
Vote Them Out! A Unique Non-Endorsement. Jacqueline Howard of CNN: "In an unprecedented move, the New England Journal of Medicine on Wednesday published an editorial written by its editors condemning the Trump administration for its response to the Covid-19 pandemic -- and calling for the current leadership in the United States to be voted out of office. 'We rarely publish editorials signed by all the editors,' said Dr. Eric Rubin, editor-in-chief of the medical journal and an author of the new editorial.... 'This crisis has produced a test of leadership. With no good options to combat a novel pathogen, countries were forced to make hard choices about how to respond. Here in the United States, our leaders have failed that test. They have taken a crisis and turned it into a tragedy,' the editorial says. It does not endorse a candidate, but offers a scathing critique of the Trump administration's leadership during the pandemic. 'Anyone else who recklessly squandered lives and money in this way would be suffering legal consequences. Our leaders have largely claimed immunity for their actions. But this election gives us the power to render judgment,' the editorial says.
Scott Bland & Elena Schneider of Politico: "Starting this week, a generation of voters in Texas will see something they've never witnessed before: a heavy rotation of presidential TV ads. In a move that would have been far-fetched even a few months ago, Joe Biden is set to spend $6.2 million on ads in the state over the next month -- attempting to put the state in play for the first time in decades. The latest polling averages show ... Donald Trump leading by only 2 to 3 points in Texas, and Biden's push there illustrates both how much the state has changed and how much the political environment is tilting against Trump less than a month from the Election Day. Perhaps even more astounding: Trump doesn't have the money to counter the cash-flush Biden on TV. Over the past two weeks, Biden had the airwaves to himself in Iowa, Ohio, Texas and New Hampshire, while Trump went dark, according to Advertising Analytics, a TV tracking firm."
Henry Gomez of BuzzFeed News: "... Donald Trump's reelection campaign is slashing television spending in the Midwest, canceling millions of dollars in advertising in states that carried him to victory in 2016. He's been off the local airwaves completely in Iowa and Ohio. The campaign also has given up at least $2 million worth of reservations in both Michigan and Wisconsin since early September. And in Minnesota, a state Trump almost won four years ago and has expressed confidence in flipping, his team already has chopped about $5 million from its projected fall TV budget.... The Trump campaign, meanwhile, according to data shared by Democratic ad trackers, has in recent weeks boosted its TV presence in the Sun Belt battlegrounds -- Arizona, Florida, and Georgia -- and Nevada, a state Trump lost in 2016."
President* Plans to Continue Super-spreader Campaign. Zack Budryk of the Hill: "President Trump plans to take to the campaign trail again next Monday starting in Pennsylvania, just more than a week after he was diagnosed with the coronavirus and taken to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bloomberg reported. The president plans to visit Pennsylvania on Monday. Later in the week, he plans to visit the battleground states of Florida and Michigan, according to the publication, citing people familiar with the matter."
National Security Leaders Stand Up Against Trump's Lies. AP: "Four weeks ahead of Election Day, senior national-security officials provided fresh assurances about the integrity of the elections in a video message Tuesday, putting them at odds with ... Donald Trump's efforts to discredit the vote.... Though Trump was not mentioned during the nine-minute video, the message from the speakers served as a tacit counter to his repeated efforts, including in last week's presidential debate, to allege widespread fraud in the mail ballot process and to preemptively cast doubt in the legitimacy of the election.... 'I'm here to tell you that my confidence in the security of your vote has never been higher,' Chris Krebs, the director of the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency, said in the video message. 'That's because of an all-of-nation, unprecedented election security effort over the last several years.'... 'No matter which method you choose, your voice is important,' said FBI Director Chris Wray. 'Rest assured that the security of the election, and safeguarding your vote, is and will continue to be one of our highest priorities.'" ~~~
~~~ The video & a transcript are here, via the FBI. ~~~
~~~ But Bill Barr Is Doing His Best to Help Trump. Robert Faturechi & Justin Elliott of ProPublica: "The Department of Justice has weakened its long-standing prohibition against interfering in elections, according to two department officials. Avoiding election interference is the overarching principle of DOJ policy on voting-related crimes. In place since at least 1980, the policy generally bars prosecutors not only from making any announcement about ongoing investigations close to an election but also from taking public steps -- such as an arrest or a raid -- before a vote is finalized because the publicity could tip the balance of a race. But according to an email sent Friday by an official in the Public Integrity Section in Washington, now if a U.S. attorney's office suspects election fraud that involves postal workers or military employees, federal investigators will be allowed to take public investigative steps before the polls close, even if those actions risk affecting the outcome of the election.... Specifically citing postal workers and military employees is noteworthy, former DOJ officials said. But the exception is written so broadly that it could cover other types of investigations as well, they said. Both groups have been falsely singled out, in different ways, by ... Donald Trump and his campaign for being involved in voter fraud." ~~~
~~~ DNI John Ratcliffe, Too. Jonathan Swan of Axios: "Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe has approved the release to the Department of Justice of a large binder full of documents to assist a review of the Obama administration's handling of the Trump-Russia investigation, according to a source with direct knowledge of the materials and confirmed by Ratcliffe.... The release, which is being revealed publicly for the first time today, comes as President Trump is urging his agencies to expedite the release of materials that he believes will be politically advantageous to him. It follows a flurry of tweets by the president accusing the Obama administration of orchestrating a 'treasonous plot' against him by investigating his campaign's ties to Russia.... Former CIA Director John Brennan, a frequent target of the president and his allies, has accused Ratcliffe of selectively declassifying documents in order to 'advance the political interests' of Trump ahead of the election." Mrs. McC: Brennan, of course, would know the general tenor of classified documents re: the Trump-Russia investigation during President Obama's administration.
Defender of the Faith! Celine Castronuovo of the Hill: "President Trump's son Eric Trump claimed that his father 'literally saved Christianity' when touting the commander in chief's accomplishments during a recent interview on a North Dakota radio show.... 'I mean, there's a full out war on faith in this country by the other side.... The Democratic Party, the far left, has become the party of the "atheists," and they want to attack Christianity, they want to close churches, they're totally fine keeping liquor stores open,' he said, referring to COVID-19 orders by governors in some states labeling liquor stores as 'essential' businesses, while also putting limitations on the number of people allowed in houses of worship.... Despite Trump's public praise of conservative Christian leaders, The Atlantic reported last week that Trump had allegedly called evangelical pastors 'hustlers' in a 2015 conversation with his then-lawyer Michael Cohen. Former aides also told the magazine that they heard the president mock conservative religious leaders, adding that he saw them as a group to be 'schmoozed, conned or bought off,' according to The Atlantic."
Elizabeth Dwoskin of the Washington Post: "Facebook said it plans to temporarily suspend all political and issue-based advertising after polls close Nov. 3, a move the company said was intended to limit confusion, misinformation and abuse of its services in the days after the presidential election. The social media giant also said it would remove calls for people to watch the polls when those posts use militaristic or intimidating language. Executives said the policy applies to anyone, including President Trump and other officials. Trump has made calls for people to engage in poll-watching, including at the presidential debate, and son Donald Trump Jr. appeared in an ad last month urging people to 'defend your ballot' and join an 'army' to protect the polls."
Congressional Races. Eleventh-Hour Regrets. Robert Costa of the Washington Post: "Vulnerable Republicans are beginning to distance themselves from President Trump's dismissive response to the coronavirus pandemic and his dramatic termination of negotiations with congressional Democrats over federal economic relief, with the latest cracks carrying enormous implications for Trump and the party with just four weeks until Election Day. Facing a political reckoning as Trump's support plummets and a possible blue tsunami looms, it is now conservatives and Trump allies who are showing flashes of discomfort with the president, straining to stay in the good graces of his core voters without being wholly defined by an erratic incumbent."
Maine. Ariane de Vogue & Chandelis Duster of CNN: "Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer cleared the way Tuesday night for ranked-choice voting to be used in Maine, delivering a blow to Republican challengers. In September, Maine's Supreme Court had sided with the state's Democratic secretary of state and rejected a Republican challenge to the system, which allows voters to rank all the candidates by preference and for a voter's next choice to be considered if their first candidate doesn't have enough votes to be viable. The winner must have more than 50% of the votes. Republicans in the state asked the high court to step in and put the state Supreme Court opinion on hold. The petition went to Breyer, who has jurisdiction over the lower court." ~~~
~~~ Susan Collins Goes Low. Burgess Everett of Politico: During an interview last week, Sen. Susan Collins attacked her Democratic challenger Sara Gideon for building a campaign "on a foundation of falsehoods." She said 'that Gideon's campaign was being run as an arm of Chuck Schumer's Washington operation.... Perhaps most pointedly, she suggested that Gideon is from away -- a serious charge in a state that can turn its nose up at outsiders. 'I grew up in Caribou, I've lived in Bangor for 26 years. My family's been in Maine for generations. She's been in Maine for about 15 years and lives in Freeport,' Collins said acidly of Gideon, who was born and raised in Rhode Island. 'That's a big difference in our knowledge of the state.'" Mrs. McC: Collins' attack sounds xenophobic to me. She accuses Gideon of being an outsider, a shill for a Jewish "operator" from New York City & Washington, D.C. Gideon's father is an Indian immigrant, and her mother is a second-generation Armenian-American. In a state with a small minority population, Collins really wants Mainers to know Gideon is "from away." Way away.
North Carolina. Paul Specht of PolitiFact & Cullen Browder of WRAL News: "A California woman on Tuesday confirmed to The Associated Press that she had a physical relationship with Cal Cunningham, North Carolina's Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate. Both are married to other people. On Wednesday morning, the Army Reserve confirmed to WRAL News that it has opened an investigation into Cunningham, who is a lieutenant colonel in the Reserve.... Adultery is listed as 'unacceptable conduct' by the military and may be 'service discrediting.'... Political experts say the North Carolina race could decide the balance of power in the U.S. Senate. Many polls show Cunningham with a small lead over Republican Sen. Thom Tillis. On Wednesday morning, a statement from Cunningham spokeswoman Rachel Petri indicated that the Democrat intends to move forward with his campaign." Emphasis added.
Josh Gerstein & Kyle Cheney of Politico: "A federal appeals court on Wednesday rejected ... Donald Trump's efforts to keep his financial records from a Manhattan prosecutor, putting the president on track for a second date at the Supreme Court in his campaign to keep those documents private. A three-judge panel of the New York-based 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals rejected arguments from Trump's legal team that the subpoena issued to Trump's accounting firm at the request of Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance was too broad and that the subpoena amounted to retaliation for the refusal of Trump's businesses to cooperate with Vance's office.... 'We will be filing a stay with the Supreme Court,' Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow said." A Washington Post story is here.
Carol Lee & Courtney Kube of NBC News: "... Donald Trump required personnel at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to sign nondisclosure agreements last year before they could be involved with treating him, according to four people familiar with the process. During a surprise trip to Walter Reed on Nov. 16, 2019, Trump mandated signed NDAs from both physicians and nonmedical staff, most of whom are active-duty military service members, these people said. At least two doctors at Walter Reed who refused to sign the NDAs were subsequently not permitted to have any involvement in the president's care, two of the people said. The reason for his trip last year remains shrouded in mystery." Mrs. McC: Seems to me the doctors who refused to sign were following best medical practices, as there are some instances where medical professionals are required by law to reveal diagnoses, though not to publicly name the patient. For instance, what if Trump had had an STD? Or Ebola?
John Hudson of the Washington Post: "The Trump administration has decided to impose new sanctions on Iran's financial sector in defiance of European allies who warned that the move could have devastating humanitarian consequences on a country reeling from the novel coronavirus and an ongoing currency crisis, three officials familiar with the decision said Wednesday. The measures will target the few remaining banks not currently subject to secondary sanctions in a move European governments say is likely to diminish channels Iran uses to import humanitarian goods, such as food and medicine, officials said."
Kentucky. Marisa Iati, et al., of the Washington Post: "Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron (R) filed a court motion Wednesday seeking to bar an unidentified grand juror in the Breonna Taylor case from speaking about the proceedings, which the juror alleges Cameron has publicly mischaracterized. The motion comes the same day as the city of Louisville released a trove of documents from the police department's internal investigation into the fatal shooting of Taylor while officers carried out a search warrant in March. The documents show other Louisville officers criticizing the raid and cast doubt on the police department's justifications for the warrant, a key question addressed only in passing in recently released audio of the grand jury proceedings."
Minnesota. Holly Bailey of the Washington Post: "Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who was filmed with his knee on George Floyd's neck and who is now facing murder charges for Floyd's death, posted bond and was released from jail Wednesday morning."
News Ledes
Weather Channel: "Hurricane Delta is strengthening in the Gulf of Mexico as it heads for a Friday landfall on the Gulf Coast with life-threatening storm surge flooding, damaging winds and rainfall flooding from Louisiana and east Texas to Mississippi. A hurricane warning is in effect from High Island, Texas, to Morgan City, Louisiana, including Lake Charles and Lafayette, Louisiana, and Port Arthur, Texas. This means hurricane conditions are expected within 36 hours."
Guardian: "The poet Louise Glück has become the first American writer to win the Nobel prize for literature in 27 years. Glück, cited for 'her unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal', is the 16th woman to win the Nobel, and the first American since Toni Morrison took the prize in 1993. One of America's leading poets, Glück has won the Pulitzer prize and the National Book Award, tackling themes including childhood and family life, often reworking Greek and Roman myths."
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Reader Comments (24)
"....it is safe for the Vice President to participate in the upcoming VP debate."
Interesting (as well as sycophantic) phrasing.
Safe for Pence, maybe, but how about for everyone else?
@Bea, I agree. I've lost count of how many times I've screamed at my screen to tell Pence to shut the fuck up.
Why are these people running the country? Neither one of them can answer a question directly and succinctly. Both kept saying the American people deserve the truth - neither one delivers. Its like the choice is between a lying psychopath and just a lier. What an uninspiring performance.
I expect Harris' narcissism to blossom into a political liability when NOT TRUMP wins.
Turned the debate off after first segment. In just that early portion, Pence came across as patronizing and as loose with facts & the truth as is Trump.
Funny, the fly that landed on his head! Probably got stuck in his hairspray.
Harris did better than Pence but that's not saying as much as I would have liked to say about the superiority her performance.
I wished I had been more impressed by Harris than I was.
Both were fortunate I was not grading their answers as I would have judged essay answers on a test.
Harris: B
Pence: C-
Aren’t flies most often attracted to dead things? It moves, it talks, it interrupts, it mansplains, it insults, but its eyes are dead, its heart, missing, its brain, rotted.
Just another Trump zombie.
Just a thought...
If Fatty’s fat ass is thoroughly fried on election night, look for mail-in ballots to magically become respectable again, in an instant, as Trump demands (both tiny fists pounding away) that the election not be called until all of “his” votes are counted. Then watch for AG Himmler to send his brownshirts out to abscond with all mail-in ballots so they can be properly “counted” in a “secure location”, ie the White House basement.
Does this picture make my ass look fat? Or stupid? Or indolent?
This painfully transparent kabuki business of Covid Man insisting that he “work” (*cough-cough*) out of the Oval Office tracks with his eternal love of show, of symbols, as opposed to reality. “Working” (can appending those gigantic, childish signatures—another trite symbol—to blank pieces of paper actually be referred to as working?) from anywhere but the Oval Office would never do for the sad little man for whom gaudy, over the top show is everything.
This is why the insistence that “his” crowds are huge, that those pictures of his garish, ornate, fake gold-plated, baroque living quarters are so important to his image of himself as a big, important manly man. This is why the wig thing, the spray tan, the pounds of your pancake makeup, the Bible thing, the Mussolini chin jut, the ostentatious salutes (which he no doubt practices, with gushing self admiration, in one of the many gilded mirrors surrounding him in the White House), not to mention the desperate, steel cage death match attempts to keep his taxes hidden.
The escalator ride, the Hitler video, the incredibly reckless but self satisfying hospital ride around, to show how bravely he battles this horrible disease...or is it no worse than a cold? Oh well, it’s both. It’s whatever he needs it to be at the time in order to look good.
So, “work” out of the Map Room? Not on your life. Besides, someone might ask him to find Uzbeki-beki-beki-stan-stan, and then he’d be screwed. He wouldn’t LOOK GOOD.
Because that’s all he cares about.
“White House doctor sez Trump symptom-free!”
Isn’t this a bit like “Santa reports Easter Bunny doing much better after eggs broken by Hound of the Baskerville”?
ARREST SOMEBODY!!!!
Okay. How about you? Arrested for fraud, treason, confidence scams, and manslaughter. We could add a lot more (tampering with evidence, suborning perjury, threatening witnesses, etc.), but that would be a decent start,
FLY BY
What we and the fly witnessed last night was not a debate but an exchange between a model of a man without a pulse and a smiley, warm woman who managed to dig a few holes in her opponent's facade. The half-Pence, being the small half of the big cheese, continues to carry on the stink of the Limburger lies that have permeated this administration from the get go. It's a tough job to be a Vice when the presidential Vise is cutting off your blood supply. Hence–-that fly–-who sought a warm place to land found neither warmth nor softness in that white dome that dons the head that kept shaking no-no-no––something, by the way, that he did when Tim Kane was talking truth to power and I wondered then why Tim didn't stop talking and say––"What exactly am I saying that is NOT true?" which is something I wished Harris would have asked.
Pence, poor guy, used that tired old coinage–-"you are entitled to your own opinions, but you are not entitled to your own facts"–-twice–-and there, too, Harris could have pounced. BUT–-I give the lady lots of claps for making some really good points and refusing to allow the man on her left to bully her from his right and Susan Paige I'd hoped would stand up , raise her voice and say–-and sound like a scolding mother–-something Pence surely is familiar–-"Mr. Vice President, I said time is up!"
Something we hope takes place–-even that fly came to that conclusion.
https://us.cnn.com/2020/10/08/politics/second-presidential-debate-virtual/index.html
Now there's a great loss to the nation.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/08/opinion/supreme-court-barrett-questions.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage
Excellent column, I thought.
Some of Greenhouse's proposed questions for Barrett might-should make her squirm.
@Ken: right you are–-these are excellent questions and thanks for alerting us to Greenhouse's column. Here's the link:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/08/opinion/supreme-court-barrett-questions.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage
By the way: For those who think Harris was a "liar" last night I suggest they mosey over to the Times and check out their columnist's assessments re: the debate. Might be an eye opener.
Professor Barrett: Knowing the history of the shifting “rules” for appointing a SC justice in an election year, how do you feel, knowing that both your appointment and that of “Justice” Gorsuch will legitimately be viewed as illegitimate and partisan?
Uh, periscope, where do you get off calling Harris a narcissist in this age of the arrogant Dumpster divers? I'm sorry you did not approve of her; I did not think she was treated fairly, timewise, at all, and I think she was doing her best not to become shrill (like all women are accused of--) when interrupted and mansplained-to repeatedly by trumpbot Qtip. I was sooooo enraged by the first few times he kept dribbling out word-like things, even to the point that he would start a new thought, Susan Page be damned. She should have stood up and asked a new question to Harris every time he bullied his way into her time. Everyone knew the "president" would do that, bumbling and mumbling and spitting, but trumpbot did the SAME things, only in a low monotone. Harris did not skewer him as she could have-- that is a mystery to me. But "narcissist" for defending herself?? Weird.
These people are monsters. MONSTERS. I wish them nothing but ill, and you can add arrogant DisBarr, Pompouseo, McConnell and probably a few others. I'm still steaming at myself for having the stupidity to think well of Rod Rosenstein while he was busy screwing up the Russia investigation and killing children. Has ANYTHING gone well in four years? NOPE...
Breaking lead story is a bombshell. I had not read about this yet. I suppose the Michigan governor would need to be killed because she is the one in power, and of course, she is to be taken out for DOING HER JOB. Women everywhere should be enraged. Yesterday, WITF Harrisburg had the libertarian candidate, a woman, on, and she was spouting total gibberish we have been hearing from the lege: apparently, to the other party, trumpolini, trying to keep people safe is a killing offense. Our governor gets crap and lawsuits too, but so far, we don't know of a plot to kill him--
Is Whitmer a narcissist too, periscope?
Jeanne
When a debate candidate is asked a straightforward policy question and pivots to list her career achievements (on several questions) which were minimally related, I call that 'tooting ones own horn' either blindly because of narcissism, or to deliberately not answer an uncomfortable question. Such is politics. Either way I, and interested voters, don't get to hear pertinent information.
I think Periscope has a point, just maybe the wrong one.
As I noted earlier, I wasn't impressed by the debate as a debate. I seldom am, but that's in part because I apply the wrong standards.
While I, like Periscope, always wish to hear a coherent, fact-based, articulate answer to the questions posed, something that could be graded according to the rubrics applied to formal debating, I should know better than to expect it.
Political debates are made for TV shows. The idea is to look good, not to be good at debating, so formal debate standards are only peripherally applicable.
No one remembers what Kennedy said, just how Nixon looked ; and if one participant manages to deliver a memorable line ("There you go again"), only the line is remembered, not the argument.
The problem the Pretender had in what might be his first and only 2020 debate was that he forgot what he needed to do to look good, likely because after another four years of thinking too highly of himself and his talents, his producer--himself-- let the ignorant bully dominate, and set against the backdrop of all the obvious lies he's told as president, the ignorant bully was all that people saw.
@Ken: The question to Harris and Pence was were they capable of taking over the reins as president. Thus it was certainly correct that Harris give the public a brief summery of her bono fides; remember there are many that don't know her background and perhaps are listening to her for the first time. Someone like Periscope who is probably well informed sees this a "narcissistic" which certainly is short sighted, but understandable. Pence, by the way, never did answer that question.
DiJiT may be right, Regeneron may be the best therapeutic for Covid that could ever be.
It could also be the thing that eats your kidneys six months down the road as a tertiary effect for, say, people who eat Big Macs with cheese.
Which is why trials take a while. So it's Ok to give this stuff before trials are complete, if the probable outcome otherwise is death or major disability. But its not OK to say, as DiJiT does, that its a miracle cure.
The guy can't help it, vide the steaks, the water, the other schlock he's sold. But if you're a buyer (i.e. sick person who wants the treatment) of this Regeneron, you have to give "informed consent." If the required information said "DiJiT says this is a cure", would you give that consent?
Tough call. 100% liar bullshitter v. possible recovery. Real Jim Jones stuff for Trumpistas.
BTW, the drug company gets a "no liability" clause under these circumstances. They are not giving any odds, because they know how this works.
I'd be willing to invest in Regeneron based on what we know. That's not the same as pumping it through an IV into my vein.
Jeanne et al.:
Here's a rather disturbing story I found in the Freep this afternoon:
https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2020/10/08/whitmer-wolverine-watchmen-militia-michigan/5924617002/
I live in southeast Michigan (Washtenaw county, specifically the Ann Arbor-Ypsilanti area) so it's easy for me to shut out the horror that is "outstate" Michigan. But we do have the distinction of having one of the oldest militias in the modern US, and let us not forget that Timothy McVeigh was a product of the Michigan Militia.
Whitmer may or may not be a narcissist, but she is "La Fille du Régiment de La Croix Bleu" (this is for Akhilleus, with apologies if I mangled the French -- I'm better in Spanish): her father was the CEO of Michigan Blue Cross years ago, and she's basically owned by them. That said, she's done a damn fine job of dealing with the Covid Crisis, despite Trump's war against "Democrat-run states," even managing to earn the honorable distinction of a nickname from him: "That woman from Michigan." (There is, of course, a T-shirt, but winter is icumin in and I'd rather have a sweatshirt if I can find one.)
Naturally, this has the Mouth Breather Brigade here in Michigan galvanized into full treason mode. Amazingly, the FBI still seems to be capable, in some degree at least, of operating outside the influence of Trump and his minions, and has arrested several of the traitors.
I'm old; I'm tired; I'm depressed. I do NOT want to live in interesting times.
Gretchen Whitmer speaks like a leader:
https://youtu.be/yvLZaXdTjG4
Rose,
Love your Donizetti reference (one of my favorite operas). Your French is fine with the exception of the adjective bleu. The noun croix takes the feminine “bleue “, but we all get your meaning. Marie, (Donizetti’s daughter of the regiment), is a stand up lady, a tough but compassionate vivandiere, and she saves the hero from a serious beating, and a sad life without her.
And your “winter is icumen in”, an Ezra Pound adaptation of its ‘sumer’ version, reminds us that a vote for the Orange Monster is a guarantee of cold, harsh, dead times to come if Fatty has his way.