;)
The Commentariat -- October 9, 2020
Afternoon Update:
The New York Times' live Covid-19 updates Friday are here.
Dr. Trump, Medicine Man, & His Miracle Cure. A. G. Gancarski of Florida Politics: Donald Trump told Rush Limbaugh Friday, "'We have a cure' for COVID-19, he told the conservative talk master. 'We have a cure, some call it a therapeutic. I call it a cure that most have never heard of that's going to be out very soon,' Trump assured Limbaugh in the noon hour. 'I was in not great shape, but we had a medicine that healed me,' Trump said of the Regeneron antibody cocktail he was given at Walter Reed Hospital this week. That cure will be widely available soon, Trump asserted. 'Hundreds of thousands of vials are being sent to hospitals all over the country.... We can go into hospitals and clean up the hospitals,' Trump said. 'I had a meeting with the doctors today. These eleven guys, they showed me stats, it was amazing.... We're sending that to all our hospitals,' Trump said. 'This is stuff that's so good it wiped out the virus.'"
Must-Not-Watch TV. Jamie Ross of the Daily Beast: "... Donald Trump is apparently going to have a 'medical evaluation' on television. In an announcement from Fox News, the network said Trump is set to do his first on-camera interview since his COVID-19 diagnosis with Tucker Carlson tonight. But, in a significantly more interesting bit of the announcement, Fox News confirmed: 'Dr. Marc Siegel will conduct a medical evaluation and interview during the program.'.... Despite his insistence that he's totally fine, Trump hacked and coughed his way through a phone interview with Fox on Thursday night."
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David Eggert & Ed White of the AP: "Agents foiled a stunning plot to kidnap Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, authorities said Thursday in announcing charges in an alleged scheme that involved months of planning and even rehearsals to snatch her from her vacation home. Six men were charged in federal court with conspiring to kidnap the governor in reaction to what they viewed as her 'uncontrolled power,' according to a federal complaint. Separately, seven others were charged in state court under Michigan's anti-terrorism laws for allegedly targeting police and seeking a 'civil war.' A few hours later, Whitmer pinned some blame on ... Donald Trump, noting that he did not condemn white supremacists in last week's debate with Joe Biden and instead told a far-right group to 'stand back and stand by.' 'Hate groups heard the president's words not as a rebuke but as a rallying cry, as a call to action,' Whitmer said.... The six men charged in federal court plotted for months, consulting and training with members of a group that federal authorities described as a militia, and undertaking rehearsals in August and September, according to an FBI affidavit. They were arrested Wednesday night and face up to life in prison if convicted." This is an update of a story linked yesterday. ~~~
If the president read his intel briefings and understood the dogma of white nationalist groups, he'd realize that language like 'LIBERATE MICHIGAN!' is read as tacit permission -- if not explicit encouragement -- for militias to take action. -- Tim Alberta of Politico, in a tweet ~~~
~~~ Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs, et al., of the New York Times: "Storming the State Capitol. Instigating a civil war. Abducting a sitting governor ahead of the presidential election. Those were among the plots described by federal and state officials in Michigan on Thursday as they announced terrorism, conspiracy and weapons charges against 13 men. At least six of them, officials said, had hatched a detailed plan to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat who has become a focal point of anti-government views and anger over coronavirus control measures. The group that planned the kidnapping met repeatedly over the summer for firearms training and combat drills and practiced building explosives, the F.B.I. said.... The men spied on Ms. Whitmer's vacation home in August and September, even looking under a highway bridge for places they could place and detonate a bomb to distract the authorities, the F.B.I. said. They indicated that they wanted to take Ms. Whitmer hostage before the election in November, and one man said they should take her to a 'secure location' in Wisconsin for a 'trial,' Richard J. Trask II, an F.B.I. special agent, said in the criminal complaint."
So Then. Justine Coleman of the Hill: "President Trump chastised Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) on Thursday for calling the president 'complicit' in the extremism associated with the FBI-thwarted scheme to kidnap her. The president condemned the Michigan governor for not thanking him after the FBI filed a federal affidavit saying it stopped a militia group from violently kidnapping Whitmer. 'My Justice Department and Federal Law Enforcement announced today that they foiled a dangerous plot against the Governor of Michigan, he posted. 'Rather than say thank you, she calls me a White Supremacist -- while Biden and Democrats refuse to condemn Antifa, Anarchists, Looters and Mobs that burn down Democrat run cities.... I do not tolerate ANY extreme violence. Defending ALL Americans, even those who oppose and attack me, is what I will always do as your President!' he added. He also took shots at her handling of the coronavirus pandemic, saying she did a 'terrible job' and 'locked down her state for everyone.'"
BY CONTRAST. Dave Boucher of the Detroit Free Press: "It's not difficult to draw a connection between the divisive and racist rhetoric of ... Donald Trump and a thwarted plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said in a statement late Thursday. Biden said he'd reached out to Whitmer earlier in the day to check in after state and federal law enforcement announced they'd arrested 13 people in connection to what's being called a domestic terrorism plot.... The problem spans far beyond the threat against Whitmer though, Biden said. ~~~
As a nation, we are at a crossroads. We have come to a point where, despite our shock, we are not surprised that such a heinous plot was even conceived -- a plot by Americans to blow up a bridge on American soil, threaten the lives of police officers and other law enforcement officials, and kidnap an American leader, take her hostage, and stage a mock trial for treason.... When protesters with Swastikas and Confederate flags, nooses, and assault rifles descended on Michigan's Capitol echoing the president's own refrain to 'lock her up,' President Trump called them 'very good people.'... There is a throughline from President Trump's dog whistles and tolerance of hate, vengeance, and lawlessness to plots such as this one. He is giving oxygen to the bigotry and hate we see on the march in our country. -- Joe Biden, yesterday, in a statement
Charlie Warzel of the New York Times on how Facebook enabled & amplified the very militia groups that plotted against Whitmer & other Michiganders. "The complaint [against the Michigan perps] mentions Facebook three times as one of the communications platforms that the group used to coordinate their activities."
** Mary McCord, in a New York Times op-ed: "The danger of [private militias] was brought home on Thursday with the announcement that the F.B.I. had thwarted a plot by people associated with an extremist group in Michigan to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and overthrow the government.... Sometimes [these groups] want to fight against the perceived tyranny of the states, as when they stormed the Capitol in Lansing, Mich., this spring to demand the end of the governor's pandemic shutdown order, egged on by President Trump's tweets to'LIBERATE MICHIGAN!' Sometimes they want to usurp the functions of law enforcement, as they've done in Kenosha, Wis., and elsewhere, purporting to 'protect' property during racial justice protests, often in response to false rumors about leftist violence, rumors stoked by the president's calls to designate 'antifa' as a terrorist organization. Most alarmingly, some of them are planning their own poll-watching and openly training in preparation for the post-election period. Whatever their stated purpose, their conduct is unlawful and not constitutionally protected.... Those groups ... are likely to hear the president's unsupported claims about election fraud as their license to deploy to the polls to 'protect' or 'patrol' the vote."
Presidential Race, Etc.
Jonathan Martin & Sydney Ember of the New York Times: "Vice President Mike Pence, Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Senator Kamala Harris all touched down in Arizona on Thursday to rally supporters, a sign of the increasingly pivotal nature of a historically Republican state that is now up for grabs. In dueling afternoon appearances on the second day of early voting in Arizona, Mr. Pence and the two members of the Democratic ticket appeared on opposite ends of metropolitan Phoenix.... Even if the president is able to win one of the three Great Lakes states -- Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin, with polls showing him trailing in all three --..., his path to re-election would be greatly imperiled if he cannot hold Arizona. He's struggling here in large part because women and nonwhite voters have flocked to Mr. Biden, who, along with Ms. Harris, sought to appeal to some of those voters on Thursday. They met with Cindy McCain, the widow of Senator John McCain, and joined tribal leaders at a monument to Native Americans in Phoenix." He also made "a socially distanced appearance at a carpenters union hall."
Brett Samuels of the Hill: "Democratic nominee Joe Biden will take part in a town hall forum hosted by ABC News on the night of what was supposed to be the second presidential debate. The former vice president will instead participate in an event in Philadelphia moderated by ABC anchor George Stephanopoulos. The announcement indicates that the second presidential debate will no longer take place as planned Oct. 15 after President Trump balked at the decision to make it a virtual event for safety reasons." ~~~
~~~ MEANWHILE. Mike Perez of Forbes: "After refusing earlier in the day to participate in the October 15 presidential debate against former Vice President Joe Biden because it had been changed to a virtual format, President Trump's campaign is now demanding an in-person event, citing his physician's note that he has completed treatment for Covid-19. Thursday evening, Dr. Sean Conley said in a press release, 'I fully anticipate the President's safe return to public engagements' by Saturday.... Conley's note drew criticism from experts like Dr. Eric Topol... of the Scripps Research Institute, who questioned on Twitter the soundness of his assertion that Trump will be safe to engage with the public in two days given that he provided no evidence 'that he is not infectious, without viral load data, without providing when/timeline he became infected.'" ~~~
~~~ Zeke Miller & Will Weissert of the AP: "But [debates] commission chair Frank Fahrenkopf said late Thursday that the decision to hold the debate virtually, guided by its medical advisers at the Cleveland Clinic, was not going to be reversed." The article reprises yesterday's developments following the morning Trumpertantrum.
Peter Baker & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "The president has not been seen in person since returning to the White House this Monday, but he sought to reassert himself on the public stage with a pair of telephone interviews with Fox News and Fox Business as well as a video and a series of Twitter messages. Even for him, they were scattershot performances.... President Trump ... announced that he hoped to return to the campaign trail on Saturday just nine days after he tested positive for the coronavirus.... The president again dismissed the virus, saying, 'when you catch it, you get better,' ignoring the more than 212,000 people in the United States who did not get better and died from it. In his statement on Thursday night..., Dr. Sean P. Conley reported that ... by Saturday, 'I fully expect the president's return to public engagement.' Dr. Conley, who has previously acknowledged providing the public with a rosy view of the president's condition to satisfy his patient, contradicted his own timeline offered upon Mr. Trump's release from the hospital, when he said doctors wanted to 'get through to Monday.'... Mr. Trump ... indicating that he had directly pressured [AG Bill] Barr to indict [President Obama & Vice President Biden] without waiting for more evidence.... 'I said, "You don't need any more."'... [He] call[ed] Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan 'the lockup queen' even as his own Justice Department was announcing the existence of an anti-government group's plot to kidnap her." ~~~
~~~ Oliver Darcy of CNN: "Trump continued to careen from topic to topic on Sean Hannity's show [Thursday night], promoting conspiracy theories, peddling falsehoods, and launching attacks on Democrats and the media during a roughly 25 minute conversation. But it was arguably the President's health that took center stage. During the interview, Hannity twice asked Trump if he had been tested for the coronavirus since he became ill last week. It was a question that the President apparently couldn't answer. Trump instead said that he will 'probably' be tested on Friday. Medhi Hasan quipped about the non-answer, 'Mark the date, we have reached the point where even Sean Hannity is asking Trump simple questions that the president can't or won't answer.'... At least twice during the interview, Trump had to pause his sentences and audibly clear his throat and cough. The President insisted he was feeling great, claiming he saw his doctors earlier in the day and that they believe him to be in 'great shape.' But he sure didn't sound like he was cured, as he claimed to be."
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; he seems to want to infect Joe Biden. The idea that the committee would protect Biden & others from Trump's deadly virus offends Trump. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ 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." (Also linked yesterday.)
Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "There was much about President Trump's Thursday morning interview with Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo that reeked of desperation and an incumbent president fighting for his political life.... But perhaps nothing in the interview reflected his precarious position quite like what he said about some of his most loyal allies. And the theme of each was the same: These people aren't doing enough to further his political goals by linking his prominent foes to crimes.... Trump built upon tweets this week suggesting [Bill] Barr needs to start indicting people tied to the Russia investigation, while explicitly citing President Barack Obama and Biden.... [Trump] also expressed rare dissatisfaction with [Mike] Pompeo, who he said should release some sort of new information on Hillary Clinton's emails.... Trump also reserved some of his harshest words to date for [FBI Director Christopher] Wray, who has recently contradicted Trump's baseless claims about massive mail-in voter fraud. Trump declined to say whether he would fire Wray." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: It is unique in American history that a sitting president* would insist that his attorney general indict a former president & vice president -- and for "crimes" that occurred only in the sitting president*'s mind. ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Michael Balsamo & others of the AP have a story on how Bill Barr is "frustrated" by Trump's public attacks on him regarding U.S. Attorney John Durham's investigation of the investigation. But the story seems to be a Friends-of-Bill plant to allow Barr to pretend he's trying to be a careful, apolitical AG -- right up to the time he dumps his October surprise. Remember that Barr has refused to withhold DOJ findings that could affect the outcome of the election. I won't be surprised to see a headline like "DOJ Indicts Biden" on October 29. ~~~
~~~ Update. Mrs. McCrabbie: Well, shucks, maybe I'm wrong. Alayna Treene of Axios: "Attorney General Bill Barr has begun telling top Republicans that the Justice Department's sweeping review into the origins of the Russia investigation will not be released before the election, a senior White House official and a congressional aide briefed on the conversations tell Axios." Of course this too could be a feint.
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.'" (Also linked yesterday.)
From the Washington Post's live election updates Thursday. 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. (Also linked yesterday.)
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." (Also linked yesterday.)
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." (Also linked yesterday.)
Michigan. Gregory Lemos and Chandelis Duster of CNN: "Two right-wing political operatives accused of orchestrating robocalls aimed at deterring voters in Detroit and other major cities from casting their ballots by mail were arraigned Wednesday on voter intimidation charges, according to Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. Jack Burkman and Jacob Wohl were each charged last week with one count of intimidating voters, one count of conspiracy to commit an election law violation, one count of using a computer to commit the crime of intimidating voters and using a computer to commit the crime of conspiracy.... Both men turned themselves in to Detroit law enforcement early Thursday morning...."
Ohio. Ross Levitt & Devan Cole of CNN: "A federal judge on Thursday blocked an order from Ohio's secretary of state that would have required counties in the state to install ballot drop boxes just at the local election office, allowing additional drop boxes to be placed in areas that need them. At issue was an order earlier this week from Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose that limited ballot drop boxes to one location per county: a county's election office.... But federal Judge Dan Polster said LaRose's order puts a burden on more populous counties -- like Cuyahoga, which includes Cleveland -- and which he says has 'a very serious looming problem' that could jeopardize the right to vote.... 'The Secretary is continuing to restrict boards from implementing off-site collection, and he appears to be doing so in an arbitrary manner,' Polster wrote. 'The Court has given the Secretary every opportunity to address the problem ... and he has been unwilling or unable to do so.'"
The Trumpidemic, Ctd.
Rebecca Shabad of NBC News: "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." ~~~
~~~ Update. Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post: "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Rep. Jamie B. Raskin (D-Md.) plan to introduce legislation Friday that would create a commission to 'help ensure effective and uninterrupted leadership' in the presidency. The panel would be called the Commission on Presidential Capacity to Discharge the Powers and Duties of Office, 'the body and process called for in the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution,' the offices of Pelosi and Raskin said in a statement announcing the move. The 25th Amendment formalizes that the vice president takes over the duties of the presidency in the event of a president's death, inability to perform his duties or resignation from office. It also lays out a process by which a sitting president may be removed from office.... Raskin introduced a similar measure in 2017 that would establish a congressionally appointed commission of physicians and top leaders who could evaluate the president's health -- both mental and physical -- and work with the vice president on a transfer of power."
BBC: "Republican leader Mitch McConnell, 78, on Thursday revealed he had not been to the White House since August [6] because of the way it has handled Covid-19.... Speaking to reporters in Kentucky, Mr McConnell said he steered clear of the White House in the last two months 'because my impression was their approach to how to handle this was different from mine'.... 'And they are, you know, paying the price for it,' the top Republican said, adding that the Senate was operating normally thanks to its Covid-19 precautions
"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.'" (Also linked yesterday.)
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." (Also linked yesterday.) A New York Times story is here. ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Last week, Trump said Hope Hicks may have contracted Covid-19 from soldiers & law enforcement officers who always wanted to hug her. He said this knowing that he, too, had tested positive, though he lied about that. So he essentially blamed the military & law enforcement for making him sick.
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.",(Also linked yesterday.)
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. (Also linked yesterday.)
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." (Also linked yesterday.)
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, known as 1MDB." (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times story is here.
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. (Also linked yesterday.)
Pranshu Verma of the New York Times: "Five officials suspended from the government's global media agency sued its chief executive and top aides on Thursday, claiming they broke the law in repeatedly seeking to turn a news service under its purview into a mouthpiece for pro-Trump propaganda. The 84-page lawsuit asserts that Michael Pack, the chief executive of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, or his aides have interrogated journalists at the Voice of America who have censured Mr. Pack or written articles top officials believed were critical of President Trump, instilling fear across the agency." Read on for a summary of Pack's performance. NPR's story is here.
News Ledes
Weather Channel: "Hurricane Delta is a Category 2 storm heading for a Gulf Coast landfall Friday evening with life-threatening storm surge, damaging winds and rainfall flooding from Louisiana and east Texas to Mississippi. This includes some of the same areas that were ravaged by Hurricane Laura more than a month ago. As expected, Delta has begun to weaken slightly but it is important to not focus on its maximum sustained winds, as it will still be a powerful hurricane when it reached the Gulf Coast."
New York Times: "Whitey Ford, the Yankees' Hall of Fame left-hander who was celebrated as the Chairman of the Board for his stylish pitching and big-game brilliance on the ball clubs that dominated baseball in the 1950s and early '60s, died on Thursday night at his home in Lake Success, N.Y., on Long Island. He was 91."
New York Times: "The World Food Program was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for its efforts to combat a surge in global hunger amid the coronavirus pandemic, which has swept around the world with devastating impact. The Nobel committee said that work by the organization, a United Nations agency, to address hunger had laid the foundations for peace in nations ravaged by war."
New York Times: "Jim Dwyer, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter, columnist and author whose stylish journalism captured the human dramas of New York City for readers of New York Newsday, The Daily News and The New York Times for nearly four decades, died on Thursday in Manhattan. He was 63." The obituary describes the lede of a story Dwyer wrote when he was a reporter at the Fordham U. student newspaper & stopped to help a "rough-looking man having an epileptic seizure"
Charlie Martinez, whoever he was, lay on the cold sidewalk in front of Dick Gidron's used Cadillac place on Fordham Road. He had picked a fine afternoon to go into convulsions: the sky was sharp and cool, a fall day that made even Fordham Road look good.' ~~~
~~~ The Times published links to a selection of Dwyer's writings today, and the one, written in 2015, about Donald Trump's becoming principal for a day in 1997 is more evidence that Trump was always a jerk & proof that New Yorkers knew it.
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Reader Comments (30)
I think Biden should stick with the originally agreed-upon debate schedule. If MOOM doesn't like it being changed to an online format due to changes in circumstances (i.e., he's a superspreader) - well then, fuck 'im. What's he afraid of, a mute switch?
If he doesn't want to show up, then, when it's his turn to respond to a question from the town-hall attendee, the moderator should switch to the webcam for MOOM showing an empty chair/podium. Give it 5 seconds for a response, and then switch to Joe for his. Joe'll have an almost 90 minute venue to himself to demonstrate more rational and presidential behavior.
@unwashed. Yes, Trump is afraid of a mute switch. What he told Bartiromo was "No, I'm not going to waste my time on a virtual debate. That's not what debating is all about. You sit behind a computer and do a debate. It's ridiculous. And then they cut you off whenever they want." Interrupting, going overtime, shouting, stalking, carrying an assault rifle, whatever, are what Trump would call "debate skills."
Here again, Fatty is primarily concerned with appearances, not content, not any actual presentation of positions and the back and forth of any kind of exchange.
For Trump, a “debate” allows him to stalk around, like he did with Clinton, scream and yell and bully, like he did in the first debate-thing with Biden.
Biden should in no way bend even the tiniest bit for this whiny baby.
Can’t wait to see how the Orange Menace turns the plot by his followers to kidnap a sitting governor into some weird ass thing that’s entirely her fault and which makes HIM the victim.
Oh, and will Barr initiate an investigation into the FBI agents who are “harassing” those “patriots” who plotted to kidnap and murder Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer?
Confederates and Fox who applaud and abet Trump and McConnell’s plot to pack the Supreme Court are outraged that Biden won’t promise not to do the same and won’t tell them what he’s thinking.
Because of course.
I'm seriously puzzled.:
The Pretend administration is rushing to produce a vaccine to prevent millions of Americans from contracting the Covid virus and possibly dying, while it is at the same time pursuing (seriously flirting with?) a herd immunity policy that will result in million of deaths.
Narcissism or schizophrenia? Neither? Or both?
On Polls and Chickens. The Funky Kind.
Normally I’m suspicious of polls as a sort of Rosetta Stone for deciphering Possible election results. Like Trump, many of his supporters are liars, or at least see no problem with lying if it will keep Fat Adolf in power, so a +4 or +5 in Biden’s favor makes me nervous (it could be closer to a +1).
But +14? I’m not gonna be doing the Funky Chicken any time soon over that (okay, I’ll never do the Funky Chicken, and no one can make me, so there), but a plus 14 at least allows me to envision the possibility that a differential that large makes stealing the thing that much more difficult, even for a treasonous conniving crook like Trump. Not impossible, mind you. Just more difficult.
Ken,
And adding to the confusion, they’re rushing to make a vaccine for something Trump sez is no big deal, no worse than a cold. Or it could be a once in a millennium plague. One or the other. Meh. Who knows? They really don’t care. Do you?
Sarah Kendzior, a Mizzouri based journalist/writer, has a pretty good podcast called Gaslit Nation where she has been calling out of this corruption for years.
She recently had a good episode entitled the "Good Germans" where she takes down all of the enablers who have placed us in the extremely perilous situation we find ourselved in with superspreader Tang Mussolini roid raging against the foundations of our democracy.
The term "Good Germans", a clear reference to Hitler's enablers, has stuck with me for a while as I see all of Drumpf's hachet men taking daily strikes against the tree of liberty.
Just in the last few days, we now have mike pence officially joining the chorus of a contested election on a national debate stage, Bill Barr running cover for aggrieved and deranged white terrorist organizations, and now even a large chunk of the medical community covering up, aiding and abetting the principal perpetrator who unleashed mass death on the American public, all so he can spread more virus and more lies and more death while trying to rig the election in his favor.
The strong veneer of the shining light on the hill, of some mythic American exceptionalism, where authoritarian rule could never happen in the US of A, is officially shattered in a million pieces. And despite seeing it all unfold before us like a slow motion horror film, the growing list of "Good Germans" ready and willing to sacrifice themselves on the altar of Drumpf continues unabated, in every scenario, in every sector of society. It absolutely could happen here, and we're seeing its foundations solidify.
Speaking of good Germans, I believe it was Elie Wiesel who once wrote that if someone sees torture going on and has the power to stop it, but does nothing, they are just as guilty as the torturers.
I see the Mitch McConnells out there trying to inch away from the black hole of Trumpcutta, the filthy, immoral, treasonous font of confederate power over the last four years, as if he can claim to be one of great ‘mericans who tried to stop the treason, once Fatty is defenestrsted by the democracy he so despises. But he can’t. The worms and vultures who slithered up at the Trump trough to feed on the carcass of America should be expelled from the company of decent women and men forevermore.
To continue with the "Good German" meme: The following is a prime example albeit laded with a chill that causes shivers that never leave:
"Somewhere under the cornfields and backyard hoop courts of Indiana is a small black box holding the conscience of Vice President Mike Pence. He buried it four years ago, when a tape emerged of Donald Trump boasting about sexually assaulting women...
Pence and his wife, Karen, whom he reportedly calls “Mother,” had rushed home to pray during the biggest campaign crisis of 2016. Ever since an evangelical conversion in college, Pence had been a beacon of Hoosier holiness, using his talk radio show and his political perch to preach biblical values in the public sphere...
But, of course, he buried them in a heartland moment. And by 2017, Pence would have this to say about Trump to religious conservatives: “This is somebody who shares our views, shares our values, shares our beliefs.”
As we saw in Wednesday night’s debate, Pence is not just the great enabler of Trump’s awfulness, but the man who puts a godly sheen on it. In that sense, he’s more dangerous, and arguably more evil, than Trump." Tim Egan
After the first of Fatty's fatuous fumbling when returning from the hospital I thought, he's gone off the deep end––can he be stopped? The hour long diatribe on Fox yesterday begs for intervention–-and why we have a thing called the 25th amendment. We have got this lout until January. Lots can happen in that time. BUT–-the vice would take over and as Egan says, he's more evil and dangerous than Trump. I'd say safari's "it could happen here" is happening here.
Waiting for bunker-bitch to say something like 'those
kidnappers are very fine people but I like kidnappers who get the job done.'
Gretchen Whitmer not only has to deal with a Republican legislature but now with Covitas henchmen.
WHAT WE LOST IN THE CRASH
There’s a nip in the air now, a distinct crispness,
Especially around this time
When the sun is slowly settling down
In its glorious sienna panorama
Before turning off its light for the night––––
And I’m reminded of a time when
It seemed to last so much longer–––
When cries of children could be heard
In the distance playing one last game
Of tag before being called in for bed,
Faint strands of jazz, a lone dog’s bark
Echoes from across the park
As we sipped our martinis, talked over the day,
Smug in our attitudes, secure in our ways––––
And you––you were so close to me then,
So fine, so proud, so unbelievably optimistic––
Where did you go to? Try as I might
I can’t seem to hold onto what we’ve lost––––
That last touch––––– that last kiss,
Ephemeral as breath on glass.
October 2008
PD,
And when we think there’s not much else left to lose, along comes a bumptious bully to show us how much we take for granted the things he’s now taking away.
PD,
This one echoes. Have we seen it before?
Or does it seem familiar to me because it seems so bedrock right, a perfectly penned expression of the advancing season?
Either way, I thank you for it.
Mike Lee, (R-Facist) sez:
“Democracy isn’t the objective; liberty, peace, and prospefity are. We want the human condition to flourish. Rank democracy can thwart that.“
Um...I’m fine with liberty and peace (funny reading about a desire for peace from the party of chaos, violence, and kidnapping), but I’m not down with prospefity, whatever that is. Have another covfefe, Mikey.
And “rank democracy”?? Rank, used as an adjective (yes, Mike, it’s an ad-jec-tive), is defined as putrid, gross, rancid, offensive. And, yes, Mike, we know confederates find democracy offensive and repulsive.
So do all fascist assholes.
Saying the bad stuff out loud again. They don’t even care anymore. Not even bothering to pretend that democracy is the basis of the American Experiment. They hate it. Democracy guarantees that suspect, crazy, even criminal minority views will be voted out of the system eventually. They work on vote suppression and election rigging, but that shit can be tiring. Fuck it. Let’s just go all in on the fascist state thing. Trump wants his enemies jailed? No problem.
Prospefity for all our goosestepping lemmings.
Even if DJT does depart early next year, as now appears somewhat more likely, the political/social/media situation in the US that allowed him to rise will still persist. Naked Capitalism this morning links a video discussion/riff by Russell Brand that very engagingly lays out the reasons why we won't be able to relax into some sort of nostalgic normality with Good Old Joe. It's about 15 minutes long. Here's the link: https://youtu.be/mR52Cg__xYM
Akhilleus,
More echoes.
Of Burke and the privileged class' reaction to the French Revolution that like slavery's noisome heritage is still with us.
You think Lee knows that?
@Akhilleus: Very interesting about "rank prospefity." It seems Mike is smart enough to grasp -- unlike fellow Utah Sen. Mittster who thinks we live in a "center-right country" -- that the majority of Americans don't usually vote Republican & in fact prefer Democratic policies over whatever passes for Republican ones.
So he eschews representative democracy in favor of unrepresentative democracy. Utah has a population of 3.2 million people; California has a population of nearly 40 million. But gosh, the two states have the same number of U.S. senators, and their votes count equally in the Capitol. Of course Mikey likes it!
Akhilleus:
Elie Wiesel didn't say precisely that. He said something quite interesting:
"We must take sides. Neutrality helps the Oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national boundaries and sensitivities become irrelevant. Whenever men and women are persecuted because of their race, religion or political views, that place must - at that moment - become the center of the universe."
Victoria,
I wasn’t sure the quote I mentioned was voiced by Wiesel. I couldn’t recall the exact source but it seemed like something he might have said since he talks about torture in his book “Night”, which I read years ago. But thanks for an exact Wiesel quote. It’s certainly timely. And it describes a paradigm that is 180 degrees removed from how Trump and Republicans view the world.
Marie,
Quite. And if Democrats take back the country from the traitors, one of their first bits of business should be statehood for the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. The District has more residents than Wyoming and is comparable to Alaska in population. So if the almost quarter million Americans in DC don’t deserve representation, neither does Wyoming. Puerto Rico is bigger than a raft of Red States who have representation and support a fascist party and president*.
Four more senators for justice and democracy, and against treason, authoritarianism, and racism sound good to me.
An on-air, live medical examination? Of Covid Man? Ha! I’m sure that will be on the up and up. But if latex gloves and Vaseline appear, I’m diving for the remote. Some things human optic nerves were never meant to endure.
There is still a non-zero chance that the Oval Office Occupier has been faking his diagnosis, even if everyone else really is sick. The lack of transparency from his doctors is part of it, and if springs forth from his on-air exam completely symptom-free, I'll chalk the whole thing up to a plot to get his taxes out of the news.
If only the Big D were literate and down in Palm Beach! He could get the pleasure of reading the Palm Beach Post endorse Joe Biden for president. https://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion/
Maybe he can move over to Ft. Myers. They're quite red over in that corner of the state.
Article on under- or unreported Congressional action on trade by Stan Sorscher.
Worth a read.
https://www.thestand.org/?p=92270
Now it's up to the Senate and the Pretende--or his successor...
Just imagine the lid flipping going on at the Blight House. Not only does the Orange Menace not win the Nobel Peace Prize for his cheesy, scam-coated, phony Mideast thingy, but the award goes to a United Nations program (The UN, where they dare to LAUGH at Fatty when he tries to give them some of his superior wisdom) that works to feed the undeserving poor who don’t have a clue about capital gains rates and how to bury one’s true wealth. The losers!
It has to be a conspiracy! Better call Sean and Rush. They’ll understand. Fucking poor people. They’re hungry? Dinner at one is Fatty’s country clubs is, tops, $250. For two. What’s the problem? How does feeding losers get these never-Trumpers the Nobel?????
@Ken: thanks––yes, I might have posted it before–-seemed to me it fit at this time in our lives.
The side-bar story Jim Dwyer tells about Trump is very
funny and tells US that a jerk is a jerk from way back–-but then we knew that, didn't we?
Today as the mister and I were heading to Home Depot we were discussing the possibility of Fatty falling flat on his tuckus and if the half-Pence had to take over who would pick HIS vice––would Pence pick (with god's help) or congress or whom? Then the mister wanted to know who was Ford's vice president–-I had to take a moment but then said I thought it was Nelson Rockefeller; just looked it up and yes, twas he.
PD,
But Gerald Ford, despite his pardon of the Tricky One, was a decent human being. His choice of Rockefeller, a staunch middle of the road northeast Republican, helped to begin the healing process, from within that party, after the nastiness and criminality of the Nixon years, which, compared to four years of Trump, seem like a joy ride on the USS Thomas Paine. Fatty could never, in any possible universe, be mistaken for a decent anything.