;)
The Commentariat -- Sept. 25, 2020
Afternoon Update:
** Trump Picks Handmaid to "Replace" Feminist Icon. Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Trump has selected Judge Amy Coney Barrett, the favorite candidate of conservatives, to succeed Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and will try to force Senate confirmation before Election Day in a move that would significantly alter the ideological makeup of the Supreme Court for years.... As they often do, aides cautioned that Mr. Trump sometimes upends his own plans. But he is not known to have interviewed any other candidates for the post." The Hill's story is here.
Susan Dominus & Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "When Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg joined President Barack Obama for lunch in his private dining room in July 2013, the White House sought to keep the event quiet -- the meeting called for discretion. Mr. Obama had asked his White House counsel, Kathryn Ruemmler, to set up the lunch so he could build a closer rapport with the justice, according to two people briefed on the conversation. Treading cautiously, he did not directly bring up the subject of retirement to Justice Ginsburg, at 80 the Supreme Court's oldest member and a two-time cancer patient. He did, however, raise the looming 2014 midterm elections and how Democrats might lose control of the Senate. Implicit in that conversation was the concern motivating his lunch invitation -- the possibility that if the Senate flipped, he would lose a chance to appoint a younger, liberal judge who could hold on to the seat for decades. But the effort did not work, just as an earlier attempt by Senator Patrick Leahy, the Vermont Democrat who was then Judiciary Committee chairman, had failed." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: The fatal flaw in placing trust in your own immortality -- especially when you've already suffered life-threatening illnesses at an advanced age -- is obvious. The cosmic joke on Ginsburg, and therefore on all of us, is that her bad bet is likely to undo her most important life's work and also could be fatal to young women, most of them poor, who may succumb to unsafe abortions.
New York Times: "Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg broke one final barrier on Friday, becoming the first woman and the first Jewish American to lie in state in the United States Capitol. The honor, arranged by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, as well as a private ceremony at the Capitol, brought to a close a week of public memorials for Justice Ginsburg, the liberal jurist and trailblazer for women who died last Friday at 87. Her family plans to hold a private burial next week at Arlington National Cemetery." From the Times' Ginsburg live updates.
Benjamin Weiser & William Rashbaum of the New York Times: “Judges on a federal appeals panel expressed skepticism at a hearing on Friday about President Trump's arguments that a subpoena from the Manhattan district attorney seeking eight years of the president's tax returns was overbroad and issued in bad faith. The three judges challenged a central argument from Mr. Trump, who has been fighting the subpoena for more than a year. Lawyers for the president have argued that the demand was a politically motivated 'fishing expedition,' looking to vacuum up documents related to business dealings far beyond the authority of the Manhattan prosecutor, Cyrus R. Vance Jr. Pointedly questioning a lawyer for the president, the judges suggested that the subpoena could be justified because -- even though the president has extensive financial dealings and real estate projects around the world -- his company is based in New York and his tax returns have been filed there."
Alexander Mallin of ABC News: "A Justice Department official told ABC News Friday that Attorney General William Barr personally briefed ... Donald Trump about the DOJ's investigation into a small number of ballots in Pennsylvania that were found to be discarded, prior to the information being made public by a U.S. attorney's office Thursday afternoon. President Trump went on to first reveal the investigation in an interview with Fox News Radio, where he, without evidence, argued that it bolsters his baseless claims of widespread fraud in mail-in voting.... 'This is an ongoing investigation where there is no public interest reason to override the usual policy of not commenting -- and especially not to say for whom the ballots were cast. An unprecedented in kind contribution to the president's campaign,' Matthew Miller, the former director of the Justice Department's public affairs office, said on Twitter." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Everything about this stunt is improper. Trump, his political appointees & his campaign appear to have conspired to blow up into a national scandal what was a small, localized mistake made by a temporary employee. That is not to say the 7 or 9 votes that may have been discarded are not important, but it appears that the mistake was timely discovered & efforts made to correct or mitigate the error.
The Washington Post's live updates of coronavirus developments Friday are here: "Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam and his wife, Pamela, were notified Wednesday evening that a staff member in the governor's residence had tested positive for covid-19. They both subsequently tested positive, the governor's office announced Friday. A statement from the office said Northam is experiencing no symptoms, while his wife has 'mild symptoms.' Northam is continuing his duties as governor, his office said."
Tory Newmyer of the Washington Post: "A Democratic sweep that puts Joe Biden in the White House and the party back in the Senate majority would produce 7.4 million more jobs and a faster economic recovery than if President Trump retains power. That's the conclusion Moody's Analytics economists Mark Zandi and Bernard Yaros reach in a new analysis sizing up the two presidential candidates' economic proposals. And they are not alone in finding a Biden win translating into brisker growth: Economists at Goldman Sachs and Oxford Economics conclude that even a version of Biden's program that would have to shrink to pass the Senate would mean a faster rally back to prepandemic conditions."
John Hudson of the Washington Post: "The Trump administration rescinded an award recognizing the work of a journalist from Finland last year after discovering she had criticized President Trump in social media posts, then gave a false explanation for withdrawing the honor, according to a report by the State Department's internal watchdog. The report tracks how the discovery of the journalist's remarks worried senior U.S. officials and prompted a decision to withdraw the honor to avoid a possible public relations debacle. The report's release is likely to worsen tensions between the department's leadership and the inspector general's office, which has undergone several shake-ups following the firing of Inspector General Steve Linick in the spring at the request of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo."
Matt Zapotosky & Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "Three career supervisors in the D.C. U.S. attorney's office have disputed the sworn congressional testimony given by a former prosecutor on Robert S. Mueller III's team, telling Justice Department officials they believe he mischaracterized communications with them about undue political pressure in the criminal case against President Trump's longtime friend Roger Stone, according to people familiar with the matter. The prosecutor, Aaron Zelinsky, told the House Judiciary Committee in June that he felt politics influenced the prison sentence that was recommended for Stone, who was convicted of lying to lawmakers investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election. After Zelinsky and other career prosecutors recommended that Stone face seven to nine years in prison, and Trump angrily tweeted about the case, Attorney General William P. Barr intervened and had the Justice Department propose a lighter punishment.... Robert Litt, a lawyer for Zelinsky, said in an email, 'He stands by his testimony and the Mueller report.'"
Jaclyn Peiser of the Washington Post: "As the only Black female representative in the Kentucky Capitol, state Rep. Attica Scott (D) took action after the death of Breonna Taylor, who was fatally shot by police raiding her home in March. In August, Scott proposed Breonna's Law, a bill that would end no-knock warrants statewide. And when a grand jury decided not to indict the officers in Taylor's death, Scott joined hundreds of protesters in the streets of Louisville. On Thursday night, Louisville police arrested Scott along with a handful of other protesters near First Unitarian Church and the Louisville Free Public Library, which had allegedly been set on fire, according to a police report reviewed by WAVE. The state representative received a felony charge of first-degree rioting and two misdemeanors for failure to disperse and unlawful assembly, the Louisville Courier-Journal reported. The paper reported Scott was released from jail Friday morning."
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Presidential Race, Etc.
Here's a letter from "generals, admirals, senior noncommissioned officers, ambassadors, and senior civilian national security leaders" endorsing Joe Biden for president. It includes a list of the signers. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Laura Seligman of Politico: "... Donald Trump's former four-star head of the Coast Guard is speaking out on his decision to endorse Joe Biden, saying it's due to an 'insurgency' on Americans' constitutional rights that has occurred on the commander in chief's watch. Retired Adm. Paul Zukunft, who stepped down as commandant of the Coast Guard in June 2018, is one of almost 500 former national security leaders who signed an open letter released Thursday questioning Trump's fitness for command.... Zukunft told Politico, 'I am concerned that our constitutional rights are being infringed upon from within.'... In addition to his concern over the Constitution, Zukunft said he was driven to endorse Biden by the 2019 government shutdown over funding for Trump's border wall, which left the Coast Guard's active-duty force of more than 40,000 working without pay for several months. He is also concerned by Trump's dismissal of science, both on climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic...."
David Smith of the Guardian: "Senator Bernie Sanders [I-Vt.] has returned to the campaign trail by calling for an independent election commission to stop Donald Trump defying the will of the people and plunging the US into a constitutional crisis. The independent senator also urged social media companies to 'get their act together' and news media to prepare the American people to understand that 'there is no longer a single election day'.... In Washington on Thursday, at his first in-person event since suspending his campaign in the spring, Sanders reiterated that he is 'strongly supporting' [Joe] Biden. But his focus was the unprecedented threat posed by Trump to the oldest continuous democracy in the modern world. 'No matter how rich and powerful you may be, no matter how arrogant and narcissistic you may be, no matter how much you think you can get anything you want, let me make this clear to Donald Trump,' Sanders said. 'Too many people have fought and died to defend American democracy and you are not going to destroy it.'" You can watch the full speech here. ~~~
<>Michela Tindera of Forbes: "Billionaire Jennifer Pritzker gave $2,000 to Joe Biden's presidential campaign last month, according to records filed with the Federal Election Commission this week. It's a small sum for a billionaire, but notable nonetheless, given that she poured more than $250,000 into committees supporting Donald Trump four years ago."Laura Vozzella of the Washington Post: "State and local health officials are raising alarms about President Trump's plans for a 'gargantuan' rally at a Virginia airport Friday night, saying it could pose a 'severe public health threat' if it violates the state's 250-person limit on public gatherings. In a letter to the company that operates the hangar at Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport where the rally is planned, the director of the local health district asked that the crowd be limited to 250.... The letter warned that exceeding limits ordered by Gov. Ralph Northam(D) could result in misdemeanor charges and possible revocation of the firm's business license."
Cameron Joseph of Vice: "President Trump's campaign is running a television ad claiming that he built 'the best' economy in history, and will do so again. But it uses film of a visit he made to a steel plant that recently furloughed hundreds of workers.... The clip is from a 2018 visit to the company's Granite City, Illinois plant.... U.S. Steel notified employees that they would lay off as many as 737 workers at the Granite City plant in late April following news that major auto companies would stop production at many plants as COVID cases spiked across the country. That came as part of a wider series of cuts. A company spokeswoman said at the time that 2,700 total layoffs would occur immediately, and the company warned 6,500 total workers that they could face furloughs or layoffs — one third of the company's total staff." (Also linked yesterday.)
Steve's Traveling Lunatic Show. Justin Horowitz & Madeline Peltz of Media Matters: "Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon has kicked off a national speaking tour about the upcoming election titled 'The Plot to Steal 2020.' It's a thinly veiled attempt to spread conspiracy theories and discredit any efforts to ensure that citizens can vote safely. Bannon, who recently pleaded not guilty to federal fraud charges, has stated that the tour will take place in select swing states and via digital streaming platforms. In his most recent appearance, he outlined three main prongs of his conspiracy theory: Democrats will use 'lawfare,' social media, and street protests to supposedly steal the election from Donald Trump."
David Siders & Holly Otterbein of Politico: "After more than four years of nonstop voter fraud claims, insinuations that he might not accept the presidential election results and at least one float about delaying the November election, it's no secret. Trump's refusal to commit to a peaceful transition of power this week -- and his choice not to walk back his remarks Thursday in the face of widespread unease -- merely broadcasts his strategic intent in terms both parties can understand.... Republicans can no longer truthfully deny that Trump may be unwilling to leave office in the event he is defeated. And Democrats must now confront the possibility they may not have the power to stop him. It's an unprecedented backdrop for a modern presidential race, one that could stretch the electoral process to its limits, almost guaranteeing a chaotic, divisive finish to the campaign. 'We are super alarmed,' said Matt Bennett of the center-left group Third Way, which released a primer this week on how Trump is laying the groundwork to dispute the election results in the event of a defeat. 'I now think it's very, very likely that Joe Biden will win the election if the votes are counted, but it's not clear that the votes will be counted.'" Mrs. McC Note: Unless the composition of the Third Way has changed recently, it is center-right. ~~~
You are not in North Korea; you are not in Turkey; you are not in Russia, Mr. President, and by the way, you are not in Saudi Arabia. You are in the United States of America. It is a democracy, so why don't you just try for a moment to honor your oath of office to the Constitution of the United States? -- Nancy Pelosi, Thursday ~~~
~~~ Reid Epstein, et al., of the New York Times: "President Trump declined for a second straight day to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he lost the election, repeating baseless assertions that the voting would be a 'big scam,' even as leading Republicans scrambled to assure the public that their party would respect the Constitution. 'We want to make sure that the election is honest, and I'm not sure that it can be,' Mr. Trump told reporters on Thursday before leaving the White House for North Carolina.... Senator Susan Collins of Maine ... was the rare Republican to refer directly to Mr. Trump as she questioned his actions. 'I don't know what his thinking was, but we have always had a peaceful transition between administrations,' Ms. Collins said.... Chris Edelson, an American University professor who has studied the expansion of presidential power during national emergencies, said Mr. Trump's comments represented a unique threat to a central pillar of democracy. 'It's impossible to underscore how absolutely extraordinary this situation is -- there are really no precedents in our country,' he said. 'This is a president who has threatened to jail his political opponents. Now he is suggesting he would not respect the results of an election. These are serious warning signs.' Douglas Brinkley, the presidential historian, said, 'This may be the most damaging thing he has ever done to American democracy.'" ~~~
~~~ Philip Rucker, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump reiterated Thursday that he may not honor the results should he lose reelection, reaffirming his extraordinary refusal to commit to a peaceful transition of power and prompting election and law enforcement authorities nationwide to prepare for an unprecedented constitutional crisis.... Trump reaffirmed his views Thursday, saying on Fox News Radio that he would agree with a Supreme Court ruling that [Joe] Biden won the election but that short of a court decision, the vote count would amount to 'a horror show' because of fraudulent ballots. There is no evidence of widespread fraud.... [Trump] said it was imperative to quickly fill the Supreme Court vacancy created by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg because the nation's high court could determine the winner of the election.... It is unclear how the Supreme Court -- which 20 years ago effectively awarded the presidency to George W. Bush as part of a legal dispute over the vote in Florida -- might rule on a challenge brought by Trump." Emphasis added. ~~~
~~~ When We Should Believe the Biggest Liar. Chuck Todd, et al., of NBC News argue that we should take Trump at his word that he will fight an orderly transfer of power. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Kevin Liptak of CNN lists "a string of provocative comments by the President openly undermining the electoral process[.]" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Notice how, as Playboy reporter Brian Karem asks the question about the peaceful transfer of power, Trump "signs" an objection to Karem's mask:
Nancy Cook of Politico: "... Donald Trump refuses to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses. But his team is carefully developing plans for that very outcome. One of the most organized and functional parts of the Trump White House these days is a surprising place -- the West Wing office planning a potential presidential transition.... Assistant to the president Chris Liddell ... has met the congressionally mandated deadlines to file two different transition reports in May and August. He is working closely with a career government official who is serving as the federal transition coordinator -- typically the type of worker Trump would label as part of the 'Deep State.' And the Justice Department has already agreed to start pre-processing Biden officials' security clearances just in case he wins, according to people familiar with the planning.... Instead of on-the-fly decisions, staff infighting or governing by instinct -- all hallmarks of Trump's leadership style over the last four years -- transition planning has happened quietly, efficiently and with little public fanfare. The question is whether Liddell can maintain this level of professionalism if and when Trump starts paying more attention to the prospect of leaving office."
Jennifer Steinhauer & Helene Cooper of the New York Times: "... senior leaders at the Pentagon, speaking on the condition of anonymity, acknowledged that they were talking among themselves about what to do if Mr. Trump ... invokes the Insurrection Act [during the transition period] and tries to send troops into the streets, as he repeatedly threatened to do during the protests against police brutality and systemic racism. Both General [Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,] and Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper opposed the move then, and Mr. Trump backed down. The concerns are not unfounded. The Insurrection Act, a two-century-old law, enables a president to send in active-duty military troops to quell disturbances over the objections of governors. Mr. Trump, who refers to the armed forces as 'my military' and 'my generals,' has lumped them with other supporters like Bikers for Trump, who could offer backup in the face of opposition."
If Republicans lose we will accept the result. If the Supreme Court rules in favor of Joe Biden, I will accept that result. -- Lindsey Graham on Fox "News" Thursday ~~~
~~~ Marianne Levine, et al., of Politico: "Congressional Republicans gently pushed back Thursday against ... Donald Trump's refusal to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the November election.... But no one condemned Trump directly by name, and they declined to weigh in on whether it was appropriate for the president to suggest he won't leave office. 'The winner of the November 3rd election will be inaugurated on January 20th,' [tweeted] Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. 'There will be an orderly transition just as there has been every four years since 1792.'... 'As we have done for over two centuries we will have a legitimate [and] fair election,' added Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), the chairman of the Intelligence Committee. 'It may take longer than usual to know the outcome, but it will be a valid one. And at noon on Jan 20, 2021 we will peacefully swear in the president.'... House GOP Conference Chair Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), one of the few Republicans willing to publicly rebuke the president, said Thursday that transferring power 'is enshrined in our Constitution and fundamental survival of our Republic' and vowed that American leaders would uphold their oath to the Constitution. Rep. Steve Stivers (R-Ohio), a former chair of the House Republicans' campaign arm, echoed her remarks." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: This would be more reassuring if we knew how Mitch defines "an orderly transition." It very well could include complicity in Trump's plans to undermine the results. ~~~
~~~ Orion Rummler of Axios: "FBI Director Christopher Wray responded to a question on the security of mail-in voting to the Senate Homeland Security Committee on Thursday by saying that the agency has 'not seen, historically, any kind of coordinated national voter fraud effort in a major election, whether it's by mail or otherwise.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Morgan Chalfant of the Hill: "White House chief of staff Mark Meadows on Friday criticized FBI Director Christopher Wray over his testimony to Congress that he has not seen evidence of widespread voter fraud in a major election. 'With all due respect to Director Wray, he has a hard time finding emails in his own FBI let alone figuring out whether there is any kind of voter fraud,' Meadows said on 'CBS This Morning' on Friday.... Meadows' remarks came during an exchange where he defended Trump's refusal to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses in 2020 as he raised suspicions about mail-in voting.... Meadows' remarks on Wray follow Trump's own criticism of the FBI chief last week. Trump would not offer a vote of confidence in Wray after rebuking his testimony to Congress about foreign election interferenc and domestic terrorism threats in a separate congressional hearing last week." Mrs. McC: Not sure what missing emails Meadows is talking about.
~~~ Cliff Surprises Lemmings. Alexander Bolton of the Hill: "Senate Republicans were left dumbfounded Thursday by President Trump's latest self-engineered controversy, a suggestion there might not be a peaceful transition of power after Election Day, which left his GOP allies on Capitol Hill scrambling for political cover." Mrs. McC: They're "dumbfounded"? How about just "dumb." For more than three years they have been backing, acquitting, & making excuses for a guy who violates the Constitution, shirks his duties & expressly touts his absolute power and "total authority," and they're suddenly surprised he says the only way he might pack his things is if "his" Supreme Court tells him he must?
~~~ Stephen Collinson of CNN: "... Donald Trump's refusal on Wednesday to guarantee a peaceful transfer of power if he loses to Joe Biden in November is leading America towards a dark place during a year of incendiary political tensions. Trump's intransigence, included in his latest assault on perfectly legitimate mail-in ballots on Wednesday, posed a grave threat to the democratic continuum that has underpinned nearly 250 years of republican government.... The President's comments risked not only dealing another blow to an election in which he has been trailing and has incessantly tarnished, but could send a signal to his supporters about how to react if the Democratic nominee prevails in 41 days.... Trump's near simultaneous warning on Wednesday that he thinks the election will end up being decided by the Supreme Court also raises the risk of a constitutional imbroglio likely to be worse than the disputed 2000 election." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Trump Threats Spook Markets. Ben White of Politico: "Wall Street ... investors ... are increasingly nervous about ... a rapid descent into banana republic-style chaos, in which the result is either unclear for months or ... Donald Trump loses but refuses to leave office.... Trump's aggressive chatter now runs the risk of damaging what he sees as one of his greatest achievements: a lofty stock market. The rising uncertainty about a post-Election Day fight is already spurring increasingly aggressive bets on Wall Street for a surge in volatility in the coming weeks.... An unknown election result is increasingly becoming conventional wisdom on Wall Street.... Volatility is already spiking on Wall Street as the potential for an ugly election result grows."
~~~ ** Dan Froomkin of Press Watch: "People who know and care about elections and democracy frantically sounded the alarm on Wednesday as Donald Trump's intention to steal the election became undeniable. But the leaders of our nation's top newsroom weren't listening. The New York Times put its article on Trump refusing to commit to a peaceful transition of power on page A15. The Washington Post story was on A4. Other news organizations underplayed it as well. Despite all the other news, this should have been a screamer headline everywhere. Consider the magnitude of what they ignored on Wednesday.... Trump fully intends the Supreme Court -- not the voters -- to make the call. And that of course is because his campaign strategy is not to win a majority of the votes, just to win enough to be able to toss things to the lawyers. As far as I'm concerned, that remains the major revelation of the day -- even after Trump's mind-blowing and somewhat incoherent refusal to agree to a peaceful transition of power." ~~~
~~~ Woodward Wakes Up. Joe Concha of the Hill: "Journalist Bob Woodward on Thursday said that President Trump declining to engage in a peaceful transition of power if he loses the election would be 'putting a dagger in the Constitution.'... 'We have a president who has forsaken his basic duty to protect the country, to tell the truth and organize and plan, have some theory of the case what is he going to do as president,' Woodward said in an appearance on MSNBC's 'Deadline: White House.' 'Time and time again we know, and I've got more endless examples of this, of him making decisions on impulse, tweeting, driving people crazy who work for him and then they leave or he fires them by tweet and he says the cruelest things.... I think the president in all of the things he's doing here has forsaken a larger duty which is a moral duty to do what's best for the country.... This is a moral failure and a leadership failure. This idea about the election he's predicting and almost wishing for a quadruple trainwreck on November 3rd.'"
U.S. Attorney Aids Trump Campaign. Devlin Barrett of the Washington Post: "The Justice Department alarmed voting-law experts Thursday by announcing an investigation into nine discarded ballots found in northeastern Pennsylvania, a case immediately seized upon by the Trump campaign as evidence of a dark Democratic conspiracy to tamper with the presidential election.... David J. Freed, the U.S. attorney in the Middle District of Pennsylvania, [said] that he was overseeing an investigation into nine discarded military mail-in ballots in Wilkes-Barre area.... Richard L. Hasen, an election law professor at University of California at Irvine, said he could not recall ever seeing such an announcement. 'The Justice Department should not be a political tool, and this is a story that is going to be manipulated by the president to say his votes are being thrown out,' Hasen said. Soon after the U.S. attorney's statement was issued, the Trump campaign cited the case as evidence 'Democrats are trying to steal the election.'" Both Donald Trump & his press secretary Kayleigh McEnany also cited the case. ~~~
~~~ A Politico story is here. A New York Times story is here. ~~~
~~~ Jerry Lambe of Law & Crime: "... Trump touted the findings as 'evidence of a whole big scam' to a gaggle of reporters at the White House...."
If the US Attorney wants to work for a campaign, he’s welcome to do so, just as soon as he resigns. Which should be immediate. -- Justin Levitt, on U.S. Attorney David Freed ~~~
The question of who voters voted for would be immaterial in any kind of tampering investigation, and it seems to be in there for political reasons.... -- Richard Hasen
~~~ Tierney Sneed of TPM: "The U.S. Attorney's office of the Middle District of Pennsylvania issued a bizarre press release Thursday announcing that it was in the midst of an inquiry into 'potential issues' with military ballots cast in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania.... Gerry Hebert, a former DOJ official who ... worked in its voting section, said in an email that Thursday's press release was 'inconsistent with DOJ handbook for prosecuting election cases, which generally discourage public statements by DOJ re: ongoing investigations.'... The weirdest detail of all was that, in its initial press release, the DOJ said..., '[a]ll nine ballots were cast for presidential candidate Donald Trump.' Within a few hours the press release was taken down and a revised press release issued to clarify that of 'the nine ballots that were discarded and then recovered, 7 were cast for presidential candidate Donald Trump.... Two of the discarded ballots had been resealed ... and the contents of those 2 ballots are unknown.'... Justin Levitt, a Loyola Marymount law professor who served in Obama's DOJ, [said,] '... it's grotesquely improper to announce whom the ballots were cast for, as if that mattered in the investigation.... (Also: was Donald Trump the only candidate identified on those ballots? No other federal or state offices?)'"
Jacob Bogage of the Washington Post: "A senior executive at the U.S. Postal Service delivered a PowerPoint presentation in July that pressed officials across the organization to make the operational changes that led to mail backups across the country, seemingly counter to months of official statements about the origin of the plans.... David E. Williams, the agency's chief of logistics and processing operations, listed the elimination of late and extra mail trips by postal workers as a primary agency goal during the July 10 teleconference.... Several top-tier executives -- including Robert Cintron, vice president of logistics; Angela Curtis, vice president of retail and post office operations; and vice presidents from the agency's seven geographic areas -- sat in. The presentation stands in contrast with agency accounts that lower-tier leaders outside USPS headquarters were mainly responsible for the controversial protocols.... Williams's presentation was among the documents turned over to the office of Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro (D) as part of a lawsuit involving six other jurisdictions against DeJoy and the USPS."
Georgia Senatorial Race. Lachlan Markay of the Daily Beast: "A leading congressional ally of ... Donald Trump alleged last week that Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) threatened to withhold financial support for the president's re-election effort unless he helped get her top Republican opponent out of the race. According to Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Loeffler or her representatives approached the Trump campaign and offered to spend tens of millions of dollars on Trump's behalf. But that financial support would only come, Loeffler's team supposedly said, if Trump helped convince Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA) to drop his Senate bid. Gaetz supports Collins and was speaking at a campaign event. The post is members-only firewalled, but you can read the first bit of it. The Raw Story has a summary report here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Patricia Murphy & Greg Bluestein of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "Grassroots activists and high-level Democrats called for Matt Lieberman to abandon his U.S. Senate bid Thursday and clear the way for Raphael Warnock as polls show a tight race in the free-for-all contest. Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder endorsed Warnock's campaign to challenge U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler, urging 'those who care about the direction of Georgia and this nation' to rally behind his bid. Stacey Abrams, arguably Warnock's most influential advocate, said she was deeply disturbed by a Lieberman novel that critics say was shaped by racist tropes, and called for him to 'search his conscience' and make way for Warnock.... And a group of Atlanta Jewish community leaders is preparing to run an ad with the names of more than 300 local Democrats backing Warnock over Lieberman, a former principal of the Atlanta Jewish Academy."
Kentucky Senate Race. Alternet: "Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-KY) re-election campaign is facing scrutiny from the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and he is now being required to answer questions regarding suspected accounting errors. The letter and a 60-page report, written by FEC campaign analyst Susan Worthington to McConnell's Senate Committee, were sent to McConnell's campaign treasurer, Larry J. Steinberg on Monday. The committee pointed out 'Apparent Excessive, Prohibited, and Impermissible Contributions' regarding donations recorded in McConnell's July quarterly report that suggests multiple contributions may have exceeded the legal limits." --s
Congressional Races. Michael Isikoff of Yahoo! News: "The ad [against U.S. Rep. Tom Malinowski, a freshman Democrat from New Jersey] couldn't sound more ominous. As darkened images of quiet suburban neighborhoods roll on the screen, a woman's voice delivers a scary message: 'On every street, in every neighborhood, around every corner, sex offenders are living among us.'...[The ad] released by the National Republican Congressional Campaign Committee (NRCC) -- would be considered extreme even by the usual standards of political mudslinging. There is no evidence that Malinowski ... had ever done anything to protect sexual predators.... But to some, the harsh attack ad is part of a nationwide 'QAnon strategy' that the Republican campaign committee appears to be deploying to exploit the fears and paranoia fueled by the bizarre conspiracy cult.... In districts around the country, the NRCC ... has been hitting similar themes, depicting Democratic candidates as secret supporters of sexual abusers of young children. In one Florida district, the group has hammered Democratic candidate Margaret Goods as a protector of 'sex dolls.' It has attacked Jon Hoadley, a gay Democratic congressional candidate in Michigan as a 'pedo sex poet.' In Missouri, it has run ads attacking Democratic candidate Jill Schupp as a defender of letting 'sex offenders on playgrounds.'" --s
Texas. Jeremy Wallace of the Houston Chronicle: "Texas has once again shattered vote registration records, adding more than 1.5 million voters since the last presidential election. Texas now has surpassed 16.6 million voters, according to the latest numbers announced Tuesday by Texas Secretary of State Ruth R. Hughs. And there are still almost two weeks to add more.... In the four previous presidential election cycles, Texas added about 700,000 new voters on average -- less than half as many as have been added this cycle." --s
Texas 2018 Local Race. Scott Brunner & Courtney Stern of the Longview News-Journal: "Gregg County [Texas] Pct. 4 Commissioner Shannon Brown and three others have been arrested in connection to an organized vote-harvesting scheme during the 2018 Democratic primary election, according to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Brown, 49, along with Charlie Burns, 84, and DeWayne Ward, 58, all of Longview, and Marlena Jackson, 50, of Marshall, were booked today into the Gregg County Jail. According to indictments in the case, Brown was charged with 23 felonies[.]... Questions about absentee voting emerged after Brown won the March 2018 Democratic primary against former Longview City Councilwoman Kasha Williams by five votes. Brown's win came after a dead heat in early and Election Day vote totals was broken by his five-vote lead after a count of provisional ballots. Votes for brown numbered 73.4 percent of the absentee mail-in votes."
Chutzpah. Corruption & Racism, Ctd.
Greg Miller of the Washington Post: "In unguarded moments with senior aides, President Trump has maintained that Black Americans have mainly themselves to blame in their struggle for equality, hindered more by lack of initiative than societal impediments, according to current and former U.S. officials. After phone calls with Jewish lawmakers, Trump has muttered that Jews 'are only in it for themselves' and 'stick together' in an ethnic allegiance that exceeds other loyalties, officials said. Trump's private musings about Hispanics match the vitriol he has displayed in public.... Over 3½ years in office, he has presided over a sweeping U.S. government retreat from the front lines of civil rights, endangering decades of progress against voter suppression, housing discrimination and police misconduct. His immigration policies hark back to quota systems of the 1920s that were influenced by the junk science of eugenics, and have involved enforcement practices -- including the separation of small children from their families -- that seemed designed to maximize trauma on Hispanic migrants." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Trump's stereotyping of Jews would be particularly hilarious if it weren't so dangerous. For Trump to claim that other people are "only in it for themselves" seems to be the height of projection. In fairness to Trump, however, I suppose we could translate that as "They're not in it for me. And they should be."
"Fraud Was a Way of Life." Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "In her best-selling memoir, Mary L. Trump, President Trump's niece, told a family story that detailed the ways in which she claims her relatives -- the president among them -- tricked, bullied and ultimately cheated her out of an inheritance worth tens of millions of dollars. On Thursday, more than two months after the book was published and a little more than one month before the election, Ms. Trump told her story again -- this time in a lawsuit. The suit, filed in State Supreme Court in Manhattan, accused Mr. Trump, his sister Maryanne Trump Barry and their brother Robert Trump, who died in August, of fraud and civil conspiracy. It seeks to recover the millions of dollars Ms. Trump claims to have lost. In its first sentence, the lawsuit says that, for the Trumps, 'fraud was not just the family business &-- it was a way of life.' Beginning in the 1980s, the suit contends, the president and his siblings took control of the New York City real estate empire their father, Fred Trump Sr., had built and 'exploited it to enrich themselves' to the detriment of everyone around them." A copy of the complaint, via the Times, is here. It's an entertaining read. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ The Daily Beast's story is here. A ScribD copy of the complaint, via the Hill, is here. (Also linked yesterday.)
Anybody Having Anything to Do with Trump Is Corrupt. Jamie Ross of the Daily Beast: "Alexander Nix, the man who was running Cambridge Analytica when it harvested the Facebook data of tens of millions voters without their knowledge so it could be exploited by the Trump 2016 campaign, has been banned from directing any companies for seven years. The now-defunct Cambridge Analytica was a U.K. digital black-ops firm that collapsed in 2018 following revelations that it secretly collected Facebook profile information on 87 million people. The Daily Beast revealed two years ago that Team Trump used audience lists created by Cambridge Analytica to target 'dark ads' on Facebook during the final months of the 2016 campaign up to Trump's inauguration. Nix ... was secretly recorded by Britain's Channel 4 blabbing about its work for Trump and effectively claiming that Cambridge Analytica was to thank for Trump becoming president." (Also linked yesterday.)
The Trumpidemic, Ctd.
The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Friday are here: Another Grim Milestone: "The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States surpassed seven million on Thursday, according to a New York Times database, although the country is recording fewer new daily cases than it did during the pandemic's midsummer peak." ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post's live updates of coronavirus developments Thursday are here.
Another Ungrammatical Trump Super-lie. I think we're rounding the turn very much. -- Donald Trump, on U.S. progress on management of the coronavirus, September 23 "briefing" ~~~
~~~ Sam Baker & Andrew Witherspoon of Axios: "The coronavirus is surging once again across the U.S., with cases rising in 22 states over the past week.... There isn't one big event or sudden occurrence that explains this increase. We simply have never done a very good job containing the virus, despite losing 200,000 lives in just the past six months, and this is what that persistent failure looks like.... The U.S. is now averaging roughly 43,000 new cases per day, a 16% increase from a week ago." Mrs. McC: Includes a map which shows the virus on the increase mostly in Midwest & Western states; IOW, Trump territory. "Rounding the turn very much"? Uh, very not so much. (Also linked yesterday.)
Erica Werner & Rachel Bade of the Washington Post: "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi abruptly shifted course Thursday and moved to assemble a new coronavirus relief bill to form the basis for renewed talks with the White House, amid mounting pressure from moderates in her caucus and increasingly alarming economic news. The new legislation would be significantly narrower in scope than the $3.4 trillion Heroes Act the House passed in May.... [Treasury Secretary Steven] Mnuchin reiterated in an appearance before the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday that he saw the need for more stimulus and was prepared to resume talks."
Fred Imbert of CNBC: "The number of first-time filers for unemployment benefits were slightly higher than expected last week as the labor market continues its sluggish recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. The Labor Department reported Thursday that initial jobless claims for the week ending Sept. 19 came in at 870,000, adjusted for seasonal fluctuations." (Also linked yesterday.)
Missouri. David Lieb & Jim Salter of the AP: "Missouri Gov. Mike Parson, a Republican who has steadfastly refused to require residents to wear masks, tested positive for the coronavirus, his office said Wednesday. Parson was tested after his wife, Teresa, tested positive earlier in the day. Teresa Parson had experienced mild symptoms, including a cough and nasal congestion, spokeswoman Kelli Jones said. She took a rapid test that came back positive and a nasal swab test later confirmed the finding. The governor's rapid test showed he tested positive and he is still awaiting results from the swab test.... 'Right now I feel fine. No symptoms of any kind,' Parson said in the video. 'But right now we just have to take the quarantine procedures in place.'" (Also linked yesterday.)
Toluse Olorunnipa of the Washington Post: "President Trump capped his fruitless four-year journey to abolish and replace the Affordable Care Act by signing an executive order Thursday that aims to enshrine the law's most popular feature while pivoting away from a broader effort to overhaul the nation's health insurance system. The order declares it is the policy of the United States for people with preexisting health conditions to be protected, avoiding the thorny details of how to ensure such protections without either leaving the ACA, or Obamacare, in place or crafting new comprehensive legislation. Trump announced the move during a trip to North Carolina, outlining his 'vision' for revamping parts of the nation's health care. During the speech, which came shortly before a campaign swing to Florida, Trump barely veiled the political nature of his intent.... The speech and executive order stood as a tacit admission that Trump had failed to keep his 2016 promise to replace his predecessor's signature achievement with a conservative alternative." ~~~
~~~ The Chit Is in the Mail, Granny. MAGA! Lev Facher & Nicholas Florko of STAT: "President Trump on Thursday pledged to send $200 prescription drug coupons to 33 million Medicare beneficiaries 'in the coming weeks,' a political ploy to curry favor with seniors who view drug prices as a priority. Trump's promise ... represents the latest step in his administration's (and his campaign's) efforts to amass health care talking points, even if their actions do little to save Americans money. The administration is getting its authority to ship the coupons from a Medicare demonstration program, a White House spokesman told STAT in a statement. The nearly $7 billion required to send the coupons, he said, would come from savings from Trump's 'most favored nations' drug pricing proposal. That regulation has also not yet been implemented -- meaning the Trump administration is effectively pledging to spend $6.6 billion in savings that do not currently exist. The cards, he said, would be 'actual discount cards for prescription drug copays.'... It is unclear whether Trump's promise ... will come to fruition. Under the Constitution, it is Congress, not the White House, that is empowered to spend taxpayer money.... The New York Times reported this week that Trump officials had tried to convince the pharmaceutical industry to pay for similar cards worth $100. The drug industry refused." ~~~
~~~ Margot Sanger-Katz of the New York Times: "In speeches, in tweets, in media interviews, President Trump keeps promising that he will preserve protections for Americans with pre-existing health conditions. It's a crowd-pleaser of a policy, but one entirely at odds with his administration's legislative, regulatory and legal record to date. In the final weeks of the election season, expect to see the words'pre-existing conditions' again and again. Mr. Trump makes the promise so consistently that it is likely to appear in television ads, the presidential debates and possibly in an oft-teased, ever forthcoming executive order on the subject.... But rather than enshrine the ability of Americans with health problems to buy insurance, the Trump administration has, at every turn, pursued policies that have tended to do the opposite."
Mrs. McCrabbie: Contributor unwashed was wondering yesterday why Trump, when "'paying his respects' to RGB..., his ... porcine peepers were slits that barely moved as he blinked." I'd guess the slits were part of his expression of hatred for the real Americans who, while waiting to pay their actual respects to RBG, were chanting "Vote him out!" and "Honor her wish!" ~~~
~~~ Michael Crowley of the New York Times: "President Trump was jeered by protesters on Thursday morning as he paid his respects to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, standing silently by her coffin at the top of the Supreme Court steps as a vigorous chant of 'Vote him out!' erupted on the street below. Wearing a face mask -- unusual for him -- and a blue tie instead of his trademark red power tie, Mr. Trump stared ahead and closed his eyes at times near the justice's flag-draped coffin.... Asked later in the day about the jeering, Mr. Trump said he could 'hardly hear it.'" A CNN story is here.
Julian Borger of the Guardian: "The Trump administration has stopped vital technical assistance to pro-democracy groups in Belarus, Hong Kong and Iran, which had helped activists evade state surveillance and sidestep internet censorship. The Open Technology Fund (OTF) has had to stop all its operations in Belarus, and many of its activities supporting civil society in Hong Kong and Iran, because a congressionally-mandated grant of nearly $20m has been withheld by a new Trump appointee, Michael Pack. The OTF is a small non-profit organisation that develops technologies for evading cyber-surveillance and for circumventing internet and radio blackouts imposed by authoritarian regimes.... [T]he freeze also meant that the populations in those countries will find it harder to listen to the Voice of America, the USAGM's flagship broadcaster, and USAGM-funded stations like Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Radio Free Asia, because it would be more difficult to overcome state jamming methods." --s
Robert McCarthy of the Buffalo News: "Michael R. Caputo, the East Aurora political consultant at the center of controversy over the Trump administration's Covid-19 messaging, has been diagnosed with cancer. Assemblyman David J. DiPietro, R-East Aurora, acting as Caputo's spokesman, said Thursday that the Health and Human Services spokesman on leave from his assistant secretary post has 'squamous cell carcinoma, a metastatic head and neck cancer which originated in his throat.'... Caputo said he entered the National Cancer Institute at the urging of Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who noticed the lump, and that the president directed arrangements for his admission and had checked on him." (Also linked yesterday.)
** Andrew Chung of Reuters: "Democrats in of the House of Representatives will introduce a bill next week to limit the tenure of U.S. Supreme Court justices to 18 years from current lifetime appointments, in a bid to reduce partisan warring over vacancies and preserve the court's legitimacy. The new bill, seen by Reuters, would allow every president to nominate two justices per four-year term and comes amid heightened political tensions as Republican ... Donald Trump prepares to announce his third pick for the Supreme Court after the death on Sept. 18 of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, with just 40 days to go until the Nov. 3 election.... The bill seeks to avoid constitutional concerns by exempting current justices from the 18-year rule."
Mike Schneider of the AP: "A federal judge has stopped the 2020 census from finishing at the end of September and ordered the once-a-decade head count of every U.S. resident to continue for another month through the end of October, saying a shortened schedule likely would produce inaccurate results. U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in California made her ruling late Thursday, two days after hearing arguments from attorneys for the Census Bureau, and attorneys for civil rights groups and local governments that had sued the Census Bureau in an effort to halt the 2020 census from stopping at the end of the month. Attorneys for the civil rights groups and local governments said the shortened schedule would undercount residents in minority and hard-to-count communities. Koh said inaccuracies produced from a shortened schedule would affect the distribution of federal funding and political representation. The census is used to determine how $1.5 trillion in federal spending is distributed each year and how many congressional seats each state gets." A New York Times story is here.
Emma Austin & Lewis Aulbach of the Louisville Courier Journal: "Louisville police arrested 127 people during Wednesday protests following the announcement that just one of three Louisville Metro Police officers who fired shots in Breonna Taylor's apartment will be criminally charged, and one suspect was arrested after LMPD officials said two officers were shot that night.... Police arrested one suspect in connection with the shooting that injured two police officers. Both victims were taken to the hospital and in stable condition, acting chief Robert Schroeder said Wednesday night. The suspect in that shooting was identified Thursday morning as Larynzo Johnson, of Louisville." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: According to an attorney for Breonna Taylor, speaking on CNN, the one police officer indicted by the Kentucky grand jury in the case was indicted for blinding shooting up the apartment of a white family. How about that?
Beyond the Beltway
Bob Brigham of RawStory: "Authorities in California on Thursday announced that one man was dead after a shootout with law enforcement. 'A white supremacist gang member was killed in a gun battle with law enforcement after he ambushed and shot a deputy pursuing him Thursday near the Templeton Cemetery, Sheriff Ian Parkinson said at a news conference,' The [San Luis Obispo] Tribune reported Thursday." --s
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Is it me, or is this not one of the most extraordinary events in US history (the real US history, not Donald Trump’s Nazified, KKK whitewashed history), the fact that the leaders (okay, leaders*) of one of the two major parties are having to race to the microphones to state that, yes, their party’s president* will abide by the Constitution and not attempt a coup to maintain his death grip on power. Even more astounding, it’s not entirely clear they believe this or will actually support this contention.
Meanwhile the leaders (no asterisk) of the other major party are reminding that president* that he swore an oath of office and is not, as much as he so fervently believes it, a king or a dictator, who can ignore that oath when it suits his current schemes.
Finally, that same little king states unequivocally that he will not, under any circumstances, abide by his oath of office, that he defend the Constitution, unless it’s to his personal benefit.
In response to this unprecedented constitutional crisis, the media reminds us that “America’s Got Talent” will be on for a whole extra hour, at 8:00 pm Eastern, 7:00 pm Central. Oughta be a pip.
Karen pence to hold a prayer fest this morning. She'll be 12 miles up the highway from here but I have more pressing business this morning. It's the last farmer's market and I must find a just right pumpkin, very important. Sorry karen.
@ Forrest Morris: Found your pumpkin. Hallelujah! Now you have plenty of time to make Karen's prayer meeting.
Last night, trying to get to sleep, I was thinking about the debates next week and was thinking of the best way Biden could deal with an opponent that is three sheets to the wind without a drop to drink. This morning I came upon a piece written by Richard Friedman, a professor of clinical psychiatry:
HOW TO DEBATE SOMEONE WHO LIES:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/25/opinion/debate-trump-biden-lie.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage
I liked that he reminded us that Trump is someone so afraid of ridicule that he has skipped the last three roasts at the White House Correspondent's Dinner.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Aide: Mr. President, I'm so sorry you had to endure all that booing yesterday during the ceremony honoring RBG.
Trump: What are you talking about? What booing?
Aide: People were booing you, sir, and saying you need to go––
Trump: Go? Go where? I'm here to stay for many a day so don't nobody say I need to go away.
Aide: So, sir, you're saying you never heard the boos?
Trump: I, for your information, never hear anything that doesn't suit, my ears are special ears–-they hear only what I want them to hear.
Aide: But––
Trump: No buts–-the world is my oyster and as I dole out my pearls of wisdom people don't boo––they rejoice in the wonderfulness of ME!
Aide: If you say so, sir.
Trump: you bet your bippy, buddy, I am King of the hill, Hawk of the walk, and when I talk, people listen.
Aide: (mutters as he leaves) Once more into the breach–-oh, Christ!
And the door closes on another day of intrigue and sly maneuvers; always something to get your motor running.
Oof. Marie, that is a scary pumpkin, girl. I mean, Trumpkin. But Forrest, if you do carve a Trumpkin, make sure to fill it with plenty of manure and yard waste, and don’t forget doggie and bird droppings, so as to keep it more authentic. But best to cover it when the kiddies show up with their trick or treat bags on Halloween. Best not to stun their little optic nerves with recurring nightmare images of a very Orange Menace.
(A sidelong observation: If one were to carve a smiling Trump effigy, I mean a genuine smile, not his typical nasty bully smirk, would anyone recognize it? If successful mimicry is the goal, best to stick with the Fatty Scowl, or the Deranged MAGA Rant Face.)
To PD,
Your invented dialogue is pretty accurate if one goes by the background information on the warped Trump Brain exposed during that Frontline program the other night. Trump, as a young dickhead, went to listen to Norman Vincent Peale, another shady con man, preach his gospel of “positive thinking” (aka fantasy folderol). The takeaway for Fatty was, and still is, obviously, pay no attention to real world facts you don’t like. Invent a rosy scenario in which everything is exactly the way you’d like it to be. People are booing your fat ass? No they’re not! They’re cheering madly in awe of your wonderfulness!
Lest you think @Akhilleus is exaggerating, look no further than Trump's reaction to being booed yesterday. From Michael Crowley's NYT report, linked above: "Asked later in the day about the jeering, Mr. Trump said he could 'hardly hear it.'”
@AK: Meant to tell you that I saw an old film recently, "Goodbye, Columbus," based on a Philip Roth novella that I had read many years ago. There is a scene where a young black boy comes to the library almost every day to look through the art books; the head librarian thinks this boy is looking through the books in order to view "naked ladies" and is about to throw the kid out. The main character here, who also works at the library, talks with the boy and finds that he has a genuine love of paintings and has the potential of becoming an artist. He issues the boy a library card, something the boy thought would not be given to him because he is black–-hence the kid can take the books home and renew them over and over.
I was struck with this scene because of you telling us about your foray into a library taking out the same art book over and over until one Christmas, as a present from your parents, the book was yours. I was quite taken with that story.
Which emails, Bea?
I'm guessing HRC's. You know, the ones she's supposed to be locked up for.
Next: Those all those bodies buried by the Clintons in Arkansas back in the late 1980's.
Meadows is still looking for them. Hot on the trail, in fact.
So Mike Bloomberg wants to help support democracy in Florida by aiding ex-felons in paying the poll taxes instituted by Florida confederates in an effort to continue to keep these people from being able to vote.
This effort has gotten certain anti-democracy R’s greatly exercised. The Florida AG (kind of an oxymoron, isn’t it?) and Trump testicle cozy, Matt Gaetz, want Benghazi style investigations and are demanding that the feds FBI the crap out of Bloomberg. Jail time is being demanded, along with public stoning and a stint in a padded room where the collected speeches of Donaldavich Trumpskyev will be played on an unending loop in hopes of re-education.
Wow. Sounds like these people are serious. They think Bloomberg is trying to buy votes instead of helping Americans get their voting Rights restored.
So what will they say about the little king stealing over $600 million from taxpayers (Bloomberg is using his own money and funds he’s raising) to bribe seniors to vote for him by sending them hundreds of dollars each for medical expenses? Will they demand that Fatty be FBIed? Be arrested? Be stoned (well, he often looks and sounds stoned, like he got tabbed with bad acid). Huh? Huh? Will Matt Gaetz be in high dudgeon over this? Or just want to get high thinking of all the seniors his lord and master is bribing?
Just a thought.
PD,
Luckily, as a white kid, I never even considered not being able to get a library card. But at least where I grew up, black kids could get them too. “Goodbye, Columbus” is a great book. It was my first Roth novel. (Well, novella, really). My brother and I still crack each other up about one scene in the book (no, not the masturbation stuff), in which the protagonist (Neil?) meets his upscale girlfriend’s brother. The brother informs Neil that he has plenty of kultcha too. He says he owns all the Andre Kostelanetz and Mantovani records ever made. “Oh yes” he says, “I really like semi-classical”. Hahaha.
Akhilleus,
Yeah, that $6.6 billion (that doesn't exist) for seniors' Medicare Part D co-pays goes indescribably far beyond sleaze.
Think I reported here on the stimulus check for a dead woman we received graced (sullied) by the Pretender signature. Had we not returned it, it's as likely that she would have cashed and spent the $1200 as it is this senior will receive the promised $200 before the election, even if the Pretender takes the money from the border wall, er..military or FEMA budgets.
Just more gaudy show sans substance. Can't imagine the Whitey House scurrying that all these promises and executive orders (protect those with pre-existing conditions somehow, someday) provoke. The place must be a madhouse.
Reminds me of the old joke about the guy who offered a woman a certain sum if she'd sleep with him.
Her reponse of "that's all?" led him to conclude she was not offended by the offer so much as by the price.
Can't help but think that we, the American electorate, are that woman.
We'll find out in a month what, if anything, really offends us.
Here's a letter to the editor published in our local newspaper last week. I would respond to this piece of Kool-Aid induced crap except this person knows where I live and he carries a pistol in his belt (pointed at his buttcrack).
"Before Obama & Biden we had......
No Antifa
No war on police
No BLM B.S.
No race riots in Democrat cities
No left-wing nut women taking MAGA hats from children and thinking that's O.K.
No destruction of historical monuments and military cemeteries
No bans on Christianity in public schools
No mandated Islam teachings in public schools
No attempts to legalize pedophilia in America
No stripping of $6 billion from veterans and allocating it to illegals"
I skipped some of the sillier "no's" but if I did respond it would be "don't you mean before trump & pence?"
@Forrest Morris: I guess your neighbor there got his degree from Trump University.
Antifa in the U.S. dates back to the 1980s. We were calling police "pigs" when Obama was a toddler (so, technically, not before Obama!) & demonstrating against said pigs. There were "race riots" back then, too, in some "Democrat cities." There were no MAGA hats until Trump started selling them, which admittedly was during the last years of Obama/Biden's terms of office. Americans destroyed statues of King George III before the American Revolution (which is even before Biden's birth!). The Supreme Court in Engel v. Vitale (1962) ruled that school-sponsored nondenominational prayer in public schools violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. In 1960 or '61 I learned about Islam in my world history class at a public high school. The history of Islam was in my history book; don't know if it was "mandated" or not. I am not aware of any attempt in any state to "legalize pedophilia," unless you want to call those -- largely Southern -- states that once allowed girls to marry at ages 13 & 14. Not sure what $6BB the neighbor is talking about.
Would be a shame if your neighbor shot another hole in his buttcrack.
Extra butt crack holes are a requirement for those full of extra large amounts of shit. Two holes (mouth and ass) are unable to accommodate the discharge of so much waste product. Proctologists speculate that Trump has butt crack holes in double digits.
Kind of amazing that RBG is the first (ie, only) woman to lie in state under the capitol dome. Over 30 others have been extended this honor, but no women, until now. What about Eleanor Roosevelt? Barbara Jordan? If Jedgar (does this dress make my ass look big?) Hoover was so honored, high time some women made it. Although it’s one of those good news bad news things. The good news: when you die, you will lie in state in the US capitol. The bad news: sometime next week.