The Conversation -- July 18, 2024

Michael Shear, et al., of the New York Times: "Several people close to President Biden said on Thursday that they believe he has begun to accept the idea that he may not be able to win in November and may have to drop out of the race, bowing to the growing demands of many anxious members of his party. One of the people close to him warned that the president had not yet made up his mind to leave the race after three weeks of insisting that almost nothing would drive him out. But another said that 'reality is setting in,' and that it would not be a surprise if Mr. Biden made an announcement soon endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris as his replacement."

Marianna Sotomayor, et al., of the Washington Post: "Former House speaker Nancy Pelosi has told some House Democrats she believes President Biden can be persuaded fairly soon to exit the presidential race amid serious doubts he can win in November, according to three Democratic officials familiar with her private discussions.... Pelosi is taking a strong, behind-the-scenes role in trying to resolve the political crisis by playing intermediary for upset rank-and-file Democrats and relaying those messages to the White House."

Marie: I've been reading or hearing quite a bit of "Democrats in disarray" patois. Quite the opposite is true. Here is the Democratic party in its greatest existential crisis since probably 1980 when Teddy Kennedy challenged President Jimmy Carter for the nomination (and that did not go well for party or the country). Yet instead of being at each others' throats, the leaders of today's party are, albeit individually, carrying the same or similar messages. Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries, Nancy Pelosi, Barack Obama. That's pretty amazing. The odd man out, of course, is Joe Biden -- the guy who matters most. But this is not "disarray." It's "negotiations." It may not turn out well, but the signs -- at the moment -- are promising.

Adam Cancryn, et al., of Politico: "President Joe Biden's reelection bid appeared to be nearing the point of collapse on Thursday, amid a cascade of warnings from the Democratic Party's top leaders that they have lost confidence in his candidacy. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi each told Biden in separate meetings over the last week that he should reconsider his reelection run or risk losing and dragging the rest of the party down with him. Schumer was 'pretty harsh' in his conversation with Biden, said one senior Hill Democrat briefed on the discussion.... A senior Biden aide told Politico that 'Biden is more committed to staying in than ever.'"

Natasha Korecki, et al., of NBC News: "President Joe Biden's political world is collapsing. Top allies have either publicly or privately called on him to step aside. Major donations have fallen off a cliff. Grassroots fundraising is not keeping up with the demands of a campaign that needs to aggressively scale up three months before the presidential election. Members of his own re-election effort have already declared he has no path to victory.... There is now a palpable sense that the ground has shifted underneath him, according to five people with knowledge of the situation, even among some of the president's most defiant internal backers who now believe the writing is on the wall. 'We're close to the end,' a person close to Biden said."

Tyler Pager & Michael Scherer of the Washington Post: "Former president Barack Obama has told allies in recent days that President Biden's path to victory has greatly diminished and he thinks the president needs to seriously consider the viability of his candidacy, according to multiple people briefed on his thinking. Obama has spoken with Biden only once since the debate, and he has been clear in his conversations with others that the future of Biden's candidacy is a decision for the president to make. He has emphasized that his concern is protecting Biden and his legacy, and has pushed back against the idea that he alone can influence Biden's decision-making process.... In some conversations, Obama, who has long looked to data for political insights, has told people he is concerned that the polls are moving away from Biden, that ... Donald Trump's electoral path is expanding and that donors are abandoning the president."

Reid Epstein of the New York Times: "Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland, a key member of the House committee that investigated the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, sent President Biden a four-page letter this month that compared the 81-year-old commander in chief to a tiring baseball pitcher and urged him to consult with fellow Democrats about whether to continue his campaign.... The letter, the authenticity of which Mr. Raskin confirmed on Thursday, begins with nearly three pages of lavish praise for Mr. Biden.... But the crux of the letter is a four-paragraph metaphor comparing the president to the Boston Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martínez, a Hall of Famer who was left on the mound for the eighth inning of Game Seven of the 2003 American League Championship Series despite being tired. Mr. Martínez allowed three runs, tying the game before the Yankees won with a ... home run in ... that denied the Red Sox a trip to the World Series, which they had not won in 85 years."

Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Joe Scarborough, the former congressman, ally of President Biden and influential host of the MSNBC show 'Morning Joe,' on Thursday morning all but called on Mr. Biden's aides to help him exit the race. Mr. Scarborough has been blunt that the president's debate performance against ... Donald J. Trump on June 27 was calamitous but has also interviewed Mr. Biden since and was sympathetic to him in the days following the debate. On Thursday, the host cited polling for the president that has taken a massive slide and fund-raising that has disappeared. He did not lay the blame at Mr. Biden's feet, but instead at what he described as a 'bubble' of people around the president who were shielding him."

~~~~~~~~~~

Presidential Race

Aamer Madhani of the AP: "President Joe Biden tested positive for COVID-19 while traveling Wednesday in Las Vegas and is experiencing 'mild symptoms' including 'general malaise' from the infection, the White House said. Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden will fly to his home in Delaware, where he will 'self-isolate and will continue to carry out all of his duties fully during that time.' The news had first been shared by Unidos US President and CEO Janet Murguía, who told guests at the group's convention in Las Vegas that president had sent his regrets and could not appear [as planned] because he tested positive for the virus." (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times story is here.~~~

     ~~~ Eli Stokols of Politico: "President Joe Biden's Covid diagnosis on Wednesday afternoon could hardly have come at a more devastating time. Not only did it cut short a two-day campaign swing in Nevada, but it threatens to deepen Democratic anxieties over -- and resistance to -- his reelection campaign, which has been teetering for nearly three weeks...."

We shall now take time out for some leaks from here and there to reporters everywhere:

Carl Hulse, et al., of the New York Times: "President Biden has become more receptive in the last several days to hearing arguments about why he should drop his re-election bid, Democrats briefed on his conversations said on Wednesday, after his party's two top leaders in Congress privately told him they were deeply concerned about his prospects. Mr. Biden has not given any indication that he is changing his mind about staying in the race..., but has been willing to listen to rundowns of new and worrying polling data and has asked questions about how Vice President Kamala Harris could win. The accounts suggest that Mr. Biden, privately at least, is striking a more open-minded posture than he did last week when he lashed out at a number of House Democrats who pressed him to step aside."

Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Biden said in an interview released on Wednesday that he would re-evaluate whether to stay in the presidential race if a doctor told him directly that he had a medical condition that made that necessary. Mr. Biden has said repeatedly that none of his doctors have told him he has a serious medical condition. Dr. Kevin O'Connor, the White House physician, wrote after the president's physical in February that Mr. Biden is 'a healthy, active, robust, 81-year-old male who remains fit to successfully execute the duties of the presidency.'... Mr. Biden also said for the first time that he had expected to 'move on' from the presidency and 'pass it on to somebody else' but decided to run again because he believed his 'wisdom' and experience would help heal the country's worsening divisions." (Also linked yesterday.)

Reid Epstein of the New York Times: "The Democratic National Committee is pushing back by a week its plans to nominate President Biden for re-election in a virtual roll call as the party's voters and many of its top officials continue to express discontent about heading into the general election with him atop their ticket. Top party officials announced on Wednesday that the virtual roll call for Mr. Biden would take place during the first week of August, an accommodation to Democrats who had protested about plans that would have started the voting as soon as next week." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ ABC News: "Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries pushed the party to delay its nominating process...."

Tyler Pager & Michael Scherer of the Washington Post: "House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, in separate private meetings with President Biden last week, told him that his continued candidacy imperils the Democratic Party's ability to control either chamber of Congress next year. Jeffries (D-N.Y.) met with Biden on Thursday night at the White House, and Schumer (D-N.Y.) met with him on Saturday in Rehoboth Beach, Del.... In a separate one-on-one conversation, a person close to Biden told the president directly that he should end his candidacy, saying that was the only way to preserve his legacy and save the country from another Trump term...." ~~~

~~~ Jonathan Karl of ABC News: "According to multiple well-connected Democratic sources, President Joe Biden's support from elected party leaders is crumbling.... A knowledgeable source close to both [Biden and Senator Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.)] tells me Schumer had a blunt conversation with Biden [on Saturday at Rehoboth Beach], making the case it would be best if Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race. When asked about this, Schumer's spokesperson declined to comment on specifics of the meeting, saying only that 'Leader Schumer conveyed the views of his caucus.'... A source ... tells ABC News that House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries has expressed similar views directly to Biden, suggesting he should drop out of the race."

MJ Lee, et al., of CNN: "Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi privately told President Joe Biden in a recent conversation that polling shows that the president cannot defeat Donald Trump and that Biden could destroy Democrats' chances of winning the House in November if he continues seeking a second term, according to four sources.... The president responded by pushing back, telling Pelosi he has seen polls that indicate he can win, one source said. Another one of the sources described Biden as getting defensive about the polls. At one point, Pelosi asked Mike Donilon, Biden's longtime adviser, to get on the line to talk over the data."

Maggie Astor of the New York Times: "Representative Adam Schiff of California said on Wednesday that President Biden should end his campaign, restarting a drip of opposition within the Democratic Party that had paused after the attempted assassination of ... Donald J. Trump over the weekend. Mr. Biden 'has been one of the most consequential presidents in our nation's history, and his lifetime of service as a senator, a vice president and now as president has made our country better,' Mr. Schiff, who is running for Senate, said in a statement to The Los Angeles Times. But, he said, 'A second Trump presidency will undermine the very foundation of our democracy, and I have serious concerns about whether the president can defeat Donald Trump in November.'" CNN's report is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Liz Hoffman & Ben Smith of Semafor: "Joe Biden met privately in Las Vegas Wednesday with Jeffrey Katzenberg, the film producer and a top campaign adviser, who conveyed a warning: The president's donors' patience is wearing thin, and their cash soon will, too. Katzenberg, one of Biden's closest counselors and a conduit to moneyed circles in media and finance, told the president that major donors, doubtful of his ability to win in November, have all but stopped writing the kind of big checks that sustain campaigns in the home stretch, people familiar with the meeting said.... After this story was published, Katzenberg said in a statement that it was a "misread of a private meeting' and that he and Biden 'talked about everything from the convention to new ads. And by the way, we will raise the money we need to run a winning campaign.'"

Darlene Superville, et al., of the AP: "Nearly two-thirds of Democrats say President Joe Biden should withdraw from the presidential race and let his party nominate a different candidate, according to a new poll, sharply undercutting his post-debate claim that 'average Democrats' are still with him even if some 'big names' are turning on him. The new survey by the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, conducted as Biden works to salvage his candidacy two weeks after his debate flop, also found that only about 3 in 10 Democrats are extremely or very confident that he has the mental capability to serve effectively as president, down slightly from 40% in an AP-NORC poll in February." (Also linked yesterday.)

Here are the New York Times' live updates of developments Wednesday night in the Republican National Convention. Some of the reporters' observations:

Eve Sampson: [Vance Gets an Endorsement.] "Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov of Russia on Wednesday signaled support for Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio, the Republican vice-presidential nominee and one of the Senate's most outspoken opponents of American assistance to Ukraine."

Simon Levien: "Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida took a dig at both inflation under President Biden's term and Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey, who was convicted on Tuesday in a bribery case...."

Chris Cameron: Peter "Navarro, who was jailed for defying a subpoena from the House Jan. 6 committee, is receiving a hero's welcome with raucous applause."

Jonathan Weisman: "Navarro's address is really putting calls for unity in the rearview mirror. 'Make no mistake, they're already coming for you,' he warns the crowd."

Cameron: "Republicans on the convention floor wildly cheered Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas as he discussed Trump's plans for mass deportations of undocumented migrants. The crowd chanted: 'Send them back.'"

Lisa Friedman: "Gov. Doug Burgum, Republican of North Dakota, who just took the convention stage, is being widely talked about as a potential secretary of the Department of Energy if Trump wins in November."

Annie Karni & Maggie Haberman: "This year, [Rudy] Giuliani -- indicted, disbarred and bankrupt -- has no speaking slot. He has been roaming around the arena for days nonetheless, recording his show and giving hours and hours of interviews to virtually anyone who could grab him. His viral spill on the convention's floor on Tuesday, in which he crashed into two folding chairs near where the Ohio delegation congregates and had to be helped back to his feet, felt like an unsubtle metaphor for his fall through the Trump era."

Michael Crowley: "Relatives of some of the 13 U.S. service members killed in the August 2021 bombing at the Kabul airport's Abbey Gate are now speaking, and accusing President Biden of indifference to their suffering. Biden has repeatedly expressed public heartbreak over the deaths of those troops. He also traveled to Dover Air Force Base to receive their remains, and met privately with their family members beforehand."

Jess Bidgood: "Kai Trump [Junior's daughter] is talking about what Trump is like as a grandfather, saying he always asks how she is doing, even when he is busy with his court cases. It's part of a concerted effort to soften Trump's image here."

Michael Gold: "As Donald Trump Jr. speaks about the shooting on Saturday, the delegates are the most rapt I've seen them this week. And there is a real energy of anticipation here ahead of J.D. Vance's keynote address."

Bidgood: "Usha Vance describes J.D. Vance as a 'meat and potatoes' kind of guy who learned to cook Indian food for her mother."

Michael Bender: "Senator J.D. Vance drew a direct line on Wednesday from his traumatic upbringing in southwest Ohio to his new standing as the top lieutenant in Donald J. Trump's conservative movement, promising the Republican National Convention that he would bring his working-class roots to Washington and help fight 'for the people who built this country.' Addressing the first national political convention he had ever attended, Mr. Vance, 39, accepted his party's vice-presidential nomination -- making him among the youngest Americans to ever fill that role -- in an upbeat speech that was by far the most consequential of his fledgling ... political career."

Bidgood: "What we are hearing tonight [from Vance], a speech that is heavy on economic populism and isolationism, may well be a preview of the future of the G.O.P."

Cameron: "Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio delivered a prime-time address at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday, highlighting his personal story, including his upbringing in a poor family that struggled with addiction, as he formally accepted his party's nomination to be ... Donald J. Trump's running mate. Mr. Vance praised Mr. Trump effusively and highlighted his own youth as he attacked President Biden as a symbol of 'corrupt Washington insiders' who have exploited Americans for generations. 'Joe Biden has been a politician in Washington for longer than I've been alive -- I'm 39 years old,' Mr. Vance said, adding, 'For half a century, he's been the champion of every major policy initiative to make America weaker and poorer.'"

Vice President Harris introduces us to J.D. Vance:

Hillbilly Elegy for Pregnant Women. Jessica Valenti in a Substack essay: "... JD Vance ... isn't just your run-of-the-mill anti-abortion Republican: he's a full-on trad husband, obsessed with forcing women in the home and calling anyone who disagrees 'childless cat ladies.'... This is a guy who opined for 1950s marriages and encouraged women to stay in abusive marriages.... Like so many men obsessed with the 'trad' movement, however, Vance shrouds his old-school misogyny as concern for women's happiness -- or even a way to buck against capitalism[.]... The new VP candidate not only supports a federal abortion ban, but opposes rape and incest exceptions. When he was asked about abortion access for sexual violence in a 2021 interview, Vance replied that 'two wrong don't make a right.'... Over the last few weeks, Vance has been feigning moderation in interviews in a shameless attempt to show Trump he can toe the line." Read down to the bit about how the New York Times is helping Vance out by clipping a remark to make him sound as if he's against a national ban when he says the opposite. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

JD Vance and Donald Trump are trying to 'soften' their position on abortion. Don't believe it. When they tell us they want to ban abortion, they mean it. -- Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) ~~~

~~~ Dan Diamond & Meryl Kornfield of the Washington Post: "Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) ... last year joined an effort to enforce the Comstock Act, the 151-year-old federal law that has become a lightning rod in the nation's abortion debate. The Comstock Act, which bans the mailing of abortion-related materials, has not been invoked for that purpose in about a century.... 'We demand that you act swiftly and in accordance with the law, shut down all mail-order abortion operations,' Vance and about 40 fellow Republican lawmakers wrote [to Attorney General Merrick Garland]. The Republicans called on the Justice Department to potentially prosecute physicians, pharmacists and others 'who break the Federal mail-order abortion laws,' citing additional federal laws that apply to criminal conspiracy and money laundering."

Noah Berlatsky in Public Notice: "Trump chose JD Vance as his running mate this week, and a certain segment of the news media immediately rushed to declare the start of a new kind of working-class Republicanism.... [But] Vance's populism is a shallow, cynical branding exercise. Like his Republican brethren, and like Trump, his populism is paper thin; he views the working class with contempt and embraces policies that would entrench poverty and gut social mobility. Vance has benefited throughout his career from the gullibility of the mainstream media, which never tires in its search for a white working-class whisperer.... When he wasn't memoir-ing, Vance was a finance guy, establishing venture capital funds backed by right-wing billionaire oligarchs like Peter Thiel and Marc Andreessen.... When your populism appeals to Peter Thiel, it's not really populism.... Vance has joined a Trump ticket dedicated to funneling money to oligarchs and crushing workers; his populist policies are a thinly veiled excuse to attack his political enemies; his memoir is an extended rant about his contempt for poor people." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Fake populism is a GOP substitute for or addition to fake patriotism & fake Christianism. At least since the heyday of Barry Goldwater & Richard Nixon, everything about the GOP "code" has been phony. The main event is always a fervent belief in oligarchy/kleptocracy. If the sideshows get a few updates and tweaks, so what? They work. They pull in the suckers.

I don't really care what happens to Ukraine one way or the other. -- J.D. Vance to Steve Bannon, 2022 ~~~

~~~ Jonathan Martin in Politico Magazine: "... Donald Trump didn;t just select a running mate here -- he doused political kerosene on the raging Republican fire over foreign policy. By tapping the 39-year-old Sen. J.D. Vance, one of the party's leading national security doves, Trump strengthened the hand of the isolationist forces eager to undo the hawkish GOP consensus that has endured since the Reagan era." (Also linked yesterday.)

The Upside-Down World of J.D. Vance. Andy Kroll of ProPublica & Nick Surgey of Documented: "Sen. J.D. Vance ... told a group of influential young conservatives in a closed-door speech in 2021 that they should stand up for 'nonconventional people' who speak truth, such as Infowars founder Alex Jones."

Brad Reed of Raw Story: "... some of ... Donald Trump's white nationalist supporters are unhappy with the choice [of J.D. Vance]. At issue is the fact that Vance's wife, Usha Vance, is the daughter of Indian immigrants, which [according to Newsweek] is leading some far-right influencers to be suspicious that he won't really be as tough on immigration as they hope. 'Do we really expect that the guy who has an Indian wife and named their kid Vivek is going to support white identity?' asked neo-Nazi podcaster and one-time Trump dinner guest Nick Fuentes recently." (Also linked yesterday.)

The New York Times has a short video on the Secret Service's failure to protect Donald Trump and his supporters from a gunman.

David Fahrenthold, et al., of the New York Times: "Among the thousands of people streaming in to cheer ... Donald J. Trump at a campaign rally on Saturday, local officers spotted one skinny young man acting oddly and notified other law enforcement. The Secret Service, too, was informed, through radio communication. The suspicious man did not appear to have a weapon. Remarkably, law enforcement had found the right man -- Thomas Matthew Crooks, a would-be assassin, [about an hour before he shot Mr. Trump and others]. Then they lost track of him. Twenty minutes before violence erupted, a sniper, from a distance, spotted Mr. Crooks again and took his picture.... At least two local officers were pulled from traffic detail to help search for the man. But the Secret Service ... did not stop [Mr. Trump] from taking the stage.... The call to let the rally go ahead while law enforcement looked for a potentially dangerous person is one of many Secret Service decisions now being called into question."

Pierre Thomas, et al., of ABC News: "Law enforcement officials investigating the assassination attempt on Donald Trump told lawmakers Wednesday that 20 minutes passed between the time U.S. Secret Service snipers first spotted the gunman on a rooftop and the time shots were fired at the former president, according to several law enforcement officials and lawmakers briefed on the matter.... According to the sources, the timeline presented in the briefing was as follows:

• 5:10 p.m. Crooks was first identified as a person of interest
• 5:30 p.m. Crooks was spotted with a rangefinder
• 5:52 p.m. Crooks was spotted on the roof by Secret Service
• 6:02 p.m. Trump takes the stage
• 6:12 p.m. Crooks fires first shots"

     ~~~ Marie: Let's agree that a prudent person, aware of what was happening before 5:53 p.m., would not allow the 6:02 p.m. action to occur. Something was really, really screwed up there.

Glenn Thrush, et al., of the New York Times: "F.B.I. officials told members of Congress on Wednesday that the gunman who tried to kill ... Donald J. Trump used his cellphone and other devices to search images of Mr. Trump and President Biden, along with an array of public figures. The 20-year-old gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pa., also looked up dates of Mr. Trump's appearances and the Democratic National Convention, according to people on two conference calls held to answer lawmakers' questions. And, at least once, his browsing history signaled concerns about his own mental state. He also seems to have previewed his attack on Steam, a gaming platform he frequented, telling fellow gamers he planned to make his 'premiere on July 13, the day of the shooting."~~~

     ~~~ Marie: So this does rather put the lie to Republicans' assertions that President Biden was behind the assassination attempt. Do we hear profuse apologies? No?

Here's the New York Times liveblog of developments Wednesday in the assassination attempt on Donald Trump: ~~~

Eduardo Medina & Jeanna Smialek: "New details emerged Wednesday about the attempted assassination of Donald J. Trump, as a county official ... Richard Goldinger, the district attorney of Butler County ... revealed that at least one local police officer had fired on the would-be assassin as shots erupted at a campaign rally. But it was uncertain if the local officer had hit the gunman, who was killed by Secret Service snipers, the agency has said." This is the pinned item.

Campbell Robertson: "Edward Natali, a Butler Township supervisor, said in a social media post that officers from the township's police department, originally assigned to traffic patrol, responded to reports of a suspicious person outside the Trump rally on Saturday. After a search, they heard reports that he was on the roof of a warehouse building. One of the officers hoisted another up to check, and the gunman turned his weapon on the officer, 'who was not in position to wield his weapon to defend himself,' Natali wrote. 'He fell to safety and was injured in the process.' The gunman fired at the former president immediately after this encounter."

Mark Walker: "The F.A.A. grants special permission to conduct drone operations in restricted airspace for improved emergency response and aerial intelligence. The area was restricted because Trump was appearing publicly.... The Secret Service did not seek to use drones to provide agents with aerial views of the rally in Butler, Pa., on Saturday, a spokesperson for the F.A.A. confirmed to The New York Times."

Glenn Thrush: "F.B.I. officials, speaking on a conference call with members of Congress, said that that the gunman's search history on his electronic devices included images of public figures -- including Trump and Biden -- along with dates of Trump appearances and the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, according to a person who was on the call." (Also linked yesterday.)

Isaac Stanley-Becker, et al., of the Washington Post: “Local police alerted the Secret Service before ... Donald Trump's rally Saturday that they lacked the resources to station a patrol car outside a key building where a gunman later positioned himself and shot at Trump, according to local and federal law enforcement. Richard Goldinger, the district attorney in Butler County, Pa., where the Trump rally took place, said the Secret Service 'was informed that the local police department did not have manpower to assist with securing that building.' Goldinger's account was confirmed by a Secret Service official briefed on the incident...." (Also linked yesterday.)

Perry Stein & Devlin Barrett of the Washington Post: "Special Counsel Jack Smith formally filed notice on Wednesday that he will appeal a Florida judge's decision to dismiss the 40-count mishandling of classified documents and obstruction case against ... Donald Trump. The appeal, laying out Smith's argument for why the case should not be dismissed, is expected to land in coming weeks in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals...." CNN's report is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Thinkin' About Thinkin' About Resigning. Nicholas Fandos & Tracey Tully of the New York Times: "Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey has privately told allies that he is considering resigning from Congress after his conviction in a sweeping bribery scheme rather than face a potential expulsion vote, according to three people familiar with his remarks. Two of the people, who were not authorized to discuss the conversations, cautioned that Mr. Menendez has not made a final decision and could still fight to serve out his term. Publicly, he has maintained his innocence and vowed to appeal Tuesday's guilty verdict on 16 felony counts."

Tierney Sneed, et al., of CNN: "Former Donald Trump White House adviser Peter Navarro was released from a Miami federal prison Wednesday after completing his four-month sentence for defying a subpoena from the January 6 congressional committee. Navarro is expected to quickly travel to Milwaukee so he can appear at the Republican National Convention, where his former boss has been formally nominated as the GOP's 2024 presidential nominee." (Also linked yesterday.)

John Ismay of the New York Times: "On July 17, 1944, hundreds of sailors were loading ammunition onto two cargo ships in Port Chicago, Calif., not far from San Francisco, when an explosion powerful enough to be felt 50 miles away killed 320 of the men, most of them Black. More than 400 sailors were injured in the blast, the cause of which has never fully been determined. When ordered to continue loading ammunition the next day, 258 Black sailors objected until safety conditions improved. All of them were subjected to a sham trial and convicted of various offenses, though most of them eventually agreed to return to work at the piers.... The group of 50 men who continued to resist were given dishonorable discharges and jail sentences.... On Wednesday, 80 years after the explosion at Port Chicago, the Navy secretary, Carlos Del Toro, officially exonerated all 258 Black sailors, none of whom are still alive."

Praveena Somasundaram of the Washington Post: "The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted a last-minute stay of execution to a Texas man who for more than a decade has requested DNA testing to prove his innocence in a 1998 killing. Ruben Gutierrez was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death 25 years ago. He was scheduled to receive a lethal injection at a Texas prison about 20 minutes after the high court said it would delay the execution until it decides whether to review Gutierrez's case, his attorney said."

~~~~~~~~~~

Israel/Palestine, et al.

The New York Times' live updates of developments Thursday in the Israel/Hamas war are here.

Dan Lamothe & Alex Horton of the Washington Post: :The Pentagon on Wednesday declared an end to its sea-based humanitarian mission off Gaza, an effort that enabled delivery of millions of pounds of food and other supplies to the war-ravaged territory even as it faced near-constant setbacks and ultimately fell short of expectations.... Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, the No. 2 officer at U.S. Central Command..., told reporters during a news briefing ... [that t]he operation will shift to the Israeli port in Ashdod, where personnel will continue to facilitate aid deliveries...." (Also linked yesterday.)

News Ledes

New York Times: "Bob Newhart, who burst onto the comedy scene in 1960 working a stammering Everyman character not unlike himself, then rode essentially that same character through a long, busy career that included two of television's most memorable sitcoms, died on Thursday at his home in Los Angeles. He was 94." ~~~

~~~ The New York Times suggests six great Newhart performances.

Comments

[ForrestMorris]

When I had my checkup in June, my doctor suggested I get the
latest vaccination for the new Covid variant, so I did.
One would think that President Biden would have received the
same info from his doctors.
Something doesn't add up here.

[Marie Burns]

@Forrest Morris: There are a number of variants of Covid and each vaccine covers one or more of them but not necessarily the latest variant.

Joe Biden gets up close and personal with hundreds of people from all over the world several times a week; that is, he has a lot more exposure to Covid (and other air-borne diseases) than you and I do. In addition to that, his job is way more stressful than yours and mine (retired), and I think stress and exhaustion can reduce your immunity.

So I'm not surprised that -- even though I assume Biden is current with a Covid vaccine regimen -- he contracted Covid. I'm not seeing a conspiracy.

[Ken Winkes]

Had a call from a friend this AM who has Covid now for the third time. Her variant is mild, as this summer's manifestation seems to be, and she has had all the vaccines per the recommended regimen.

On Biden: I'm concluding the dearth of comments here reflects the country's bated breath.

[Marie Burns]

@Ken Winkes: Hope you're right about the dearth of comments. I'm finding it dismaying: so much news, so few opinions (or even thoughts and prayers).

[Monkius]

My thoughts and prayers are with Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff this week, with the best of intent.

(Second try posting, "something went wrong" the first time.)

[unwashed]

To help assuage my angst over this past week's news, I've started learning Norwegian...

[Elizabeth]

Since the assassination attempt on trump--in my home state, not far from where many members of my family are buried and my nephew and his family currently live--I have barely been able to read the news. My mother (native of Pittsburgh) did email this morning, wondering if the Covid diagnosis was the hand of the Lord Almighty trying to get Joe's attention. Hoping so. Otherwise, I'm just going to keep my focus on gardening news.

Thanks, as always, to those who keep posting enlightening or humorous articles/websites/tweets/etc.

[Marie Burns]

@unwashed: Maybe after the election, we can start up an ex-pat colony in, say, Stavanger. Vær så god.

P.S. Fortunately, most Norwegians speak fair to excellent English.