The Commentariat -- July 6, 2020

Afternoon Update:

The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Monday are here.

** Mr. Trudeau Regrets. Rob Gillis of the AP: Canada's "Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has turned down a White House invitation to celebrate the new regional free trade agreement in Washington with ... Donald Trump and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Trump and López Obrador are due to meet Wednesday [in] Washington, but Trudeau spokesperson Chantal Gagnon said Monday that while Canada wishes the U.S. and Mexico well, Trudeau won't be there.... A senior U.S. administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to be quoted by name, said Trudeau had multiple conflicts related to the start of Parliament and coronavirus regulations which require Canadians who travel abroad to quarantine for 14 days on return. The official said Trudeau has asked to speak with Trump by phone."

Fox "News" Regrets. That it aired a posed photo of Jeffrey Epstein with Melania & Ghislane Maxwell, but cropped Donald Trump from the photo. Mrs. McC: Yeah, I'll bet they "mistakenly eliminated" Trump's image.

Candace Buckner of the Washington Post: Christmas City Spirits of Bethlehem, Pa., in early March "suspended production of all drinkable alcohol and produced approximately 800 gallons of hand sanitizer for organizations, charities and workers risking their lives to combat the [corona]virus. According to the Distilled Spirits Council, 831 distilleries across the nation have made hand sanitizer for local communities. Only one distillery, however, has the distinction of producing it strictly for donation. Not a single one of the 4,000 four-ounce bottles of Christmas City Spirits' hand sanitizer, aptly named 'Corona Bullet,' was sold for profit." Definitely a feel-good story.

They name teams out of STRENGTH, not weakness, but now the Washington Redskins & Cleveland Indians, two fabled sports franchises, look like they are going to be changing their names in order to be politically correct. Indians, like Elizabeth Warren, must be very angry right now! -- Donald Trump, in his second racist tweet Monday.

"Trump Defends Confederate Flag in Latest Race-Based Appeal to White Voters." Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "President Trump mounted an explicit defense of the Confederate flag on Monday, suggesting that NASCAR had made a mistake in banning it from its auto racing events, while falsely accusing a top Black driver, Darrell Wallace Jr., of perpetrating a hoax involving a noose found in his garage.... Mr. Trump has increasingly used racist language and references to portray himself as a protector of the history of the American South.... 'Has @BubbaWallace apologized to all of those great NASCAR drivers & officials who came to his aid, stood by his side, & were willing to sacrifice everything for him, only to find out that the whole thing was just another HOAX? That & Flag decision has caused lowest ratings EVER!' Mr. Trump posted on Twitter on Monday." Here's an AP story.~~~

~~~ Lachlan Markay of the Daily Beast: "In a round of new digital ads, the Trump re-elect[ion campaign] asks people to support the president as he stands up to the angry mobs trying to tear down iconic memorials. In one specific ad, the endangered statue that the campaign spotlights happens to be the famous Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 'The President wants to know who stood with him against the Radical Left,' declared dozens of ads run over the weekend on pages for Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. The ads featured a graphic with an image of the Christ the Redeemer statue above the text, 'WE WILL PROTECT THIS.' The photo appears to have come from an online database of free stock images.... There's no indication that the 125-foot sculpture, which sits at the peak of Corcovado mountain overlooking Rio, is at risk of vandalism or removal. It's also not clear how Trump or Pence might go about protecting it if it were threatened...." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: This was my first thought, which Markay expresses half-way through his post: "It was not immediately clear whether the Trump campaign was aware that the image it chose for its Facebook ads ... showed a statue in another country." I would just assume Trump's campaign staff & ad people are as culturally-aware as is Trump himself & they had no idea other countries had big ole statues of Jesus, too, the famous Rio statue being among them. ~~~

~~~ Asawin Suebsaeng of the Daily Beast: "... Donald Trump has decided to pivot heavily to culture-war bluster and hard-right posturing. A major part of that pivot appears to be turning his anger on people who don't like the same statues he does and comparing those enemies to Nazi 'fascists.' Shockingly, there are some in Trump's political orbit who aren't convinced this tactic will move voters as much as the president seems to think it will.... 'The question now is, Is the statue shit going to work?' said a senior Trump campaign adviser, adding that current polling was 'inconclusive' at best."

Jonathan O'Connell & Aaron Gregg of the Washington Post: "The Small Business Administration released information Monday about nearly 700,000 loans issued as part of the federal $660 billion Paycheck Protection Program since its launch in early April. The disclosure includes the names of 660,000 small businesses and nonprofit organizations that received at least $150,000 in funding, the most detailed yet on one of the largest economic stimulus packages created by the federal government. The data shows [show!] the government issued $521 billion in loans, with an average loan size of $107,000." A Politico story is here.

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "States can require members of the Electoral College to cast their votes for the presidential candidates they had pledged to support, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled on Monday. In curbing the independence of electors, the court limited one potential source of uncertainty in the 2020 presidential election." An AP story is here.

Juliet Eilperin, et al., of the Washington Post: "A federal judge ruled Monday that the Dakota Access Pipeline must be shut down by Aug. 5, saying federal officials failed to do a complete analysis of its environmental impacts. The decision marks the second setback for President Trump's infrastructure push in just two days, underscoring the extent to which long-standing environmental laws represent an obstacle to his quest to expand domestic oil and gas production. U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg wrote that the federal government had not met all the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act, a 50-year-old-law that the Trump administration is seeking to weaken.... The Dakota Access Pipeline, which opened in 2017, carries about half a million barrels of crude oil a day from North Dakota's Bakken shale basin to Illinois. The ruling means the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers must conduct a more thorough analysis of how a leak in the Dakota pipeline could affect Lake Oahe, which collects water from the Missouri River and lies half a mile from the Standing Rock Indian Reservation." A Bismarck Tribune story is here.

~~~~~~~~~~~

The Trumpidemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Sunday are here. "New infections announced across the United States last week total more than 330,000, a record high that includes the five highest single-day totals of the pandemic." (Also linked yesterday.)

Derek Hawkins, et al., of the Washington Post: "Officials in states with surging coronavirus cases issued dire warnings and blamed outbreaks on early reopenings Sunday as the seven-day average for daily new cases in the United States reached a record high for the 27th straight day.... Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn said it was 'too early to tell' whether the Republican National Convention could be held safely in Jacksonville, Fla., next month." The article is free to nonsubscribers. ~~~

~~~ Robert Barnes & Derek Hawkins of the Washington Post: "The Independence Day weekend concluded with dire predictions about the surge of coronavirus cases around the country and with national and local officials saying a rush to reopen fueled the spread of the novel coronavirus and outpaced efforts to care for its victims. 'We're right back where we were at the peak of the epidemic during the New York outbreak,' former Food and Drug Administration commissioner Scott Gottlieb said on 'Face the Nation' on CBS. 'The difference now is that we really had one epicenter of spread when New York was going through its hardship, now we really have four major epicenters of spread: Los Angeles, cities in Texas, cities in Florida, and Arizona. And Florida looks to be in the worst shape.'... FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn was pressed to analyze President Trump's comments Saturday that a vaccine would be ready 'long before the end of the year' and that 99 percent of the cases have been 'totally harmless.' Hahn dodged both in appearances on the Sunday talk shows.... Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego (D) attributed soaring case numbers in Arizona to the state's decision to resume business as usual before the virus was under control.... Gallego said federal officials had dismissed her requests to conduct community-based testing ... after people reported waiting in line for six hours at some testing sites."

Richard Oppel, et al., of the New York Times: "Early numbers had shown that Black and Latino people were being harmed by the [corona]virus at higher rates. But the new federal data -- made available after The New York Times sued the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- reveals a clearer and more complete picture: Black and Latino people have been disproportionately affected by the coronavirus in a widespread manner that spans the country, throughout hundreds of counties in urban, suburban and rural areas, and across all age groups. Latino and African-American residents of the United States have been three times as likely to become infected as their white neighbors.... And Black and Latino people have been nearly twice as likely to die from the virus as white people...." Mrs. McC: How disgusting is it that a legitimate news organization had to sue the CDC -- paid for with taxpayer dollars -- to get information critical to public health? (Also linked yesterday.)

Yoo Who! Wake Up & Smell the Teensy Particles. Apoorva Mandavilli of the New York Times: "The coronavirus is finding new victims worldwide, in bars and restaurants, offices, markets and casinos, giving rise to frightening clusters of infection that increasingly confirm what many scientists have been saying for months: The virus lingers in the air indoors, infecting those nearby.... The World Health Organization has long held that the coronavirus is spread primarily by large respiratory droplets that, once expelled by infected people in coughs and sneezes, fall quickly to the floor. But in an open letter to the W.H.O., 239 scientists in 32 countries have outlined the evidence showing that smaller particles can infect people, and are calling for the agency to revise its recommendations. The researchers plan to publish their letter in a scientific journal next week." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Sarah Knapton of The Telegraph, via Yahoo!: "Coronavirus may have lain dormant across the world and emerged when environmental conditions were right for it to thrive - rather than starting in China, an Oxford University expert believes. Dr Tom Jefferson, senior associate tutor at the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine (CEBM), at Oxford..., argues that there is growing evidence that the virus was elsewhere before it emerged in Asia.... Dr Jefferson believes that many viruses lie dormant throughout the globe and emerge when conditions are favourable. It also means they can vanish as quickly as they arrive.... Dr Jefferson believes that the virus may be transmitted through the sewage system or shared toilet facilities, not just through droplets expelled by talking, coughing and sneezing." --s

Maeve Reston of CNN was flummoxed by Donald Trump's "mystifying -- and dangerously misleading claim -- that 99% of coronavirus cases in America are 'totally harmless.'... There have now been at least 2.8 million cases of coronavirus in the United States, according to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University. While the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that about 35% of cases are asymptomatic, those patients can still spread the virus. As of Saturday, Johns Hopkins estimated that the fatality rate for the US was 4.6%." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Reston's figures are a bit misleading. Researchers admit they don't know the long-term effects of the virus are, even among the apparently asymptomatic. But if 35% of today's victims are currently asymptomatic, then 65% felt symptoms. We know that among them, many had symptoms so severe they had to be hospitalized or seek other medical support. Extrapolating from a CDC summary, it appears that about 330,000 Americans have been hospitalized for Covid-19. That's about 11% of Covid victims who have been hospitalized, a figure that of course doesn't include the vast numbers of victims who were turned away from hospitals, sought other treatment or got no professional treatment at all. To claim that Covid is "totally harmless" to all but one percent of those who contract it is not just fuzzy math; it's a big honking lie. (There is one quasi-justification I can see for Trump's claim: the CDC has said that the number of Americans infected is ten times as high as reports indicate. That would bring the percentage of hospitalized patients down to 1.1%. That doesn't mean the virus was "totally harmless" to the other 98.9% of Covid victims, but it could explain away Trump's wild assertion.)

When Is 2 Greater than 130,000? When Joni Ernst Is Counting. Justin Baragona of the Daily Beast: "Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), when confronted with her previous criticisms of then-President Barack Obama's handling of the Ebola outbreak in 2014, claimed on Sunday morning that ... Donald Trump is 'stepping forward' in his response to the coronavirus pandemic that's now killed 130,000 Americans.... Despite Obama deploying 3,000 service members to Africa to contain the virus, and only 11 confirmed cases and two deaths recorded in the United States, Ernst at the time accused the president of 'failed leadership' on the disease.... The Republican lawmaker, however, took the opportunity to heap praise on the Trump administration for its response to the public health crisis while seemingly placing the blame on Democrats for any shortfalls.... Ernst's home state of Iowa, meanwhile, hit its all-time high in new coronavirus cases on Saturday, reporting 568 new COVID-19 infections."

Trumpsylvania, where all the people are white, all the women are hot, all the men are armed, and all the children go to above-average private schools:

Dan Balz of the Washington Post: "President Trump, with two speeches in two days, has turned the Fourth of July from a joyful and unifying patriotic celebration of America's founding values into a partisan political event. The damage could outlast his presidency.... Never in our lifetimes has the Independence Day holiday been used for such divisive and personal ends.... A portion of the country hears Trump's rhetoric as an uplifting message extolling the rich history of American success and greatness. The rest of the country recoils at a message seen as racist and divisive. As with all things Trump-related, there can be no middle ground. That's the inheritance this president is leaving to the country." Mrs. McC: Just love it when Sleepy Dan, the Both-Sides Man, gets slightly woke. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Valerie Strauss of the Washington Post: "... in [Trump's] view, schools are teaching kids to 'hate our country' with a 'far-left fascism that demands absolute allegiance.'... 'If you do not speak its language, perform its rituals, recite its mantras and follow its commandments, then you will be censored, banished, blacklisted, persecuted and punished,' he said.... Trump is pushing a view of public education in the country that has long been espoused by many Republicans: that public K-12 schools and institutions of higher education are cauldrons of subversion where teachers mold children into being politically correct leftists." Mrs. McC: To be fair to Trump, many a child -- if she knew the word "fascist" -- would so describe her teacher or some other school employee -- like the Cafeteria Nazi! (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Benjamin Fearnow of Newsweek: "About 1,000 heavily armed militia, all of whom were Black, marched through Georgia's Stone Mountain Park on Independence Day, challenging white nationalist groups in the area to either come out and fight or join them in demonstrating against the government. Stone Mountain State Park officials said the Black militia group was peaceful, orderly and escorted by police Saturday as they called for the removal of the country's largest Confederate monument near Atlanta.... [T]he 'Not F**king Around Coalition' (NFAC) ... Founder Grand Master Jay told Newsweek via phone Sunday that the militia members at Stone Mountain on Saturday were '100 percent black' and they are not affiliated with Black Lives Matter. 'We are a black militia. We aren't protesters, we aren't demonstrators. We don't come to sing, we don't come to chant. That's not what we do,' he said." --s ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McC: Now will Trump be singing the praises of this Second Amendment group?

Crazy People News. Shawn Boberg & Dalton Bennett of the Washington Post: "For weeks, a mysterious figure on social media talked up plans for antifa protesters to converge ... [at Gettysburg National Park] on Independence Day to burn American flags, an event that seemed at times to border on the farcical.... As word spread, self-proclaimed militias, bikers, skinheads and far-right groups from outside the state issued a call to action, pledging in online videos and posts to come to Gettysburg to protect the Civil War monuments and the nation's flag from desecration. Some said they would bring firearms and use force if necessary. On Saturday afternoon, in the hours before the flag burning was to start, they flooded in by the hundreds -- heavily armed and unaware, it seemed, that the mysterious Internet poster was [a fake]...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

New York. Gary Craig & Ryan Miller of the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle: "On the same weekend in which famed abolitionist Frederick Douglass 168 years ago delivered one of his most historically resonant speeches, a statue of Douglass was toppled from its base and left near the Genesee River gorge.... The Maplewood Park location includes Kelsey's Landing, where Douglass, Harriet Tubman, and others helped shuttle slaves to safety along the Underground Railroad. Across the United States, Douglass' July 5, 1852 speech, 'What to the Slave is the Fourth of July,' has been shared widely on social media and elsewhere as a reminder of the country's legacy of slavery and racism.... Douglass, a former slave, delivered the speech to the Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society at Corinthian Hall in downtown Rochester."

Paul Sonne of the Washington Post: "Russia is once again threatening to become a major factor in a U.S. presidential election as long-standing fears about President Trump's deference to Russian President Vladimir Putin crystallize in a scandal over alleged Russian bounty payments targeting U.S. forces in Afghanistan.... In the days since the reports [of Russian bounty payments] became public, Trump has declined to criticize Putin or Russia, and senior administration officials say the White House isn't planning a response. Instead, Trump told Fox News on Wednesday that the entire affair is a 'hoax by the newspapers and the Democrats' and insisted he wasn't briefed on the intelligence in the first place because it was inconclusive." ~~~

~~~ Nic Robertson of CNN: "This past week, on ... Donald Trump's watch Russia and China have effectively re-aligned the coming world order. They didn't do it together, but both took advantage of uncertainty and unpredictability that Trump has helped create. It's far from clear that the next US President will be able to roll back the consequences of this week, which leave both Presidents Vladimir Putin in Moscow and Xi Jinping in Beijing more decisively in control of their own countries and more able to act assertively.... The question historians may well debate in the future is not whether Trump's presidency affected Putin's and Xi's decisions but by how much his delusions changed the world in their favor."

Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "Santae A. Tribble, whose wrongful conviction for a 1978 murder in Southeast Washington exposed decades of exaggerated claims about the reliability of FBI forensic hair matches, has died, his family said.... Tribble was exonerated in 2012 after serving 28 years in prison for the killing of a D.C. taxi driver, who died when Tribble was 17. DNA testing revealed that Tribble could not have contributed hairs found in what police said was a stocking mask worn by the attacker and left near the crime scene -- even though at trial, the FBI declared the hairs microscopically matched Tribble's, and prosecutors suggested the odds of a mismatch were 'one ... in 10 million.' Tribble's case and others ... helped trigger a federal review that in 2015 disclosed FBI examiners systematically overstated testimony in almost all trials in which they offered hair evidence against criminal defendants for two decades before 2000. The findings led the Justice Department to offer new DNA testing in cases with errors and launch a partnership with independent scientists to raise forensic science standards. The findings also led to a review of other forensic disciplines for similar 'testimonial overstatement,' although the Trump administration suspended the latter efforts." Emphasis added. ~~~

     ~~~ Rule of Thumb Trump. If it's possible to do the wrong thing, the Trumpies will do it.

Jerry Dunleavy of the Washington Examiner: "During the evening of July 4, retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn shared a video of himself leading five other people in a recitation of the oath of office traditionally given to federal elected officeholders, ending the oath with a slogan associated with the QAnon conspiracy theory. Flynn ... posted the Independence Day video of himself ... [and the others] in front of a bonfire. Flynn and the others ended the short video by quoting a popular QAnon slogan -- 'Where we go one, we go all!' -- after which they said, 'God bless America.'... The former national security adviser had added '#TakeTheOath' to his Twitter profile in recent days.... Flynn is popular among many QAnon supporters. Sidney Powell..., who took over Flynn's defense last year, denied that her client's video had anything to do with QAnon."

Elections 2020

Justine Coleman of the Hill: "President Trump will hold an outdoor rally in New Hampshire this coming weekend, his campaign announced Sunday. The president's next ... rally will gather supporters at Portsmouth International Airport on Saturday, July 11.... Health experts are still warning against large gatherings of people, saying they could intensify the current surge of cases in the U.S.... New Hampshire is one of two states where cases are considered to be decreasing, according to The New York Times." Mrs. McC: Now, Trump plans to kill some of my neighbors -- and maybe me -- to stroke his ego.

Ken Vogel, et al., of the New York Times: "The mutually beneficial relationships between the president and ... lobbyists is the latest evidence of the hollowness of Mr. Trump's 2016 campaign pledge to 'drain the swamp' by taking on the special interests, lobbyists and donors who had 'rigged the system against everyday Americans.' Mr. Trump's political kitchen cabinet is stocked with people who are thriving in that swamp." For example: When the CEO of Raytheon wanted a meeting with Mike Pompeo to facilitate a huge arms sale that Congress had nixed, he couldn't get one until he hired lobbyist David Urban to grease the wheels. After the meeting, Pompeo issued an emergency waiver -- "now the subject of congressional and inspector general investigations" -- that allowed Raytheon to sell missiles & bombs to Saudi Arabia & the U.A.E. "The story behind Mr. Pompeo's meeting with Raytheon, which has not been previously reported, is emblematic of the outsize influence wielded in Washington by Mr. Urban and a small group of other lobbyists and operatives who backed Mr. Trump when most of the K Street establishment was keeping its distance.... With Mr. Trump lagging in the polls, the lobbyists are seeking to protect that mutually beneficial relationship by working to re-elect him, underscoring the mix of politics and policy that has served them -- and their clients -- so well over the last three and a half years."

Allan Smith of NBC News: The anti-Trump Republican Lincoln Project "has become ubiquitous on social media in recent weeks as the president is bogged down by the COVID-19 pandemic and social unrest. Its members include George Conway, husband of top White House official Kellyanne Conway, and prominent Republican operatives like John Weaver, Reed Galen, Steve Schmidt, Rick Wilson and Stuart Stevens, who have worked on the George W. Bush, John McCain, Mitt Romney and John Kasich presidential campaigns. Founded in December, the group's stated mission is to 'defeat Trump and Trumpism' in 2020. Weaver said the Lincoln Project seeks to provoke a Trump response with its ads and social media ventures while targeting white voters who may traditionally vote Republican but are uneasy about the president." The group also sought to rile Trump; that was the easy part.

Alabama Senate Race. Surprise! Trump Preferred Candidate Is a Crook. Danny Hakim of the New York Times: "President Trump's favored Senate candidate in Alabama, Tommy Tuberville, is known for his career as a college football coach. But he also had a brief stint as co-owner of a hedge fund. It did not go well. A little more than a decade ago, after departing from Auburn University where he was head coach, Mr. Tuberville entered into a 50-50 partnership with a former Lehman Brothers broker named John David Stroud. Their ventures, which included TS Capital Management and TS Capital Partners -- T for Tuberville and S for Stroud -- turned out to be a financial fraud. Mr. Stroud was sentenced to 10 years in prison, and Mr. Tuberville was sued by investors, who accused him of fraud and violating his fiduciary duty to take care of their investments; he reached a private settlement in 2013. The episode has been seldom discussed in Mr. Tuberville's Republican primary campaign for the Senate, in which his opponent in the July 14 runoff is Jeff Sessions, the former senator and attorney general who became an object of Mr. Trump's ire.... The winner will face Doug Jones, considered perhaps the most vulnerable Democrat in the battle for control of the Senate." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Montana Gubernatorial Race. Bradley Warren in Montana Right Now: "Congressman Greg Gianforte and Lieutenant gubernatorial candidate Kristen Juras are suspending public events after a potential exposure to COVID-19. On Tuesday, Gianforte's wife, Susan, and Juras attended a fundraising event with Donald Trump Jr. and his girlfriend Kimblery Guilfoyle in the Big Sky area according to a spokesperson for the Gianforte campaign.... The Trump Campaign chief of staff for the Trump Victory Finance committee confirmed to The New York Times that Guilfoyle tested positive for COVID-19 in South Dakota." Gianforte is running for governor. Mrs. McC: Sadly, this means Gianforte will not have an opportunity in the near future to beat up any bespeckled reporters. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

** Carole Cadwalladr of the Guardian: "There is no power on this earth that is capable of holding Facebook to account. No legislature, no law enforcement agency, no regulator. Congress has failed. The EU has failed. When the Federal Trade Commission fined it a record $5bn for its role in the Cambridge Analytica scandal, its stock price actually went up.... [T]his is a company that facilitated an attack on a US election by a foreign power, that live-streamed a massacre then broadcast it to millions around the world, and helped incite a genocide [in Myanmar].... If Facebook was a country, it would be a rogue state. It would be North Korea.... It's a nuclear weapon.... [I]t has continued to pump out relentless, unbelievable, increasingly preposterous propaganda even as it controls the main news distribution channels.... Facebook's harms are global. Its threat to democracy is existential.... It may turn out that Facebook isn't just bigger than China. It's bigger than capitalism." --s

WSAZ: "Dominion Energy and Duke Energy announced Sunday the cancellation of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline due to ongoing delays and increasing cost uncertainty which threaten the economic viability of the project. According to a news release, despite last month's 7-2 victory at the United States Supreme Court, recent developments created a layer of uncertainty and anticipated delays for ACP.... The news release goes on to say, a series of legal challenges to the project's federal and state permits caused significant project cost increases and timing delays.... As a result, recent public guidance of project cost has increased to $8 billion from the original estimate of $4.5 to $5.0 billion. In addition, the most recent public estimate of commercial in-service in early 2022 represents a nearly three-and- a-half-year delay with uncertainty remaining." --s A Washington Post story is here.

Beyond the Beltway

Texas. Alex Horton of the Washington Post: "Army investigators have positively identified the remains of Spc. Vanessa Guillén, her family told The Washington Post on Sunday, more than two months after she vanished from Fort Hood. Remains discovered Tuesday in a shallow grave east of the Texas installation triggered a manhunt that ended when one suspect -- Spc. Aaron Robinson -- killed himself as officers closed in, the Army said. Robinson's girlfriend was charged with evidence tampering and said she helped dispose of the body, court records show. Guillén's disappearance, and her family's allegations that she was sexually harassed, drew attention from activists, lawmakers, celebrities and other soldiers. The family has also complained that the Army's search for the 20-year-old soldier lacked urgency and care at the highest levels."

Way Beyond

Jonathan Swan of Axios: "The news media has largely moved on, but foreign government officials remain fixated on John Bolton's memoir, 'The Room Where It Happened.'... Bolton's detailed inside-the-Oval revelations have raised the blood pressure of allies who were already stressed about President Trump's unreliability.... [For instance,] European officials, who have spent three and a half years fretting that Trump would withdraw the U.S. from NATO, are treated to a hair-raising account of just how close Trump came to announcing he would do just that. The behind-the-scenes maneuverings from Trump's team to stop that from happening suggest it's still a real possibility."

Hong Kong. Gathering Kindling for the Bonfire. BBC: "Books by pro-democracy figures have been removed from public libraries in Hong Kong in the wake of a controversial new security law. The works will be reviewed to see if they violate the new law, the authority which runs the libraries said. The legislation targets secession, subversion and terrorism with punishments of up to life in prison."

News Lede

New York Times: "Charlie Daniels, the singer, songwriter and bandleader known for his brash down-home persona and his blazing fiddle work on hits like 'The Devil Went Down to Georgia,' died on Monday in Nashville. He was 83."

The Commentariat -- July 5, 2020

Afternoon Update:

Richard Oppel, et al., of the New York Times: "Early numbers had shown that Black and Latino people were being harmed by the [corona]virus at higher rates. But the new federal data -- made available after The New York Times sued the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- reveals a clearer and more complete picture: Black and Latino people have been disproportionately affected by the coronavirus in a widespread manner that spans the country, throughout hundreds of counties in urban, suburban and rural areas, and across all age groups. Latino and African-American residents of the United States have been three times as likely to become infected as their white neighbors.... And Black and Latino people have been nearly twice as likely to die from the virus as white people...." Mrs. McC: How disgusting is it that a legitimate news organization had to sue the CDC -- paid for with taxpayer dollars -- to get information critical to public health?

Yoo Who! Wake Up & Smell the Teensy Particles. Apoorva Mandavilli of the New York Times: "The coronavirus is finding new victims worldwide, in bars and restaurants, offices, markets and casinos, giving rise to frightening clusters of infection that increasingly confirm what many scientists have been saying for months: The virus lingers in the air indoors, infecting those nearby.... The World Health Organization has long held that the coronavirus is spread primarily by large respiratory droplets that, once expelled by infected people in coughs and sneezes, fall quickly to the floor. But in an open letter to the W.H.O., 239 scientists in 32 countries have outlined the evidence showing that smaller particles can infect people, and are calling for the agency to revise its recommendations. The researchers plan to publish their letter in a scientific journal next week."

Dan Balz of the Washington Post: "President Trump, with two speeches in two days, has turned the Fourth of July from a joyful and unifying patriotic celebration of America's founding values into a partisan political event. The damage could outlast his presidency.... Never in our lifetimes has the Independence Day holiday been used for such divisive and personal ends.... A portion of the country hears Trump's rhetoric as an uplifting message extolling the rich history of American success and greatness. The rest of the country recoils at a message seen as racist and divisive. As with all things Trump-related, there can be no middle ground. That's the inheritance this president is leaving to the country."

Alabama Senate Race. Surprise! Trump Preferred Candidate Is a Crook. Danny Hakim of the New York Times: "President Trump's favored Senate candidate in Alabama, Tommy Tuberville, is known for his career as a college football coach. But he also had a brief stint as co-owner of a hedge fund. It did not go well. A little more than a decade ago, after departing from Auburn University where he was head coach, Mr. Tuberville entered into a 50-50 partnership with a former Lehman Brothers broker named John David Stroud. Their ventures, which included TS Capital Management and TS Capital Partners -- T for Tuberville and S for Stroud -- turned out to be a financial fraud. Mr. Stroud was sentenced to 10 years in prison, and Mr. Tuberville was sued by investors, who accused him of fraud and violating his fiduciary duty to take care of their investments; he reached a private settlement in 2013. The episode has been seldom discussed in Mr. Tuberville's Republican primary campaign for the Senate, in which his opponent in the July 14 runoff is Jeff Sessions, the former senator and attorney general who became an object of Mr. Trump's ire.... The winner will face Doug Jones, considered perhaps the most vulnerable Democrat in the battle for control of the Senate."

The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Sunday are here. "New infections announced across the United States last week total more than 330,000, a record high that includes the five highest single-day totals of the pandemic."

Maeve Reston of CNN was flummoxed by Donald Trump's "mystifying -- and dangerously misleading claim -- that 99% of coronavirus cases in America are 'totally harmless.'... There have now been at least 2.8 million cases of coronavirus in the United States, according to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University. While the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that about 35% of cases are asymptomatic, those patients can still spread the virus. As of Saturday, Johns Hopkins estimated that the fatality rate for the US was 4.6%." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Reston's figures are a bit misleading. Researchers admit they don't know the long-term effects of the virus are, even among the apparently asymptomatic. But if 35% of today's victims are currently asymptomatic, then 65% felt symptoms. We know that among them, many had symptoms so severe they had to be hospitalized or seek other medical support. Extrapolating from a CDC summary, it appears that about 330,000 Americans have been hospitalized for Covid-19. That's about 11% of Covid victims who have been hospitalized, a figure that of course doesn't include the vast numbers of victims who were turned away from hospitals, sought other treatment or got no professional treatment at all. To claim that Covid is "totally harmless" to all but one percent of those who contract it is not just fuzzy math; it's a big honking lie. (There is one quasi-justification I can see for Trump's claim: the CDC has said that the number of Americans infected is ten times as high as reports indicate. That would bring the percentage of hospitalized patients down to 1.1%. That doesn't mean the virus was "totally harmless" to the other 98.9% of Covid victims, but it could explain away Trump's wild assertion.)

Valerie Strauss of the Washington Post: "... in [Trump's] view, schools are teaching kids to 'hate our country' with a 'far-left fascism that demands absolute allegiance.'... 'If you do not speak its language, perform its rituals, recite its mantras and follow its commandments, then you will be censored, banished, blacklisted, persecuted and punished,' he said.... Trump is pushing a view of public education in the country that has long been espoused by many Republicans: that public K-12 schools and institutions of higher education are cauldrons of subversion where teachers mold children into being politically correct leftists." Mrs. McC: To be fair to Trump, many a child -- if she knew the word "fascist" -- would so describe her teacher or some other school employee -- like the Cafeteria Nazi!

Crazy People News. Shawn Boberg & Dalton Bennett of the Washington Post: "For weeks, a mysterious figure on social media talked up plans for antifa protesters to converge ... [at Gettysburg National Park] on Independence Day to burn American flags, an event that seemed at times to border on the farcical.... As word spread, self-proclaimed militias, bikers, skinheads and far-right groups from outside the state issued a call to action, pledging in online videos and posts to come to Gettysburg to protect the Civil War monuments and the nation's flag from desecration. Some said they would bring firearms and use force if necessary. On Saturday afternoon, in the hours before the flag burning was to start, they flooded in by the hundreds -- heavily armed and unaware, it seemed, that the mysterious Internet poster was [a fake]...."

Bradley Warren in Montana Right Now: "Congressman Greg Gianforte and Lieutenant gubernatorial candidate Kristen Juras are suspending public events after a potential exposure to COVID-19. On Tuesday, Gianforte’s wife, Susan, and Juras attended a fundraising event with Donald Trump Jr. and his girlfriend Kimblery Guilfoyle in the Big Sky area according to a spokesperson for the Gianforte campaign.... The Trump Campaign chief of staff for the Trump Victory Finance committee confirmed to The New York Times that Guilfoyle tested positive for COVID-19 in South Dakota." Gianforte is running for governor. Mrs. McC: Sadly, this means Gianforte will not have an opportunity in the near future to beat up any bespeckled reporters.

~~~~~~~~~~

Annie Linskey of the Washington Post: "Joe Biden on Saturday offered a counterpoint to the dark and defiant Fourth of July message President Trump delivered at Mount Rushmore, striking notes of unity in a video and op-ed released on the nation's 244th birthday.... It was a stark contrast with Trump, who focused Friday on the men who built the country, saying they are heroes and that those skeptical of the country's founders are part of a 'radical ideology' and a 'left-wing cultural revolution.' The dueling Independence Day messages highlight the vastly different ways Biden and Trump have responded to the country's racial reckoning in the wake of George Floyd's killing in Minneapolis police custody." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Joe Biden, in an NBC News essay: "... pursuit of a more perfect union has been thrown off course in recent years -- and no one bears more responsibility than President Donald Trump. Every day, he finds new ways to tarnish and dismantle our democracy -- from baseless attacks on our voting rights to the use of military force against Americans protesting peacefully for racial justice. He has systematically gone after the guardrails of our democracy: the free press, the courts, and our fundamental belief that no one in America -- not even the president -- is above the law. He has made it clear time and again that he won't hesitate to tear apart our most cherished democratic structures for an ounce of personal gain. And that corruption of our founding principles threatens everything this nation has worked so hard to build, blighting our ability not only to elevate our values, but also to lead the world.... To ensure that our democratic values are able to rise to new heights, I will take decisive steps to strengthen our foundation. That means immediately reversing Trump's cruel and counterproductive asylum, travel ban, and family separation policies -- and reaffirming our innate identity, reflected in our Constitution and emblazoned in the Statue of Liberty, as a nation of immigrants. It means fighting for -- not conspiring against -- the independence of our judiciary and the freedom of our press. It means rooting out systemic racism from every area of society it infects -- from unfairly administered COVID-19 recovery funds, to laws that perpetuate racial wealth gaps, to health disparities, to housing policy, to policing, to our justice system and everywhere in between." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Doctor Trump: "Coronavirus 99 Percent Totally Harmless." David Smith of the Guardian: "Donald Trump has celebrated independence day with a string of false and misleading claims attempting to play down the coronavirus pandemic and warning that China will be 'held accountable'. The US president staged a 'Salute to America' jamboree on the south lawn of the White House with flyovers by military jets, parachute jumps and patriotic songs, but little effort among guests to physical distance or wear face masks.... 'We got hit by the virus that came from China,' the president said.... 'We've made a lot of progress. Our strategy is moving along well. It goes out in one area, it rears back its ugly face in another area. But we've learned a lot. We've learned how to put out the flame.... Now we have tested almost 40m people. By so doing, we show cases, 99% of which are totally harmless.'... And contradicting ... public health experts, the president offered a wildly optimistic prediction: 'We'll likely have a therapeutic and/or vaccine solution long before the end of the year.'"

In the fields and jungles of Vietnam, they delivered a swift and swiffian, It was swift and it was sweeping like nobody's ever seen happen. -- Historian-in-Chief Donald Trump, Saturday, reading from a transcript, makes up another, undefined word while claiming that the U.S.'s Vietnam War -- which slogged on for two decades, was "swift and swiffian" ~~~

~~~ Jordan Muller of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Saturday railed against protesters, China and the media in an address marking America's Independence Day -- typically a non-partisan celebration of national unity. Trump, whose address largely mimicked the tone of his stump speeches, continued his attacks on protesters he said are 'lying' about American history by calling for the removal of statues and memorials celebrating slaveholders and colonial and Confederate figures. And similar to his speech at Mount Rushmore on Friday, Trump pledged to defend American monuments and the country's 'rich heritage.'"

Fomenting His Own Revolution. Asawin Suebsaeng & Allison Quinn of the Daily Beast: "'This left-wing cultural revolution is designed to overthrow the American Revolution,' [Donald Trump claimed during his South Dakota speech Friday night]..., before repeatedly going on to compare himself and his supporters to Patriots during the American Revolution -- and protesters to members of the British Army. Speaking as if preparing his political supporters for battle, he said, 'Just as patriots did in centuries past, the American people will stand in their way, and we will win, and win quickly.... We will not be tyrannized, we will not be demeaned, we will not be intimidated by bad, evil people,' he said." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ I Am the Enemy Within. David Nakamura of the Washington Post: "In his inaugural address, President Trump sketched the picture of 'American carnage' -- a nation ransacked by marauders from abroad who breached U.S. borders in pursuit of jobs and crime, lured its companies offshore and bogged down its military in faraway conflicts. Nearly 3½ years later, in the president's telling, the carnage is still underway but this time the enemy is ... other Americans whose racial identity and cultural beliefs are toppling the nation's heritage and founding ideals.... If his 2016 campaign ... was focused on building a wall to keep out immigrants and shedding alliances with nations he believed were exploiting the United States, the president is now aiming his rhetorical blasts at groups of liberal Americans who, he believes, constitute a direct threat to the standing of his conservative base. At Mount Rushmore, under the granite gaze of four U.S. presidents, Trump railed against 'angry mobs' pursuing 'far-left fascism' and a 'left-wing cultural revolution' that has manifested in the assault on statues and monuments celebrating Confederate leaders and other U.S. historica figures, including some former presidents, amid the mass racial justice protests of recent weeks." ~~~

~~~ ** William Wan of the Washington Post: "Amid the combative and unusual ways President Trump chose to celebrate Independence Day, some historians were particularly puzzled Saturday by his announcement for a new monument called the 'National Garden of American Heroes' populated by a grab bag of historical figures chosen by his administration. The garden, Trump explained in a Friday night speech at Mount Rushmore, was part of his response to the movement to remove Confederate statues and racially charged iconography across the country.... 'The choices vary from odd to probably inappropriate to provocative,' said James Grossman, executive director of the American Historical Association. 'It's just so random. It's like they threw a bunch of stuff on the wall and just went with whatever stuck,' said Karen Cox, a history professor at University of North Carolina at Charlotte.... [Grossman] noted Trump's executive order establishes a task force and gives it 60 days to submit a report detailing locations and options for building the new garden monument. 'There's no rush here. The only real emergency is that there's an election coming up,' Grossman said."

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Well-worth reading if you have a WashPo subscription. I'm sure you can come up with your own reasons for why Trump's executive order is profoundly stupid. ~~~

~~~ Here's the list, via Law & Crime: "John Adams, Susan B. Anthony, Clara Barton, Daniel Boone, Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, Henry Clay, Davy Crockett, Frederick Douglass, Amelia Earhart, Benjamin Franklin, Billy Graham, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, Martin Luther King, Jr., Abraham Lincoln, Douglas MacArthur, Dolley Madison, James Madison, Christa McAuliffe, Audie Murphy, George S. Patton, Jr., Ronald Reagan, Jackie Robinson, Betsy Ross, [Antonin Scalia,] Harriet Beecher Stowe, Harriet Tubman, Booker T. Washington, George Washington, and Orville and Wilbur Wright." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: In addition, if I've read Trump's executive order correctly, he'll be able to throw in statues of infamous Confederates & other riffraff. The statuary task force is to "consider the availability of authority to encourage and accept the donation or loan of statues by States, localities, civic organizations, businesses, religious organizations, and individuals, for display at the National Garden." Does your town have an old statue of some miscreant hidden away in storage? A robber baron, maybe? A pirate? A Ku Klux Klan founder? Send it to Washington!

GOP "Unnerved" by Their Trumpenstein Monster. Robert Costa & Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: "President Trump's unyielding push to preserve Confederate symbols and the legacy of white domination, crystallized by his harsh denunciation of the racial justice movement Friday night at Mount Rushmore, has unnerved Republicans who have long enabled him but now fear losing power and forever associating their party with his racial animus. Although amplifying racism and stoking culture wars have been mainstays of Trump's public identity for decades, they have been particularly pronounced this summer as the president has reacted to the national reckoning over systemic discrimination by seeking to weaponize the anger and resentment of some white Americans for his own political gain. Trump has left little doubt through his utterances the past few weeks that he sees himself not only as the Republican standard-bearer, but as leader of a modern grievance movement animated by civic strife and marked by calls for 'white power,' the phrase chanted by one of his supporters in a video the president shared last weekend on Twitter. He later deleted the video but did not disavow its message." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Bryan Pietsch of the New York Times: "With Independence Day celebrations canceled around the country, one distinctly American tradition continued on Saturday despite the pandemic: the annual pilgrimage of competitive eaters to Coney Island for the Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest.... Held without fail every Fourth of July since 1942, the event ordinarily draws thousands to the original Nathan's location in Brooklyn.... But there was no crowd this year to cheer raucously, and the competitive eaters, who usually hover over their piles of hot dogs shoulder to shoulder, were spaced apart from one another. The contest was limited to five women and six men to allow for adequate social distancing. One woman was unable to attend because of restrictions on travel to New York from Arizona, where coronavirus cases are surging."

The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Saturday are here: "Cases are trending upward in 39 states, and at least five -- Alabama, Alaska, Kansas, North Carolina and South Carolina -- set single-day case records on Friday, the start of a holiday weekend governed by patchwork restrictions and planning after local leaders shifted policies to try to keep pace with the surge.... For this weekend, as many as 80 percent of community fireworks displays in large cities and small towns have been canceled over fears that the gathered crowds would become hot spots for new outbreaks." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Derek Hawkins of the Washington Post: "The United States entered the Fourth of July weekend against a backdrop of surging coronavirus cases and hospitalizations, with officials and health experts nervously watching to see if the public would heed warnings to limit the size of their gatherings and take other steps to curb the virus. Florida on Saturday set another daily record for new infections, reporting 11,458 confirmed cases.... Intensive care unit capacity at Texas Medical Center, the world's largest hospital complex, exceeded 100 percent.... Cincinnati, Cleveland and Wichita became the latest major U.S. cities to pass mask ordinances.... Beaches were closed in Los Angeles, South Florida and in other states, but Myrtle Beach, S.C., remained open to the public, even as cases in the city and state continued to rise sharply. The tourist hub passed a last-minute mask ordinance as thousands of vacationers flocked in for the holiday. 'We are doing all that we can,' Mayor Brenda Bethune told CNN. 'I believe that people spread this virus -- that's been proven -- not places.'" Access is free to nonsubscribers. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Sounds as if Mayor Brenda earned her philosophy degree at the same school of public policy that teaches "Guns don't kill people; people kill people." Idiot. ~~~

     ~~~ The story has been updated. New Lede: "President Trump said Saturday that his administration had 'made a lot of progress' on controlling the novel coronavirus pandemic, even as the seven-day average of cases in the United States set a record for the 26th straight day."

Morgan Chalfant of the Hill: "President Trump on Saturday signed legislation that extends the deadline for businesses to apply for aid under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). The bill extends the deadline for businesses to apply for PPP loans until Aug. 8. The program, set up to assist businesses impacted by closures related to the coronavirus pandemic, had expired on Tuesday night with roughly $130 billion left unused."

Thanks to Hattie for the lead on this one:

Colorado. Dennis Romero of NBC News: "Three Aurora, Colorado, police officers were fired Friday for taking part in a disrespectful selfie-photo session near the memorial site for Elijah McClain, who died after being in a police chokehold, the interim chief said. The officers involved in the photos, which show three of them smiling as one is in a mock chokehold, were identified by interim Chief Vanessa Wilson of the Aurora Police Department as Jason Rosenblatt, Erica Marrero and Kyle Dittrich. A fourth officer, Jaron Jones, resigned Tuesday." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Maryland. Christina Maxouris of CNN: "While much of the country celebrated Independence Day Saturday, protesters in Baltimore toppled a statue of Christopher Columbus and threw it into the Inner Harbor, CNN affiliate WBAL reported. Louis Krauss, who shared video of the toppling, said there were at least 300 people gathered at the scene. 'After it toppled over the statue broke into several pieces, which were then dragged across the plaza and dumped into the Inner Harbor,' Krauss told CNN."

Washington State. Edward Helmore of the Guardian & agencies: "A woman has been killed and another seriously injured by a car whose driver sped through a protest-related closure on a freeway in Seattle, authorities have said. Summer Taylor, 24 and from Seattle, died in the evening at Harborview Medical Center, spokesperson Susan Gregg said. Diaz Love, 32 and from Bellingham, remained in critical condition with multiple injuries. Video taken at the scene by protesters showed people shouting 'Car! Car!' before fleeing the road. The driver, Dawit Kelete, a 27-year-old man from Seattle, was in custody. A state patrol spokesman, Ron Mead, said Kelete was suspected to have driven the wrong way on a ramp. Mead said troopers did not know whether it was a targeted attack. Police said impairment was not considered a factor.... Mark Taylor-Canfield, a journalist, said the car had plenty of time to slow down before smashing into protesters. 'It sped up and went right into the middle of the crowd, so most of us assumed it was a purposeful attempt at vehicular homicide,' he said...."

The Commentariat -- July 4, 2020

For American patriots, Independence Day is aspirational (see, for instance, President Barack Obama's July 4, 2016 speech, linked below.) Mrs. McC: My aspiration: may this be our last Independence Day which Donald Trump sullies.

~~~~~~~~~~

Afternoon Update:

Annie Linskey of the Washington Post: “Joe Biden on Saturday offered a counterpoint to the dark and defiant Fourth of July message President Trump delivered at Mount Rushmore, striking notes of unity in a video and op-ed released on the nation’s 244th birthday.... It was a stark contrast with Trump, who focused Friday on the men who built the country, saying they are heroes and that those skeptical of the country’s founders are part of a 'radical ideology' and a 'left-wing cultural revolution.' The dueling Independence Day messages highlight the vastly different ways Biden and Trump have responded to the country’s racial reckoning in the wake of George Floyd’s killing in Minneapolis police custody.” ~~~

~~~ Joe Biden, in an NBC News essay: "... pursuit of a more perfect union has been thrown off course in recent years — and no one bears more responsibility than President Donald Trump. Every day, he finds new ways to tarnish and dismantle our democracy — from baseless attacks on our voting rights to the use of military force against Americans protesting peacefully for racial justice. He has systematically gone after the guardrails of our democracy: the free press, the courts, and our fundamental belief that no one in America — not even the president — is above the law. He has made it clear time and again that he won’t hesitate to tear apart our most cherished democratic structures for an ounce of personal gain. And that corruption of our founding principles threatens everything this nation has worked so hard to build, blighting our ability not only to elevate our values, but also to lead the world.... To ensure that our democratic values are able to rise to new heights, I will take decisive steps to strengthen our foundation. That means immediately reversing Trump’s cruel and counterproductive asylum, travel ban, and family separation policies — and reaffirming our innate identity, reflected in our Constitution and emblazoned in the Statue of Liberty, as a nation of immigrants. It means fighting for — not conspiring against — the independence of our judiciary and the freedom of our press. It means rooting out systemic racism from every area of society it infects — from unfairly administered COVID-19 recovery funds, to laws that perpetuate racial wealth gaps, to health disparities, to housing policy, to policing, to our justice system and everywhere in between."

Fomenting His Own Revolution. Asawin Suebsaeng & Allison Quinn of the Daily Beast: “'This left-wing cultural revolution is designed to overthrow the American Revolution,' [Donald Trump claimed during his South Dakota speech Friday night]..., before repeatedly going on to compare himself and his supporters to Patriots during the American Revolution—and protesters to members of the British Army. Speaking as if preparing his political supporters for battle, he said, 'Just as patriots did in centuries past, the American people will stand in their way, and we will win, and win quickly.... We will not be tyrannized, we will not be demeaned, we will not be intimidated by bad, evil people,' he said.” ~~~

~~~ GOP "Unnerved" by Their Trumpenstein Monster. Robert Costa & Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: “President Trump’s unyielding push to preserve Confederate symbols and the legacy of white domination, crystallized by his harsh denunciation of the racial justice movement Friday night at Mount Rushmore, has unnerved Republicans who have long enabled him but now fear losing power and forever associating their party with his racial animus. Although amplifying racism and stoking culture wars have been mainstays of Trump’s public identity for decades, they have been particularly pronounced this summer as the president has reacted to the national reckoning over systemic discrimination by seeking to weaponize the anger and resentment of some white Americans for his own political gain. Trump has left little doubt through his utterances the past few weeks that he sees himself not only as the Republican standard-bearer, but as leader of a modern grievance movement animated by civic strife and marked by calls for 'white power,' the phrase chanted by one of his supporters in a video the president shared last weekend on Twitter. He later deleted the video but did not disavow its message.”

The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Saturday are here: "Cases are trending upward in 39 states, and at least five — Alabama, Alaska, Kansas, North Carolina and South Carolina — set single-day case records on Friday, the start of a holiday weekend governed by patchwork restrictions and planning after local leaders shifted policies to try to keep pace with the surge.... For this weekend, as many as 80 percent of community fireworks displays in large cities and small towns have been canceled over fears that the gathered crowds would become hot spots for new outbreaks."

Derek Hawkins of the Washington Post: “The United States entered the Fourth of July weekend against a backdrop of surging coronavirus cases and hospitalizations, with officials and health experts nervously watching to see if the public would heed warnings to limit the size of their gatherings and take other steps to curb the virus. Florida on Saturday set another daily record for new infections, reporting 11,458 confirmed cases.... Intensive care unit capacity at Texas Medical Center, the world’s largest hospital complex, exceeded 100 percent.... Cincinnati, Cleveland and Wichita became the latest major U.S. cities to pass mask ordinances.... Beaches were closed in Los Angeles, South Florida and in other states, but Myrtle Beach, S.C., remained open to the public, even as cases in the city and state continued to rise sharply. The tourist hub passed a last-minute mask ordinance as thousands of vacationers flocked in for the holiday. 'We are doing all that we can,' Mayor Brenda Bethune told CNN. 'I believe that people spread this virus — that’s been proven — not places.'” ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Sounds as if Mayor Brenda earned her philosophy degree at the same school of public policy that teaches "Guns don't kill people; people kill people." Idiot.

Thanks to Hattie for the lead on this one:

Dennis Romero of NBC News: "Three Aurora, Colorado, police officers were fired Friday for taking part in a disrespectful selfie-photo session near the memorial site for Elijah McClain, who died after being in a police chokehold, the interim chief said. The officers involved in the photos, which show three of them smiling as one is in a mock chokehold, were identified by interim Chief Vanessa Wilson of the Aurora Police Department as Jason Rosenblatt, Erica Marrero and Kyle Dittrich. A fourth officer, Jaron Jones, resigned Tuesday."

~~~~~~~~~~

Worst President* Abuses His Office Again

Annie Karni of the New York Times: “Standing in a packed amphitheater in front of Mount Rushmore for an Independence Day celebration, President Trump delivered a dark and divisive speech on Friday that cast his struggling effort to win a second term as a battle against a 'new far-left fascism' seeking to wipe out the nation’s values and history. With the coronavirus pandemic raging and his campaign faltering in the polls, his appearance amounted to a fiery reboot of his re-election effort, using the holiday and an official presidential address to mount a full-on culture war against a straw-man version of the left that he portrayed as inciting mayhem and moving the country toward totalitarianism.... Appealing unabashedly to his base with ominous language and imagery, he railed against what he described as a dangerous 'cancel culture' intent on toppling monuments and framed himself as a strong leader who would protect the Second Amendment, law enforcement and the country’s heritage.... More than just a partisan rally, it underscored the extent to which Mr. Trump is appealing to a subset of Americans to carry him to a second term by changing the subject and appealing to fear and division.” ~~~

~~~ David Nakamura, et al., of the Washington Post: “... President Trump on Friday delivered a dark speech ahead of Independence Day in which he sought to exploit the nation’s racial and social divisions and rally supporters around a law-and-order message that has become a cornerstone of his reelection campaign. Trump focused most of his address before a crowd of several thousand in South Dakota on what he described as a grave threat to the nation from liberals and angry mobs — a 'left-wing cultural revolution' that aims to rewrite U.S. history and erase its heritage amid the racial justice protests that have roiled cities for weeks.... The president ... referred to 'violent mayhem' in the streets, even though many of the mass demonstrations have been largely peaceful. He warned that 'angry mobs' were unleashing 'a wave of violent crime' and using 'cancel culture' as a weapon to intimidate and dominate political opponents — in what he compared to 'totalitarianism.'... Though the Mount Rushmore trip was billed as an official White House event [Mrs. McC: so taxpayers would foot the bill], the president made an overt appeal to his partisan supporters in attacking liberals. His appeal came as he has faced tumbling public approval over his handling of the mass protests and the deadly coronavirus pandemic.” ~~~

~~~ Jordan Muller of Politico: "It was a divisive address that stood in stark contrast to a weekend holiday celebrating national unity across a country also riven by a deadly pandemic.... Although health experts have slammed Trump for holding the event amid a nationwide surge in coronavirus cases, he did not directly refer to the virus or the country's daily record-setting case toll.... Native American groups — who consider the land on which the monument was built sacred — staged protests outside, clashing at times with the National Guard." ~~~

~~~ Robin Givhan of the Washington Post: "Thousands of unmasked guests, awaiting the arrival of the president, sat shoulder to shoulder in black folding chairs tethered together in a kind of coronavirus chain of denial. The VIPs would, of course, be seated separately onstage — not six feet apart, but not amid the storm of exhalations, coughs, vociferous cheers and sneezes. And just to add to the upside-down, inside-out madness of the mass gathering, Ivanka Trump ... tweeted a reminder to be safe over the holiday weekend by social distancing and wearing a mask." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: In case you're thinking some of the Trumpenlumpen whose chairs were "tethered together in a kind of coronavirus chain of denial" at least might have moved their chairs over to the side for a little social distancing, think again. CNN showed a close-up of the chairs, and they also were "tethered together" with zip ties. ~~~

~~~ What a Real President Says on Independence Day. Mrs. McCrabbie: Just for the fun of it, I checked back to see what President Barack Obama said in his Independence Day speech in the last presidential election year. Here's Obama's July 4, 2016 speech, delivered in the East Room of the White House before a crowd largely made up of military families: "And so on a day like this, we celebrate, we have fun, we marvel at everything that's been done before, but we also have to recommit ourselves to making sure that everybody in this country is free; that everybody has opportunity; that everybody gets a fair shot; that we look after all of our veterans when they come home; that we look after our military families and give them a fair shake; that every child has a good education. (Applause.) That is what we should be striving for on Independence Day." Donald Trump has no idea what Independence Day is about, much less what the presidency is about.

Family Matters

Junior's Girlfriend Kicked Out of Trump Family 4th Shindig. Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Kimberly Guilfoyle, the girlfriend of President Trump’s eldest son and a top fund-raising official for the Trump re-election campaign, tested positive for the coronavirus on Friday before a Fourth of July event at Mount Rushmore, a person familiar with her condition said. Ms. Guilfoyle traveled to South Dakota with ... Donald Trump Jr., in anticipation of attending a huge fireworks display where the president was set to speak. They did not travel aboard Air Force One, according to the person..., and she was the only person in the group who tested positive.... She and the younger Mr. Trump never met up with the president’s entourage, the person said. Out of caution, the couple plans to drive back from South Dakota to the East Coast, the person said.... Ms. Guilfoyle attended Mr. Trump’s indoor rally last month in Tulsa, Okla." A Guardian story is here. Thanks to Hattie for the lead.

Sarah Rumpf of Mediaite: “Eric Trump tweeted, and then deleted, a photo of former President Bill Clinton with Jeffrey Epstein‘s alleged partner-in-crime Ghislaine Maxwell, after Twitter users buried him in a deluge of photos of Maxwell appearing very chummy with his father, President Donald Trump. Eric Trump’s tweet was captioned 'Birds of a feather…' and showed Clinton walking his daughter Chelsea Clinton down the aisle at her 2o10 wedding, while Maxwell is shown in the background among other wedding guests.... Twitter users responded seemingly instantaneously, posting photo after photo showing Maxwell — and often Epstein too — far more cozy with the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Michael Kranish of the Washington Post: "Mary L. Trump, the author of an explosive book about her uncle President Trump, asked a court to lift a restraining order against her, saying in an affidavit filed Thursday that she was misled by the family into signing a confidentiality agreement in an inheritance case two decades ago.... Mary Trump said in her affidavit that, in agreeing to the inheritance settlement, she relied on asset valuations of the family estate provided to her by Donald Trump and his siblings that she said have since been proved to be inaccurate.... She said the inaccuracy of the valuations was revealed in a 2018 investigation by the New York Times of family finances." A Daily Beast story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Mrs. McCrabbie: Heard on CNN that Trump went to his golf course Friday, and that today was the 365th day since he was sworn in that he has spent at one of his properties. That means that lazy bastard has spent a full year on vacation (or more) since being sworn in less than four years ago.

David Rothkopf in the New York Review of Books: "If we have a president who is selfish, ignorant, venal, dishonest, racist, misogynist, and corrupt, what does it tell us that a significant minority of American citizens celebrates such a leader, while another segment of our compatriots are willing to tolerate them, at least enough to give him their votes?... We must address the root causes that enabled a man as profoundly flawed and corrupt as Trump to win high office.... Ending Trump’s misrule and restoring confidence in the presidency demands the undoing of impediments to free and fair elections. That will entail root-and-branch campaign finance reform, an end to voter suppression, new defenses against foreign interference in elections, and reining in the digital disinformation engines. These are perhaps only the minimum demands for restoring American democracy." (Also linked yesterday.)

The Trumpidemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Friday are here. (Also linked yesterday.)

"Live With It." Carol Lee, et al., of NBC News: "After several months of mixed messages on the coronavirus pandemic, the White House is settling on a new one: Learn to live with it. Administration officials are planning to intensify what they hope is a sharper, and less conflicting, message of the pandemic next week, according to senior administration officials, after struggling to offer clear directives amid a crippling surge in cases across the country.... At the crux of the message, officials said, is a recognition by the White House that the virus ... will be around through the November election. As a result..., Donald Trump's top advisers plan to argue, the country must figure out how to press forward despite it. Therapeutic drugs will be showcased as a key component for doing that and the White House will increasingly emphasize the relatively low risk most Americans have of dying from the virus, officials said."

Jamie Gangel, et al., of CNN: "At least eight Secret Service agents are currently holed up in a hotel in Phoenix, some suffering the flu-like coronavirus symptoms after coming down with the disease while preparing for a visit by Vice President Mike Pence, two people familiar with the matter say. Last month, up to 15 agents who tested positive for the virus loaded into cars and drove themselves home, avoiding flights after becoming infected while preparing for ... Donald Trump's campaign rally, according to another source familiar with the situation.... One agency source said there is "growing anger and frustration" among some in the Secret Service at what they consider to be 'unnecessary trips and exposure' because of Trump and Pence's travel. 'Even ardent Trump supporters are fed up,' one agency source said. 'We signed up to take a bullet for him, we did not sign up to get sick for him for no good reason.'" Mrs. McC: Only "ardent Trump supporters" within the Secret Service should be sent on these advance jaunts.

Alexander Nazaryan of Yahoo! News reports on how Trump & his political aides sidelined & muzzled the CDC as the coronavirus pandemic hit the U.S. “Not only were CDC officials kept off television broadcasts, but [CDC director Robert] Redfield and others could not even hold briefings. 'We continued to ask for approval' from the White House to hold briefings, the CDC spokesperson told Yahoo News. 'We were not given approval. Finally, we just stopped asking.'... Even [Anthony] Fauci’s ability to speak publicly has been curtailed, since he has a tendency to undercut the always sunny outlook of Trump.... That leaves no single person, or single agency, to communicate directly and forthrightly with the public.” Mrs. McC: Fauci does not work for the CDC. Nazaryan deserves some kind of award for "Outstanding Performance in Burying the Lead." It comes up mid-paragraph -- in the 19th paragraph.

Patria Non Grata. Mark Landler & Stephen Castle of the New York Times: "England will drop its mandatory 14-day quarantine for visitors from more than 50 countries but leave the restrictions in place for travelers coming from the United States, deepening the isolation of America and delivering another rebuke to President Trump for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.... But those from France, Germany, Italy, Spain and dozens of other countries will be able to travel to England with no restrictions — an arrangement intended to bolster the languishing tourism industry in time for the summer vacation season. The regulations will take effect on July 10. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland apply their own travel policies and may not follow England’s lead in easing restrictions." (Mrs. McC: Thanks to Akhilleus for correcting my Latin grammar, as requested.)

The Greatest Nation on Earth -- Is Definitely Not the U.S.A. Peter Goodman, et al., of the New York Times: "The pandemic has ravaged Europeans and Americans alike, but the economic pain has played out in starkly different fashion. The United States has relied on a significant expansion of unemployment insurance, cushioning the blow for tens of millions of people who have lost their jobs, with the assumption that they will be swiftly rehired once normality returns. European countries — among them Denmark, Ireland, Britain, France, the Netherlands, Spain and Austria — have prevented joblessness by effectively nationalizing payrolls, heavily subsidizing wages and enabling paychecks to continue uninterrupted. As cases increase at an alarming rate in much of the United States, the reliance on an overwhelmed unemployment system — the next infusion of money perpetually subject to the whims of Washington — leaves Americans uniquely exposed to a deepening crisis of joblessness. Europe appears poised to spring back from the catastrophe faster, whenever commerce resumes, because its companies need not rehire workers."

Here's how Melissa Clark, the New York Times' food editor, had an as-safe-as-possible friends-and-family cookout.

Let's All Go to the Movies. Hannah Denham of the Washington Post: WalMart "will transform 160 of its store parking lots into drive-in theaters next month. Walmart is launching the program next month in partnership with Tribeca Enterprises, the New York-based media company co-founded by Robert De Niro. The locations and movie lineup will be announced on a new Walmart Drive-In website, the retailer said in a news release. It’s unclear whether the movies will be new releases, but admission is free, said Walmart spokeswoman LeMia Jenkins." (Also linked yesterday.)

The Dog Ate Trump's Intel Report. Charlie Savage, et al., of the New York Times: "A memo produced in recent days by the office of the nation’s top intelligence official acknowledged that the C.I.A. and top counterterrorism officials have assessed that Russia appears to have offered bounties to kill American and coalition troops in Afghanistan, but emphasized uncertainties and gaps in evidence, according to three officials. The memo is said to contain no new information, and both its timing and its stressing of doubts suggested that it was intended to bolster the Trump administration’s attempts to justify its inaction on the months-old assessment, the officials said. Some former national security officials said the account of the memo indicated that politics may have influenced its production. The National Intelligence Council, which reports to the director of national intelligence, John Ratcliffe, produced the two-and-a-half page document...."

Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: "The Senate on Thursday unanimously passed legislation to impose sanctions on Chinese officials trying to stamp out political dissent in Hong Kong, sending the measure to President Trump’s desk for his signature. The passage of the bill, spearheaded by Senators Patrick J. Toomey, Republican of Pennsylvania, and Chris Van Hollen, Democrat of Maryland, comes days after Chinese leaders imposed a sweeping new security law intended to quell protests demanding free elections and greater autonomy in an escalation of Beijing’s campaign to tighten its grip on Hong Kong.... The House unanimously passed the bill on Wednesday...." (Also linked yesterday.)

Sports Reports in the Time of Protests

Jerry Brewer of the Washington Post: “The process that the Washington NFL franchise announced Friday isn’t to determine whether to change the offensive name that has been attached to the team for more than eight decades. The process is to determine how to rebrand: the timing, the level of transparency, the elimination of unintended consequences and, of course, the intricacies of the proper way to select and market a new name. The old name is dead. [Team owner] Daniel Snyder wouldn’t backtrack from 'NEVER — you can use caps' to a team statement vowing to consider 'the best interest of all in mind' without resignation that his obdurate protection of tradition must end. What has changed in the seven years since Snyder drew that hard line? Well, the world. And most of that change has occurred in a four-month sliver of this 2020 gloom because of an escalating pandemic combined with heightened tension and awareness of racism.” ~~~

     ~~~ Daniel Politi of Slate has a comprehensive story on the team's name-change progress. Mrs. McC: This is another instance where corporate pressure was the last straw, this time coming from Fed-Ex.

Jake Russell of the Washington Post: "The Cleveland Indians acknowledged that they are ready to discuss changing their team name in the wake of news that the Washington Redskins will review theirs before the NFL’s 2020 season.... The Athletic reported that the Indians expect to consult with members of the Native American community as well as their fans, players, alumni and internal staff before deciding on a name change."

Texas. "Kill 'em" Patrick Svitek of the Texas Tribune: "In the days after George Floyd's death in police custody in Minneapolis last month, as massive protests against police brutality spread across Texas and other states, conservative power broker Steve Hotze of Houston called Gov. Greg Abbott's chief of staff to pass along a message. 'I want you to give a message to the governor,' Hotze told Abbott's chief of staff, Luis Saenz, in a voicemail. 'I want to make sure that he has National Guard down here and they have the order to shoot to kill if any of these son-of-a-bitch people start rioting like they have in Dallas, start tearing down businesses — shoot to kill the son of a bitches. That’s the only way you restore order. Kill ‘em. Thank you.'"