The Commentariat -- October 28, 2018

Afternoon Update:

Ernesto Londoño & Shasta Darlington of the New York Times: "Brazil on Sunday became the latest country to drift toward the far right, electing a strident populist as president in the nation's most radical political change since democracy was restored more than 30 years ago. The new president, Jair Bolsonaro, has exalted the country's military dictatorship, advocated torture and threatened to destroy, jail or drive into exile his political opponents. He won by tapping into a deep well of resentment at the status quo in Brazil -- a country whiplashed by rising crime and two years of political and economic turmoil -- and by presenting himself as the alternative." Mrs. McCrabbie: So the majority of Brazilian voters have learned nothing from their own history nor from the U.S.'s bad example. I take no comfort in knowing others are as dumb as our fellow citizens.

Campbell Robertson, et al., of the New York Times: "Authorities on Sunday identified the 11 victims of a shooting rampage at a Pittsburgh synagogue in which a man armed with an AR-15-style assault rifle and three handguns shot into a morning worship service in the deadliest attack against the Jewish community in the United States in decades. The dead included eight men and three women. The oldest victim, Rose Mallinger of Squirrel Hill in Pittsburgh, was 97. Two brothers, David and Cecil Rosenthal, ages 54 and 59, were the youngest. A husband and wife, Bernice and Sylvan Simon, ages 84 and 86, of Wilkinsburg, Pa., were also among the dead. Mayor Bill Peduto called the attack the 'darkest day of Pittsburgh's history' but vowed that the city would move forward." ...

... ** Dahlia Lithwick of Slate: "How does one even begin to explain to one's children what it means that the president denounces violence and division as he foments both, on an hourly basis? Perhaps we can look to Florida for a tip. Last week the state's gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum said that because Neo-Nazis and white supremacists were supporting and campaigning for and contributing to his opponent Ron DeSantis, perhaps it was time to stop talking about causation entirely. 'I'm not calling Mr. DeSantis a racist,' he said. 'I'm simply saying the racists believe he's a racist.' The formulation is useful because it reframes a pointless debate about what leaders' dog whistles really mean into a debate about what their followers end up believing. If what is said no longer matters, we can perhaps still evaluate what is heard." ...

... Roey Hadar of ABC News: "In the wake of a shooting massacre at a synagogue and a mail-bomb campaign against prominent critics of ... Donald Trump, a former Homeland Security chief said the U.S. currently has a 'toxic' political environment in which 'deranged' people 'feel it's their place' to bring about change. Jeh Johnson, who was Homeland Security Secretary under President Barack Obama, told 'This Week' Co-Anchor Martha Raddatz on Sunday..., 'We live now in a very, very toxic environment that includes an incivility in our political discourse among our leaders. The attack yesterday and the attempted pipe bombings over the course of last week should be a wake-up call to all Americans to demand change, and change has to start at the top,' he said.... 'Our president has the largest microphone; he has the largest bullhorn,' the former Homeland Security secretary said. '... Americans should demand that their leaders insist on change, a more civil discourse, and a more civil environment generally.'" ...

... Julia Ioffe, in a Washington Post op-ed: "When Trump called himself a nationalist in Houston last week, the alt-right knew exactly what he meant. One alt-right commenter was elated because nationalism 'is inherently connected to race.' Another wrote that he was 'literally shaking' with glee.... The president did not tell a deranged man to send pipe bombs to the people he regularly lambastes on Twitter and lampoons in his rallies.... Trump didn't cause another deranged man to tweet that the caravan of refugees moving toward America's southern border (the one Trump has complained about endlessly) is paid for by the Jews before he shot up a synagogue.... But this definition of culpability is too narrow, too legalistic -- and ultimately too dishonest. The pipe-bomb makers and synagogue shooters and racists who mowed a woman down in Charlottesville were never even looking for Trump's explicit blessing, because they knew the president had allowed bigots like them to go about their business, secure in the knowledge that, like [Boris] Nemtsov's killers, they don't really bother the president, at least not too much. His role is just to set the tone. Their role is to do the rest." ...

Felicia Sonmez & Paul Kane of the Washington Post: "President Trump on Sunday lashed out at billionaire Democratic activist Tom Steyer, ridiculing him as a 'stumbling lunatic' days after Steyer was targeted by one of more than a dozen pipe bombs sent to prominent critics of the president. Trump's tweet came shortly after Steyer accused the president and the Republican Party of creating an atmosphere of 'political violence' in an interview on CNN's 'State of the Union.' 'Just watched Wacky Tom Steyer, who I have not seen in action before, be interviewed by @jaketapper,' Trump said in the tweet. 'He comes off as a crazed & stumbling lunatic who should be running out of money pretty soon. As bad as their field is, if he is running for President, the Dems will eat him alive!'... 'It is unthinkable that in the midst of the horrible political violence our president would resort to name-calling instead of repairing the damage to the fabric of our country,' Steyer [responded]." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Let's apply Dahlia Lithwick's Gillum Rule here. Will Trump's followers perceive that Trump is condoning violence against Steyer by belittling him just after a Trump follower sent Steyer a bomb? Why, yes. Yes, they will. Trump does not only want voter to be afraid of caravans of Middle Eastern terrorists on their way to invade the U.S. at the Rio Grande; he also wants every political foe to be afraid to walk out his door or open his mouth. Trump may not know how to close an umbrella or wipe his ass, but he sure knows how to fearmonger.

... Mary Papenfuss of the Huffington Post: "House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) deleted a tweet that had warned that three wealthy Jewish Democrats are 'buying' the midterm elections for their party, a posting that appeared after liberal billionaire philanthropist George Soros ― one of his targets ― had been sent a pipe bomb. The McCarthy tweet -- which also named former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg and California businessman Tom Steyer -- was taken down three days before a gunman killed 11 people Saturday in an anti-Semitic attack at ... a Pittsburgh synagogue." "We cannot allow Soros, Steyer and Bloomberg to buy this election," McCarthy tweeted. Mrs. McC: Cesar Sayoc also tried to send Steyer a pipe bomb.

Peter Wade of Rolling Stone: "Republican gubernatorial candidate and current Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp incorrectly canceled some 340,000 voter registrations, according to a recent investigation. Although Kemp claimed the voters left the state of Georgia or moved to another country, they hadn't, Greg Palast, who filed suit against Kemp, wrote in Truthout. According to John Lenser, who is CEO of CohereOne and who led a review of the list of purged voters for Palast, '340,000 of those voters remained at their original address. They should have never been removed from the voter registration rolls.' Palast only obtained the list after he filed suit against Kemp.... Kemp used a tactic Palast calls 'Purge by Postcard' to remove eligible voters from the rolls. Kemp sent a postcard that could have easily been mistaken for spam to voters who did not vote in the prior election. If a voter did not return the postcard, Kemp purged their registration without informing the voters it was happening. Thanks to a June 2018 Supreme Court ruling that reversed the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, this practice is now legal.... It is too late for [these individuals] to register for the upcoming midterm elections...." ...

     ... Mrs. McC: BTW, that Supreme Court ruling ws 5-4. Sam Alito wrote the majority opinion; Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote the dissent. Please don't tell me that the right-wing Supremes aren't purposely suppressing the vote. And they know full well that they are disproportionately suppressing the votes of people who vote Democratic & tend (a) to be more "occasional" voters, i.e., voters who often vote only in presidential elections, and (b) more often change domiciles. While voter state suppression laws can be reversed when Democrats gain control of state governments, the most effective solution would be an amendment to the U.S. Constitution, guaranteeing citizens the franchise.

***** 

Who will condemn Trump's flirtation with alt-Right neo-Nazis now? Jared Kushner? Sheldon Adelson? Bibi Netanyahu? Nahhhh! -- Comment posted by a New York Times Reader re: Synagogue Slaughter. Thanks to Aunt Hattie. ...

... Another Horrible Hate Crime. Campbell Robertson, et al., of the New York Times: "Armed with an assault rifle and at least three handguns, a man shouting anti-Semitic slurs opened fire in a Pittsburgh synagogue Saturday morning, killing at least 11 people and wounding six others, city officials said.... The suspect, identified by law enforcement officials as Robert D. Bowers, 46, surrendered to the police after barricading himself inside a third-floor office of the synagogue, the Tree of Life Congregation in eastern Pittsburgh. Four police officers were among the wounded, the authorities said. 'It's a very horrific crime scene, said Wendell D. Hissrich, Pittsburgh's public safety director, adding that federal authorities were investigating the mass shooting as a hate crime.... Before it was deleted Saturday morning, a social media account believed to belong to [Bowers] was filled with anti-Jewish slurs and references to anti-Jewish conspiracy theories. In January, an account under his name was created on Gab, a social network that bills itself as a free speech haven. The app, which grew out of claims of anti-conservative bias by Facebook and Twitter, is a popular gathering place for alt-right activists and white nationalists whose views are unwelcome on other social media platforms. Early members included the right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos and Andrew Anglin, the founder of the neo-Nazi Daily Stormer website." (This is an update to a story linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Kelly Weill of The Daily Beast: "The man accused of murdering at least 11 people at a Pittsburgh synagogue Saturday morning was a neo-Nazi who posted online about killing Jews -- and raged at Donald Trump for being insufficiently anti-Semitic.... [Robert] Bowers was ... among a set of neo-Nazis who criticized President Donald Trump for being, as they saw it, not biased enough toward Jews. 'Trump is a globalist, not a nationalist,' Bowers wrote on Gab. 'There is no #MAGA as long as there is a kike infestation.' Bowers also bashed Trump for being insufficiently supportive of the white supremacists of the deadly Charlottesville 'Unite the Right' rally and of the Proud Boys, a violent alt-right gang." --s ...

... David Ingram of NBC News: "Researchers who study social media say they are seeing an increase in anti-Semitic posts from far-right users of Instagram and Twitter, and that the services aren't doing enough about it. Separate researchers who were independently looking at the two social networks said that attacks on Jewish people had spiked on both services ahead of the Nov. 6 midterm elections, similar to a rise in harassment that occurred before the 2016 presidential election. Many but not all of the posts mention billionaire investor and philanthropist George Soros, the researchers said. Soros is frequently the subject of unfounded conspiracy theories and his home was among the targets this week in a series of attempted bombings." ...

... Michael Kunzelman of the AP: "Far-right extremists have ramped up an intimidating wave of anti-Semitic harassment against Jewish journalists, political candidates and others ahead of next month's U.S. midterm elections, according to a report released Friday by a Jewish civil rights group. 'Prior to the election of ... Donald Trump, anti-Semitic harassment and attacks were rare and unexpected, even for Jewish Americans who were prominently situated in the public eye. Following his election, anti-Semitism has become normalized and harassment is a daily occurrence,' the report says." ...

... Alexandra Schwartz of the New Yorker: "Since the 2016 Presidential campaign, anti-Semitic vitriol has exploded on the Internet. Anti-Semitism has burrowed into the American mainstream in a way not seen since the late nineteen-thirties and early nineteen-forties, when it also fused easily with conservative isolationist fervor and racism." ...

... Howard Fineman, in a New York Times op-ed: "I grew up in Pittsburgh's Tree of Life synagogue. My parents taught Sunday school there. I learned to read Hebrew (sort of) there. I was a bar mitzvah there.... The mass murder at Tree of Life has shaken my perhaps naïve faith in this country, one that I began developing as a boy growing up in Pittsburgh.... I was taught in Squirrel Hill that we were in the one country that was an exception to the history of the human race in general and the Jews in particular. Founded on Enlightenment principles of individuality, freedom, tolerance and justice, the United States was the only place besides Israel where Jews could live at one with their nation, unburdened by fear or confusion about identity.... Without diminishing anyone else's suffering and death, it's a sad fact that the Jews often are the canaries in the coal mine of social and political collapse. So, what does the bloodshed in the Tree of Life mean?It is a sign that hatred of The Other is poisoning our public life." ...

... Benjamin Wallace-Wells of the New Yorker: "On Wednesday afternoon, a man named Gregory Bush allegedly shot and killed two African-American customers at a Kroger's supermarket in Jeffersontown, Kentucky, reportedly saying afterward, 'whites don't kill whites.' Ten to fifteen minutes before, he had tried the predominantly black First Baptist Church, where he spent several minutes rattling the locked doors... The massacres in Pittsburgh and Jeffersontown -- and the pipe bombs sent to a dozen Democratic leaders this week, allegedly by the Trump supporter Cesar Sayoc -- share some obvious common causes. They are the toxic politics of the President, and the racist, nationalist fervor that has been inflamed by his rise, and the success and the militancy of the gun lobby, which for decades has refused to acknowledge the obvious: that one way to have fewer killings is to make it harder for Americans to possess guns. Each of these is a national crisis on its own." ...

... Amber Jamieson of BuzzFeed News: "In his first televised comments on Saturday's deadly mass shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue..., Donald Trump appeared to place some blame on officials at the house of worship for not having stronger security. 'This is a case where if they had an armed guard inside, they might have been able to stop him immediately,' Trump told reporters. 'They didn't. And he was able to do things that unfortunately he shouldn't have been able to do.'... When asked if his administration needed to reexamine gun regulations, Trump said gun regulation 'has little to do with it.'" Mrs. McC: According to the New York Times report linked above, one of the guns the shooter had was "an AR-15-style assault rifle." ...

... Seung Min Kim, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump on Saturday strongly condemned the deadly mass shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue as 'pure evil' and anti-Semitic, and then, without skipping a beat, slipped into campaign mode with attacks on trade deals, a discourse on palm trees and a dig at a potential 2020 rival. Just over a week before midterm elections, the president traveled to Indiana for a convention speech and later a political rally in Illinois, though he joked about canceling both events because of a 'bad hair day.'... After pleading for peace and harmony, Trump seemingly couldn't resist reverting to his favorite political insults. He criticized the trade deals of past presidents and boasted about his actions on ethanol. Trum attacked Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and her claim to Native American heritage...." ...

... Here are Trump's full remarks about his bad hair day, via Jason le Miere of Newsweek. ...

... More Lies. Ros Krasny of Bloomberg: "President Donald Trump justified going ahead with a campaign rally, hours after 11 people were shot to death in a Pittsburgh synagogue, by erroneously saying the New York Stock Exchange reopened the day after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.... In fact, with Manhattan in lockdown after the collapse of the World Trade Center twin towers, the NYSE and the Nasdaq exchanges were closed until Monday, September 17, the longest shutdown since 1933. When markets reopened, U.S. stocks suffered several days of steep losses. Trump made comments earlier Saturday, during a speech in Indianapolis, on the general theme that he wouldn't let the perpetrator of the synagogue shooting dictate his schedule." [Open in private window] --s ...

I remember when we had the attack in Manhattan, we opened the stock exchange the next day. People were shocked. -- Donald Trump, remarks at National FFA Organization Convention, Indianapolis, Saturday

I remembered Dick Russell, a friend of mine, great guy, he headed up the New York Stock Exchange on September 11th, and the New York Stock Exchange was open the following day.... But he got that exchange open. We can't make these sick, demented, evil people important. -- Trump, remarks at a campaign rally in Murphysboro, Ill., Saturday

Remember the teams, the Yankees, George Steinbrenner. He said we have got to play, even if nobody comes, nobody shows up, we have got to play. -- Trump, a few minutes later

While Trump remembered 'Dick Russell, a friend of mine, great guy,' as reopening the exchange, it was actually Dick Grasso, at the time chief executive of the NYSE. Grasso appeared on Fox News just a few weeks ago, on Sept. 11, to recall the reopening. Dick Russell was a senator from Georgia, known as a fierce defender of segregation. Trump also implied that baseball did not pause for the attacks but started playing games as soon as possible. But the games were canceled that night -- and then for the rest of the week. Professional baseball also did not start up again until six days later, on Sept. 17. The whole baseball season was pushed back a week.There are many reasons the president might have wanted to have continued with a campaign rally. But conjuring up a phony story about the stock exchanges and baseball after the Sept. 11 attacks is not a valid one. We can possibly understand one mistake, but not that it was repeated hours later. -- Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post

... Juan Cole: "At Charlottesville last year, Neo-Nazis celebrating Trump's advent in the White House chanted 'You will not replace us/ Jews will not replace us!'... Trump called these wretched Nazis who hate Jews 'very fine people.' White nationalists and their sympathizers comprise perhaps eleven million of the US population. But if you count their sympathizers, the number rises to 20 mn.... Although he has not himself deployed specifically anti-Semitic themes..., some proportion of the people to whom he appeals with these latter memes are also rabid bigots toward Jewish Americans.... There was a time when decent people in the GOP would decline to accept the support of the white nationalists, feeling that this movement is so odious that it should remain in the political shadows. The Republican Party needs explicitly to return to that standard, including Trump." --s ...

... Eli Stokels & Noah Bierman of the Los Angeles Times: "[Friday presented] yet another moment of mixed messages and missed opportunities for leadership from a president who, in times of national crisis, has repeatedly delivered the expected 'presidential' performance only briefly and from a script, before returning to his familiar political attacks. In this case, moreover, the attacks were the very sort that had critics charging that his provocative rhetoric -- including the harsh jibes at [George] Soros, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and others -- were what goaded the would-be bomber to target them.... Aides also refused to say whether Trump had been briefed on the arrest before or after his 10:19 a.m. tweet in which he suggested doubts about the attempted bombs.... Trump's inability to sustain a unifying message in the midst of national trauma -- in this case potential assassinations of two former presidents, former Cabinet officials and several members of Congress -- sets him apart from all predecessors, according to Julian Zelizer, a presidential historian at Princeton University.... Trump did not call any of the Democrats who were the intended targets, as past presidents likely would have." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Maureen Dowd: "The president has ... put a tremendous effort into the sulfurous stew of lies, racially charged rhetoric and scaremongering that he has been serving up as an election closer. He has been inspired to new depths of delusion, tweeting that 'Republicans will totally protect people with Pre-Existing Conditions, Democrats will not! Vote Republican.' He has been twinning the words 'caravan' and 'Kavanaugh in a mellifluous poem to white male hegemony. Whites should be afraid of the migrant caravan traveling from Central America, especially since 'unknown Middle Easterners' were hidden in its midst, an alternative fact that he cheerfully acknowledged was based on nothing. The word 'Kavanaugh' is meant to evoke the fear that aggrieved women will hurtle out of the past to tear down men from their rightful perches of privilege.... Republican ... [always act from] the same shameless playbook, replicated since Richard Nixon launched his racist Southern Strategy.... The only difference -- and it is a shocking one -- is that Donald Trump cuts out the middleman. He handles the dirty work himself -- and revels in it. In the old days, presidents let their hatchet men stir up the racist skulduggery behind the scenes. So when Republican lawmakers complain about Trump's white nationalist rhetoric, what they are really saying is that they prefer a more subtle racism." ...

... Danielle Pacquette, et al., of the Washington Post: "As far back as 2002, lawyer Ronald Lowy recalled, the windows of [Cesar] Sayoc's white Dodge Ram van were covered in stickers of Native American regalia. Though Sayoc was Filipino and Italian, he claimed to be a proud member of the Seminole tribe, Lowy said. The lie was one of many Sayoc would spread about himself over the years. He falsely claimed to have worked as a Chippendales dancer, and he was once charged with fraud for modifying his driver's license to make it appear he was younger, said Lowy, who represented him in the case.... '[Sayoc] had no interest in politics, was always at the night clubs, the gyms, wherever he thought he could meet people, impress people. And along came the presidential campaign of Donald Trump, who welcomed all extremists, all outsiders, all outliers, and he felt that somebody was finally talking to him,' Lowy said." ...

... Amanda Arnold of New York: "After authorities released [Cesar] Sayoc's name, Rochelle Ritchie, a political commentator and former congressional press secretary, tweeted that she had tried to report an account under that name earlier this month, after it sent her threatening messages and menacing images after one of her appearances on Fox News. In the same tweet, she attached the response she got from Twitter on October 11, which reads, 'There was no violation of the Twitter Rules against abusive behavior.'... One of the tweets read, 'We have nice silent Air boat ride for u here on our land Everglades Swamp We will see you 4 sure. Hug your loved ones real close every time you leave you home.'... Another ... included ... images of alligators and a half-consumed human body.... Friday evening, following backlash, Ritchie tweeted a screenshot of a message she received from Twitter, asking her to 'disregard [their] last reply as it was sent in error.'"

Luke Barnes of ThinkProgress: "Militia groups and far-right activists are gearing up to head to the Mexican border to try to stop a migrant caravan from entering the United States, as conservatives and the far-right escalate their warnings about the supposed dangers it poses. Earlier this week, the U.S. Border Patrol warned landowners in Texas that they could expect 'possible armed civilians' on their property because of the news about the caravan." --s

** "Stepping Off the Internet." Charlie Warzel of BuzzFeed News: "... the dichotomy between an online world and 'real life' is (and has always been) a false one. The hatred, trolling, harassment, and conspiracy theorizing of the internet's underbelly cannot be dismissed as empty, nihilistic performance. It may be a game, but it's a game with consequences. And it's spilling into the physical world with greater, more alarming frequency.... [Cesar Sayoc's] van is, according to Kate Starbird, a researcher studying online conspiracies and misinformation at the University of Washington, an interesting metaphor 'showing memetic warfare transcending the digital and moving into the physical world.'... The phenomenon is not fully platform-dependent. Online communities have helped turn information warfare into a tribal game.... And while there's a meaningful difference between the Pizzagate conspiracy and the anti-Semitic rage of the alleged Pittsburgh gunman, the reasons they transcend the internet are familiar: community and empowerment. It comes as little surprise then that the final social media post from the Pittsburgh synagogue shooter declared that he was taking his online hatred into the physical world. 'I can't sit by and watch my people get slaughtered. Screw your optics, I'm going in,' he wrote just hours before his massacre."

Jim Rutenberg of the New York Times: "Increasingly, the president's almost daily attacks [on the news media] seem to be delivering the desired effect, despite the many examples of powerful reporting on his presidency. By one measure, a CBS News poll over the summer, 91 percent of 'strong Trump supporters' trust him to provide accurate information; 11 percent said the same about the news media.... And with the president settling on 'Fear and Falsehoods' as an election strategy, as The Washington Post put it last week, the political information system is awash in more misleading or flatly wrong assertions than reporters can keep up with.... How long will it take the news media come up with a more effective way to counter the litany of baseless claims washing through the news cycle? At this rate, a solution may come sometime in Mr. Trump's third term."

Mehdi Masan of The Intercept has compiled a list of other documented Trump-inspired violent acts to definitively refute the 'one crazy guy' theory. --s

Election 2018

Minnesota. Zaid Jilani of The Intercept: "Minnesota Republican attorney general candidate Doug Wardlow was the author of a controversial, partisan blog while he was a clerk at the Minnesota Supreme Court, The Intercept has learned. Wardlow was previously suspected of authoring the anonymous blog but has declined to comment.... His authorship of the blog is a critical election issue, as a key question in the race is whether each candidate can play the role of the state's top cop in a nonpartisan manner. Many have doubted that Wardlow could do so. At a private fundraiser earlier this year, Wardlow boasted that he would 'fire 42 Democratic attorneys right off the bat and get Republican attorneys in there.'... Wardlow is locked in a tight race with Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison for the state attorney general job.... Authoring these blog posts while serving as a clerk may have run afoul of professional ethics norms." --s

Tennessee. Addy Baird of ThinkProgress: "Black voters in Tennessee cast their ballots and held a celebration of their right to vote at a block party outside of Nashville on Saturday, just two days after a major victory assured their access to the polls.... On Thursday, Chancellor JoeDae Jenkins ordered the Shelby County Election Commission to allow people with incomplete voter registration applications -- including missing addresses or illegible handwriting -- to fix any problems and cast their ballots on Election Day.... [The ruling] will allow some 1,000 people who may not have been able to otherwise to vote on November 6.... The state of Tennessee is ranked 49th in the country in voter participation." --s

Texas. Asher Stockler of Vox: "Republicans in Texas generally rely on independents and moderate Democrats to maintain their significant hold over state politics. In the Senate race, however, independent voters prefer [Beto] O'Rourke to [Lyin' Ted] Cruz by 12 points, which suggests the grassroots enthusiasm that has rallied local progressives around O'Rourke may be spreading beyond the Democratic base." --s

Sex & Politics. Justin Lehmiller of Politico: "According to the largest and most comprehensive survey of sexual fantasies ever conducted in the United States, it would appear that there are also political differences in our private sexual fantasies.... While self-identified Republicans and self-identified Democrats reported fantasizing with the same average frequency -- several times per week --.... Republicans were more likely than Democrats to fantasize about a range of activities that involve sex outside of marriage. Think things like infidelity, orgies and partner swapping ... more fantasies with voyeuristic themes, including visiting strip clubs and practicing something known as 'cuckolding,' which involves watching one's partner have sex with someone else. By contrast, self-identified Democrats were more likely ... to fantasize about almost the entire spectrum of BDSM activities, from bondage to spanking to dominance-submission play. The largest Democrat-Republican divide on the BDSM spectrum was in masochism, which involves deriving pleasure from the experience of pain." --s

Way Beyond the Beltway

Simon Tisdall of the Guardian: "Angela Merkel's political obituary has been written many times since last year's bruising federal election, when her centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) slumped to 33% of the vote.... If today's state election in Hesse goes as expected, it will be seen as another crushing, possibly fatal, rebuff for Germany's chancellor.... The end of the Merkel era could have dire implications for the future cohesiveness of Europe and the EU. The timing could hardly be worse, as political fragmentation and polarisation reach epidemic proportions.... If it continues unchecked, this process of internal political fragmentation ... could become an existential upheaval that permanently changes the face of Europe. External threats, from Russia in the east to Trump's America in the west, add to the sense of looming crisis."--s

Reuters: "Brazil's leftist presidential candidate Fernando Haddad has narrowed the lead of his rightwing rival Jair Bolsonaro ahead of Sunday's election runoff [in] a survey that gave him 46% compared with Bolsonaro's 54%. However, Haddad's prospects of overhauling Bolsonaro were dented when he failed to win the crucial endorsement of former center-left candidate Ciro Gomes on Saturday. Gomes, a former governor of the north-east Ceará state, is influential in Brazil's poorest region." --s ...

... Amy Smith of Vox: "Brazilian media are reporting that Brazilian police have been staging raids, at times without warrants, in universities across the country this week. In these raids, police have been questioning professors and confiscating materials belonging to students and professors. The raids are part a supposed attempt to stop illegal electoral advertising. Brazilian election law prohibits electoral publicity in public spaces.... For those worrying about Brazilian democracy, these raids are some of the most troubling signs yet of the problems the country faces. They indicate the extremes of Brazilian political polarization: Anti-fascist and pro-democracy speech is now interpreted as illegal advertising in favor of one candidate (Fernando Haddad) and against another (Jair Bolsonaro)." --s

The Commentariat -- October 27, 2018

Afternoon Update:

Another Horrible Hate Crime. CBS Pittsburgh: "Eight people have been killed and a number of others injured after a shooting situation at The Tree of Life Synagogue in Squirrel Hill on Saturday. KDKA's Meghan Schiller reports that a suspect, a white male, has surrendered. The SWAT team had been talking with the suspect, and he was crawling and injured. It is unclear the extent of his injuries.... Police sources tell KDKA's Andy Sheehan the gunman walked into the building and yelled, 'All Jews Must die.'... Others had been shot but the extent of their injuries in unknown at this time." ...

... Christopher Mele of the New York Times: "The police in Pittsburgh reported 'multiple casualties' after responding to a report of an active shooter at a synagogue Saturday morning, a police commander said. Chris Togneri, a spokesman for the Pittsburgh police department, said that three officers had been shot and that the suspect was in custody." ...

     ... New Lede & ff.: "At least 10 people were dead and several injured after a gunman opened fire during a service at a synagogue on Saturday morning, law enforcement officials said.Two law enforcement officials identified the suspect as Robert D. Bowers, 46.... Social media activity linked to Mr. Bowers suggested a history of virulent anti-Semitism, filled with slurs and references to anti-Jewish conspiracy theories. Erika Strassburger, the city councilwoman for the district that includes the synagogue, the Tree of Life, said Mr. Bowers surrendered to the police after being barricaded in the building and was taken to the hospital."

Eli Stokels & Noah Bierman of the Los Angeles Times: "[Yesterday presented] yet another moment of mixed messages and missed opportunities for leadership from a president who, in times of national crisis, has repeatedly delivered the expected 'presidential' performance only briefly and from a script, before returning to his familiar political attacks. In this case, moreover, the attacks were the very sort that had critics charging that his provocative rhetoric -- including the harsh jibes at [George] Soros, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and others -- were what goaded the would-be bomber to target them.... Aides also refused to say whether Trump had been briefed on the arrest before or after his 10:19 a.m. tweet in which he suggested doubts about the attempted bombs.... Trump's inability to sustain a unifying message in the midst of national trauma -- in this case potential assassinations of two former presidents, former Cabinet officials and several members of Congress -- sets him apart from all predecessors, according to Julian Zelizer, a presidential historian at Princeton University.... Trump did not call any of the Democrats who were the intended targets, as past presidents likely would have."

*****

Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "As he left Washington for his latest campaign rally [in Charlotte, North Carolina], President Trump made it clear that he was no longer going to sit through another news cycle without President Trump at the center.... The president, who made a show on Wednesday of being 'nice' as bomb scares were affecting several of his political enemies, resurrected some of his favorite political insults two days later. Taunts including 'Crooked Hillary' and 'Cryin' Chuck Schumer' were brought out once again in a pull-out-all-the-stops partisan effort 11 days before the midterms. While Mr. Trump did spend a few minutes railing against the Democrats and their immigration policies -- 'A vote for Democrats is a vote for open borders,' he once again falsely claimed -- he reserved special ire for the news media.... 'We have seen an effort by the media in recent hours to use the sinister actions of one individual to score political points against me and the Republican Party,' Mr. Trump said. 'The media has tried to attack the incredible Americans who support our movement to give power back to the people.' Mr. Trump brought up [Maxine] Waters briefly on Friday, but then stopped, saying he wanted to 'be nice.'" ...

... Whiner-in-Chief. Brent Griffiths of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Friday evening accused the media of using a nationwide bomb-threat scare to 'score political points against me' and the GOP ahead of the midterm elections. 'We have seen an effort by the media in recent hours to use the sinister actions of one individual to score political points against me and the Republican Party,' Trump told supporters during a rally in Charlotte, N.C., alluding to the actions of a fervent Trump supporter who was arrested and charged Friday for allegedly sending 14 potentially explosive devices to prominent Democrats.... Trump cast himself as a unifier and chided journalists for covering his administration too critically, calling on the media to cover his administration more fairly and to help end the 'politics of personal destruction.' Echoing a talking point of his political allies, Trump said the media gave Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) a free pass after the accused shooter of the 2017 Republican congressional baseball practice was found to have volunteered for Sanders' presidential campaign and curated a Facebook page of left-wing memes that criticized the president and GOP lawmakers. Trump said he has not blamed Democrats when 'radical leftists seize and destroy public property and unleash violence and mayhem.' The president has recently begun using the slogan 'jobs, not mobs' and as recently as Oct. 20 said 'Democrats produce mobs, Republicans produce jobs.'" Mrs. McC: That last sentence is Griffith fact-checking Trump then & there; we like to see that. ...

William Rashbaum, et al., of the New York Times: "Federal authorities made an arrest on Friday in connection with the nationwide bombing campaign against outspoken critics of President Trump, a significant breakthrough in a case that has gripped the country in the days leading up to the midterm elections. A law enforcement official identified the suspect as Cesar Sayoc Jr., 56, of Aventura, Fla., just north of Miami. The arrest came even as the crude pipe bombs continued to appear across the country. [Besides the pipe bombs sent to Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.)] & former DNI James Clapper, discovered earlier today,] "a third was intercepted before it reached Senator Kamala Harris, a California Democrat. Mr. Sayoc, a registered Republican, has a lengthy criminal history in Florida dating back to 1991 that includes felony theft, drug and fraud charges, as well as being arrested and accused of threatening to use a bomb, public records show.... Photos of [Sayoc's white] van showed that one of the stickers depicted Mr. Trump standing in front of flames and the American flag. Another was of Hillary Clinton's face in the crosshairs of a rifle scope. A third said: 'CNN Sucks." (Also linked yesterday afternoon, but the story has been updated multiple times.) ...

... Here's the criminal complaint against Sayoc, via Lawfare. ...

... Jay Weaver, et al., of the Miami Herald: "Federal agents arrested a South Florida man outside an auto parts store on Thursday as a prime suspect in a string of pipe-bomb mailings to prominent Democrats and other critics of ... Donald Trump. A trail of DNA evidence on the packages or the devices helped investigators narrow a nationwide manhunt to Cesar Sayoc, a 56-year-old man from Aventura, law enforcement sources told the Miami Herald. Sayoc was being questioned by FBI agents with the Joint Terrorism Task Force following his arrest. Agents also seized and towed away his white van, which had most of its windows covered in pro-Donald Trump and right wing stickers. Photos of the van, posted by a Twitter user who said he saw the car at a stoplight in April, show rifle scope images over the faces of H[l]ilary Clinton, left wing filmmaker Michael Moore and President Barack Obama.... The arrest was made at an AutoZone in Plantation instead of his home to avoid any potential dangerous confrontation, sources told the Miami Herald. News partner CBS4 reports a 'loud explosion' was heard at the time of the arrest, possibly from an FBI flash bomb device. Sayoc was a frequent poster on social media sites and his Twitter and Facebook accounts were filled with pro-Trump memes and attacks on Democrats -- including a string linking Andrew Gillum, the Democratic candidate for Florida governor, with billionaire George Soros, a major party donor and recipient of one of the menacing mailings." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Kelly Weill & Will Sommer of the Daily Beast: "Cesar A. Sayoc, the Florida man reported to be the mail bombing suspect, frequently posted conspiratorial pro-Trump messages on Twitter or made threats to Democratic leaders, including some who would later receive potentially explosive devices in the mail this week.... The account and his Facebook profile, which feature pictures of Sayoc, 56, at Trump rallies, also contain some of the same images plastered to Sayoc's van, including flags for Florida's Seminole tribe and collages of pro-Trump and anti-CNN meme stickers. The Facebook account is almost exclusively pro-Trump content, including pictures and videos Sayoc purportedly filmed at one of the president's political rallies.... The account also posted video of what appears to be Sayoc himself chanting Trump's name at what looks like an indoor Trump rally.... And the Twitter feed is littered with far-right conspiracy theories or violent threats aimed at some of President Trump's most outspoken critics. He appears to have repeatedly tweeted about George Soros, the liberal billionaire philanthropist who has long been the target of far-right, anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. At one point, Sayoc purportedly wrote 'you will vanish' in a tweet aimed at the billionaire." There's more. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

Via the Miami Herald.

... Philip Bump of the Washington Post deconstructs the images Sayoc attached to the windows of his van. ...

... "A Trump Superfan." New York Times: "The man arrested by the authorities on Friday in connection with a series of bombs sent in the mail appears to be an outspoken supporter of President Trump, according to his posts on social media. The man attended a rally by Mr. Trump in West Palm Beach, Fla., on Oct. 13, 2016; the president's inauguration on January 20, 2017; and then another rally at Orlando Melbourne International Airport on Feb. 18, 2017.... [Cesar] Sayoc, wearing a red 'Make America Great Again' cap, attended Mr. Trump's inauguration...." ...

... Mrs. McCrabbie: Although Sayoc identifies with the Seminole Tribe, a spokesperson for the Tribe says "it can find no evidence ... [he] is or was a member or employee of the Seminole Tribe of Florida, or is or was an employee of Seminole Gaming or Hard Rock International." This is not for nothing. Tribal membership is carefully audited. ...

... David Dayen in the Intercept: "Cesar Sayoc, the Donald Trump-loving Floridian who was taken into custody in relation to pipe bombs mailed to prominent Democrats, was foreclosed on in 2009 by a bank whose principal owner and chair is now Trump's treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin. The documents used to enact the foreclosure were signed by a prominent robo-signer and seemingly backdated. Nonetheless, the evidence was good enough for the famously inattentive Florida foreclosure courts to wave the case through. Years later, Sayoc became a supporter of Trump, who came into office and appointed a treasury secretary who ran the bank that snatched Sayoc's house.... In yet another irony, [George] Soros was one of the investors in the bank that executed the foreclosure on Sayoc's home.... Kamala Harris, another mail bomb recipient, had an opportunity to prosecute OneWest Bank over similar foreclosure-related abuses in California when she was state attorney general, but declined to do so. Eric Holder, yet another recipient, did next to nothing to sanction bankers over foreclosure crimes." ...

... San Francisco Examiner: "Federal and local authorities were investigating reports of suspicious packages in Burlingame and Sacramento this morning. Both packages were allegedly addressed to Democrats who have been outspoken about their opposition to ... Donald Trump. The FBI put out a statement on Twitter at 11:23 a.m. PST on Friday stating that 'explosives technicians are on scene' at a U.S. Postal Service location in on Rollins Road in Burlingame. The package was rendered safe around 1 p.m.... A spokesman for California billionaire and environmental activist Tom Steyer confirmed that the package was addressed to Steyer and intercepted at a mail facility in Burlingame. Steyer has been a vocal critic of President Trump and has spearheaded a campaign to impeach him."

Just moments after Trump calls for unity at a WH event, he references "globalists," prompting several audience members shout "Soros" -- who was a target of one of the bombs -- and others shout "lock him up" to which Trump chuckles, points and repeats "lock him up" pic.twitter.com/IWZR3DRCvk

— Robert Maguire (@RobertMaguire_) October 26, 2018

... Jeet Heer of the New Republic: "The Black Leadership Summit [to whom Trump was speaking in the clip above] is organized by Turning Point USA (TPUSA), with Candace Owens, the communications director of the group, being the most prominent leader of the initiative. Trump praised Owens as 'incredible.' On Wednesday, Owens tweeted: 'Caravans, fake bomb threats -- these leftists are going ALL OUT for midterms.' This tweet was later deleted. Owens is one of numerous prominent Trump supporters to float a false-flag conspiracy theory about the mail bombs, implying the they were organized by leftists to make conservatives look bad." ...

... Ashley Parker & Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: "Standing in the White House's ornate East Wing, the president expressed annoyance that numerous bombs sent to Democrats and a news organization that Trump had long demonized had taken the spotlight from his Medicare drug prices announcement [link fixed] the day before. He told the audience of young black leaders he was addressing that the Democratic Party has betrayed them. He laughed along as some in the crowd chanted 'Fake News!' And he echoed a chant of 'Lock him up!' about liberal philanthropist George Soros, one of this week's bomb targets.... Trump ... has shown little interest in trying ... to unify the country.... Throughout the week ... Trump assailed the 'Fake News' media, shirked any personal responsibility for his incendiary rhetoric and, on Friday morning, used his bully pulpit to advance a baseless conspiracy theory that the bombs were both fake and orchestrated by the left. Roughly an hour later, authorities arrested 56-year-old Cesar Sayoc ... whose white van was covered in pro-Trump and anti-Democratic images. Later Friday afternoon, as he departed Washington for a rally in Charlotte, Trump told reporters he has no plans to tone down his rhetoric -- 'I could really tone it up,' he said -- and noted that the suspect 'was a person that preferred me over others.' He also rejected the notion of responsibility: 'There's no blame. There’s no anything.'" ...

... Mrs. McCrabbie: It would be hard to read a teleprompter with less apparent enthusiasm while still appearing to be awake:

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie BTW: In his limp remarks, Trump never mentioned the names of any of the targets, nor did he mention the letters F, B & I. Of course others wrote his remarks, but the speechwriters followed his directions. ...

... John Wagner of the Washington Post: "President Trump lamented [in a tweet] Friday that the news media was more focused on covering 'this "Bomb" stuff' rather than politics, a development he asserted was slowing Republican momentum in advance of the Nov. 6 midterms. 'Republicans are doing so well in early voting, and at the polls, and now this "Bomb" stuff happens and the momentum greatly slows -- news not talking politics,' Trump said in a midmorning tweet. 'Very unfortunate, what is going on. Republicans, go out and vote!'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: "This 'Bomb' stuff" targeted two former U.S. presidents, a former vice-president and numerous other high government officials and high-profile private citizens. "This 'Bomb' stuff" threatened the lives of these individuals as well as the lives of an untold number of ordinary USPS workers and office and home workers throughout the country. Trump's concern? Maybe the media's attention to "this 'Bomb' stuff" will help Democrats take over one House of Congress & start investigating me, Donald Trump. "Very unfortunate." ...

     ... Update. Matt Miller noted on MSNBC that the FBI identified Sayoc on Thursday and certainly would have told Trump yesterday what they knew about him & the devices he sent. So Trump's tweet about "this 'bomb' stuff" was almost certainly made after he knew the alleged perp was one of his supporters. In addition, FBI director Chris Wray said in a news conference this afternoon that the bombs were not fakes, or as Trump put it "bomb" (in quotation marks). That makes Trump's tweet dismissing the bombs as "bombs" doubly egregious. ...

... Jordan Fabian of the Hill: "Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced on Friday that bombing suspect Cesar Sayoc Jr. has been charged with five federal crimes for sending explosive devices to more than a dozen Democratic political figures, celebrities and news organizations.... The charges include interstate transportation of an explosive, illegal mailing of explosives, threats against former presidents and other persons, threatening interstate commerce and assaulting federal officers.... FBI Director Christopher Wray said investigators used DNA and fingerprint evidence pulled from the packages to locate Sayoc. Wray emphasized 'these are not hoax devices' and described some as 'improvised explosive devices.' The comments came hours after President Trump appeared to cast doubt on whether the devices were real. In a tweet Friday morning, Trump put scare quotes around the word 'bomb,' an apparent nod to false-flag conspiracy theories voiced by some of his supporters." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Maxwell Strachan of the Huffington Post: "... [George] Soros has become the right wing's main boogeymen over the last decade. His most vicious critics tend to be members of the Nazi frog set, employing longtime anti-Semitic tropes to depict Soros as a Jewish puppet master. But other critics make their money at Fox News, where Soros is treated as the Moriarty of liberal America, the spider at the center of a vast web. In the eyes of his most unwavering detractors, Soros is a Nazi-sympathizing, left-wing 'globalist' hellbent on using his billions to destroy the conservative movement.... Since April, people on Fox News have depicted Soros as a 'dirty word' and a 'radical' who 'hates the United States.' Here are other comments about Soros that have been broadcast on Fox News since April, based on TVEyes' rough transcripts.: (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... This Trumpbot, whom NBC News' Ali Vitali met outside Trump's rally in North Carolina, will not let the FBI & all hoodwink him:

WATCH: Talking to Trump supporters before tonight's rally, our @alivitali met one man who said he thinks Barack Obama & Hillary Clinton probably mailed pipe bombs to themselves. Learn more: https://t.co/Vkt9v3Klyw #11MSNBC #11thHour pic.twitter.com/OWyDoHT4Hf

— 11th Hour (@11thHour) October 27, 2018

... Rick Wilson of the Daily Beast: "Twitter Javerts like Rush Limbaugh, Alex Jones, Ann Coulter, Frank Gaffney, John Cardillo, Laura Loomer, Jacob Wohl, and alt-right thought leader and Pizzagate promoter Jack Prosobiec all jumped to sell the idea that Trump's gushing sewer of inflammatory rhetoric could never inspire a serial bomber. Their mirror-world version of Occam's Razor was that this must be a fiendishly clever leftist plot to disrupt the November elections. Just hours before the arrest of Cesar Sayoc, the president reinforced their fevered belief that this was obviously a left-wing electoral plot.... Trump's unique social media presence is a weapon of radicalization. No one else in the American political landscape stokes the resentments, fears, and prejudices of his base with equal power.... What's shocking about what we've seen from Sayoc's social media feeds is just how ordinary they are in the Trump online ecosystem. The slurry of conspiracy theories (particularly all things Soros), birtherism, xenophobia, boomer memes, and MAGA spank-bank material in his Twitter and Facebook feeds is the raw distillate from Infowars, Breitbart, and Fox.... This is the future of the GOP under Trump; it's not a party; it's a backwater sub-Reddit careening from crisis to crisis, chasing an increasingly elaborate set of conspiracies to paper over the raging inconsistencies of the Dear Leader's message and conduct." ...

... Jonathan Chait: "... the relationship between the two parties and violence is not symmetrical, and the fact that alleged bomber Cesar Sayoc had a strong identification with Trump and his partisan message is not a coincidence. The Republican Party encompasses an extremist fringe that nurtures violence in a way the Democratic Party does not. Political violence -- when it is attached to political ideology at all, as opposed to simple mental illness -- is associated with Manichean, paranoid, illiberal thought.... The difference is that the left-wing version resides outside the boundaries of two-party politics, because the Democratic Party is fundamentally liberal not radical.... The Republican Party, on the other hand, has followed a course that has made its rhetoric amenable to extremism. Republican radicalism enabled the rise of a conspiratorial authoritarian president, and that president has expanded the bounds of the party's following farther out to the fringe. It is getting harder and harder to distinguish the 'normal' elements of conservatism from the 'kook' parts. That some of those kooks would resort to violence is not an accident but a statistical likelihood. Trump's party is a petri dish for diseased minds."

Elise Viebeck of the Washington Post: Newt "Gingrich, speaking Thursday at an event held by The Washington Post, said that if Democrats subpoena Trump's tax returns during the next Congress, Trump will be 'trapped into appealing to the Supreme Court.' 'And we'll see whether or not the Kavanaugh fight was worth it,' he said. The remark, which drew audible gasps from the audience, suggested Republicans like Gingrich are counting on Kavanaugh to protect the secrecy of Trump's tax returns if Democrats take control of the House in November and begin aggressively investigating his finances. Trump has repeatedly refused to release his tax returns. Releasing them is a practice followed by previous presidents and the major parties' White House nominees."Mrs. McC: Josh Marshall commented on Gingrich's remark in a post safari linked yesterday.

Michelle Boorstein & Samantha Schmidt of the Washington Post: "... thousands filled the soaring nave of the Washington National Cathedral for the interment service of Matthew Shepard, the young man whose murder 20 years ago horrified the nation and became a milestone in the fight for gay rights.... Presiding over the worship service at the second-largest cathedral in the country, in front of a crowd of about 2,025 people, was Bishop Gene Robinson, whose elevation in the early 2000s as the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church marked another huge -- and controversial -- milestone in the push for LGBT equality.... Rippling through the Cathedral at times was the crackling energy of a political rally, with Robinson urging the crowd not to simply commemorate Shepard but to train their eyes on continued discrimination against sexual minorities, especially transgender people, who he called a 'target' right now." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Election 2018

One target of Trump and the mail bomber doesn't seem to be quaking in his boots:

... John Verhovek of ABC News: "An at times incredulous former President Barack Obama returned to the campaign trail again Friday ahead of the November midterms, attacking what he calls outright lies by Republicans on the issue of health care and telling the crowd in Milwaukee, Wisconsin: 'In Washington, they have racked up enough indictments to field a football team.'... Stumping for Sen. Tammy Baldwin, gubernatorial candidate Tony Evers, and a slew of Democratic congressional candidates in the Badger State, Obama again cast the election as a critical and fateful moment for the nation."

Kansas. Mitch Smith of the New York Times: "On Election Days past, voters cast their ballots at the only polling place in this town of 27,000: the sprawling civic center on the north side of Dodge City. But with a construction project expected to start there soon, the county clerk moved the polls this year almost four miles away, past the railroad tracks and beyond the city limits. That switch, which in some places might be little more than a footnote in a local newspaper, stoked anger and was perceived by some Democrats as a blatant attempt to suppress the vote of Dodge City's Hispanic majority. On Friday, the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas filed a federal lawsuit asking a judge to intervene and reopen the civic center for voting. The swift backlash and widespread attention to Dodge City's change came in no small part because of restrictive voting laws championed by Kansas' secretary of state, Kris Kobach, a frequent A.C.L.U. foe who also happens to be the Republican nominee in this year's extremely close race for governor.... [The county clerk, Debbie Cox (R),] said she had mailed letters to residents about the new polling place this fall, but she acknowledged that newly registered voters also received cards not long ago bearing the earlier address, not the new one." ...

Texas. They're Ultra-conservative, but They Really Don't Like Ted. Fort Worth Star-Telegram Editors: "U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz represent the hard left and right of American politics. Neither stands in the middle ground, where the real work is done to lead America. But only O'Rourke seems interested in making deals or finding middle ground. That is why the El Paso Democrat would make the best senator for Tarrant County's future, and the future of Texas.... This Editorial Board has recommended conservative Republicans such as George W. Bush and Mitt Romney for president, along with U.S. Sens. John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison. But Cruz does not measure up. This office needs a reset. The Star-Telegram Editorial Board endorses Beto O'Rourke for U.S. senator."

Brian Stelter of CNN: "While negotiations continue between Megyn Kelly and NBC, the network announced on Friday that her 9 a.m. talk show has been canceled. 'Megyn Kelly Today is not returning,' the network said in a statement. 'Next week, the 9 a.m. hour will be hosted by other "Today" co-anchors.' Her exit from NBC News is not official yet. But it will be soon. It's a foregone conclusion among all the players involved, multiple sources said Thursday." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Too bad she mixed it up with Trump. Otherwise, she's a natural to replace Jim Mattis as Secretary of Defense.

Garret Keizer, in the New Republic, writes that nihilism explains Trumpism.

Beyond the Beltway

Karen Zraick & Matt Stevens of the New York Times: "A gunman who killed two people at a Kroger supermarket in Jeffersontown, Ky., on Wednesday tried to enter a predominantly black church minutes before the attack, the police said on Thursday. The man, Gregory Bush, 51, of Louisville, was arraigned Thursday on two counts of murder and 10 counts of wanton endangerment. He was ordered held with bail set at $5 million. The police said they were investigating the motive for the attack, which killed Vickie Lee Jones, 67, and Maurice E. Stallard, 69. Both were black, while Mr. Bush is white, and the son of a witness said his father heard the gunman make a racist remark during the episode, though the police said they could not confirm that account. Mr. Bush has a history of mental illness, Chief Sam Rogers of the Jeffersontown Police Department said at a news conference on Thursday." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Way Beyond

BBC News: "Saudi Arabia's foreign minister has said the suspects in the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi would be prosecuted in Saudi Arabia. At a conference in Bahrain, Adel al-Jubeir accused the western media of 'hysteria' in its coverage of the case. His comments come a day after Turkey said it wished to extradite 18 Saudi nationals authorities say were involved in the murder.... 'On the issue of extradition, the individuals are Saudi nationals. They're detained in Saudi Arabia, and the investigation is in Saudi Arabia, and they will be prosecuted in Saudi Arabia,' Mr al-Jubeir told a security conference in Bahrain. Turkey and Saudi Arabia are not known to have an extradition treaty."

The Commentariat -- October 26, 2018

Afternoon Update:

Obviously, I can't take time off to go to the dentist. Good for the FBI & other law enforcement personnel. Phenomenal work. -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie

William Rashbaum, et al., of the New York Times: "Federal authorities made an arrest on Friday in connection with the nationwide bombing campaign against outspoken critics of President Trump, a significant breakthrough in a case that has gripped the country in the days leading up to the midterm elections. A law enforcement official identified the suspect as Cesar Sayoc Jr., 56, of Aventura, Fla., just north of Miami. The arrest came even as the crude pipe bombs continued to appear across the country. [Besides the pipe bombs sent to Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.)] & former DNI James Clapper, discovered earlier today,] "a third was intercepted before it reached Senator Kamala Harris, a California Democrat. Mr. Sayoc, a registered Republican, has a lengthy criminal history in Florida dating back to 1991 that includes felony theft, drug and fraud charges, as well as being arrested and accused of threatening to use a bomb, public records show.... Photos of [Sayoc's white] van showed that one of the stickers depicted Mr. Trump standing in front of flames and the American flag. Another was of Hillary Clinton's face in the crosshairs of a rifle scope. A third said: 'CNN Sucks.'" ...

Via the Miami Herald.... Jay Weaver, et al., of the Miami Herald: "Federal agents arrested a South Florida man outside an auto parts store on Thursday as a prime suspect in a string of pipe-bomb mailings to prominent Democrats and other critics of ... Donald Trump. A trail of DNA evidence on the packages or the devices helped investigators narrow a nationwide manhunt to Cesar Sayoc, a 56-year-old man from Aventura, law enforcement sources told the Miami Herald. Sayoc was being questioned by FBI agents with the Joint Terrorism Task Force following his arrest. Agents also seized and towed away his white van, which had most of its windows covered in pro-Donald Trump and right wing stickers. Photos of the van, posted by a Twitter user who said he saw the car at a stoplight in April, show rifle scope images over the faces of H[l]ilary Clinton, left wing filmmaker Michael Moore and President Barack Obama.... The arrest was made at an AutoZone in Plantation instead of his home to avoid any potential dangerous confrontation, sources told the Miami Herald. News partner CBS4 reports a 'loud explosion' was heard at the time of the arrest, possibly from an FBI flash bomb device. Sayoc was a frequent poster on social media sites and his Twitter and Facebook accounts were filled with pro-Trump memes and attacks on Democrats -- including a string linking Andrew Gillum, the Democratic candidate for Florida governor, with billionaire George Soros, a major party donor and recipient of one of the menacing mailings." ...

... Kelly Weill & Will Sommer of the Daily Beast: "Cesar A. Sayoc, the Florida man reported to be the mail bombing suspect, frequently posted conspiratorial pro-Trump messages on Twitter or made threats to Democratic leaders, including some who would later receive potentially explosive devices in the mail this week.... The account and his Facebook profile, which feature pictures of Sayoc, 56, at Trump rallies, also contain some of the same images plastered to Sayoc's van, including flags for Florida's Seminole tribe and collages of pro-Trump and anti-CNN meme stickers. The Facebook account is almost exclusively pro-Trump content, including pictures and videos Sayoc purportedly filmed at one of th president's political rallies.... The account also posted video of what appears to be Sayoc himself chanting Trump's name at what looks like an indoor Trump rally.... And the Twitter feed is littered with far-right conspiracy theories or violent threats aimed at some of President Trump's most outspoken critics. He appears to have repeatedly tweeted about George Soros, the liberal billionaire philanthropist who has long been the target of far-right, anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. At one point, Sayoc purportedly wrote 'you will vanish' in a tweet aimed at the billionaire." There's more. ...

Just moments after Trump calls for unity at a WH event, he references "globalists," prompting several audience members shout "Soros" -- who was a target of one of the bombs -- and others shout "lock him up" to which Trump chuckles, points and repeats "lock him up" pic.twitter.com/IWZR3DRCvk

— Robert Maguire (@RobertMaguire_) October 26, 2018

... Mrs. McCrabbie: It would be hard to read a teleprompter with less apparent enthusiasm while still appearing to be awake:

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie BTW: In his limp remarks, Trump never mentioned the names of any of the targets, nor did he mention the letters F, B & I. Of course others wrote his remarks, but the speechwriters followed his directions. ...

... John Wagner of the Washington Post: "President Trump lamented [in a tweet] Friday that the news media was more focused on covering 'this "Bomb" stuff' rather than politics, a development he asserted was slowing Republican momentum in advance of the Nov. 6 midterms. 'Republicans are doing so well in early voting, and at the polls, and now this "Bomb" stuff happens and the momentum greatly slows -- news not talking politics,' Trump said in a midmorning tweet. 'Very unfortunate, what is going on. Republicans, go out and vote!'" ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: "This 'Bomb' stuff" targeted two former U.S. presidents, a former vice-president and numerous other high government officials and high-profile private citizens. "This 'Bomb' stuff" threatened the lives of these individuals as well as the lives of an untold number of ordinary USPS workers and office and home workers throughout the country. Trump's concern? Maybe the media's attention to "this 'Bomb' stuff" will help Democrats take over one House of Congress & start investigating me, Donald Trump. "Very unfortunate." ...

     ... Update. Matt Miller noted on MSNBC that the FBI identified Sayoc on Thursday and certainly would have told Trump yesterday what they knew about him & the devices he sent. So Trump's tweet about "this 'bomb' stuff" was almost certainly made after he knew the alleged perp was one of his supporters. In addition, FBI director Chris Wray said in a news conference this afternoon that the bombs were not fakes, or as Trump put it "bomb" (in quotation marks). That makes Trump's tweet dismissing the bombs as "bombs" doubly egregious. ...

Jordan Fabian of the Hill: "Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced on Friday that bombing suspect Cesar Sayoc Jr. has been charged with five federal crimes for sending explosive devices to more than a dozen Democratic political figures, celebrities and news organizations.... The charges include interstate transportation of an explosive, illegal mailing of explosives, threats against former presidents and other persons, threatening interstate commerce and assaulting federal officers.... FBI Director Christopher Wray said investigators used DNA and fingerprint evidence pulled from the packages to locate Sayoc. Wray emphasized 'these are not hoax devices' and described some as 'improvised explosive devices.' The comments came hours after President Trump appeared to cast doubt on whether the devices were real. In a tweet Friday morning, Trump put scare quotes around the word 'bomb,' an apparent nod to false-flag conspiracy theories voiced by some of his supporters." ...

... Maxwell Strachan of the Huffington Post: "... [George] Soros has become the right wing's main boogeymen over the last decade. His most vicious critics tend to be members of the Nazi frog set, employing longtime anti-Semitic tropes to depict Soros as a Jewish puppet master. But other critics make their money at Fox News, where Soros is treated as the Moriarty of liberal America, the spider at the center of a vast web. In the eyes of his most unwavering detractors, Soros is a Nazi-sympathizing, left-wing 'globalist' hellbent on using his billions to destroy the conservative movement.... Since April, people on Fox News have depicted Soros as a 'dirty word' and a 'radical' who 'hates the United States.' Here are other comments about Soros that have been broadcast on Fox News since April, based on TVEyes' rough transcripts."

Michelle Boorstein & Samantha Schmidt of the Washington Post: "... thousands filled the soaring nave of the Washington National Cathedral for the interment service of Matthew Shepard, the young man whose murder 20 years ago horrified the nation and became a milestone in the fight for gay rights.... Presiding over the worship service at the second-largest cathedral in the country, in front of a crowd of about 2,025 people, was Bishop Gene Robinson, whose elevation in the early 2000s as the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church marked another huge -- and controversial -- milestone in the push for LGBT equality.... Rippling through the Cathedral at times was the crackling energy of a political rally, with Robinson urging the crowd not to simply commemorate Shepard but to train their eyes on continued discrimination against sexual minorities, especially transgender people, who he called a 'target' right now."

Karen Zraick & Matt Stevens of the New York Times: "A gunman who killed two people at a Kroger supermarket in Jeffersontown, Ky., on Wednesday tried to enter a predominantly black church minutes before the attack, the police said on Thursday. The man, Gregory Bush, 51, of Louisville, was arraigned Thursday on two counts of murder and 10 counts of wanton endangerment. He was ordered held with bail set at $5 million. The police said they were investigating the motive for the attack, which killed Vickie Lee Jones, 67, and Maurice E. Stallard, 69. Both were black, while Mr. Bush is white, and the son of a witness said his father heard the gunman make a racist remark during the episode, though the police said they could not confirm that account. Mr. Bush has a history of mental illness, Chief Sam Rogers of the Jeffersontown Police Department said at a news conference on Thursday."

Brian Stelter of CNN: "While negotiations continue between Megyn Kelly and NBC, the network announced on Friday that her 9 a.m. talk show has been canceled. 'Megyn Kelly Today is not returning,' the network said in a statement. 'Next week, the 9 a.m. hour will be hosted by other "Today" co-anchors.' Her exit from NBC News is not official yet. But it will be soon. It's a foregone conclusion among all the players involved, multiple sources said Thursday." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Too bad she mixed it up with Trump. Otherwise, she's a natural to replace Jim Mattis as Secretary of Defense.

*****

9:45 am ET Update. William Rashbaum & Matthew Haag of the New York Times: "Federal authorities discovered two more explosive devices, one addressed to Senator Cory Booker and the other to James R. Clapper Jr., the former director of national intelligence, law enforcement officials said on Friday. The package sent to Mr. Clapper was addressed to CNN's offices in New York, similar to a pipe bomb found Wednesday that was addressed to John O. Brennan, a former C.I.A. director via CNN.... The package addressed to Mr. Clapper at CNN was discovered on Friday morning at a United States Postal Service facility in Midtown Manhattan, a few blocks south of the news network's building. The package for Mr. Booker, a New Jersey Democrat, was found in Florida, the F.B.I. said." Thanks to PD Pepe for the lead.

Karen DeYoung, et al., of the Washington Post: "CIA Director Gina Haspel briefed President Trump on Thursday about her trip this week to Turkey, where she listened to audio purportedly capturing the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, as Saudi Arabia appeared to acknowledge that its agents had murdered the dissident Saudi journalist in a 'premeditated' operation." Mrs. McC: But don't worry, people. Trump won't remember any of the "details" of the briefing, so he won't be able to pass them on to the Chinese & Russians on that "rarely used," "government authorized" iPhone of his. ...

... Matt Novak of Gizmodo: "... according to the New York Times, Chinese and Russian spies are listening [to Donald Trump's phone conversations], especially to his unsecured cellphone. But President Trump would like you to know that he 'rarely' uses his cellphones. He says so in this morning's toilet tweets, sent from his iPhone[.]... I think this is going to be it for President Trump. This is the kind of scandal that can bring down a presidency. He has no choice but to resign in disgrace now." Thanks to Akhilleus for the hilarious link. ...

... Matthew Rosenberg & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "President Trump dismissed a report about Chinese and Russian spies listening in on his cellphone calls as 'soooo wrong,' yet he acknowledged the crucial vulnerability being exploited by foreign agents -- that he uses a cellphone to make calls.... Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, the Democratic vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, a tweet that the president's cellphone habits were a big problem 'if true.' [Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), said,] 'We need an investigation to definitively determine whether Trump has compromised classified information.'... Mr. Trump, of course, spent much of the 2016 presidential campaign attacking Hillary Clinton for using an unsecured email server while she was secretary of state. He accused her of putting American secrets at risk, and basked in the chants of 'lock her up' at his rallies."

Timothy Bella of the Washington Post: "At the end of a week in which 10 suspected pipe bombs were sent to prominent liberal leaders over a 72-hour period, President Trump took to Twitter past 3 a.m. Friday to criticize CNN, another recipient of a suspicious package.... 'Funny how lowly rated CNN, and others, can criticize me at will, even blaming me for the current spate of Bombs and ridiculously comparing this to September 11th and the Oklahoma City bombing,' the president tweeted at 3:14 a.m., 'yet when I criticize them they go wild and scream, "it's just not Presidential!'... The 3:14 a.m. tweet, which was posted after an incomplete version of the tweet was published and deleted about 30 minutes prior, comes in the same week that the president both condemned the pipe bombs and again targeted the media for the coverage of his administration." ...

... William Rashbaum, et al., of the New York Times: "Federal authorities investigating a spate of pipe bombs sent this week to several prominent critics of President Trump have turned their attention toward southern Florida, believing that a number of the explosive devices were mailed from the area, two people briefed on the matter said Thursday.... All of the 10 packages that have been discovered since Monday bore return addresses from Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Democratic congresswoman from Florida.... Though investigators initially believed that some of the packages were delivered by hand or by courier, they have now concluded that all 10 were likely sent through the mail, a person briefed on the matter said." ...

... Laura Jarrett of CNN: "The FBI said in a tweet Thursday morning that it could confirm three more packages that were 'similar in appearance to the others.' 'One in New York addressed to Robert DeNiro, and two in Delaware addressed to former Vice President Joseph Biden,' said the tweet from the FBI's official account. This brings the total to 10 suspicious packages that have been discovered since earlier this week." This is a running report on developments. (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... Andrew Restuccia & Gabby Orr of Politico: "A day after several leading Democrats were found to have been targeted by package bombs, Republicans have identified one of their own as a victim: ... Donald Trump. As of Thursday afternoon, less than 36 hours after the first packages were discovered, White House officials and outside advisers bitterly protested the notion that Trump's vitriolic rhetoric might have inspired whoever sent the packages. The alleged main offender was a familiar one -- the news media, which conservatives insisted had rushed to unfair conclusions in an effort to undermine the president less than two weeks before the midterm elections.... 'I think it is absolutely disgraceful that one of the first public statements we heard from CNN yesterday was to put the blame and responsibility of this despicable act on the president and on me personally," White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told Fox News on Thursday. She subsequently told reporters that Trump is no more responsible for the attempted bombings than Sen. Bernie Sanders was responsible 'for a supporter shooting up a baseball practice field last year,' referring to the June 2017 Alexandria, Va., shooting in which four people, including House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) were shot. The coordinated pushback echoes one of Trump's most frequent reactions to harsh criticism: give no ground and shift the blame to others." ...

     ... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: I'd like to point out how stupid the Steve Scalise argument (which I've heard elsewhere) is. Bernie Sanders no more incited supporters to violence than Jodie Foster urged John Hinckley, Jr. to shoot President Reagan & Jim Brady, even tho Hinckley said he tried to assassinate Reagan to impress Foster. Trump, on the other hand, regularly celebrates violence, demonizes adversaries & occasionally even encourages his followers to perform violent acts. Sarah Sanders & her ilk are comparing an apple to a big sour Orange. ...

... AND as Michelle Goldberg: writes, "rudeness toward powerful people" is not "akin to [physical] assault": At a rally in Wisconsin Wednesday Donald Trump "blamed the press for America's climate of simmering rage. 'The media also has a responsibility to set a civil tone and to stop the endless hostility and constant negative and oftentimes false attacks and stories,' he said. It was an audacious act of misdirection, especially since the attack included a bomb sent to the New York offices of CNN, one of Trump's favorite punching bags. But while Trump's words were meant to further derange American political debate, they were, in one sense, clarifying. They demonstrated the rank disingenuousness of conservative complaints about 'incivility,' a term that's increasingly used to conflate expressions of political anger with political violence, equating yelling at politicians with trying to kill them.... The violent part of the right is integrated into the Republican Party in a way that has no analogue on the left. [Goldberg provides several examples.]... Of course, no one has done more to stoke political violence than Trump."

... Jonathan Chait: "... the important issue here is not Trump's inability to convincingly advocate civility for an entire news cycle.... The issue is Trump's conviction that he should not be subjected to any scrutiny or criticism.... What has given Trump's version of it unusual virulence is his belief that the media should be an uncritical conduit for his lies. This is the true through line of his entire career.... What has given Trump's version of it unusual virulence is his belief that the media should be an uncritical conduit for his lies. This is the true through line of his entire career. [As a businessman,] he was fanatical about intimidating reporters with legal threats.... In his incarnation as a political candidate, Trump has mostly lost his ability to intimidate the media with legal threats. (Politicians have a prohibitively high standard for libel in the United States.) But his expectation and worldview are the same.... It is a supreme irony that Trump used his speech last night to delegitimize criticism. 'No one should carelessly compare political opponents to historical villains.' But ... Trump, in his psychological makeup and aspirations, is precisely such a historical villain." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Stephen Collinson of CNN: "... the President has chosen not to rise above the tumult or even console or counsel those who opposed him. He did not mention the victims by name. Or give any indication that he is concerned that some people might see his flaming rhetoric as a spur to violence. Trump's response to Wednesday's events was a reminder of the gap between presidential expectations and performance that has often been evident in his response to grave national moments, crises and natural disasters." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Margaret Sullivan of the Washington Post: "At a raucous rally in Montana last week, a Trump supporter -- juiced up by the president's crude praise of a congressman who body-slammed a reporter -- looked directly at CNN reporter Jim Acosta. Then he ran his thumb across his throat. And laughed. Later, Acosta described 'the Trump effect.' 'It has normalized and sanitized nastiness and cruelty in a way that I just never thought I would see,' he said, shortly after that Montana rally. The Trump effect is a straight line from years of his hateful rhetoric to real-world danger. It's a line that goes directly from disrespect to pipe bomb. And -- almost inevitably -- it will eventually go from failed attempt to spilled blood. If you can't see it, you aren't looking." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Will Sommer of the Daily Beast: "Instagram deleted a post from right-wing figure Milo Yiannopoulos praising the recent mail bombs sent to prominent Democratic officials, after initially refusing to take the post down when it was reported as hate speech. On Thursday afternoon, Yiannopoulos posted a picture of himself with a caption expressing his regret that the bombs hadn't detonated. Yiannopoulos also told his 386,000 followers that he was upset that no mail bomb was sent to this publication, The Daily Beast.... Instagram [initially] said [the post] 'does not violate our Community Guidelines.'... Yiannopoulos' post was removed roughly two hours later. 'This content violates our policies and has been removed from Instagram and Facebook,' Instagram spokeswoman Stephanie Noon said in an email. 'We prohibit celebration or praise of crimes committed, and we will remove content praising a bombing attempt as soon as we're aware.'" ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Instagram, which is a Facebook company, seems pretty confused about what its own "community guidelines" mean.

... Oliver Darcy of CNN: "Fox Business Network host Lou Dobbs, who is prone to peddling conspiracy theories and is a prominent supporter of President Trump, asserted without evidence on Thursday that it was 'fake news' that suspicious packages were mailed this week to high-profile Democrats and the New York City offices of CNN. 'Fake bombs,' Dobbs wrote in a tweet posted to his verified account Thursday morning. 'Who could possibly benefit by so much fakery?' Dobbs deleted his tweet after immediate and widespread condemnation. Authorities have said that the bombs found in the packages were rudimentary, but functional. After Dobbs deleted the tweet, he posted a second tweet which carried the same suggestion. In the second tweet, Dobbs wrote that 'Fake News had just successfully changed the narrative from the onslaught of illegal immigrants and broken border security to "suspicious packages."' Dobbs later deleted that tweet as well." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Robert Pear of the New York Times: "President Trump proposed on Thursday that Medicare pay for certain prescription drugs based on the prices paid in other advanced industrial countries -- a huge change that could save money for the government and for millions of Medicare beneficiaries. As part of a demonstration project covering half the country, Medicare would establish an 'international pricing index' and use it as a benchmark in deciding how much to pay for drugs covered by Part B of Medicare.... The drug proposal would take effect in late 2019 or early 2020 at the earliest.... [The program] would be phased in from 2020 to 2025.... Mr. Trump's announcement was part of a flurry of initiatives emerging from the White House ahead of next month's midterm elections...." ...

Nobody's had the courage to do it, or even wanted to do it. -- Donald Trump, on his proposal to lower some drug prices in the future ...

... [Trump is] ignoring that his predecessor, Obama, proposed some similar reforms. -- Dan Diamond, in a straight news report linked below

It's hard to take the Trump administration and Republicans seriously about reducing health care costs for seniors two weeks before the election when they have repeatedly advocated for and implemented policies that strip away protections for people with pre-existing conditions and lead to increased health care costs for millions of Americans. -- Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-Ny.)

On the eve of the midterm elections, the president is proposing a small step on drug price relief when a giant leap is urgently needed. Instead of nibbling around the edges, he should demand in his State of the Union speech that Congress send to his desk within 30 days a broad price negotiation bill that applies to all drugs in the Medicare program. -- Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) ...

... Dan Diamond of Politico: "... Donald Trump tried Thursday to make good on a campaign vow to lower drug prices.... But his populist proposal didn't appear likely to budge the national debate around health care, just days ahead of the midterm elections.... It's too wonky for Republicans playing defense in local races, it gave Democrats a fresh opportunity to slam the administration's attacks on patient protections and it won't help most voters pay less for prescriptions at local pharmacies.... 'Trump is promoting insurance policies that aren't required to cover any prescription drugs,' said Andy Slavitt, who ran Medicare under President Barack Obama.... Trump's sweeping proposal mostly landed with a thud in Washington and on the campaign trail. The handful of Republicans to release statements issued mild remarks saying only they would take a look at it.... For many Republicans, Trump's plan was not only wonky but anathema to their belief in competition as the solution to high prices.... Some GOP leaders also are angry that Trump would bypass Congress and use a pilot approach made possible by an Obamacare provision that many revile."

Julie Davis & Thomas Gibbons-Neff of the New York Times: "President Trump is considering taking executive action to bar migrants, including asylum seekers, from entering the country at the southern border, according to people familiar with the plan. The effort would be the starkest indication yet of Mr. Trump's election-season push to play to his anti-immigrant base as his party fights to keep control of Congress. The proposal amounts to a sweeping use of presidential power to fortify the border and impose the kind of aggressive immigration restrictions and enforcement measures that Mr. Trump has made his signature pursuit. It would also be the most drastic in a series of steps that Mr. Trump has taken or threatened to take in recent days -- including preparations on Thursday to send as many as 1,000 active-duty Army troops to help secure the southern border -- as he works to stoke fears of what he has called an 'onslaught' of immigrants only days before the midterm elections." ...

... Barbara Starr of CNN: "Defense Secretary James Mattis is expected to sign deployment orders as soon as Thursday that could send 800 or more troops to the border with Mexico to help border patrol authorities stop a caravan of migrants from Central America moving through Mexico to enter the US, according to three administration officials.... The troops will not engage in lethal operations to stop the migrants. Instead they are expected to provide fencing, wall materials and other technical support at several key points along the border where it is believed the migrants may try to cross. The troops will also provide tents and medical care for border authorities in those areas.... President Trump hinted at the upcoming effort with a Thursday morning tweet, saying 'I am bringing out the military for this National Emergency.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Mad Dog Foils Trumpy Dumpty Again. Nick Miroff of the Washington Post: "In several recent tweets, including a new one Thursday calling the migrants' advance a 'National Emergency,' the president said he would deploy the U.S. military to the border. But the additional personnel won't be 'trigger pullers' performing an enforcement role. Instead, they'll be assigned to provide aviation, transport and other logistical support, and the contingent will include doctors and lawyers.... It sounds as if the Pentagon is deploying them in more of a humanitarian-relief capacity, as they would after a natural disaster such as a hurricane. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is not sending tanks or combat troops." Mrs. McC: Meep Meep. Watching Mattis get the better of Trump is a little like watching a version of a Road Runner cartoon. ...

Reassurance. Frank Dale of ThinkProgress: "The U.S. government does not plan 'right now to shoot at people' traveling in a migrant caravan making its way north from Central America, according to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. In an interview at the U.S.-Mexico border with Fox News' Martha MacCallum on Thursday, Nielsen explained that border agents don't intend to use firearms against the migrants..., However, President Donald Trump's DHS Secretary warned that border agents 'do have the ability, of course, to defend themselves.'" --s

Julian Borger of the Guardian: "The US mission to the United Nations is seeking to eliminate the word 'gender' from UN human rights documents, most often replacing it with 'woman', apparently as part of the Trump administration's campaign to define transgender people out of existence. At recent meetings of the UN's Third Committee, which is concerned with 'social, humanitarian and cultural' rights, US diplomats have been pushing for the rewriting of general assembly policy statements to remove what the administration argues is vague and politically correct language, reflecting what it sees as an 'ideology' of treating gender as an individual choice rather than an unchangeable biological fact." Mrs. McC: Oh great. Now we're trying to spread discrimination around the world. And you thought Trump wasn't trying to be a world leader. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Betsy Woodruff & Erin Banco of the Daily Beast: "Gen. Ahmed Al-Assiri, the Saudi intelligence chief taking the fall for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, hobnobbed in New York with Michael Flynn and other members of the transition team shortly before Trump's inauguration. The topic of their discussion: regime change in Iran. Mohammed bin Salman, the powerful Saudi crown prince, dispatched Assiri from Riyadh for the meetings, which took place over the course of two days in early January 2017, according to communications reviewed by The Daily Beast. The January meetings have come under scrutiny by special counsel Robert Mueller's office as part of his probe into foreign governments' attempts to gain influence in the Trump campaign and in the White House, an individual familiar with the investigation told The Daily Beast.... Steve Bannon was involved as well in conversations on Iran regime change during those two days in January, according to the communications.... 'It's concerning to me as a former intelligence official because of the fact that it smacks of covert action planning, which is the most sensitive thing the U.S. government does and is so uniquely the province of the sitting president,' [former CIA acting director John McLaughlin] said."

Dan Friedman of Mother Jones: "In early January, Roger Stone, the longtime Republican operative and adviser to Donald Trump, sent a text message to an associate stating that he was actively seeking a presidential pardon for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange -- and felt optimistic about his chances. 'I am working with others to get JA a blanket pardon,' Stone wrote, in a January 6 exchange of text messages obtained by Mother Jones. 'It's very real and very possible. Don't fuck it up.' Thirty-five minutes later Stone added: 'Something very big about to go down.'... As [Robert] Mueller's team zeroes in on Stone, they have examined his push for an Assange pardon ... and have questioned at least one of Stone's associates about the effort." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Alan Pyke of ThinkProgress: "It's open season for environmental crimes in the U.S., a new report from Syracuse University's Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) suggests. Prosecutions under environmental law fell 10 percent for the 2018 fiscal year from their 2017 levels, which were themselves a substantial drop from prior years. Overall, federal prosecutions for environmental crimes are now down 40 percent from 2013 levels.... The 109 new environmental cases brought by federal prosecutors last fiscal year is roughly half the figure from 20 years earlier. Prosecutors have been slackening their environmental caseloads ever since the start of President Barack Obama's second term.... The willful sabotage of environmental regulation and enforcement at the federal level has left state officials to fill the breech." --s

The Best People, Ctd. Mark Hand of ThinkProgress: "President Donald Trump announced late Monday that he intends to nominate a former agrochemical industry official to lead the Department of the Interior's Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). The selection of Aurelia Skipwith, who worked at Monsanto for six years, to head FWS carries on a Trump administration trend of filling top environmental regulatory positions with officials from companies regulated by the agency.... Environmental and conservation groups largely condemned Skipwith's nomination, noting that she spent the past year and a half at the Interior Department helping to oversee the administration's dismantling of wildlife and national monument protections." --s

...Josh Marshall of TPM: "At an interview [Thursday] with The Washington Post, Newt Gingrich said that if the Democrats subpoena the President's tax returns 'we'll see whether or not the Kavanaugh fight was worth it.' In other words, he made the loyalty oath. He's the President's man." With video. --s

Actual Packing of the Courts. Li Zhou of Vox: "Senate Republicans have made yet another unusual procedural move in an effort to jam through more judicial nominees.... Not only did Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley hold a confirmation hearing for a slate of nominees this week -- even though the Senate is in recess and not a single Democratic senator was in attendance -- the panel also considered a Ninth Circuit pick who doesn't have the explicit approval of either of his home state senators. That approval is typically conveyed via what's known as a 'blue slip.' It isn't required to move a nomination forward, but it is one of the rare courtesies typically given to home state senators.... That's exactly what happened, however, with Ninth Circuit nominee Eric Miller, someone who multiple activist groups have cited as controversial for previous positions he's taken regarding Native American tribal sovereignty."

Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday referred a woman who accused Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct for criminal investigation, questioning whether she and her high-profile lawyer, Michael Avenatti, knowingly provided the committee with false information. In a letter to the attorney general and the F.B.I. director, the chairman, Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, detailed a series of apparent contradictions between sworn claims submitted to his committee and subsequent statements to the news media by the woman, Julie Swetnick, and Mr. Avenatti, who could also be investigated. Mr. Grassley also said that committee investigators had been able to find no information substantiating the claims and instead unearthed 'substantial information calling into question her credibility.'"

Supreme Conflicts. Stephanie Kirchgaessner of the Guardian: "Brett Kavanaugh, the new supreme court justice, counts the Trump administration's solicitor general [Noel Francisco], who will be arguing cases before the high court on behalf of the president, as a close professional friend, according to [new] emails that offer new insights into an all-male dinner club that Kavanaugh used to attend.... It is not clear whether the dinners continued after Kavanaugh became a federal judge in 2006.... The so-called 'Eureka' dinners ... were briefly raised in a written question that was submitted to Kavanaugh by senators following his initial confirmation hearing.... What Kavanaugh's answer did not fully explain was that the dinners were attended by an elite group of men closely associated with the Federalist Society, the rightwing organization that has played a major role in vetting and choosing judicial appointments for Republican presidents.... [The] new revelations about the identity of his circle of professional friends raise questions about how the close-knit relationships Kavanaugh forged with other lawyers might influence his rulings in the future." --s...

Election 2018

Seung Min Kim of the Washington Post: "As President Trump criss-crosses the country on Air Force One during the final days of the midterm campaign, a trio of Democratic senators are demanding information about whether the White House is properly reimbursing taxpayers for campaign-related travel. Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.) argue there have been multiple instances throughout Trump's presidency when he traveled out of town for an official event but engaged directly in political activity, such as calling for the election of a certain candidate. It amounts to a 'frequent blurring of the lines' between official and campaign events, the senators say, and they're asking the White House to hand over documents that may shed light on how it has compensated taxpayers for political expenses."

Alabama. Mini Moore. Samantha Michaels of Mother Jones: "[N]ext month, there's a chance voters will usher in one of [former Senate candidate Roy] Moore's former aides and judicial acolytes: Republican Tom Parker, an associate justice on the Alabama Supreme Court, is vying to become its next chief justice. Given his reputation for religious zeal and his writings on abortion, many fear that a Parker victory could have major consequences for reproductive rights in the state.... Like his old boss, Parker suggested on a radio show in 2015 that state courts should resist the legalization of gay marriage. And both men have come under fire for their apparent nostalgia for the Confederacy.... Parker has expressed a desire to restrict access to abortion: Earlier this year, he said the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which affirms the constitutional right to an abortion, was 'invented out of whole cloth just to satisfy a political agenda.'" --s

** Iowa. Irony Is Dead. Sophie Murguia of Mother Jones: "Iowa Rep. Steve King, the conservative lightning rod known for his racist and anti-immigrant rants, made headlines again Thursday when the Washington Post revealed that he met with members of an Austrian far-right party during a trip paid for by a Holocaust memorial group. The Republican congressman had been on a five-day trip to Poland funded by From the Depths, a group that educates people about the Holocaust, before visiting Vienna and giving an interview to Unzensuriert, a website associated with Austria's Freedom Party. The party was founded by a former Nazi SS officer[.]" --s

Kansas. Complete Clusterfuck. Roxana Hegeman of the AP: "After moving Dodge City's sole polling site outside city limits, county election officials sent newly registered voters an official certificate of registration that listed the wrong place to cast a ballot in the midterm election -- the latest election snafu to surface in the iconic Wild West town where Hispanics now make up the majority of the population.... 'I didn't know this could get worse, and it did: "Hey, let's move the site and not tell new registrants where they are supposed to go,"' said Johnny Dunlap, chairman of the Ford County Democratic Party. Local election officials are now scrambling to notify newly registered voters who might be confused by its official registration notice that listed only their regular polling site -- not the temporary site for the November election." --safari: Whoever is engineering this election sabotage is looking for a high post in Kobach's cabinet. ...

... Kansas. John Hanna & Heather Hollingsworth of the AP: "Kansas election officials are reviewing text messages claiming to be from President Donald Trump and telling residents that their early votes hadn't been recorded, as Democratic leaders were quick Thursday to worry that they were part of efforts to 'steal' a close governor's race. State Elections Director Bryan Caskey said the Kansas secretary of state's office received 50 or 60 calls about the texts Wednesday, mostly from the northeastern part of the state. Caskey said the office is trying to determine whether the texts broke a law before determining what to do next.... Kansas Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley ... and Kansas House Minority Leader Jim Ward [two Democrats] said during a Statehouse news conference that they worry the texts are confusing voters because at least a few Democrats received them.... The texts to voters link to a website for the Republican National Committee, and Kansas Republican Party Chairman Kelly Arnold said he suspects that's who sent the messages. He said the texts didn';t come from state party officials. The RNC didn't respond ... to an email seeking comment." --safari: That Kobach, famous for dedicating his life to voter suppression, is overseeing a process filled with so many irregularities, is a surprise to exactly no one. ...

... Tierney Sneed of TPM: "The deposition video that Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach feared would be used in campaign ads against him as he runs for governor will not be made available to the media, a federal judge ruled Thursday. U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson's order was a win for Kobach.... A transcript from the deposition is already public; however, the transcript does not convey Kobach's body language and tone during the deposition. In the video, which TPM viewed at the trial, he is uncomfortable, frustrated and often combative with the attorney deposing him." Robinson is a Dubya nominee --s...

Nevada. Allegra Kirkland of TPM: "Far-right media figures aren't the only ones promoting dark conspiracy theories about the pipe bombs sent this week to Democratic figures and news organizations. Amy Tarkanian, former chairwoman of the Nevada Republican Party and a surrogate for her husband Danny's 2018 congressional race, shared messages on Wednesday suggesting that the 'fake' bombs were a Democratic political ploy.... [T]he Tarkanian campaign sent TPM an email saying that 'Mrs. Tarkanian is a political commentator. She has her own views and Danny has his own.' 'Danny does not believe that Democrats are behind it,' the statement continued.... Amy Tarkanian served as chair of the Nevada GOP from 2011 to 2012" --s

Election 2020

Molly Ball of Time: "Michael Avenatti, the lawyer and possible presidential candidate, caused a stir with his contention that there’s only one type of candidate who can beat President Trump. In an interview with TIME published Thursday, Avenatti said the Democrats' 2020 nominee 'better be a white male,' because society affords more credibility to white men than it does others. Though the statement has struck many as inflammatory, it represents a real, if usually private, debate within the Democratic Party -- one that is likely to recur as the next presidential election approaches." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: If Avenatti is right, then his theory is bad news for him. I assume, based on his name, that Avenatti has at least some Italian heritage. When I was young, a whole lot of Anglo-Americans would not have considered someone named Avenatti to be "white." There was a reason some Italian-Americans briefly formed an anti-defamation league, a reason there were no Italian-Americans on the Supreme Court until 1986 (and it took a mostly-Irish -- that is, another ethnic group subjected to negative stereotypes -- President to nominate him), etc. If you think times have changed, look at why we have President* Trump.

Ian Millhiser of ThinkProgress: "Earlier this week, the New York Times reported that a Trump administration memo seeks to define the word 'sex.'... On Wednesday, the administration filed a brief in the Supreme Court laying out its legal rationale for its conclusion. The brief is, to put it mildly, a dumpster fire. It ignores the plain text of the law, attempts to dismiss two seminal Supreme Court decisions, and completely disregards the facts of one of those cases. Should the Trump administration's effort to redefine 'sex' succeed, moreover, it would have profound implications for American civil rights laws.... Numerous federal laws prohibit discrimination 'because of ... sex,' or 'on the basis of sex,' or otherwise provide that 'sex' discrimination is not allowed.... Just as significantly, the Trump administration’s argument raises serious questions about whether the words of the law matter so long as the Supreme Court is dominated by conservative activists." --s

Daisuke Wakabayashi & Katie Benner of the New York Times: "Google gave Andy Rubin, the creator of Android mobile software, a hero's farewell when he left the company in October 2014.... What Google did not make public was that an employee had accused Mr. Rubin of sexual misconduct. The woman, with whom Mr. Rubin had been having an extramarital relationship, said he coerced her into performing oral sex in a hotel room in 2013.... Google investigated and concluded her claim was credible.... [Then-CEO Larry] Page asked for [Rubin's] resignation. Google could have fired Mr. Rubin and paid him little to nothing on the way out. Instead, the company handed him a $90 million exit package.... After Mr. Rubin left, the company invested millions of dollars in his next venture.... Mr. Rubin was one of three executives that Google protected over the past decade after they were accused of sexual misconduct. In two instances, it ousted senior executives, but softened the blow by paying them millions of dollars as they departed, even though it had no legal obligation to do so. In a third, the executive remained in a highly compensated post at the company. Each time Google stayed silent about the accusations against the men."

**Booming Inequality. Rupert Neate of the Guardian: "Billionaires made more money in 2017 than in any year in recorded history. The richest people on Earth increased their wealth by a fifth to $8.9tn (£6.9tn), according to a report by Swiss bank UBS.... The report by UBS and accountants PwC said there was so much money in the hands of the ultra-rich that a new wave of rich and powerful multi-generational families was being created.... The world's 2,158 billionaires grew their combined wealth by $1.4tn last year, more than the GDP of Spain or Australia, as booming stock markets helped the already very wealthy to achieve the 'greatest absolute growth ever'. More than 40 of the 179 new billionaires created last year inherited their wealth, and given the number of billionaires over 70 the report's authors expect a further $3.4tn to be handed down over the next 20 years." --s

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Jordan Crucchiola of New York: "The end of Megyn Kelly Today is near, but is Kelly herself also done at NBC? Sources close to the morning-show host tell People and CNN that her hour-long program is kaput, and Vulture has learned that her lawyers will meet with NBC executives as soon as Friday to discuss her future. According to NPR's David Folkenflik, Kelly 'will not return to the network.' Earlier discussions between Kelly and NBC higher-ups about her role reportedly started a few weeks ago, according to The Hollywood Reporter, placing them well before her comments about blackface Halloween costumes not necessarily being racist -- comments for which she has since apologized...." Mrs. McC: I, for one, am having a terrible time getting past a crying jag over this. For one thing, it's so unfair that I never got to see the show or was even fully aware that after her first NBC show flopped, she landed in daytime.

Way Beyond the Beltway

Adieu, Amazon. Dom Philips of the Guardian: "Polls show that Jair Bolsonaro, the far-right former army captain has 78% support in Rondônia [in the Brazilian Amazon], leaving his leftist rival Fernando Haddad in the dust.... And his radical proposals -- to neuter federal environment agencies, give the green light to destructive hydro-electric dams, freeze the demarcation of new indigenous reserves and open up existing ones to mining -- chime with voters here, including those breaking environmental laws.... Bolsonaro has previously promised to withdraw Brazil from the Paris climate deal, although on Thursday he said he changed his mind on pulling out of the deal. But he has pledged to put an end to 'environmental activism' by ICMBio, and the environment agency Ibama, and may fold the environment ministry into the agriculture ministry -- whose chief will be chosen by the agribusiness lobby." --s

Maria Cheng of the AP: "The Kenyatta National Hospital is east Africa's biggest medical institution, home to more than a dozen donor-funded projects with international partners -- a 'Center of Excellence,' says the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.... [At this hospital] and at an astonishing number of other hospitals around the world, if you don't pay up, you don't go home. The hospitals often illegally detain patients long after they should be medically discharged, using armed guards, locked doors and even chains to hold those who have not settled their accounts. Mothers and babies are sometimes separated. Even death does not guarantee release: Kenyan hospitals and morgues are holding hundreds of bodies until families can pay their loved ones' bills, government officials say. Dozens of doctors, nurses, health experts, patients and administrators told The Associated Press of imprisonments in hospitals in at least 30 other countries, including Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, China and Thailand, Lithuania and Bulgaria, and others in Latin America and the Middle East." --s

News Lede

Bloomberg: "The U.S. economy expanded at a 3.5 percent pace in the third quarter as consumers opened their wallets, businesses restocked inventories and governments boosted spending, marking the strongest back-to-back quarters of growth since 2014."