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Marie: Sorry, my countdown clock was unreliable; then it became completely unreliable. I can't keep up with it. Maybe I'll try another one later.

 

Public Service Announcement

Zoë Schlanger in the Atlantic: "Throw out your black plastic spatula. In a world of plastic consumer goods, avoiding the material entirely requires the fervor of a religious conversion. But getting rid of black plastic kitchen utensils is a low-stakes move, and worth it. Cooking with any plastic is a dubious enterprise, because heat encourages potentially harmful plastic compounds to migrate out of the polymers and potentially into the food. But, as Andrew Turner, a biochemist at the University of Plymouth recently told me, black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid." This is a gift link from laura h.

Mashable: "Following the 2024 presidential election results and [Elon] Musk's support for ... Donald Trump, users have been deactivating en masse. And this time, it appears most everyone has settled on one particular X alternative: Bluesky.... Bluesky has gained more than 100,000 new sign ups per day since the U.S. election on Nov. 5. It now has over 15 million users. It's enjoyed a prolonged stay on the very top of Apple's App Store charts as well. Ready to join? Here's how to get started on Bluesky[.]"

Washington Post: "Americans can again order free rapid coronavirus tests by mail, the Biden administration announced Thursday. People can request four free at-home tests per household through covidtests.gov. They will begin shipping Monday. The move comes ahead of an expected winter wave of coronavirus cases. The September revival of the free testing program is in line with the Biden administration’s strategy to respond to the coronavirus as part of a broader public health campaign to protect Americans from respiratory viruses, including influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), that surge every fall and winter. But free tests were not mailed during the summer wave, which wastewater surveillance data shows is now receding."

Wherein Michael McIntyre explains how Americans adapted English to their needs. With examples:

Beat the Buzzer. Some amazing young athletes:

     ~~~ Here's the WashPo story (March 23).

Back when the Washington Post had an owner/publisher who dared to stand up to a president:

Prime video is carrying the documentary. If you watch it, I suggest watching the Spielberg film "The Post" afterwards. There is currently a free copy (type "the post full movie" in the YouTube search box) on YouTube (or you can rent it on YouTube, on Prime & [I think] on Hulu). Near the end, Daniel Ellsberg (played by Matthew Rhys), says "I was struck in fact by the way President Johnson's reaction to these revelations was [that they were] 'close to treason,' because it reflected to me the sense that what was damaging to the reputation of a particular administration or a particular individual was in itself treason, which is very close to saying, 'I am the state.'" Sound familiar?

Out with the Black. In with the White. New York Times: “Lester Holt, the veteran NBC newscaster and anchor of the 'NBC Nightly News' over the last decade, announced on Monday that he will step down from the flagship evening newscast in the coming months. Mr. Holt told colleagues that he would remain at NBC, expanding his duties at 'Dateline,' where he serves as the show’s anchor.... He said that he would continue anchoring the evening news until 'the start of summer.' The network did not immediately name a successor.” ~~~

~~~ New York Times: “MSNBC said on Monday that Jen Psaki, the former White House press secretary who has become one of the most prominent hosts at the network, would anchor a nightly weekday show in prime time. Ms. Psaki, 46, will host a show at 9 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, replacing Alex Wagner, a longtime political journalist who has anchored that hour since 2022, according to a memo to staff from Rebecca Kutler, MSNBC’s president. Ms. Wagner will remain at MSNBC as an on-air correspondent. Rachel Maddow, MSNBC’s biggest star, has been anchoring the 9 p.m. hour on weeknights for the early days of ... [Donald] Trump’s administration but will return to hosting one night a week at the end of April.”

New York Times: “Joy Reid’s evening news show on MSNBC is being canceled, part of a far-reaching programming overhaul orchestrated by Rebecca Kutler, the network’s new president, two people familiar with the changes said. The final episode of Ms. Reid’s 7 p.m. show, 'The ReidOut,' is planned for sometime this week, according to the people, who were not authorized to speak publicly. The show, which features in-depth interviews with politicians and other newsmakers, has been a fixture of MSNBC’s lineup for the past five years. MSNBC is planning to replace Ms. Reid’s program with a show led by a trio of anchors: Symone Sanders Townsend, a political commentator and former Democratic strategist; Michael Steele, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee; and Alicia Menendez, the TV journalist, the people said. They currently co-host 'The Weekend,' which airs Saturday and Sunday mornings.” MB: In case you've never seen “The Weekend,” let me assure you it's pretty awful. ~~~

     ~~~ AP Update: "Joy Reid is leaving MSNBC, the network’s new president announced in a memo to staff on Monday, marking an end to the political analyst and anchor’s prime time news show."

Y! Entertainment: "Meanwhile, [Alex] Wagner will also be removed from her 9 pm weeknight slot. Wagner has already been working as a correspondent after Rachel Maddow took over hosting duties during ... Trump’s first 100 days in office. It’s now expected that Wagner will not return as host, but is expected to stay on as a contributor. Jen Psaki, President Biden’s former White House press secretary, is a likely replacement for Wagner, though a decision has not been finalized." MB: In fairness to Psaki, she is really too boring to watch. On the other hand, she is White. ~~~

     ~~~ RAS: "So MSNBC is getting rid of both of their minority evening hosts. Both women of color who are not afraid to call out the truth. Outspoken minorities don't have a long shelf life in the world of our corporate news media."

 

Contact Marie

Email Marie at constantweader@gmail.com

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Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.

Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts. — Anonymous

A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves. — Edward R. Murrow

Publisher & Editor: Marie Burns

I have a Bluesky account now. The URL is https://bsky.app/profile/marie-burns.bsky.social . When Reality Chex goes down, check my Bluesky page for whatever info I am able to report on the status of Reality Chex. If you can't access the URL, I found that I could Google Bluesky and ask for Marie Burns. Google will include links to accounts for people whose names are, at least in part, Maria Burns, so you'll have to tell Google you looking only for Marie.

Saturday
Nov072020

The Commentariat -- November 8, 2020

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Colin Campbell of Yahoo! News: "Former President George W. Bush issued a rare public statement on Sunday, congratulating President-elect Joe Biden on his victory and also giving a nod to President Trump's unsuccessful reelection bid. 'I just talked to the president-elect of the United States, Joe Biden. I extended my warm congratulations and thanked him for the patriotic message he delivered last night,' Bush said. 'I also called Kamala Harris to congratulate her on her historic election to the vice presidency,' Bush said of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.... But Trump has yet to acknowledge Biden's victory, as major party candidates have done throughout modern political history when it was clear they had lost. The incumbent president has alternated between silence and tweets promoting conspiracies falsely asserting that the election was rigged. 'No matter how you voted, your vote counted,' Bush said. 'The American people can have confidence that this election was fundamentally fair, its integrity will be upheld, and its outcome is clear.' The 43rd president added: 'I want to congratulate President Trump and his supporters on a hard-fought campaign. He earned the votes of more than 70 million Americans — an extraordinary political achievement. They have spoken, and their voices will continue to be heard through elected Republicans at every level of government.'"

How Joe Won. Alexander Burns, et al., of the New York Times: "Mr. Biden campaigned as a sober and conventional presence, rather than as an uplifting herald of change. For much of the general election, his candidacy was not an exercise in vigorous creativity, but rather a case study in discipline and restraint.... If Mr. Biden made numerous errors along the way, none of them mattered more in this election than the essential rightness of how he judged the character of his party, his country and his opponent. This account of his candidacy, based on interviews with four dozen advisers, supporters, elected officials and friends, reveals how fully Mr. Biden's campaign flowed from his own worldview and political intuition. During the primaries, Mr. Biden rebuffed pressure to move to the left, believing his party would embrace his pragmatism as its best chance to beat Mr. Trump. In the general election, Mr. Biden made Mr. Trump's erratic conduct and mismanagement of the coronavirus pandemic his overwhelming themes, shunning countless other issues as needless distractions."

Kyle Cheney & Andrew Desiderio of Politico: "In the end, 'the biggest political scandal in the history of our country' and 'the second biggest political scandal in our history' turned out to be neither.... Trump pushed two factually challenged narratives about Biden in the waning weeks of the campaign. In one, Biden was a mastermind of an effort to spy on Trump's 2016 campaign, collaborating with top intelligence officials to derail Trump's incoming administration. In the other, Biden was the secret beneficiary of multi-million-dollar business deals with shady foreign interests carried out by Hunter Biden. But both stories were riddled with falsehoods, exaggerations and assumptions, often pushed by unreliable narrators who revealed no evidence of wrongdoing by Biden.... And the months-long investigations by his Republican allies in the Senate failed to gain traction outside of the Trumpworld echo chamber as Trump hurtled toward an Election Day defeat. Now, Trump is facing his own mounting scandals that are likely to dog him post-presidency."

Ezra Klein of Vox: "Joe Biden has won the presidency. But the current president of the United States, Donald Trump, is attempting a coup in plain sight. 'I WON THIS ELECTION, BY A LOT!' he tweeted on Saturday morning. This came after he demanded that states cease counting votes when the total began to turn against him, after his press secretary shocked Fox News anchors by arguing that legally cast votes should be thrown out.... One of his legal advisers said, 'We're waiting for the United States Supreme Court -- of which the President has nominated three justices — to step in and do something. And hopefully Amy Coney Barrett will come through.'... That this coup probably will not work -- that it is being carried out farcically, erratically, ineffectively -- does not mean it is not happening, or that it will not have consequences. Millions will believe Trump, will see the election as stolen.... We are not seeing, in any way..., a wholesale rejection on the right of Trump's effort to delegitimize the election."

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Sunday are here: "The United States reported its 10 millionth coronavirus case on Sunday, with the latest million added in just 10 days, as most of the country struggled to contain outbreaks in the third and most widespread wave of infection since the pandemic began."

AP: "The U.S. has set another record for daily number of coronavirus cases. The country reported more than 126,000 positive cases and more than 1,000 deaths from COVID-19 on Saturday, according to the most recent data from Johns Hopkins University. It marked the fourth day in a row that new cases topped more than 100,000 as the country has broken its own record for daily cases with nearly every passing day this week."

~~~~~~~~~~

JOE BIDEN IS PRESIDENT-ELECT

Will Weissert of the AP: “Joe Biden used his first national address as president-elect to vow to heal a deeply divided nation, declaring it was time to 'let this grim era of demonization in America begin to end' and reaching out to the millions of people who voted against him to say, 'Let's give each other a chance.' His calls for reconciliation at a Saturday evening victory celebration came even as ... Donald Trump continued to argue that the election had been stolen from him, an indication that the divisive politics that have gripped the U.S. over the past four years are far from over."

Matt Viser, et al., of the Washington Post: "President-elect Joe Biden is planning to quickly sign a series of executive orders after being sworn into office on Jan. 20, immediately forecasting that the country's politics have shifted and that his presidency will be guided by radically different priorities. He will rejoin the Paris climate accords..., and he will reverse President Trump's withdrawal from the World Health Organization. He will repeal the ban on immigration from many Muslim-majority countries, and he will reinstate the program allowing 'dreamers,' who were brought to the United States illegally as children, to remain in the country.... Although transitions of power can always include abrupt changes, the shift from Trump to Biden -- from one president who sought to undermine established norms and institutions to another who has vowed to restore the established order -- will be among the most startling in American history. Biden's top advisers have spent months quietly working on how best to implement his agenda, with hundreds of transition officials preparing to get to work inside various federal agencies. They have assembled a book filled with his campaign commitments to help guide their early decisions."

~~~ AND the U.S. will soon have it's first female Vice President, the first Vice President of color, the first Black woman, the first Indian-American woman.

Benjamin Swasey of NPR: "President-elect Joe Biden said in a statement that 'it's time for America to unite,' after he was declared the winner of the presidency by The Associated Press. Biden will address the nation Saturday at 8 p.m. ET and will be joined by the vice president-elect, Kamala Harris, and their spouses." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

Nevada. Camila Domonoske of NPR: "The Associated Press has called Nevada for President-elect Joe Biden, bringing his bringing his electoral vote total to 290." (Also linked yesterday.)

Jonathan Martin & Alexander Burns of the New York Times: "Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. was elected the 46th president of the United States on Saturday, promising to restore political normalcy and a spirit of national unity to confront raging health and economic crises, and making Donald J. Trump a one-term president after four years of tumult in the White House. Mr. Biden's victory amounted to a repudiation of Mr. Trump by millions of voters exhausted with his divisive conduct and chaotic administration, and was delivered by an unlikely alliance of women, people of color, old and young voters and a sliver of disaffected Republicans. Mr. Trump is the first incumbent to lose re-election in more than a quarter-century. The result also provided a history-making moment for Mr. Biden's running mate, Senator Kamala Harris of California, who will become the first woman to serve as vice president.... He offered a mainstream Democratic agenda, yet it was less his policy platform than his biography to which many voters gravitated. Seeking the nation's highest office a half-century after his first campaign, Mr. Biden -- a candidate in the late autumn of his career -- presented his life of setback and recovery to voters as a parable for a wounded country." (Also linked yesterday.)

~~~ Lisa Lerer & Sydney Ember of the New York Times: "With her ascension to the vice presidency, [Kamala] Harris will become the first woman and first woman of color to hold that office, a milestone for a nation in upheaval, grappling with a damaging history of racial injustice exposed, yet again, in a divisive election. Ms. Harris, 56, embodies the future of a country that is growing more racially diverse, even if the person voters picked for the top of the ticket is a 77-year-old white man. That she has risen higher in the country's leadership than any woman ever has underscores the extraordinary arc of her political career. A former San Francisco district attorney, she was elected as the first Black woman to serve as California's attorney general. When she was elected a United States senator in 2016, she became only the second Black woman in the chamber's history."

Amy Wang, et al., of the Washington Post: "Almost as soon as television networks called the presidential race Saturday morning for former vice president Joe Biden, his supporters began flocking to the streets. The celebrations that ensued -- unbridled jubilation, dancing, singing and chanting -- represented a release of emotions after an excruciating four-day wait for the election results, but also of a release of four years of pent-up frustration and anger at President Trump, some said. The widespread sound of cheering, honking, pot-banging and more erupted in New York City, Philadelphia, Washington, Minneapolis and other largely Democratic cities Trump has disparaged. Some rejoiced at the imminent departure of Trump from the White House, while others touted the historic ascendancy of Biden's running mate, Kamala D. Harris, who will become the nation's first Black and first Asian American woman vice president. 'No more years! No more years!' a crowd of hundreds chanted in Philadelphia." ~~~

~~~ MEANWHILE. From the New York Times' election updates Saturday: "As some supporters of President Trump rejected the outcome of the election during events across the country on Saturday, a series of demonstrations at state capitol buildings devolved into violence that included punches and pepper spray.... [In Sacramento, Calif. & Salem, Ore.,] some of the people involved appeared to be wearing apparel of the Proud Boys, a far-right group notorious for engaging in violence."

Joe McDonald of the AP: “World leaders on Sunday cheered Joe Biden's election as U.S. president as a chance to enhance cooperation on climate change, the coronavirus and other problems after four years of ... Donald Trump's rejection of international alliances. Trump had yet to concede defeat, but Western and Asian allies expressed hoped for a fresh start following Trump's 'American First' trade policies, withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement and attacks on NATO and the World Health Organization. In Asia, a region on edge about the strategic ambitions of China's ruling Communist Party, the elected leaders of Japan, South Korea and Taiwan invoked 'shared values' with Washington and expressed hope for close relations."

Catherine Thorbecke of ABC News: "Around the globe, world leaders on Saturday reacted to news from the U.S. that Former Vice President Joe Biden is the apparent winner of the presidency. Many allies tweeted their congratulations and well-wishes to Biden and his running mate Sen. Kamala Harris, who is set to become the U.S.' first female vice president and woman of color in the White House. Leaders also expressed excitement about collaborating with the new administration soon. Here is a roundup of how the rest of the world is responding to the U.S. presidential election." ~~~

~~~ Zamira Rahim & Martin Goillandeau of CNN: "A stream of world leaders have congratulated President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris Saturday on their victory in the 2020 US presidential election, with many striking a jubilant tone on social media....In France Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo also reacted on Twitter, declaring 'Welcome back America!' London mayor Sadiq Khan said Biden and Harris' win meant it was 'time to get back to building bridges, not walls.'... The sense of Biden's election strengthening the US global role was also echoed in other European statements. Norbert Röttgen, Chairman of the German Foreign Affairs Committee, said he was 'very happy for all my American friends and for this great chance to revive our transatlantic friendship,' while Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Germany wanted 'to invest in our cooperation for a new transatlantic beginning, a new deal.'... In Colombia, mayor of Bogota Claudia Lopez had a particularly exuberant reaction on Twitter. 'How proud that a woman, Afro, Indian, Jamaican, great professional and extraordinary leader, became the Vice Presidency of the United States for the first time!' Lopez wrote. 'With every woman who wins, we all win!'" ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Interesting that so many leaders around the globe know enough to completely ignore & dismiss Trump's protestations that "I WON THIS ELECTION, BY A LOT!"

Jonathan Lemire & Zeke Miller of the AP: "Democrat Joe Biden defeated ... Donald Trump to become the 46th president of the United States on Saturday, positioning himself to lead a nation gripped by the historic pandemic and a confluence of economic and social turmoil." (Also linked yesterday.)

The Washington Post's live election updates Saturday are here: "The state of Biden's birth, where he was affectionately deemed an honorary third senator over his decades representing neighboring Delaware, is now projected to deliver him the presidency according to Edison Research. Pennsylvania's 20 electoral votes will put Biden over the 270 votes needed even with a handful of other states still too close to call." (Also linked yesterday.)

The Wall Street Journal & Fox "News" have also projected Biden to win Pennsylvania, putting him over 270 Electoral College votes.

CNN: "Joe Biden will become the 46th president of the United States, CNN projects, after a victory in the state where he was born put him over the 270 electoral votes needed to win. With Pennsylvania's 20 electoral votes, Biden now has a total of 273 electoral votes." According to the NYT, CNN was first to call the race for Biden. (Also linked yesterday.)

Pennsylvania. A small dump (about 2,800 ballots) from Philadelphia increases Biden's lead in the state to 30,908. Apparently on the basis of this small report, NBC News has called Pennsylvania for Biden. (Also linked yesterday.) As of Sunday morning, Biden is ahead by about 37,000 votes.

Georgia. As of Sunday morning, Biden is ahead by more than 10,000 votes. Even though there will likely be a recount, some networks soon may call Georgia for Biden.

Arizona. A Saturday morning ballot dump from Maricopa County has reduced Biden's lead to 20,573 votes. This is supposed to be Maricopa's last report of a significant number of ballots. The percentage of Trump's lead does not seem to be enough for him to overtake Biden. ~~~

Cindy Yurth of the Navajo Times: "For only the second time in the last 70 years, Arizona voters went for the Democratic candidate for president, and Navajo voters contributed to the swing. Apache, Navajo and Coconino counties, the three that overlap the Navajo Nation, went solidly for Joe Biden, with 73,954 votes compared to just 2,010 for ... Donald Trump -- a 97 percent turnout for Biden compared to 51 percent statewide. (Note: all the votes are not yet counted and all results listed are unofficial.) Most experts, however, were attributing the swing to a large increase in the number of young Latinx voters in the southern part of the state. Overall voter turnout in the state was actually down by nearly nine percentage points, which could reflect some disillusioned Republicans shying away from voting for Trump but not wanting to vote for Biden either." --s

America had a close call. -- Historian Michael Beschloss, on MSNBC, Saturday night ~~~

~~~ Julie Pace of the AP: "Biden carried some of the key battleground states, including Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, by narrow margins. He won more votes nationwide than any presidential candidate -- more than 74 million and counting -- but Trump's popular vote total also topped previous records, reflecting the president's hold not only on his core supporters but the Republican Party at large. With victory in hand, Biden has claimed a mandate. Whether he actually has one will soon be put to the test. Not only were Biden's margins of victory in the battleground states tight, but Democrats struggled in Senate races across the country. Their hopes of flipping the chamber and giving Biden the leverage he would need to pass major legislation will likely rest on a pair of Senate runoffs in Georgia in January. The 2020 campaign also made abundantly clear the depths of Trump's support, particularly among white, rural Americans."

David Brand of the Queens Daily Eagle: "A 74-year-old Jamaica Estates developer has less than three months left at his current address after Americans overwhelmingly voted him out of the White House, the AP projected Saturday."

Sour Grapes Discovered on Golf Course. Maggie Haberman & Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Trump's motorcade was just pulling into the Trump National Golf Club in suburban Virginia on Saturday morning when news organizations ended days of waiting and declared that he had lost the presidency to Joseph R. Biden Jr. Aides called Mr. Trump to let him know that their predictions over the past several days had come true: Every major news outlet had projected Mr. Biden to be the winner. But the president -- who an hour earlier had said on Twitter that 'I WON THIS ELECTION, BY A LOT!' -- was not surprised, they said. And he did not change his plans to go ahead with legal challenges to the election results that several of his own advisers warned him were long shots at best, or to play golf. The aides said Mr. Trump had no plans to immediately deliver the kind of concession speech that has become traditional in past presidential elections, and his campaign vowed to continue waging the legal battle across the country. In a statement issued while he was still on the golf course, Mr. Trump said Mr. Biden was trying to 'falsely pose' as the winner. 'The simple fact is this election is far from over,' the president said, 'Beginning Monday, our campaign will start prosecuting our case in court to ensure election laws are fully upheld and the rightful winner is seated.'" ~~~

~~~ The Biggest Loser. Ashley Parker & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "On Saturday, Donald Trump finally became the one thing he hates the most: a loser. President Trump had just arrived at his namesake golf course in Sterling, Va., on Saturday morning -- whizzing past signs blaring 'Biden/Harris' and 'Good Riddance' -- when Democratic nominee Joe Biden pulled so far ahead in the Pennsylvania vote count that, four days after Election Day, he was finally declared the next president of the United States. That Trump was pummeling drives off a tee box as Biden made the transition from former vice president to president-elect was a fitting coda for a leader who craved the perks and power of the office but often seemed reluctant to do the job." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Much of the story is about what Trump's aides are doing to make him feel better: bringing lawsuits (some at our expense, I suspect) & arranging protests against Biden & sundry malevolent public servants. Like doting grandparents trying to soothe a screaming toddler.

~~~ Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "The man who said he wouldn't play golf as president learned that he would no longer serve as president while he was playing golf. An almost Shakespearean coda.... Trump has visited a Trump Organization property on about 2 out of every 7 days he's been president.... By The Washington Post's count, he's likely played [golf] on at least 247 occasions...."

Jill Colvin, et al., of the AP: "... Donald Trump never admits defeat. But he faces a stark choice now that Democrat Joe Biden has won the White House: Concede graciously for the sake of the nation or don't -- and get evicted anyway.... Trump is not expected to ever formally concede, according to people close to him, but is likely to grudgingly vacate the White House at the end of his term. His ongoing efforts to paint the election as unfair are seen both as an effort to soothe a bruised ego and to show his loyal base of supporters that he is still fighting.... That the peaceful transfer of power was even in doubt reflected the norm-shattering habits of the now-lame duck president, who even in victory never admitted that he had lost the popular vote in 2016."

Hannah Knowles, et al., of the Washington Post: "Activists and supporters of President Trump insisted Saturday that the presidential election was not finished, displaying defiance after Joe Biden secured victory in the closely fought race. From [Phoenix] ... to Philadelphia, Trump backers echoed the president's attacks on the integrity of the election, which continued Saturday with his statement that 'this election is far from over.' They made baseless allegations of voter fraud and pledged to keep fighting in court while claiming Biden did not legitimately win.... They gathered at so-called 'Stop the Steal' rallies at state capitols across the country to claim, without evidence, that ballot counts favorable to Biden stem from a sprawling, multistate conspiracy to hijack the vote through fraud."

Michael Shear of the New York Times: "Twitter flagged all of President Trump's early-morning tweets on Saturday as disputed and potentially misleading after he made baseless claims about election irregularities. In a series of posts, Mr. Trump focused his ire on Pennsylvania...." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Shear doesn't reveal what-all Trump tweeted, so I checked. Here's a good one: "I WON THIS ELECTION, BY A LOT!" Yeah, "potentially misleading."

Jim Rutenberg, et al., of the New York Times: "President Trump's bellicose pledge to fight the outcome of the election in the courts crashed on Friday into skeptical judges, daunting Electoral College math and a lack of evidence for his claims of fraud. On a day that began with vote tallies in Georgia and Pennsylvania tipping in Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s favor, Mr. Trump's campaign declared, 'This election is not over,' as the Republican National Committee announced it had activated 'legal challenge teams' in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan and Pennsylvania. And the Trump forces named a new general to lead the effort, the hardened conservative political combatant David Bossie. But none of the dozen or so lawsuits they had brought in battleground states appeared to be gaining any traction in the courts. And in any case, none seemed likely to give Mr. Trump the edge he would need in vote counts in the states that will determine the outcome." (Also linked yesterday.)

Ashley Parker of the Washington Post: "Trump was the most unpopular president of modern times: Divisive and alienating, he rarely sought to reach out to the middle and his erratic behavior and harder-edged policies were strongly opposed by most Americans. Even before this year, his reelection would have been difficult. But the president finally lost, aides and allies said, because of how he mismanaged the virus. He lost, they said, over the summer, when the virus didn't go away as he promised; when racial unrest roiled the nation in the wake of George Floyd's death and protesters ran rampant through the streets; and when federal and local authorities gassed largely peaceful demonstrators in Lafayette Square across from the White House so Trump could stage a photo op. And he lost, they said, during a roughly three-week stretch from late September to mid-October, when an angry and brooding Trump heckled and interrupted his way through the first debate and then, several days later, announced he had tested positive for the coronavirus. He also lost, aides added, after years of confrontational and incendiary conduct turned off independent voters, who finally said they had seen enough. The same impulses that helped lift him to victory in 2016 -- the outsider ethos; the angry, burn-it-all-down cri de coeur; the fiery and controversial rants; the false reality forged through untruths and deception -- contributed to his undoing just four years later." ~~~

~~~ Natasha Korecki, et al., of Politico: "This account of the 2020 presidential campaign is based on conversations with more than 75 people in and around both campaigns. It is the story of two candidates with completely divergent views on how the nation would respond to a deadly virus outbreak -- and acted accordingly, setting up a stark choice for voters. Among the findings: Communication between the Trump campaign and Republican National Committee broke down for much of the final stretch, and the two sides clashed over strategy. The RNC thought Trump's ads were of such low quality that it created its own commercials.... Senior campaign and GOP officials vented that Trump's finance team, led by former Fox TV host and Donald Trump Jr. girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle, underperformed and was an HR nightmare. Trump couldn't compete with Biden's small-dollar fundraising machine, and some donors were horrified by what they described as Guilfoyle's lack of professionalism: She frequently joked about her sex life and, at one fundraiser, offered a lap dance to the donor who gave the most money.... Trump's campaign was dictated by the whims of the candidate -- in other words, by instinct and impulse. Like the president's four years in the White House, there was constant disarray and no consistent strategy." ~~~

~~~ BUT no prior incident in the Trump campaign matched its last hurrah: ~~~

~~~ ** The Perfect Finale to the Trump Campaign. Jose Martinez of Complex Media: "As he continued to be in a state of denial about the impending results of the 2020 presidential election, Donald Trump teased a 'big' press conference at the Four Seasons in Philadelphia on Twitter Saturday morning.... Turns out, Trump's lawyers were going to be speaking at Four Seasons Total Landscaping, a business located in the outskirts of Philadelphia, and nestled nicely between an adult bookstore and a cremation center." As nearly as anyone could guess, the campaign had thought they were booking Philadelphia's Four Seasons Hotel but booked the landscaping firm's parking lot instead. So Rudy Giuliani stood next to a garden hose to declare Donald Trump would not concede. Mrs. McC: Just to be clear, I'm not making this up. There are photos.

Jason Hanna, et al., of CNN: "Two armed Virginia men who were arrested Thursday outside the Philadelphia Convention Center were 'coming to deliver a truck full of fake ballots' to the city, CNN affiliate KYW reported, citing prosecutors." Mrs. McC: See, those armed men weren't dangerous shoot-'em-up cowboys as we assumed; they were just patriotic Americans delivering fake votes for Donald Trump. (Also linked yesterday.)

The Trumpidemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Saturday are here: "President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. plans to announce a Covid-19 task force as early as Monday, a source familiar with the plans of the Biden transition team said Saturday. Mr. Biden, who made President Trump's mishandling of the pandemic a centerpiece of his campaign, is expected to name three co-chairs of the 12-member panel: Vivek Murthy, a former surgeon general; David Kessler, the former commissioner of the F.D.A.; and Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, a Yale University professor. The announcement of the task force is part of a weeklong focus that Mr. Biden intends to place on health care and the pandemic as he begins the process of building his administration, a person close to the transition said."

Denmark. Matt Miller of Slate: "Officials in Denmark announced Wednesday that they would be euthanizing every last mink in the country's fur farms, some 17 million animals. The news came after a discovery by Danish scientists that SARS-CoV-2, the official name for the virus that causes COVID-19, had mutated in captive minks, producing a strain of the coronavirus that is not readily stopped by antibodies to the dominant strain of the virus. More troublingly, this new strain is still transmissible from minks to humans, raising dire concerns about the efficacy of vaccines currently in development worldwide." --s

News Lede

AP: "Alex Trebek who presided over the beloved quiz show 'Jeopardy!' for more than 30 years with dapper charm and a touch of schoolmaster strictness, died Sunday. He was 80. Trebek, who announced in 2019 that he had advanced pancreatic cancer, died at his Los Angeles home, surrounded by family and friends, 'Jeopardy!' studio Sony said." Update: The New York Times' obituary is here.

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Friday
Nov062020

The Commentariat -- November 7, 2020

Late Morning Update:

JOE BIDEN IS PRESIDENT-ELECT

~~~ AND the U.S. will soon have it's first female Vice President, the first Vice President of color, the first Black woman, the first Indian-American woman.

Benjamin Swasey of NPR: "President-elect Joe Biden said in a statement that 'it's time for America to unite,' after he was declared the winner of the presidency by The Associated Press. Biden will address the nation Saturday at 8 p.m. ET and will be joined by the vice president-elect, Kamala Harris, and their spouses." ~~~

Nevada. Camila Domonoske of NPR: "The Associated Press has called Nevada for President-elect Joe Biden, bringing his bringing his electoral vote total to 290."

Jonathan Martin & Alexander Burns of the New York Times: "Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. was elected the 46th president of the United States on Saturday, promising to restore political normalcy and a spirit of national unity to confront raging health and economic crises, and making Donald J. Trump a one-term president after four years of tumult in the White House. Mr. Biden's victory amounted to a repudiation of Mr. Trump by millions of voters exhausted with his divisive conduct and chaotic administration, and was delivered by an unlikely alliance of women, people of color, old and young voters and a sliver of disaffected Republicans. Mr. Trump is the first incumbent to lose re-election in more than a quarter-century. The result also provided a history-making moment for Mr. Biden's running mate, Senator Kamala Harris of California, who will become the first woman to serve as vice president.... He offered a mainstream Democratic agenda, yet it was less his policy platform than his biography to which many voters gravitated. Seeking the nation's highest office a half-century after his first campaign, Mr. Biden -- a candidate in the late autumn of his career -- presented his life of setback and recovery to voters as a parable for a wounded country."

Jonathan Lemire & Zeke Miller of the AP: "Democrat Joe Biden defeated ... Donald Trump to become the 46th president of the United States on Saturday, positioning himself to lead a nation gripped by the historic pandemic and a confluence of economic and social turmoil."

** The Washington Post's live election updates Saturday are here: "The state of Biden's birth, where he was affectionately deemed an honorary third senator over his decades representing neighboring Delaware, is now projected to deliver him the presidency according to Edison Research. Pennsylvania's 20 electoral votes will put Biden over the 270 votes needed even with a handful of other states still too close to call."

The Wall Street Journal & Fox "News" have also projected Biden to win Pennsylvania, putting him over 270 Electoral College votes.

CNN: "Joe Biden will become the 46th president of the United States, CNN projects, after a victory in the state where he was born put him over the 270 electoral votes needed to win. With Pennsylvania's 20 electoral votes, Biden now has a total of 273 electoral votes." According to the NYT, CNN was first to call the race for Biden.

Pennsylvania. A small dump (about 2,800 ballots) from Philadelphia increases Biden's lead in the state to 30,908. Apparently on the basis of this small report, NBC News has called Pennsylvania for Biden.

Arizona. A Saturday morning ballot dump from Maricopa County has reduced Biden's lead to 20,573 votes. This is supposed to be Maricopa's last report of a significant number of ballots. Trump's lead does not seem to be enough for him to overtake Biden.

Michael Shear of the New York Times: "Twitter flagged all of President Trump's early-morning tweets on Saturday as disputed and potentially misleading after he made baseless claims about election irregularities. In a series of posts, Mr. Trump focused his ire on Pennsylvania...." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Shear doesn't reveal what-all Trump tweeted, so I checked. Here's a good one: "I WON THIS ELECTION, BY A LOT!" Yeah, "potentially misleading."

Jim Rutenberg, et al., of the New York Times: "President Trump's bellicose pledge to fight the outcome of the election in the courts crashed on Friday into skeptical judges, daunting Electoral College math and a lack of evidence for his claims of fraud. On a day that began with vote tallies in Georgia and Pennsylvania tipping in Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s favor, Mr. Trump's campaign declared, 'This election is not over,' as the Republican National Committee announced it had activated 'legal challenge teams' in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan and Pennsylvania. And the Trump forces named a new general to lead the effort, the hardened conservative political combatant David Bossie. But none of the dozen or so lawsuits they had brought in battleground states appeared to be gaining any traction in the courts. And in any case, none seemed likely to give Mr. Trump the edge he would need in vote counts in the states that will determine the outcome."

Jason Hanna, et al., of CNN: "Two armed Virginia men who were arrested Thursday outside the Philadelphia Convention Center were 'coming to deliver a truck full of fake ballots' to the city, CNN affiliate KYW reported, citing prosecutors." Mrs. McC: See, those armed men weren't dangerous shoot-'em-up cowboys as we assumed; they were just patriotic Americans delivering fake votes for Donald Trump.

~~~~~~~~~~

Presidential Election Results, Etc.

The New York Times' presidential election results page includes a crawl of pithy, informative comments from reporters.

Pennsylvania. AP: "Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito has ordered county elections officials in Pennsylvania to keep separate mail-in ballots that arrived after Election Day. The state's top elections official already had ordered those ballots be kept apart. The order came Friday night in response to a plea from the state Republican Party as Democrat Joe Biden inched ahead of ... Donald Trump in Pennsylvania in the presidential race. Alito, acting on his own, said he was motivated in part by the Republicans' assertion that they can't be sure elections officials are complying with guidance issued by Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar, a Democrat. The justice handles emergency appeals from Pennsylvania. He ordered a response from the state by Saturday afternoon and said he has referred the matter to the full court for further action."

Jonathan Lemire, et al., of the AP: "Democrat Joe Biden was on the cusp of winning the presidency on Friday as he opened up narrow leads over ... Donald Trump in the critical battlegrounds of Georgia and Pennsylvania. Those put Biden in a stronger position to capture the 270 Electoral College votes needed to take the White House. The winner will lead a country facing a historic set of challenges, including a surging pandemic and deep political polarization. The focus on Pennsylvania ... came as Americans entered a third full day after the election without knowing who will lead them for the next four years. The prolonged process added to the anxiety of a nation whose racial and cultural divides were inflamed during the heated campaign. Biden was at his home in Wilmington, Delaware, as the vote count continued and aides said he would address the nation in primetime. Trump remained in the White House residence as more results trickled in, expanding Biden's lead in must-win Pennsylvania." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Politico's live election updates Friday are here: "Georgia's [Republican] secretary of state said Friday morning that there will be a recount of the state's presidential votes, as Joe Biden took a narrow lead of a few hundredths of a percentage point over ... Donald Trump.... Donald Trump's reelection campaign insisted on Friday that the presidential election is 'not over,' working to stave off defeat with baseless claims of voter fraud even as Democratic nominee Joe Biden pulled ahead in two states that would hand him the White House.... A handful of Republicans are beginning to speak out about ... Donald Trump's baseless claims of fraud in the presidential election, with GOP Sens. Susan Collins and Pat Toomey the latest to bat away Trump's rhetoric as the presidency slips away from him.... [But] some top Republicans such as House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy have raced to defend Trump, illustrating his tight grip on the party and suggesting a GOP-led intervention isn't coming anytime soon." (Also linked yesterday.)

From the New York Times' live updates Friday: "With Georgia's 16 electoral votes likely to be decided by a tiny margin, Democrats are urging voters there to fix absentee ballots that were rejected because of invalid or missing signatures before the deadline on Friday evening. Those who voted absentee -- a group that this year has been heavily Democratic -- can check online to see whether election officials have accepted or rejected their ballots.... The Postal Service found hundreds of ballots in Pennsylvania and North Carolina facilities on Thursday, according to data filed in federal court. Election rules in both states allow mail-in ballots received after Election Day to be counted." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Maggie Astor of the New York Times: "With many ballots still left to count in heavily Democratic cities, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. was leading President Trump on Friday by more than 4.1 million votes. Amid all the anxiety over the counts in Pennsylvania and Georgia, and despite Americans' intense ideological divisions, there was no question that &-- for the fourth presidential election in a row, and the seventh of the past eight -- more people had chosen a Democrat than a Republican."

Joe Biden spoke at about 10:30 pm ET Friday: ~~~

Shane Goldmacher, et al., of the New York Times: "Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s advisers accelerated their transition planning on Friday as election results showed him with an advantage in battleground states that could hand him the presidency, with the first senior officials in a potential Biden White House possibly named as early as next week. In Wilmington and Washington, Mr. Biden's advisers and allies are ramping up their conversations about who might fill critical posts, both in the West Wing and across the agencies, guided heavily by Mr. Biden's plan to assemble what would be the most diverse cabinet in history.... The Biden camp has prepared for multiple scenarios in case Mr. Trump refused to concede and his administration would not participate in a transition. So far, officials in Mr. Trump's government have worked in good faith, according to Biden officials, who said they hoped and expected that cooperation to continue."

David Brennan of Newsweek: "... Joe Biden's campaign has said it does not matter whether ... Donald Trump concedes the election or not, as America waits for confirmation that Biden will be the nation's 46th president.... But the Trump campaign is resorting to conspiracy theories and litigation to try and stop Biden's victory. Sources inside the White House told CNN Thursday that the president has no intention of conceding to his Democratic rival. Asked for their response to developments, Biden's campaign released a brief and uncompromising statement. 'As we said on July 19th, the American people will decide this election. And the United States government is perfectly capable of escorting trespassers out of the White House.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Vanessa Williams & Reis Thebault of the Washington Post: Stacey "Abrams, 46, who was the first Black woman to win a major-party gubernatorial nomination, was roundly applauded by Democratic political leaders and activists on social media and elsewhere Friday after Biden overtook Trump in ballots counted in Georgia. The state is continuing to tally overseas, provisional and military ballots and plans to conduct a recount. The accolades often mentioned the overall work of Black women, among the most engaged and active segments of the Democratic electorate -- both as voters and as activists like Abrams, who register voters, rally them to the polls and, more and more, run for office." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Every American should pause and thank Black Americans for all they have done to bend the arc of the moral university toward justice. If you're white & have a tendency to pat yourself on the back for "helping" less fortunate Black Americans, it's useful to remember that many Blacks have done more for you than you did for them.

Do as I Say, Not as I Do. Joe Biden should not wrongfully claim the office of the President. I could make that claim also. Legal proceedings are just now beginning! -- Donald Trump, in a tweet, Friday afternoon

Frankly, we did win this election. -- Donald Trump, Wednesday morning speech

I won Pennsylvania by a lot.... Likewise, in Georgia, I won by a lot.... In Michigan, we're way up in Michigan, won the state. In Wisconsin we did likewise, fantastically well.... In every case, they got whittled down.... they are finding ballots all of a sudden. -- Donald Trump, Thursday evening speech

Kevin Liptak & Kaitlan Collins of CNN: "Facing a disappearing pathway to victory..., Donald Trump offered little indication on Friday he was prepared to concede defeat, leading those around him to wonder who might be able to reckon with a leader who has given virtually no thought to leaving the White House.... Trump has not prepared a concession speech and in conversations with allies in recent days, he has said he has no intention of conceding the election, people familiar with the matter said. So far he has been bolstered in his stance by those closest to him, including his senior advisers and his adult sons, who have mounted an aggressive effort in the courts to challenge the results and have pressured other Republicans into defending him." Mrs. McC: Looks as if he still thinks Amy Covid Barrett & her new Supreme friends will bail him out, and who knows? Maybe they will. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Maureen Dowd of the New York Times: "The president has had all this time to hatch a spidery plot to ruin democracy on the way out the door, and this is the best he can come up with?... It was the same old tired Trump routine we've watched for four years, right through the pandemic failure: Beat your chest and bleat that you're king of the world. Then do nothing except screw up.... As Trump howled at the moon, denizens of Trumpworld were looking over the horizon, plotting new jobs or book deals."

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Katie Robertson of the New York Times: "Last month The New York Post called President Trump 'an invincible hero, who not only survived every dirty trick the Democrats threw at him, but the Chinese virus as well.' Then it published front-page articles trying to link the contents of a laptop said to belong to Hunter Biden to his father, Joseph R. Biden Jr. On Thursday, in a sudden about-face, Rupert Murdoch's scrappy tabloid published two articles with a wildly different tone. One accused the president of making an 'unfounded claim that political foes were trying to steal the election.' The headline on the other described Donald Trump Jr. as the 'panic-stricken' author of a 'clueless tweet.'... The president appears to be going down -- and The Post is not about to go with him. With Mr. Trump headed toward a likely defeat, top editors at the tabloid told some staff members this week to be tougher in their coverage of him...."

"The People vs. Donald Trump." Roger Cohen of the New York Times: "... Trump's attempted coup against democracy, for it is no less than that, will be resisted.... To see that child-man charlatan in the White House spouting lies yet again, asserting without a trace of evidence that 'If you count the legal vote I easily win,' claiming that 'I won Pennsylvania by a lot,' and Michigan and Georgia, too, was to be reminded of the American nightmare of these past four years that the American people seem to have brought to an end...."

If Democrats were conspiring to steal the election, they would have stolen a couple of Senate seats, too. -- Joyce Vance, on MSNBC (slight paraphrase)

Richard Lopez of the Minnesota Reformer: "Minnesota GOP Chairperson Jennifer Carnahan told party activists on Thursday night that she would help amplify claims of ballot fraud made by ... Donald Trump and national Republican leaders, even though they are baseless assertions disputed by election officials of both parties. Carnahan said that earlier Thursday, Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel asked her and other GOP officials around the country to recruit elected Republicans to parrot the false claims of fraud. 'I'm going to be making calls tomorrow to all of our leaders asking them to help us be a voice,' Carnahan said during the call Thursday with local Minnesota GOP party officials and activists."

Tony Romm & Isaac Stanley-Becker of the Washington Post: "A Republican firm run by a top aide to President Trump's 2020 campaign appears to have helped send unmarked text messages on Thursday that urged supporters in Philadelphia to converge outside a building where local election officials were counting votes. 'ALERT: Radical Liberals & Dems are trying to steal this election from Trump!' began the short text, sent in the hours before former vice president Joe Biden took the lead in the state. 'We need YOU! Show your support at the corner of 12th St. & Arch St. in Philadelphia,' [which is next to the Pennsylvania Convention Center]. The messages were sent from phone numbers that had been leased by Opn Sesame, a company that offers texting services to Republican candidates and causes.... Opn Sesame is run by Gary Coby, the digital director for Trump's 2020 campaign, and it has worked for years on behalf of a number of key GOP clients, including the Republican National Committee.... The messages foreshadowed how Trump and his allies might use the vast troves of data they have collected over the previous four years to target sympathetic voters in a bid to disrupt a smooth transition of power." A Raw Story summary report is here. ~~~

~~~ Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Whaddaya bet at least one of these two guys got that message? ~~~

~~~ Tom Winter, et al., of NBC News: "Two armed men were arrested Thursday near the Philadelphia convention center where votes were being tallied, police said.... Philadelphia district attorney Larry Krasner identified the men on Friday night as Joshua Macias and Antonio Lamotta, both of Chesapeake, Va.... Krasner said there were some QAnon stickers on [their vehicle] and that a hat with a QAnon logo was visible inside the vehicle.... Social media profiles that match Lamotta's name and included pictures of the silver Hummer and stickers suggest he was a supporter of the QAnon conspiracy theory. On his Facebook page, which was removed by early Friday morning, Lamotta posted about QAnon 'as a positive military operation' and suggested a judgement day was fast-approaching. On Twitter, Lamotta posted signed drawings of cartoons that included anti-Semitic tropes and depicted Trump as a machine-gun carrying hero.... Social media profiles tied to Macias' name mentioned the 'Stop the Steal' campaign, a group which was banned from Facebook Thursday due to repeated calls for violence."


Josh Rogin of the Washington Post: "Late Friday afternoon, the White House fired Bonnie Glick the Senate-confirmed deputy administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, without any justification offered, making her the first senior Trump political appointee to be purged following the election. The move further cripples the $31 billion agency in the middle of a global pandemic and potentially during a presidential transition as well. The departure of Glick is the first in what is widely expected to be a broader purge of officials whom President Trump feels to have been insufficiently loyal.... She was fired Friday because the White House would rather have its political allies in control of the agency than an establishment Republican with actual expertise and experience." ~~~

~~~ Wait, Wait. There's More. Ayesha Rascoe & Michele Kelemen of NPR: "The Trump administration abruptly dumped the leaders of three agencies that oversee the nuclear weapons stockpile, electricity and natural gas regulation, and overseas aid during the past two days.... The sudden departures included: Lisa Gordon-Hagerty, administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, the first woman to oversee the agency in charge of the nuclear stockpile. She was required to resign on Friday. Bonnie Glick, deputy administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development.... Neil Chatterjee, chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and a former aide to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell."

Benjamin Weiser, et al., of the New York Times: "Stephen K. Bannon, the former adviser to President Trump who is known for his right-wing extremism, suggested on Thursday that the F.B.I. director and Dr. Anthony S. Fauci should be beheaded, and Twitter responded by banning one of his accounts. On Friday, a prominent lawyer who was defending Mr. Bannon against fraud charges in federal court in Manhattan abruptly moved to drop him as a client, one person familiar with the matter said. 'Mr. Bannon is in the process of retaining new counsel,' the lawyer, William A. Burck, said in a brief letter to the court, giving no explanation.... Since August, Mr. Bannon has been fighting the criminal charges lodged against him by federal prosecutors in Manhattan, the case in which Mr. Burck has been his lawyer." A Law & Crime story is here.

The Trumpidemic, Ctd.

The Washington Post's live updates of Covid-19 developments Friday are here: "The United States reported more than 128,000 new coronavirus cases Friday as the number of fatalities nationwide exceeded 1,000 for the fourth consecutive day. The seven-day average of new cases was nearly 100,000, almost 20,000 higher than on this day last week."

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Friday are here: "The United States recorded at least 121,000 new infections on Thursday, a day after hitting 100,000 for the first time since the pandemic began, and for many Americans, fatalism was the order of the day." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Shocking News. Mario Parker, et al., of Bloomberg, via the Seattle Times: "... Donald Trump's chief of staff, Mark Meadows, has told associates he has coronavirus, according to people familiar with the matter, adding to the outbreaks connected to the White House. It wasn't immediately clear when Meadows learned that he had contracted the virus or whether he had developed symptoms of Covid-19.... He informed a close circle of advisers after Tuesday's election, one of the people said.... A Trump campaign aide, Nick Trainer, is also infected, according to two people familiar with the matter. He and campaign spokespeople declined to comment. Meadows has remained involved in Trump's post-election effort to challenge votes in several states where he trails former Vice President Joe Biden, according to one person familiar with the matter." Mrs. McC: How could this have happened?? ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Here's the New York Times story: "And four other White House officials tested positive for the virus, a person familiar with the diagnoses told The New York Times.... One White House official, who asked for anonymity because the official was not allowed to speak publicly about internal discussions, said people were told to keep quiet about the various cases."

     ~~~ Thanks to PD Pepe for the link.

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Thursday
Nov052020

The Commentariat -- November 6, 2020

Afternoon Update:

CNN is reporting on-air that Joe Biden will give an address "in prime-time" Friday night.

Jonathan Lemire, et al., of the AP: "Democrat Joe Biden was on the cusp of winning the presidency on Friday as he opened up narrow leads over ... Donald Trump in the critical battlegrounds of Georgia and Pennsylvania. Those put Biden in a stronger position to capture the 270 Electoral College votes needed to take the White House. The winner will lead a country facing a historic set of challenges, including a surging pandemic and deep political polarization. The focus on Pennsylvania ... came as Americans entered a third full day after the election without knowing who will lead them for the next four years. The prolonged process added to the anxiety of a nation whose racial and cultural divides were inflamed during the heated campaign. Biden was at his home in Wilmington, Delaware, as the vote count continued and aides said he would address the nation in primetime. Trump remained in the White House residence as more results trickled in, expanding Biden's lead in must-win Pennsylvania."

Politico's live election updates are here: "Georgia's [Republican] secretary of state said Friday morning that there will be a recount of the state's presidential votes, as Joe Biden took a narrow lead of a few hundredths of a percentage point over ... Donald Trump.... Donald Trump's reelection campaign insisted on Friday that the presidential election is 'not over,' working to stave off defeat with baseless claims of voter fraud even as Democratic nominee Joe Biden pulled ahead in two states that would hand him the White House.... A handful of Republicans are beginning to speak out about ... Donald Trump's baseless claims of fraud in the presidential election, with GOP Sens. Susan Collins and Pat Toomey the latest to bat away Trump's rhetoric as the presidency slips away from him.... [But] some top Republicans such as House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy have raced to defend Trump, illustrating his tight grip on the party and suggesting a GOP-led intervention isn't coming anytime soon."

From the New York Times' live updates Friday: "With Georgia's 16 electoral votes likely to be decided by a tiny margin, Democrats are urging voters there to fix absentee ballots that were rejected because of invalid or missing signatures before the deadline on Friday evening. Those who voted absentee -- a group that this year has been heavily Democratic -- can check online to see whether election officials have accepted or rejected their ballots.... The Postal Service found hundreds of ballots in Pennsylvania and North Carolina facilities on Thursday, according to data filed in federal court. Election rules in both states allow mail-in ballots received after Election Day to be counted."

Kevin Liptak & Kaitlan Collins of CNN: "Facing a disappearing pathway to victory..., Donald Trump offered little indication on Friday he was prepared to concede defeat, leading those around him to wonder who might be able to reckon with a leader who has given virtually no thought to leaving the White House.... Trump has not prepared a concession speech and in conversations with allies in recent days, he has said he has no intention of conceding the election, people familiar with the matter said. So far he has been bolstered in his stance by those closest to him, including his senior advisers and his adult sons, who have mounted an aggressive effort in the courts to challenge the results and have pressured other Republicans into defending him." Mrs. McC: Looks as if he still thinks Amy Covid Barrett & her new Supreme friends will bail him out, and who knows? Maybe they will.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Friday are here: "The United States recorded at least 121,000 new infections on Thursday, a day after hitting 100,000 for the first time since the pandemic began, and for many Americans, fatalism was the order of the day."

     ~~~ Thanks to PD Pepe for the link.

~~~~~~~~~~

Presidential Vote Count, Etc.

The New York Times' live election updates Friday are here. (Revised): "Joseph R. Biden Jr. stood on the cusp of the presidency on Friday, seizing a lead over President Trump in both Pennsylvania and Georgia and drawing ever closer to securing the 270 electoral votes needed to lay claim to the White House. Mr. Biden, who has 253 electoral votes, pulled ahead of Mr. Trump in Pennsylvania by about 5,600 votes on Friday morning. If his lead holds -- and it is expected to -- the state's 20 electoral votes would vault him past the threshold to win the election. Mr. Biden had already begun to project the image of a man preparing to assume the mantle of office, meeting on Thursday with his economic and health advisers to be briefed on the coronavirus pandemic.... Mr. Biden's appeal to let the process play out contrasted with that of Mr. Trump, who took the lectern in the White House briefing room to falsely claim that the election was riddled with fraud, as part of an elaborate coast-to-coast conspiracy by Democrats, the news media and Silicon Valley to deny him a second term."

The Washington Post's live election updates Friday are here. They are free to non-subscribers: "Dismay mounted Friday among America's allies as Trump stepped up his unsubstantiated attacks on the vote count and continued to falsely claim victory in the U.S. presidential election. Officials and newspapers around the world lamented the polarization and dysfunction in the world's oldest democracy as Biden's path to the White House widened."

Pennysylvania. Steve Kornacki of MSNBC reports at 8:55 am ET that Joe Biden has taken the lead in Pennsylvania, by 5,587 votes. That's all, folks. Update: Here is a Hill report.

Georgia. According to the New York Times' count, Joe Biden just (@7:30 am ET) passed Trump (by about 1,100 votes). If Biden's lead holds, Trump cannot get to 270 Electoral votes. The ballot dump that put Biden over the top may have come from Clayton County, which John Lewis -- one of the greatest heroes in the battle for voting rights -- represented for so many years. ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Greg Bluestein of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "It was Clayton, the south metro county that's also the bluest bastion in the state, that provided the decisive votes. The county long represented in Congress by U.S. Rep. John Lewis, the late civil rights icon who was one of the most vocal critics of Trump.... Biden's erasure of Trump's once-formidable lead in Georgia doesn't guarantee him the state's 16 electoral votes. With the contest so close, no national outlet will likely project a winner in Georgia until more of the absentee, provisional and other votes are tallied. And Trump could reclaim the lead. But top Democrats exuded confidence about their slim lead in Georgia, particularly with a trove of absentee ballots in left-leaning Gwinnett County set to be added to the tally on Friday."

Arizona. A 9 pm ET dump of about 60,000 Maricopa County, Arizona, votes favored Trump, who got 59% of those votes. If the votes continue with these percentages, Trump would overtake Biden.

Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: If all of the undeclared states hold as expected (and they may not), the final Electoral College tally will be Biden 306, Trump 232. That is exactly the number by which Trump prevailed in 2016, in what he called the greatest landslide victory in history.

The Washington Post's live updates Thursday, which are free to non-subscribers, are here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.): "Speaking publicly for the first time since Election Night, Trump repeated his baseless claims of voter fraud and vowed 'a lot of litigation' to challenge the vote counting process during a White House news conference where he didn't take any questions. Trump rattled off a long list of false claims and baseless allegations about the election and the vote counting process. Without evidence, he attacked the integrity of mail-in ballots, claimed media and tech companies had engaged in 'interference,' and accused local election officials of corruption. He attacked public polls that showed Biden ahead as suppression efforts. He also mischaracterized processes related to the tabulation of ballots, falsely suggesting that Republican observers were not present in some vote counting centers. ~~~

~~~ "The president also lamented that he had been ahead in key battleground states on election night, but had lost significant ground since, suggesting wrongly that this was due to something nefarious. Biden began to overtake Trump once mail-in ballots were counted. 'We were winning in all the key locations by a lot, actually, and then our numbers started miraculously getting whittled away in secret,' Trump said. 'And we're still ahead by a lot, but not as many because they're finding ballots. All of a sudden we have some mail in ballots. It's amazing how those mail in ballots are so one sided, too,' Trump added. The president spent the last several months sowing doubt in mail ballots and encouraging his voters to wait to cast ballots until Election Day. Trump also incorrectly stated that the 'election apparatus in Georgia is run by Democrats' and that 'officials overseeing the counting in Pennsylvania and other states are all part of a corrupt Democrat machine.'" ~~~

~~~ AND not a word about Covid-19.

~~~ Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post: "President Trump's statement in the White House briefing room on Thursday evening was a litany of falsehoods and grievance, with some baseless conspiracy theories thrown in for good measure. Here's a quick roundup of Trump's off-base claims." ~~~

~~~ Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "Well into a presidency defined by disinformation and falsehoods, President Trump managed something remarkable on Thursday evening. Speaking to reporters in the White House briefing room, he offered the most thoroughly dishonest comments of his tenure.... Trump has for months telegraphed [his] backup plan in the event of a loss in the presidential contest.... With polling showing him trailing, everyone expected Trump to claim victory and to try to stop votes from being counted, which is what happened.... Trump's allies go along with all of this because it preserves their power. Trump's base goes along with it because they believe him." ~~~

~~~ Anne Gearan of the Washington Post: "Trailing Democratic nominee Joe Biden in the unresolved presidential contest, Trump is pulling out a playbook perfected by Russian President Vladimir Putin and other authoritarians. It relies on sowing doubt about the institutions of law and government, spreading misinformation or outright lies that serve a leader's political ends, and relying on a cadre of loyal supporters to believe what they are told, Putin scholars said. Trump's attempts to brand legal election practices as fraud and to use the courts -- one pillar in the nation's democratic architecture -- to intervene in the counting of votes -- another pillar -- are the latest examples of what has long been his malleable view of the democratic system." ~~~

~~~ Annals of Journalism, Ctd. Michael Grynbaum & Tiffany Hsu of the New York Times: "The three big broadcast networks -- ABC, CBS and NBC -- cut away from President Trump's news conference at the White House on Thursday as the president lobbed false claims about the integrity of the election. Mr. Trump timed his appearance to air during the networks' evening newscasts, which draw the biggest collective audience in TV news. But the anchors broke in after a few minutes to correct some of his falsehoods." ~~~

~~~ Kim Lyons of the Verge: "Cable networks, broadcast networks and Twitter cut short their broadcasts of ... Donald Trump's speech from the White House briefing room Thursday; some outlets fact-checked the president's unproven statements rather than carry them live.... MSNBC, ABC, CBS, CNBC, and NBC cut away from his speech." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: What's equally amazing about this clip is that you can see Trump is reading -- in his child-like way -- from a script. He planned to tell these bald-faced lies & somebody wrote them down for him to say.

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: So far, the only verified voter fraud has been perpetrated by the Trump campaign: ~~~

~~~ ** Mary Spicuzza & Bruce Vielmetti of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "... Donald Trump's campaign in Wisconsin has desperately sought volunteers to call Pennsylvanians and urge them to mail in absentee ballots by Friday -- even as the president himself rails against late votes and the ongoing vote count. Only votes cast by Nov. 3 are legal according to Pennsylvania and federal election laws. Trump himself has described any effort to vote after Tuesday as clear election fraud.... The Trump campaign is trying to take advantage of an effort by Pennsylvania to count all absentee votes mailed by Nov. 3 even if received up to three days later.... An email obtained by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel sent at 5:19 p.m. Thursday by Kenosha for Trump ... reads: 'Trump Victory urgently needs volunteers to make phone calls to Pennsylvania Trump supporters to return their absentee ballots. These phone calls will help President Trump win the election!'... A pair of field directors listed in the email..., Riley Pella and Joshua Williams, are paid staffers for the Republican Party of Wisconsin.... Dozens of Republican staffers in Wisconsin were involved in the operation to recruit volunteers to contact Trump supporters in Pennsylvania, according to one person familiar with the effort." ~~~

~~~ CBS Philadelphia: "Two heavily armed men found outside the Pennsylvania Convention Center were taken into police custody late Thursday night. This comes as votes are currently being counted inside of the center. Philadelphia police say they were notified of a threat of an attack around 10 p.m. Thursday. According to police, the threat involved a group of individuals from out of state, driving in a silver Hummer ... with Virginia tags.... Authorities say they found multiple guns inside of the vehicle."

President-elect Joe Biden made a brief statement late Thursday afternoon:

      ~~~ Biden began his remarks by announcing that he & Sen. Harris had just attended a Covid-19 briefing.

Carol Leonnig of the Washington Post: "The Secret Service is sending reinforcements to Wilmington, Del., starting Friday to help protect former vice president Joe Biden as his campaign prepares for the possibility he may soon claim victory in his bid for the White House, according to two people familiar with the plans. The Secret Service summoned a squad of agents to add to the protective bubble around Biden after his campaign told the agency that the Democratic nominee would continue utilizing a Wilmington convention center at least another day and could make a major speech as early as Friday, according to the people.... The additional security for Biden that is expected to begin Friday doesn't give him a full protective detail that accompanies a president-elect, but it moves closer in that direction."

Until Thusday evening, Trump was in his hideyhole & had not been seen since his early-morning crazy-rant Wednesday. Occasionally he limbered up his Twitter thumbs & emits plaints like "STOP THE COUNT!" & "STOP THE FRAUD!" Very presidential.

Nancy Cook of Politico: "... Donald Trump has struggled to convince the country he already won the election. So he's just going to do the next best thing: Act like he's starting his second term early. Trump and his aides have settled on a plan for him to take full advantage of his existing perch at the White House to look as presidential as possible, according to three people briefed on the strategy ... even if, during the final months of his campaign, Trump repeatedly failed to lay out any agenda for another four years.... He may fire a few Cabinet members and top aides, including FBI Director Christopher Wray and Defense Secretary Mark Esper. He could sign a slew of base-pleasing executive orders. He might even resume his travel schedule. Meanwhile, Trump's team is planning to mount even more legal challenges and cast evidence-deficient aspersions on the integrity of ballots." Mrs. McC: So Trump's idea of "looking presidential" is firing top aides, signing executive orders that President Biden will likely reverse & traveling around the country on our dime. Pathetic.

The New York Times' live election updates Thursday are here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.): "As results trickled in from the remaining undecided states Mr. Biden increased his lead in Nevada by about 4,000 votes and was eroding Mr. Trump's leads in Georgia and Pennsylvania, while holding on to his modest lead in Arizona.... Mr. Trump issued a written statement on Thursday afternoon through his campaign in which he made baseless claims that there could be fraud in the late votes and then repeated many of them at his news conference. The statement, which was written in all capital letters, resembled one of his tweets -- but by issuing it through the campaign, the president avoided getting a warning label from Twitter, which has flagged many of his recent tweets as potentially misleading."

Amy Gardner, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump and his allies pressed their claims Thursday that election officials have allowed ballot fraud to infect the counting process in the battleground states poised to decide the presidency, but they offered no evidence of irregularities and met with two immediate defeats in court. In Georgia, a local judge in Chatham County, home of Savannah, denied the Trump campaign's effort to disqualify about 50 ballots that a Republican poll watcher claimed may have arrived after the 7 p.m. deadline on Election Day. In court, the poll watcher offered no evidence that the ballots had arrived late, and county election officials testified that they had arrived on time. And in Michigan, a Court of Claims judge said she would deny the campaign's request for an emergency halt to the counting of votes in the state. She noted that the request made little sense, given that the counting has essentially been finished in the state, with former vice president Joe Biden ahead by about 150,000 votes. He has been declared the winner of the state by national news organizations. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel's office described Trump's request as an 'attempt to unring a bell.'" The article is free to non-subscribers.

Ashley Parker & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "Huddled with family members and advisers [Tuesday night] -- including Kellyanne Conway, campaign adviser Corey Lewandowski, Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and former White House press secretary Sarah Sanders, among others -- first in the White House residence and then in the Map Room, Trump became increasingly agitated as the evening wore on.... Trump began complaining about voter fraud and the election being stolen, and by the time he appeared in the East Wing around 2 a.m. Wednesday to make remarks, he was determined to declare victory, even though his prepared notes did not say that.... By Wednesday evening, however, Trump had begun telling allies he believed he could lose -- but only because the election was being 'stolen from him,' a campaign official said. And when he woke up Thursday, he was angry again and eager to take a more defiant tone, advisers said.... The president was eager to speak publicly Thursday about the election -- arguing that his rightful victory was being stolen, and that states were conspiring against him.... On Thursday evening, the president appeared in front of reporters at the White House around 6:45, seeming subdued and deflated, and made unproven claims about voter fraud and vowing to continue the fight through legal channels." ~~~

      ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Funny, we are reading any stories headlined, "Biden Goes Bonkers."

** Jacob Bogate & Christopher Ingraham of the Washington Post: "More than 150,000 ballots were caught in U.S. Postal Service processing facilities and not delivered by Election Day, agency data shows, including more than 12,000 in five of the states that have yet to be called for either President Trump or Democratic challenger, Joe Biden. Despite assurances from Postal Service leaders that agency officials were conducting daily sweeps for misplaced ballots, the mail service acknowledged in a court filing Thursday that thousands of ballots had not been processed in time, and that more ballots were processed Wednesday than on Election Day. The number of mailed ballots the Postal Service did not deliver by Election Day is expected to grow as more data is released in the coming days.... Under Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a major Trump financier who took over the agency in June, first-class mail delivery rates have steadily declined, especially in urban areas that are bastions of Democratic voters."

Simon Romero, et al., of the New York Times: "In a year defined by protests ... the presidential election brought even more demonstrators to the streets across America this week as days passed without a clear winner.... Protests broke out in hotly contested areas including Detroit, Philadelphia, Atlanta and Phoenix, where demonstrators said they were convinced the election was being stolen -- a baseless claim that has circulated fiercely on social media, including on the Twitter feed of President Trump. Protests also took place in areas where the results were settled, like New York, Portland, Washington and Miami, where the organizers -- Latino Republican groups --offered a warning on a Facebook page called Stop the Steal: 'They're trying to steal this election from the President Donald J. Trump and we're not going to let it happen.'... [The page] mushroomed to more than 360,000 members within hours, before it was shut down by Facebook." And so forth.

Carly Johnson, et al., of the AP: "An Associated Press analysis reveals that in 376 counties with the highest number of new [Covid-19] cases per capita, the overwhelming majority -- 93% of those counties -- went for Trump, a rate above other less severely hit areas. Most were rural counties in Montana, the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa and Wisconsin -- the kinds of areas that often have lower rates of adherence to social distancing, mask-wearing and other public health measures, according to AP VoteCast.... Thirty-six percent of Trump voters described the pandemic as completely or mostly under control, and another 47% said it was somewhat under control.... Meanwhile, 82% of Biden voters said the pandemic is not at all under control."

Luke Broadwater & Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: “Democrats wept, cursed and traded blame on Thursday during an extraordinary party confab to dissect the disappointing results of this week’s elections, agreeing on little except that they needed a 'deep dive' into how they had ended up with painful losses that weakened their House majority instead of the big gains they had boldly predicted. In a caucus meeting held by telephone that was their first group conversation since Election Day, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Representative Cheri Bustos of Illinois, who led the party's campaign arm, defended their efforts. Democrats expressed frustration over the loss of eight of their members -- and a net loss of six seats, with 36 races still undecided -- that had left them with a slimmer margin of control.... During the call, which lasted three hours and previewed divisions among Democrats over how to wield their power and define their message, Ms. Bustos conceded that things had gone badly awry. She said she was 'gutted' and 'heartbroken' by the losses."

SharpieGate II. Geneva Sands, et al., of CNN: "False claims that using Sharpie pens could invalidate ballots in Arizona prompted a top Department of Homeland Security official on Thursday to urge people to stop spreading disinformation online connected to the so-called "#SharpieGate" rumors[.] Those rumors fueled outrage among protesters Wednesday night, and prompted a lawsuit -- joined by the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee -- filed against Maricopa County election officials. Rumors began to spread on social media Wednesday that voters in the battleground state of Arizona who used Sharpie pens on their ballots wouldn't have their votes counted. That confusion prompted state officials, election monitors and a top Trump administration official to push back on'#SharpieGate' rumors."


David Ingram of NBC News (at 8:13 pm ET): "Twitter banned an account associated with Steve Bannon on Thursday and YouTube removed one of his videos after the former Trump adviser called for the beheadings of two federal officials. Bannon, in a video for his podcast recording, had said he wanted to behead FBI Director Christopher Wray and Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government's top infectious diseases expert. Bannon said he would 'put the heads on pikes' as a 'warning to federal bureaucrats,' referencing Tudor-era England."

The Trumpidemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Thursday are here: "For the second day in a row, the United States on Thursday recorded over 100,000 new coronavirus cases in a single day as daily records were broken across the country. The country burst across the 100,000 threshold of reported cases a day earlier, the first time it had done so since the pandemic began. The total count of new infections Wednesday was at least 107,000, according to a New York Times database. By Thursday evening, the count in the U.S. had hit more than 108,000. Twenty-three states have recorded more cases in the past week than in any other seven-day stretch. [NBC News is reporting the number of new cases Thursday was 120,000.] ~~~

~~~ "A quarter of a million coronavirus infections have been reported at colleges and universities across the United States, according to a New York Times survey, as schools across the nation struggle to keep outbreaks in check. The bulk of the cases have occurred since students returned for the fall semester, with more than 38,000 new cases reported in the last two weeks alone. And the numbers are almost certainly an undercount."

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