The Commentariat -- August 22, 2020

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Rachel Bade & Donna Cassata of the Washington Post: "The House voted Saturday on legislation to provide $25 billion to the U.S. Postal Service and explicitly prohibit any operational changes amid widespread Democratic fears that the Trump administration is trying to disenfranchise millions of Americans casting mail ballots this November. The 257-to-150 vote was largely along party lines as Republicans accused Democrats of manufacturing 'baseless conspiracy theories' about delays in postal deliveries to undermine President Trump's reelection bid. The Republican-led Senate is unlikely to act on the legislation, which the White House has threatened to veto. Shortly before the vote, Trump tweeted: 'Vote NO to the Pelosi/Schumer money wasting HOAX which is taking place now.' Twenty-six Republicans broke ranks with Trump and the GOP leadership and joined Democrats in backing the bill. ~~~

~~~ "Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.), chairwoman of the House Oversight panel, released internal U.S. Postal Service documents Saturday that show steeper declines in on-time deliveries than lawmakers had previously been told about. The drop in service standards since early July is across all categories of mail, including priority mail, periodicals, marketing and first class, the documents show." The Hill's story is here.

The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Saturday are here. The Washington Post's live updates for Saturday are here.

Trump's War on Science, Ctd. Orion Rummler of Axios: "President Trump on Saturday baselessly accused the Food and Drug Administration -- which he likened to the 'deep state, or whoever' -- of making it harder for drug companies to distribute coronavirus treatments and vaccines.... Trump's tweet comes on the heels of a policy change by the Department of Health and Human Services to block the FDA's ability to regulate lab-developed tests, including for the coronavirus -- which has public health experts worried that unreliable COVID-19 tests could go to market."

Ken Vogel, et al., of the New York Times: "In early February, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin invited two Republican members of the Postal Service's board of governors to his office to update him on ... the search for a new postmaster general. Mr. Mnuchin had made clear before the meeting that he wanted the governors to find someone who would push through the kind of cost-cutting and price increases that President Trump had publicly called for and that Treasury had recommended in a December 2018 report as a way to stem years of multibillion-dollar losses.... Since 1970, the Postal Service had been an independent agency, walled off from political influence.... The postal chief is picked by a board of governors, with seats reserved for members of both parties, who are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate for seven-year terms. Now, not only was the Trump administration ... involving itself in the process for selecting the next postmaster general, but the two Democratic governors who were then serving on the board were not invited to the Treasury meeting.... In interviews, documents and congressional testimony, Mr. Mnuchin emerges as a key player in selecting the board members who hired the Trump megadonor now leading the Postal Service and in pushing the agenda that he has pursued."

John Walton of the Lincoln (Nebraska) Journal Star: State "Sen. John McCollister of Omaha said Friday he's joining a number of fellow Republicans in deciding to formally endorse Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden in his bid to unseat ... Donald Trump. Biden would be 'a real president,' McCollister said, 'not the disaster' that occupies the White House today."

Meghan Roos of Newsweek: "Vermont Governor Phil Scott said Friday that he has decided he will not vote for ... Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election. Scott, a Republican, has been a vocal critic of Trump for years and said previously that he did not vote for Trump in the 2016 presidential election, according to the Associated Press.... 'I have not decided at this point whether to cast a vote for former Vice President Biden,' Scott said. 'But it's something that I would consider. I just haven't made that decision at this point.' Earlier this year, Scott said that he believed Trump 'shouldn't be in office,' according to the Associated Press.... 'I believe that the president abused his powers,' Scott said when asked about the impeachment inquiry during a news conference in February."

Today's Trumpy Distraction. Colleen Long of the AP: "TRUMP: 'The Democrats took the word GOD out of the Pledge of Allegiance at the Democrat National Convention. At first I thought they made a mistake, but it wasn't. It was done on purpose. Remember Evangelical Christians, and ALL, this is where they are coming from-it's done. Vote Nov 3!' -- tweet Saturday. THE FACTS: That's a misleading accusation. The central programming of the convention featured the entire pledge, complete with 'under God.'... 'Under God' was in each rendering. The convention also devoted a segment to showcasing Biden's religious faith. During two caucuses before the evening conventions started, the Muslim Delegates and Al lies Assembly and the LGBTQ Caucus meeting, both Tuesday, left out 'under God,' from the pledge. The party's series of caucus meetings was livestreamed but not part of the prime-time convention broadcast." Mrs. McC: Do you think Trump was watching livestreams of the Muslim & LGBTQ caucuses?

Jonathan Lemire of the AP: "The White House Rose Garden has been spruced up in time for its moment in the campaign spotlight. First lady Melania Trump will deliver her Republican National Convention speech Tuesday night from the garden.... The three weeks of work on the garden, which was done in the spirit of its original 1962 design, were showcased to reporters on Saturday. White House officials said the renovations were paid for by private donations. They declined to reveal the cost of the work. The location of the first lady's speech will be just one of the ways that the Republican National Convention will break with political norms. Federal rules prohibit the White House from being the setting for expressly political events.... Donald Trump will deliver his speech Thursday night from the White House's South Lawn, where a stage was being constructed over the weekend." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs McCrabbie: No need to listen, especially if you heard \Michelle Obama's remarks at the Democratic convention. As Akhilleus pointed out a few days ago, Melanie lifts all her best material from Michelle.

Ronald Hanson of the Arizona Republic: "Sen. Martha McSally jokingly suggested to supporters to 'fast a meal' and use the savings to donate to her campaign, but the move drew guffaws on Friday from the left, who cast it as a sign of fundraising desperation. McSally, R-Ariz., made the pitch at a campaign event in northern Arizona that made plain a financial reality that has dogged her throughout her race against Democrat Mark Kelly: McSally is way behind in campaign money and is trailing in the polls.... The comment drew instant ridicule and bewilderment on social media."

Mark Pazniokas of the Connecticut Mirror (Aug. 18): "A recount Tuesday flipped the results of the Republican primary in Connecticut's 2nd Congressional District, giving Justin Anderson an 81-vote victory over Thomas Gilmer, the party-endorsed candidate arrested last week on domestic violence charges. The results spare the party an awkward debate over how to fill the vacancy expected had Gilmer won a primary roiled by news that broke as voters went to polls a week ago: Gilmer had been arrested the previous night, and he intended to decline the nomination if victorious. Anderson, whose only previous elective experience was winning a spot on the Planning and Zoning Commission in East Haddam, began the day as the loser by fewer than 20 votes. It ended with him the official winner by less than one-half of a percentage point, 9,483 to 9,402[.]" ~~~

~~~ This Is Perfect. Cassandra Basler of Connecticut Public Radio: "A high-powered Manhattan lawyer with ties to ... Donald Trump tried to keep abuse allegations against Connecticut Republican congressional candidate Tom Gilmer from getting out. Gilmer stopped his campaign for Connecticut's eastern shoreline congressional district after he was arrested on domestic violence charges. Marc Kasowitz represented Gilmer and used to be ... Donald Trump's personal lawyer, according to the New York Times."

Stephanie Mencimer of Mother Jones: "On Friday, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) signed a controversial bill that enhances penalties for certain crimes related to political protests and makes it a felony to illegally camp on state property. In Tennessee, a felony conviction automatically revokes an individual's right to vote. The law also increases penalties for assaulting a first responder, obstructing emergency vehicles, and rioting. The bill follows two months of anti-racism protests in Nashville, during which activists have camped outside the state capitol building in an effort to secure a meeting with Lee. According to the Associated Press, state legislators claimed the law was needed after some protesters set fire to a courthouse in May. But civil libertarians were quick to criticize the measure as detrimental to free speech and criminal justice reform in a state that already uses felon disenfranchisement laws to bar large numbers of Black residents from voting."

Storytime: Rachel Maddow reads excerpts from Brian Stelter's new book Hoax. Maddow's interview of Stelter is here. Thanks to PD Pepe for the lead.

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Presidential Race, Etc.

Katie Glueck of the New York Times: "After nearly five decades in national politics and in his third run at the presidency, Joseph R. Biden Jr. accepted his party's nomination on Thursday with one of the most forceful speeches of his career -- given to a dark and empty room here, save for a smattering of journalists who watched him live as he addressed the nation by camera. It was a final, surreal scene in an extraordinary virtual Democratic convention week that showcased a party unified around Mr. Biden and his running mate, Senator Kamala Harris -- even as sharp differences remain below the surface. Here are seven key takeaways from an unprecedented gathering[.]"

Tom McCarthy of the Guardian: "... Joe Biden 'hit a home run' with an 'enormously effective' speech that blew 'a big hole' in Donald Trump's efforts to paint him as a mentally faltering captive of his party's left wing. And that was to hear Fox News hosts Dana Perino and Chris Wallace tell it. 'It was a very good speech,' added Karl Rove, a Republican strategist respected and reviled on either side of the aisle.... The Trump campaign deployed Vice-President Mike Pence on five morning shows, where he argued that Biden, a known quantity in Washington for 50 years, was a lurking socialist. 'It's a choice between President Trump's record and agenda of freedom and opportunity, versus a Democrat agenda driven by the radical left and Joe Biden's vision that will result in socialism and decline for America,' Pence told Fox News.... 'The president keeps telling us the virus is going to disappear,' Biden said in his speech. 'He keeps waiting for a miracle. Well, I have news for him, no miracle is coming.' Pence told CNN: 'We think there is a miracle around the corner.'"

Maureen Dowd's column, which is a bit scattershot, has its moments. It's titled, "Joe's Fearsome Weapon Against Trump: Simple Decency."

Several media have stories about Braydon Harrington, the 13-year-old boy who endorsed Joe Biden on the final night of the Democratic National Convention. Here's one by Will Weissert of the AP. CNN's story, by Kate Sullivan, is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Eric Bradner of CNN: "Joe Biden's campaign, the Democratic National Committee and their joint fundraising committees raised $70 million over the party's four-day convention this week, Biden's campaign told CNN on Friday. The haul comes the week after raising $48 million in the first two days after Biden selected Sen. Kamala Harris of California as his running mate, setting up August to become an enormous fundraising stretch for Democrats after Biden in recent months all but eliminated ... Donald Trump's cash-on-hand advantage."

Dan Merica & Sarah Mucha of CNN: "Democrats hope to convince voters around next week's Republican National Convention that the only thing ... Donald Trump has accomplished is sowing chaos, using a series of ads, television appearances and briefings to counter-program the convention. It's a difficult task: Conventions dominate coverage and Trump has shown a unique ability to control the conversation -- for better or for worse -- happening across the country. But the party hopes to use momentum from a well-reviewed convention to diminish the Republican counterpart."

Trump's Threat to Intimidate Voters, Ctd. Rosalind Helderman, et al., of the Washington Post: "Nearly 30 years ago, a Republican Party program that dispatched off-duty police officers to patrol polling places in heavily Black and Latino neighborhoods in New Jersey triggered accusations of voter intimidation, resulting in a federal agreement that restricted for decades how the national GOP could observe voting. Now, two years after [a federal judge revoked a 1982 RNC consent decree]..., President Trump has revived the idea of using law enforcement officers to patrol polling places, invoking tactics historically used to scare voters of color.... 'We're going to have everything,' the president said. 'We're going to have sheriffs, and we're going to have law enforcement, and we're going to hopefully have U.S. attorneys and we're going to have everybody, and attorney generals....' Trump's remarks are part of a pattern of comments in which he has suggested he is willing to take actions to impede how people cast their ballots this fall.... Sheriff's deputies and police officers are commanded at the local level, and a federal law bars U.S. government officials from sending 'armed men' to the vicinity of polling places. But civil rights advocates said they feared Trump's words could inspire local officials to act on his behalf." Mrs. McC: Another reminder that it ain't just Trump; Republicans have long tried to keep you from voting. ~~~

~~~ "It Was Great." Nolan McCaskill of Politico: "In a private meeting inside Trump Tower days before his inauguration, Donald Trump told a group of civil rights leaders ... [that] lower turnout among Black voters did, in fact, benefit him in the 2016 presidential election. 'Many Blacks didn't go out to vote for Hillary 'cause they liked me. That was almost as good as getting the vote, you know, and it was great,' the president-elect said, according to an audio recording of the meeting shared with Politico. Three-and-a-half years later, those comments take on new weight, as Democrats and Republicans battle over restrictions on voting.... At one point, Trump left the room to take a call. 'Off the record, that was your friend Barack (Obama),' he told attendees upon his return. "We actually have a very good relationship....'"

Sam Levin of the Guardian: "Donald Trump's campaign failed to produce any evidence of vote-by-mail fraud in Pennsylvania after a federal judge ordered it do so, according to a 524-page court filing obtained by the Guardian. The order came from US district judge Nicholas Ranjan, a Trump appointee, earlier this month amid a lawsuit in Pennsylvania over several voting policies. The Trump campaign is suing to block the widespread use of official ballot dropboxes in the state in locations other than an election office, and to allow poll watchers to work in counties other than the ones they live in. The campaign also wants to block election officials from counting mail-in ballots if a voter forgets to put their mail-in ballot in a secrecy sleeve within the ballot return-envelope. The campaign argued in court that the current practices will lead to voter fraud without these changes."

Miriam Khan of ABC News: "The House is set to vote on a bill related to the ailing U.S. Postal Service in an unusual Saturday session amid an ongoing political controversy over mail-in voting. The chamber will vote on the 'Delivering for America Act,' which would provide $25 billion in new funding for the agency, and it would explicitly prohibit any operational changes made this year. The bill would also require that all official election mail be treated as 'first-class mail,' prohibit the removal of mail sorting machines and mailboxes, and reverse any already implemented changes that could delay mail delivery."

Nicholas Fandos & Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "Louis DeJoy, the embattled postmaster general whose cost-cutting and operational changes have prompted widespread concern about mail-in voting, said on Friday he was 'extremely, highly confident' the Postal Service could handle the largest vote-by-mail program in American history. He said it was 'outrageous' for Democrats to suggest that he might intentionally slow ballot delivery to help President Trump.... Under intense pressure from Democrats, however, he refused to reverse ... steps like removing hundreds of blue mailboxes and mail-sorting machines, that he said his predecessors had initiated in response to a steady decline in mail volume. He told senators that he did not know about the machine removal when it began, saying it was 'not a critical issue within the Postal Service.' And he was unable to offer many specifics about how the Postal Service would ensure on-time delivery of ballots this fall...." ~~~

~~~ Sam Levin of the Guardian: "America's postmaster general, Louis DeJoy, conceded on Friday he had implemented recent changes that led to mail delays at the United States Postal Service (USPS) but said he would not reverse the decision to remove mail equipment ahead of the election." ~~~

~~~ The Washington Post live-updated of Louis DeJoy's testimony before a Senate Committee Friday. The Guardian's live updates are here. The Guardian's coverage is pretty good. For instance, here's the final entry: "The Senate hearing with Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has just concluded, and the Republican chairman of the Senate homeland security and governmental affairs committee, Ron Johnson, ended it on a distinctly partisan note. Johnson said many of the constituent calls he has received about the US Postal Service have sounded 'very highly scripted.' 'This could be a very well organized effort, which doesn't surprise me in the slightest,' Johnson said. In reality, there have been nationwide reports about slow mail services, resulting in late prescription deliveries and rent payments, among other issues." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Andrew Desiderio, et al., of Politico: "Postmaster General Louis DeJoy on Friday defended his proposed changes to the Postal Service amid an onslaught of scrutiny from congressional Democrats, warning that the U.S. Postal Service faces a dire financial situation and is an operational mess. In lengthy prepared remarks before the GOP-led Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, DeJoy acknowledged several concerns lawmakers have raised in recent weeks, including the significant delivery delays due to the Covid-19 pandemic." (Also linked yesterday.)

Mike Isaac & Sheera Frenkel of the New York Times: "Facebook ... is getting ready in case President Trump interferes [with vote-counting after the November election]. Employees at the Silicon Valley company are laying out contingency plans and walking through postelection scenarios that include attempts by Mr. Trump or his campaign to use the platform to delegitimize the results, people with knowledge of Facebook's plans said. Facebook is preparing steps to take should Mr. Trump wrongly claim on the site that he won another four-year term, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Facebook is also working through how it might act if Mr. Trump tries to invalidate the results by declaring that the Postal Service lost mail-in ballots or that other groups meddled with the vote, the people said." Mrs. McC: It is stunning that a private corporation, albeit a huge one, must arm itself against anticipated bad acts of a crooked U.S. president*.

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

Trump's Empty "Orders." "Jeff Stein & Tony Romm of the Washington Post: "... two weeks after President Trump approved executive actions aimed at bypassing stalled stimulus negotiations with Congress, only one state has said it is paying new jobless benefits, few evictions have been paused, and leading employers have made clear that workers will not benefit from the president's new payroll tax deferral.... Trump's directives have so far produced limited economic relief for Americans hurt by the coronavirus pandemic, despite promises by top White House aides that help would come within weeks. By Friday, only Arizona had started sending the extra $300 to its residents.... Trump and his economic team have repeatedly suggested that the executive actions largely render talks with Congress unnecessary, with the president saying that they would 'take care of pretty much this entire situation.'" Mrs. McC: Luckily for Trump, he really doesn't care if you and your two-year-old are forced to live in your 2005 Honda Civic & dine on canned beans from the local food bank.

The Crime Family Trump, Ctd.

Kara Scannell & Katelyn Polantz of CNN: "A federal appeals court denied ... Donald Trump's attempt to halt the enforcement of a subpoena [issued to accounting firm Mazars USA] for his financial records but at the same time set a rapid schedule for oral arguments in the case, leaving a window of several days where prosecutors could seek to obtain the President's tax returns. The ruling from the Second Circuit Court of Appeals came hours after the President's lawyers requested an emergency stay, or hold, on the subpoena. Under a previous arrangement, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance agreed not to enforce the subpoena until seven days after the district court ruled. That deadline would expire next week. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals scheduled oral arguments on whether to grant a 'stay' for September 1, raising the possibility that Trump's financial records and tax returns could be turned over to prosecutors before the hearing -- unless the President takes the case up to the Supreme Court or Vance's office agrees to hold off for the appeals' court decision."

Trump Has to Pay Stormy. Again. Evan Simko-Bednarski of CNN: "A California Superior Court judge has ordered ... Donald Trump to pay $44,100 to Stephanie Clifford, also known as Stormy Daniels, to reimburse her attorneys' fees in the legal battle surrounding her nondisclosure agreement. The judge's order was issued Monday but posted online Friday by Clifford's attorneys.... In his decision this week, Judge Robert Broadbelt III ruled that Clifford was entitled to legal fees, finding her the 'prevailing party' under California law, despite the case having been dismissed. Broadbelt also rejected an argument by Trump's attorneys that the President was not liable for the fees because he had not signed the NDA."

Andrew Kaczynski & Nathan McDermott of CNN: "... Kris Kobach said in an interview last year that he had spoken with the President three times about the private border wall project that is currently at the center of a federal fraud investigation, and that Trump was 'enthusiastic' about the project and it carried his blessing.... Trump said Thursday he didn't like the project, citing a tweet from last month criticizing it, and said he knew nothing about it other than what he had read. The White House falsely claimed in a statement on Thursday the President did not know people involved in the project when he knows the majority of the board members.... Speaking on an episode of the 'We Build The Wall' show in May 2019, Kobach, both the general counsel and a board member for the project, said he periodically spoke to the President to give him updates on progress of the project.... In another video from the group in March of 2019, Kobach said he met with the president twice about the project.... Kobach, a staunch ally of the President, served on Trump's voter fraud commission in 2017 and was endorsed by the president during his 2018 run for governor of Kansas, a race he lost in the deeply red state." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: It's hard to believe that either of these fine fellows is a bald-faced liar, but obviously at least one of them is.

Tom McCarthy of the Guardian: Depending on how -- and whom -- you count, [Steve] Bannon was the seventh former close Trump adviser to be arrested, face charges, plead guilty or to be convicted of a crime since the 45th president took office. 'I believe it unprecedented in any US administration for so many of the closest circle of persons around the president to have been shown to be conmen, grifters and base criminals,' said Patrick Cotter, a former federal prosecutor.... 'While previous administrations had their share of those trying to personally profit and those willing to break the law to serve the political interests of the president, what is unique about the Trump administration is the large number of people in direct contact with the president, often for years, who are revealed to be out-and-out fraudsters for whom crime is apparently part of their lifestyle and character.... So when I see a swarm of conmen buzzing around one particular man, in this case Trump, my experience suggests that it is because they recognize one of their own. And in selecting them to be his confidants, the president also recognized kindred spirits.'... As his re-election campaign enters full swing, Trump has made an effort to brand himself as the president of 'law and order'. But Trump himself has at times appeared to sail within dangerous distance of criminal legal hazards."

Another of Trump's Crooked Cronies Has a Bad Week. Ben Smith of the New York Times: "David J. Pecker, the tabloid media titan who drew the scrutiny of federal investigators for his alleged role in Donald J. Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, is out as the leader of the parent company of The National Enquirer, Us Weekly and other publications, according to a company announcement on Friday. At the same time, American Media, the company led by Mr. Pecker since 1999, has a new name, A360Media, and will be merged with a sibling company, Accelerate 360. Both are controlled by the hedge fund Chatham Asset Management.... Accelerate said Mr. Pecker, 68, the chief executive and president of American Media, would take on a new role, executive adviser." A Daily Beast story is here.

Shane Harris & Matt Zapotosky of the Washington Post: "Former CIA director John Brennan was interviewed for eight hours Friday by the federal prosecutor specially assigned by Attorney General William P. Barr to review how the U.S. intelligence community and law enforcement apparatus handled investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election, answering questions on a 'wide range' of topics, including the intelligence community's assessment that Russia intended to help Donald Trump become president, a Brennan adviser said. In a statement, Nick Shapiro, Brennan's former deputy chief of staff, said U.S. Attorney John Durham informed Brennan he was 'not a subject or a target of a criminal investigation' but rather 'a witness to events that are under review.'"

Adam Goldman of the New York Times: "A former Army Green Beret captain was accused on Friday of violating espionage laws after federal investigators said they uncovered evidence he joined the military at the behest of Russian intelligence operatives and had betrayed the United States for years. The suspect, Peter Rafael Dzibinski Debbins, 45, of Gainesville, Va., was arrested on a conspiracy charge of providing national defense information to Russia in an elaborate spying operation that appeared to begin in 1996, prosecutors said. He turned over sensitive military information and the names of fellow service members so Russia could try to recruit them.... Mr. Debbins is the second former government official in recent days to be charged with espionage. A former C.I.A. officer who went on to work on contract as an F.B.I. translator, Alexander Yuk Ching Ma, was arrested last week on charges of giving classified information to the Chinese government." Task & Purpose has a story here.

Kate Taylor of the New York Times: "... a federal judge ordered [actor Lori] Loughlin to serve two months behind bars for her role in the [college] admissions scandal.... Ms. Loughlin, who has acknowledged conspiring to pass her daughters off as rowers so they would be admitted to the University of Southern California, tearfully apologized.... Ms. Loughlin and her husband, the fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, had both pleaded guilty to fraud. Prosecutors have said that they paid $500,000 as part of the scheme, although on Friday one of the couple's lawyers suggested that the money was Mr. Giannulli's alone. Prosecutors said Mr. Giannulli took a more active role in the fraud than Ms. Loughlin did, and the judge sentenced Mr. Giannulli on Friday to five months in prison." Mrs. McC: Here's the part I don't get: (1) It's not all that hard to get into U.S.C. (I've done it myself); and (2) U.S.C. is no more prestigious than any community college to which the daughters might have beem granted admission without any costly greasing of palms.

Way Beyond the Beltway

Melissa Eddy & Andrew Kramer of the New York Times: "A prominent Russian opposition figure was flown to Germany for treatment of suspected poisoning on Saturday, his spokeswoman said, after a day of delays in which Russian doctors offered a variety of reasons to block his transfer. The opposition leader, Aleksei A. Navalny, who had been in a coma since Thursday, was flown from the Siberian city of Omsk to Berlin on a Challenger 604 air ambulance arranged by the foundation of a movie producer based in the German capital. The evacuation came after a team of German doctors, who had arrived in Omsk on the air ambulance, stated unequivocally on Friday that it was safe for him to travel. Mr. Navalny's personal doctor, Anastasia Vasilyeva, said in an interview Friday that she believed the Russian authorities had tried to delay his departure long enough for the poison in his system to diminish and become difficult or impossible to identify." The Guardian's story is here. ~~~

~~~ Kylie Atwood of CNN: "The Trump administration has not made any substantial statement on the suspected poisoning of Russian opposition leader, Alexey Navalny, in sharp contrast to European reaction, despite ... Donald Trump saying Thursday his Secretary of State was looking into it. 'We're looking at it and Mike's going to be reporting to me soon,' Trump said yesterday at the White House, referring to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who was in the room with him. Trump also said that the US has not determined if Navalny was poisoned or not. 'We haven't seen it yet,' Trump said when asked if the US government had determined Navalny, who was hospitalized Thursday, had been poisoned."

News Ledes

Guardian: "Wildfires in California have killed at least six people and forced tens of thousands from their homes, with few signs of reprieve in sight, as firefighting resources strain under the vastness of dozens of infernos raging across the state. More than 771,000 acres have burned so far, an area greater than the state of Rhode Island, California's governor Gavin Newsom said at a press conference Friday. He said the scope and ferocity of the fires has stretched thin the state's capacity to respond in an 'unprecedented moment' in California's history, adding that he anticipated mutual aid support coming from Arizona, Oregon, Washington state, Texas, Nevada and elsewhere." A New York Times story is here.

Guardian: "Joseph James DeAngelo, better known as the Golden State Killer, has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, four decades after he terrorized the suburbs of Sacramento and stalked neighborhoods in southern California, breaking into homes to rape and torture women and girls, and killing couples and young women in their beds. His crimes left a trail of destruction that has haunted survivors and their families. The sentencing -- which took place in Sacramento on Friday, on the 40th anniversary of two of the murders -- follows three days of testimony from dozens of women and men who survived DeAngelo's crimes, as well as family members of those who did not."

AP: "A tropical storm and a tropical depression at opposite ends of the Caribbean were projected to possibly become hurricanes, major storms which could hit the US simultaneously after drenching much of the region. The US mainland has not been hit by two tropical storms simultaneously since September 1933, in the midst of the Great Depression. Then, a category 3 hurricane hit Brownsville, Texas, while a tropical storm came ashore at Cedar Key, Florida."

The Commentariat -- August 21, 2020

Late Morning Update:

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

The Washington Post has live updates of Louis DeJoy's testimony before a Senate Committee today. The hearing has ended. The New York Times has an item on DeJoy's testimony in its political updates. The Guardian's live updates are here. The Guardian's coverage is pretty good. For instance, here's the final entry: "The Senate hearing with Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has just concluded, and the Republican chairman of the Senate homeland security and governmental affairs committee, Ron Johnson, ended it on a distinctly partisan note. Johnson said many of the constituent calls he has received about the US Postal Service have sounded 'very highly scripted.' 'This could be a very well organized effort, which doesn't surprise me in the slightest,' Johnson said. In reality, there have been nationwide reports about slow mail services, resulting in late prescription deliveries and rent payments, among other issues." ~~~

~~~ Andrew Desiderio, et al., of Politico: "Postmaster General Louis DeJoy on Friday defended his proposed changes to the Postal Service amid an onslaught of scrutiny from congressional Democrats, warning that the U.S. Postal Service faces a dire financial situation and is an operational mess. In lengthy prepared remarks before the GOP-led Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, DeJoy acknowledged several concerns lawmakers have raised in recent weeks, including the significant delivery delays due to the Covid-19 pandemic."

Several media have stories about Braydon Harrington, the 13-year-old boy who endorsed Joe Biden on the final night of the Democratic National Convention. Here's one by Will Weissert of the AP. CNN's story, by Kate Sullivan, is here.

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Alexander Burns & Katie Glueck of the New York Times: "Joseph R. Biden Jr. accepted the Democratic presidential nomination on Thursday night, beginning a general-election challenge to President Trump that Democrats cast this week as a rescue mission for a country equally besieged by a crippling pandemic and a White House defined by incompetence, racism and abuse of power. Speaking before a row of flags in his home state of Delaware, Mr. Biden urged Americans to have faith that they could 'overcome this season of darkness,' and pledged that he would seek to bridge the country's political divisions in ways Mr. Trump had not." ~~~

Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Best convention I've ever watched, and I've watched a lot of them. But this is the first one where I watched or heard maybe 98% percent of the hoopla. Prefacing Joe Biden's acceptance speech was a vignette in which Brayden Harrington, a courageous 13-year-old boy who met Biden on the campaign trail, and is a stutterer, endorsed Biden, who also stutters. As for Biden, he went on the air live and delivered "The King's Speech." It was as remarkable and compelling a show as the award-winning film about George VI. ~~~

~~~ Dan Balz of the Washington Post: Joe Biden "described his policy aspirations, ticking through a list of issues he has spoken about through the campaign, from climate to education to jobs and the economy. But the strength of the speech was to draw a contrast with the president and to make clear that his principal focus if he becomes president in January will be on the pandemic and the economic recession that has accompanied it.... [Biden's] acceptance speech that was thematic, pointed and forcefully delivered.... At a time of suffering and uncertainty due to the coronavirus pandemic and the economic recession, he presented himself as a person of boundless compassion running against a president who struggles to show any. ~~~

~~~ David Siders of Politico: Joe "Biden, accepting the Democratic Party's nomination for president on the convention's final night, expanded on the searing indictment delivered Wednesday by former President Barack Obama and offered his own blistering criticism of ... Donald Trump. And in a campaign that has served almost singularly as a referendum on Trump, he cast his candidacy as an affirmative alternative -- a 'path of hope and light.'... Biden did more to define himself on Thursday than he ever had before. There was the personal -- testimony from his children Hunter and Ashley and public remarks Beau Biden made before he died." ~~~

~~~ Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "President Trump has tried every dirty trick in the book -- and a few new ones -- to cast doubts about the workings of Joe Biden's brain. But Trump has been focusing on entirely the wrong organ. Biden's appeal is from the heart..., a place Trump doesn't know.... The Democratic presidential nominee, in the most crucial speech of his long career in public service, had no problem clearing the low bar Trump had set. The evening began with a clip of Biden quoting Kierkegaard and ended with him quoting the Irish poet Seamus Heaney.... Biden's speech, and indeed the whole closing night of the Democratic convention, was the polar opposite of the Trump's 'American carnage' vision."

Julia Louis-Dreyfus was a great presenter: ~~~

Just remember, Joe Biden goes to church so regularly that he doesn't even need tear gas and a bunch of federalized troops to get there. -- Julia Louis-Dreyfus ... concluding a segment on Biden's faith ~~~

The New York Times' live updates of the Democratic National Convention are here: "The fourth and final night of the Democratic National Convention will air tonight from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern time. Julia Louis-Dreyfus is the M.C." It includes (delayed) video of the proceedings. Times reporters' snark analysis is here. (Link fixed.) Also includes video of the convention. ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Ha! Beginning with an invocation by Sister Simone Campbell, the organizer of Nuns on the Bus, was brilliant.

Trump Promises to Intimidate Voters. Jacqueline Alemany of the Washington Post: "Democrats and President Trump dramatically raised the stakes last night over voting in November, both bracing -- and digging in -- for what could be the most chaotic and contested election in recent memory. Joe Biden ... vowed to protect America's 'most sacred Democratic exercise -- voting.... Just an hour earlier, President Trump took to Fox News to ramp up his baseless attacks on mail-in voting, arguing Democrats would try to 'steal the election' and some states might send ballots to Democrats only. Though he doesn't have the legal authority to do so, Trump ominously pledged to use law enforcement officials to monitor the election -- a day after his press secretary Kayleigh McEnany would not say whether Trump would accept the election results.'We're going to have everything. We're going to have sheriffs, and we're going to have law enforcement, and we're going to hopefully have U.S. attorneys and we're going to have everybody, and attorneys general,' Trump told Sean Hannity calling in to his Fox show." Emphasis original. A CNN story is here.

There's Always a Crazy Heckler. Caitlin Oprysko of Politico: "Donald Trump did not hide that he was closely following the third night of the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday, firing off tweets in real time as former President Barack Obama and Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris delivered withering criticisms of his presidency. The first of Trump's all-caps broadsides came less than 10 minutes into his predecessor's speech, as Obama unleashed a blistering attack on Trump's presidency and his character." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update: Trump did the same thing Thursday night. I might look up & link a story on this, and I might not. I really don't care. Do you? As Brian Williams remarked on MSNBC, back in the days of quasi-civilized politics, during national political conventions, the opposition party had the grace to "go dark."

Matthew Choi of Politico: "Joe Biden's campaign is calling desperate on the president's latest ad blitz, which portrays the former vice president as overly cozy with China and his son as a corrupt profiteer. Speaking with Politico's Jake Sherman and Anna Palmer on Thursday, senior Biden campaign adviser Symone Sanders dismissed the ad as a tired attack that reveals that the Trump campaign's other offensive strategies have failed." (Also linked yesterday.)

Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: I must be losing it. I agree with David Brooks. "Barack Obama's ... speech was not just meant to help the Democrats win an election; it was to identify a historical crisis and address a spiritual need. The former law professor spoke from his deep love for our Constitution, the whole intellectual and moral regime that has been built around it and the way it is now being betrayed by a self-indulgent narcissist. His speech was fiercely pro-American and fiercely anti-Trump, showing that, in fact, to be fiercely pro-American you have to be fiercely anti-Trump. But Obama went far beyond the election to address the crisis of national faith beneath the crisis of politics. He spoke from Philadelphia, site of our true founding that, as flawed as it was, provided the moral source that points us toward justice."

David Sanger of the New York Times: "Four years after 50 of the nation's most senior Republican national security officials warned that Donald J. Trump 'would be the most reckless president in American history,' they are back with a new letter, declaring his presidency worse than they had imagined and urging voters to support ... Joseph R. Biden Jr. The new letter, released just hours before Mr. Biden formally accepts the nomination, lays out a 10-point indictment of Mr. Trump's actions, accusing him of undermining the rule of law, aligning himself with dictators and engaging 'in corrupt behavior that renders him unfit to serve as president.' They also accused him of 'spreading misinformation' and 'undermining public health experts,' making him 'unfit to lead during a national crisis.'... There are more than 70 [signatories] in the new letter...." (Also linked yesterday.)

Trump Indicts Biden for "Abandoning" Scranton -- When He Was Ten Years Old. Seung Min Kim & Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post: "Hours before former vice president Joe Biden accepts the Democratic presidential nomination, President Trump held a rally in this key swing state [Pennsylvania] where he took aim at his rival's record and accused him of having 'abandoned' Pennsylvania — even though Biden was only 10 when his family moved to Delaware for his father's job. 'He left,' Trump said of Biden. 'He abandoned Pennsylvania. He abandoned Scranton. He was here for a short period of time, and he didn't even know it.'" (Also linked yesterday.)

Michelle Lee & Anu Narayanswamy of the Washington Post: "President Trump's campaign, the Republican Party and two affiliated committees, have spent more than $1 billion since 2017, a record-breaking sum spent toward a reelection effort at this point in the presidential campaign, new filings show. Trump has raised and spent money for his reelection since 2017, earlier in his term than previous presidents. At this point in 2012, former president Barack Obama's reelection effort, including the Democratic National Committee, had spent about $643 million, federal records show."

Anita Kumar of Politico: "... Donald Trump may rail against mail-in ballots in public, but state and local Republicans are quietly telling Americans that's exactly how they should vote. In Iowa, the Republican Party mailed absentee ballot applications to voters without waiting for requests. In Pennsylvania, the GOP's website promotes voting by mail: 'Vote Safe: By mail. From home.' And in Ohio, the Republican Party sent mailers with Trump's photo saying 'Join President Trump and Vote by Absentee Ballot.'" (Also linked yesterday.)

** Nicholas Fandos, et al., of the New York Times: "The former vice chairman of the U.S. Postal Service's board of governors accused Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Thursday of trying to engineer a hostile takeover of the service, telling lawmakers that Mr. Mnuchin required members of the independent board to 'kiss the ring' before they were confirmed and issued demands that agency officials believed were 'illegal.' In scathing testimony delivered before lawmakers in the Congressional Progressive Caucus, David C. Williams, a former Postal Service inspector general who resigned as vice chairman in protest in April, said the Trump administration appeared to want to turn the agency into a 'political tool.' The Treasury Department, he said, was maneuvering to use its lending authority to strong-arm the agency to adopt policies that would be 'ruinous,' like raising prices and cutting back crucial services.... Mr. Williams said that no serious background investigation had been conducted -- despite his request for one -- and that a brief review by the agency's inspector general had surfaced potential concerns about contract work [Louis] DeJoy's logistics firm had done for the Postal Service." CNN's story is here.

Laura J. Nelson & Maya Lau of the Los Angeles Times: "Accounts of conditions from employees at California mail facilities provide a glimpse of what some say are the consequences of widespread cutbacks in staffing and equipment recently imposed by the postal service.... While the long-term effect of the cuts on U.S. mail service is unclear, the evidence of serious disruptions appears to be mounting, according to postal employees interviewed by The Times as well as customers, lawmakers and union leaders.... At a mail processing facility in Santa Clarita in July, workers discovered that their automated sorting machines had been disabled and padlocked. And inside a massive mail-sorting facility in South Los Angeles, workers fell so far behind processing packages that by early August, gnats and rodents were swarming around containers of rotted fruit and meat, and baby chicks were dead inside their boxes.... The cuts have had a ripple effect in California, snarling the operation of one of the biggest mail-processing facilities in the country and delaying the delivery of prescriptions, rent payments and unemployment checks. Some people have complained of going days without receiving any mail at all." Firewalled. Mrs. McC: I used up one of my few freebies on this story, because it reveals such horrible outcomes of the Trump/Mnuchin/DeJoy conspiracy against Americans.

~~~ Aaron Gordon of Vice: "Shortly after USPS Postmaster General Louis DeJoy issued a public statement saying he wanted to 'avoid even the appearance' that any of his policies would slow down election mail, USPS instructed all maintenance managers around the country not to reconnect or reinstall any mail sorting machines they had already disconnected, according to emails obtained by Motherboard.... The emails confirm what House speaker Nancy Pelosi relayed from her conversation with DeJoy yesterday, that the USPS's stated 'suspension' of these new policies does not mean reversing them. It also sheds additional light on the emptiness of DeJoy's promises from his Tuesday press release, since the USPS is apparently not even willing to take the bare minimum step of plugging machines back in even if they haven't been moved." The article includes a reproduction of the incriminating email. ~~~\

~~~ John Ryan of KUWO (NPR Seattle): "By the time Postmaster General Louis DeJoy halted a raft of changes that might slow down the U.S. mail, the Postal Service had already shut down 40% of the high-speed letter-sorting machines in the Seattle-Tacoma area.... Internal documents from May reveal that the Postal Service was planning to remove 20% of 'DBCS' (digital barcode sorter) machines nationwide this summer. In Washington state, at least 23 DBCS letter-sorting machines had been dismantled by Tuesday at major postal facilities, according to a tally by KUOW[.]... One machine can sort six letters a second, more than 20,000 an hour, into hundreds of trays for different letter carriers.... 'It would take a crew of 20 to 30 people hand-sorting the mail all night to do what one of these machines can do in a couple hours,' [Brian] Warden[, a postal worker,] said. 'Our infrastructure doesn't work without these machines.'" Thanks to Ken W. for the link. ~~~

~~~ Aaron Gordon of Vice: "Memos are trickling down the United States Postal Service bureaucracy warning employees that they should not speak to the press and any customer asking lots of questions may be a journalist sneakily trying to get information out of them. The memos outline what employees should do if contacted by the media, and are titled 'Guidelines for Handling Local Media Inquiries.' Motherboard obtained two separate memos from postal employees in two districts. The memos are nearly identical, with different language only about who employees should contact if they receive a media inquiry. They were sent to employees in the last few days, following a spate of articles about the changes Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has made that have put the post office under major scrutiny." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: This would be a fair -- and standard -- requirement for employees of private companies; for a quasi-public, partially-taxpayer-funded, ubiquitous Constitutionally-mandated organization like the Postal Service, it's an infringement on First-Amendment rights.

~~~ ** Louie the Louse Determined to Wreck the USPS. Jacob Bogage, et al., of the Washington Post: "Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has mapped out far more sweeping changes to the U.S. Postal Service than previously disclosed, considering actions that could lead to slower mail delivery in parts of the country and higher prices for some mail services, according to several people familiar with the plans. The plans under consideration, described by four people familiar with Postal Service discussions, would come after the election and touch on all corners of the agency's work. They include raising package rates, particularly when delivering the last mile on behalf of big retailers; setting higher prices for service in Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico; curbing discounts for nonprofits; requiring election ballots to use first-class postage; and leasing space in Postal Service facilities to other government agencies and companies.... [The measurers] would represent the biggest reshaping of the agency in generations and would likely draw severe criticism from people and organizations that rely on the mail service for timely delivery, particularly in less populated regions of the country."

Toluse Olorunnipa & Isaac Stanley-Becker of the Washington Post: "President Trump has increasingly embraced, amplified or equivocated about a number of conspiracy theories in recent weeks, adding to the sense of chaos and uncertainty caused by a pandemic and social unrest. From the baseless QAnon movement to a racist theory about Sen. Kamala D. Harris of California's citizenship, Trump has given a nod to fringe groups and welcomed them into the mainstream of his party. Beyond being unfounded, many of the ideas Trump is bolstering are dangerous, according to intelligence officials, political scientists and, increasingly, members of the president's own party." ~~~

~~~ Republicans Embrace the Q. Matthew Rosenberg & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Late last month, as the Texas Republican Party was shifting into campaign mode, it unveiled a new slogan, lifting a rallying cry straight from ... the internet-driven conspiracy theory known as QAnon. The new catchphrase, 'We Are the Storm,' is an unsubtle cue to a group that the F.B.I. has labeled a potential domestic terrorist threat.... The slogan can be found all over social media posts by QAnon followers, and now, too, in emails from the Texas Republican Party and on the T-shirts, hats and sweatshirts that it sells.... A small but growing number of Republicans -- including a heavily favored Republican congressional candidate in Georgia -- are donning the QAnon mantle..., potentially transforming the wild conspiracy theory into an offline political movement, with supporters running for Congress and flexing their political muscle at the state and local levels. Chief among the party's QAnon promoters is Mr. Trump himself. Since the theory first emerged three years ago, he has employed a wink-and-nod approach to the conspiracy theory, retweeting its followers but conspicuously ignoring questions about it. Yet ... the White House and some Trump allies appear to have taken to openly courting believers." ~~~

(~~~ In Case You Don't Think These Nuts Are Dangerous. Julian Feeld of Right Wing Watch: "Waco, Texas, woman arrested last week and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and driving while intoxicated​ appears to have been motivated by the QAnon conspiracy theory ... Donald Trump spoke positively of during a White House press conference Wednesday. According to arrest affidavits first reported by the Waco Tribune-Herald, 30-year-old Cecilia Fulbright got behind the wheel of her car ... with the intent to '[save] a child' from 'pedophiles.' Fulbright reportedly chased two strangers' vehicles in an apparent attempt to ​hit them. According to a Waco police report, the first vehicle was a catering truck driven by a woman with her ​minor daughter in the passenger's seat.... Fulbright then ​targeted a second unrelated ​vehicle, a Dodge Caravan ​driven by a 19-year-old college student​. Fulbright chased ​the student into a parking lot​ where she cornered​ and repeatedly rammed ​the Dodge Caravan​. Responding police officers reportedly found Fulbright 'crying hysterically' and yelling that the driver of the vehicle she attacked 'was a pedophile and had kidnapped a girl for human trafficking.' The arresting officer noted that Fulbright seemed 'delusional.'...")

Massachusetts Senate Race. Shame on Nancy (IMO). Paul Kane of the Washington Post: "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) endorsed Rep. Joe Kennedy on Thursday in the increasingly bitter Senate Democratic primary in Massachusetts, abandoning her longtime ally Sen. Edward J. Markey a few days after he lodged attacks on the iconic family dynasty. Pelosi cited Kennedy's hard work in campaigning for many of the Democrats who won in 2018, flipping the majority and returning her to the job of speaker, but she also cited her own family's close ties to the Kennedys, including her father's role running the Maryland campaign for John F. Kennedy's presidential bid in 1960.... Pelosi said that Markey's campaign had crossed a hallowed line by running a negative campaign against the Kennedy dynasty.... At a campaign stop Thursday, Markey declined to criticize Pelosi for endorsing his rival."

The (Extended) Crime Family Trump

Shayna Jacobs of the Washington Post: "President Trump's latest attempt to block the Manhattan district attorney from obtaining his tax records was rejected Thursday by a federal judge, who said Trump's legal team failed to show the subpoena was issued 'in bad faith.' U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero threw out the lawsuit brought by the president's personal lawyers, who had argued that the subpoena to Mazars USA, Trump's accounting firm, was 'overbroad' in its request for documents and that it amounted to 'harassment.' Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. argued repeatedly that the subpoena, issued by a grand jury, was legally valid and tied to a legitimate criminal investigation.... Shortly after Marrero's decision was announced, Trump's legal team filed an emergency motion asking for a delay in enforcing the subpoena so he may appeal. Vance's office agreed to a one-week grace period before acting on the subpoena...." A CNBC story is here. The New York Times' story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Kevin Sullivan & Mary Jordan of the Washington Post in an adaption of their book "Trump on Trial," on "how the Ukraine bombshell unfolded over 48 hours... [The book] will be published Aug. 25 by Scribner. A revealing and intimate study of political power, it lays out the backstory and aftermath of President Trump's impeachment, including how his alarm-raising request to a foreign country centered on one person -- his political rival Joe Biden." Mrs. McC: If you don't have a WashPo subscription, this might be a place to take advantage of one of the few freebies.

The Grifters

I Can't Stop Laughing. Alan Feuer & William Rashbaum of the New York Times: "Stephen K. Bannon, President Trump's former top adviser, was charged on Thursday in New York with fraud for his role in a scheme related to 'We Build the Wall,' an online fund-raising effort that collected more than $25 million for the president's much-touted plan to erect a barrier on the Mexican border, officials said. Mr. Bannon and three other defendants 'defrauded hundreds of thousands of donors, capitalizing on their interest in funding a border wall to raise millions of dollars, under the false pretense that all of that money would be spent on construction,' Audrey Strauss, the acting United States attorney in Manhattan, said in statement Thursday. Mr. Bannon was arrested early Thursday in Connecticut by U.S. postal inspectors and brought to Manhattan where he faced charges in a two-count indictment unsealed in federal district court. He was expected to appear before a U.S. magistrate judge in New York later in the day." Thanks to P.D. Pepe for the link. A Politico story by Josh Gerstein is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

      ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I heard the news on NPR as I was driving home from a doctor's visit, and yes, I'm still laughing. Every single element of this caper is perfect: Bannon. Trump. "The Wall." The marks, those dimwitted true Trump believers/xenophobic creeps. The rip-off. The USPS, for Pete's sake; I'm sure those inspectors were laughing even harder than I am. I do hope it turns out Brother Steve planned this scheme while he was hanging out that Italian monestary/fascist thug tank, where apparently he's failed to pay the rent. ~~~

     ~~~ UPDATE. Larry Neumeister, et al., of the AP: "Hours after his arrest, Bannon pleaded not guilty during an appearance in a Manhattan federal court. He is the latest addition to a startlingly long list of Trump associates who have been prosecuted, including his former campaign chair, Paul Manafort, whom Bannon replaced, his longtime lawyer, Michael Cohen, and his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn. Trump has also made clear that he is willing to use his near-limitless pardon power to help political allies escape legal jeopardy, most recently commuting the sentence of longtime political adviser Roger Stone. Bannon was taken into custody around 7 a.m. by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service on a 150-foot (45-meter) luxury yacht called Lady May, which was off the coast of Connecticut, authorities said. The boat is owned by exiled Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui and currently for sale for nearly $28 million.... At his hearing later Thursday, Bannon appeared with his hands cuffed in front of him and a white mask covering most of his face. He rocked back and forth on a chair in a holding cell where he appeared via video with his lawyers on the telephone. The magistrate judge approved Bannon's release on $5 million bail, secured by $1.75 million in assets.... After the arrest, Trump quickly distanced himself from Bannon and the the project. 'When I read about it, I didn't like it. I said this is for government, this isn't for private people. And it sounded to me like showboating,' he told reporters at the White House, adding that he felt 'very badly' about the situation." (Also linked yesterday.)

Another Trumpist Racket. Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times: "... Trump tried to distance himself from Bannon and We Build the Wall, first saying he knew nothing about the group, then contradicting himself and saying he disliked it. But lots of Trumpworld figures have been involved with We Build the Wall. Kris Kobach, a hard-line anti-immigrant Kansas politician close to Trump, is listed as the group's general counsel, and last year told The New York Times it had the president's blessing. Also on the advisory board is the Blackwater founder and close Trump ally Erik Prince; Curt Schilling, the ex-Red Sox pitcher Trump encouraged to run for Congress; and Robert Spalding, former senior director for strategic planning on Trump's National Security Council. Donald Trump Jr. praised We Build the Wall at a 2019 event for the group: 'This is private enterprise at its finest. Doing it better, faster, cheaper than anything else, and what you guys are doing is pretty amazing.'" ~~~

~~~ Andrew Kaczynski & Em Steck of CNN: "... the President claimed that he did not know people involved in the project. 'I know nothing about the project other than I didn't like when I read about it, I didn't like it, Trump said on Thursday.... 'I didn't know any of the other people, either,' he added. In a statement, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany added that Trump does not know people involved in the project.... Along with Bannon, Trump knows most people on the group's board of directors, including Curt Schilling, David Clarke, Mary Ann Mendoza, Steve Ronnebeck and Erik Prince."

Lachlan Markay of the Daily Beast: "Federal prosecutors on Thursday arrested former Trump adviser Steve Bannon and Brian Kolfage, the head of a nonprofit seeking to privately finance construction of a southern border wall, and accused them of illegally using that nonprofit to enrich themselves. But the sums the two men allegedly extracted from the organization just scratched the surface of their grandiose plans to make money off the effort. As he was using his group, We Build The Wall, to compile millions of email addresses and phone numbers, Kolfage was also plotting ways to use that data to start a Republican fundraising firm. The venture had gotten far enough that earlier this year, he was already shopping around for potential clients. Kolfage, a triple amputee Air Force veteran, described his plans to a Republican consultant in an email written early this year and seen by The Daily Beast." (Also linked yesterday.)

Philip Bump: "The first time one of the people leading Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign faced criminal charges was in March of that year.... Back then, it was Corey Lewandowski.... He was arrested on misdemeanor battery charges after he grabbed a Breitbart reporter's arm after a speech at a Trump property in Florida. He and Trump vigorously denied that Lewandowski had touched reporter Michelle Fields.... Video produced by the Trump property, however, later showed that Fields's allegations were accurate. The charges against Lewandowski were dropped.... Each of the three people primarily responsible for helping shepherd Trump into the White House has, at some point since he announced his candidacy in June 2015, faced criminal charges. And those three people constitute less than half of the close Trump allies to have pleaded guilty to or been indicted on or convicted of criminal charges." (Also linked yesterday.)

** Sarah Burris of the Raw Story: "Over a year ago, the Pentagon inspector general began looking into a suspicious $400 million contract given from the Department of Homeland Security to the construction company linked to Bannon's group. The funds came at Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) and Trump's urging[.] 'On Dec. 2, the Pentagon announced a contract worth up to $400 million to Fisher Sand and Gravel for the construction of 31 miles of new border barriers along the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge in southern Arizona,' said the Washington Post.... 'The company also has partnered with right-wing activist group We Build the Wall to construct fencing on private land with millions of dollars raised through online donations,' said the Post. The American Civil Liberties Union said that they are demanding answers[.]" ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I guess we had to expect that somehow or other, Trump would waste our taxpayer dollars on a scam that seemed to be directed at fleecing Trumpbots. But, hey, Tony Soprano Trump knows nothing aboudit.

Annals of "Journalism," Ha Ha Ha. Justin Baragona, et al., of the Daily Beast: "No right-wing cause célèbre would be complete without some on-air boosting from Fox News. And in the case of Steve Bannon's allegedly fraudulent 'We Build the Wall' fundraiser, the conservative cable channel obliged.... Since the viral fundraiser launched in late 2018, Bannon and [co-conspirator Brian] Kolfage separately appeared on Fox News on more than a few occasions to tout their efforts to the network's audience and its uncritical, often credulously supportive on-air personalities.... 'A story of the can-do American spirit in action,' Fox News primetime host Laura Ingraham beamed about the fundraiser before interviewing Kolfage during her Dec. 20, 2018 broadcast.... [Bannon] received a particularly big boost for his allegedly fraudulent scheme in an August 2019 interview with Fox host Maria Bartiromo, who fawned over the project.... ['We Build' advisory board member Kris] Kobach also appeared on overtly pro-Trump morning show Fox & Friends in early 2019 to present an 'exclusive' update on the fund's progress to a very impressed and supportive host Pete Hegseth."

Then There's Junior's Deal with Polygamous Fraudsters. Graham Kates & Jessica Kegu of CBS News: "Amid a series of campaign appearances in Utah on July 24, Donald Trump Jr. took time to shoot Desert Tech rifles and appeared in promotional images for the company, which is owned by a prominent member of a polygamous sect. The government is currently trying to seize the company's headquarters, which prosecutors say was previously bought with funds originating from other members of the sect who entered guilty pleas in a $1.1 billion fraud scheme. In photos posted by the company to Instagram and Facebook, Trump Jr. is seen wearing a Desert Tech hat, posing with the company's founder, Nicholas Young, and firing the company's sniper rifles. A marketing video on YouTube also includes an image of Trump Jr." (Also linked yesterday.)

The Trumpidemic, Ctd.

Laurie McGinley & Yasmeen Abutaleb of the Washington Post: "The Trump administration this week blocked the Food and Drug Administration from regulating a broad swath of laboratory tests, including for the coronavirus, in a move strongly opposed by the agency. The new policy stunned many health experts and laboratories because of its timing, several months into a pandemic. Some public health expert warned the shift could result in unreliable coronavirus tests on the market, potentially worsening the testing crisis that has dogged the United States if more people get erroneous results.... But supporters cheered the change as long overdue, saying it could help get new and more innovative tests to market more quickly.... The change in policy came as a surprise to many at the FDA and was a point of intense disagreement between HHS Secretary Alex Azar and FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn.... The episode is the latest in which health agencies have been undercut by political overseers."

Lena Sun of the Washington Post: "U.S. health officials this week moved to expand access to flu shots and to tighten vaccination requirements for students, with the nation facing the prospect of flu season arriving amid the coronavirus pandemic and creating an unprecedented threat to health. The two highly contagious respiratory illnesses are spread in similar ways, mainly through respiratory droplets. They have similar symptoms, including fever, chills and headaches. Each can cause life-threatening illness and death. Together, they could pose a double burden on the nation's already strained health-care systems, including labs that conduct flu and coronavirus tests.... Flu vaccine manufacturers have boosted production by about 15 percent, to record levels...."

Fred Imbert of CNBC: "The number of people filing for unemployment benefits last week was greater than expected, raising concern about the state of the economy as lawmakers struggle to move forward on a new pandemic stimulus package. The Labor Department said Thursday that initial jobless claims for the week ended Aug. 15 came in at 1.106 million. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected a total of 923,000. Initial claims for the previous week were also revised higher by 8,000 to 971,000. Last week marked the first time in 21 weeks that initial claims came in below 1 million." (Also linked yesterday.)

Susan B. Anthony Museum Rejects Hollow Trump Gesture. Neda Ulaby of NPR: "On Tuesday, President Trump officially pardoned leading suffragist Susan B. Anthony, who died in 1906. He noted she was arrested in 1872 for voting before it was legal for women to do so. 'She was never pardoned!' he exclaimed in a White House ceremony. 'Did you know that she was never pardoned? What took so long?' Well, it was partly that Anthony would not have wanted to be pardoned, according to some historians who've pointed out that the activist did not think she'd done anything wrong. Joining those voices is the executive director of the National Susan B. Anthony Museum and House in Rochester, N.Y. 'Objection! Mr. President, Susan B. Anthony must decline your offer of a pardon,' Deborah L. Hughes wrote in a statement.... She suggested that the best way to honor Anthony would be taking a clear stance against voter suppression and advocating for human rights for all." Thanks to Akhilleus for the lead.

Brian Fung of CNN: "The president who complains about censorship by Twitter wants to censor people himself. On Thursday, the Justice Department asked the Supreme Court to overturn a lower court's decision and grant ... Donald Trump the ability to block his critics on Twitter. The petition seeks to revive a case decided by a New York federal judge in 2018. At the time, Judge Naomi Buchwald said Trump violated the First Amendment when he sought to stifle his online critics because portions of his Twitter account are considered a public forum. A three-judge panel upheld the ruling on appeal. Thursday's Supreme Court petition argues that the lower courts got it wrong." Thanks to Akhilleus for the lead. Mrs. McC: King Donald has his Article II that lets him do whatever he wants. That, he figures, should definitely include depriving you of your First Amendment. (And it is your Amendment. The Bill of Rights is sort of the people's reciprocity in a contract called the Constitution.) And thanks to the Court Jester, Fat Billy of Barr, for pursuing this case.

The Cheese Stands Alone. Iran Isolates the U.S. Lara Jakes & David Sanger of the New York Times: "A diplomatic standoff over restoring international sanctions against Iran may be the most vivid example yet of how the United States has largely isolated itself from the world order -- instead of isolating Tehran, as the Trump administration intended. At nearly every step President Trump has taken in his dogged pursuit to demolish a 2015 accord limiting Iran's nuclear program, he has run into opposition, including from America's strongest allies in Europe. On Thursday, the opposition turned into open defiance. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo traveled to New York to personally demand that the United Nations Security Council 'snap back' the sanctions on Iran for violating some terms of the nuclear deal.... Never mind that Iran's major violations were in response to Mr. Trump's decision to exit the nuclear agreement.... Only the Dominican Republic voted with the United States. Mr. Pompeo, sounding incredulous..., directed some of his harshest words toward diplomats from Britain, France and Germany, whom he said 'chose to side with ayatollahs.'"

** Peace for Arms. Kylie Atwood & Zachary Cohen of CNN: "A secret push by ... Jared Kushner to sell advanced arms -- including F-35 stealth fighter jets -- to the United Arab Emirates has caused confusion and frustration among agencies and congressional committees that would normally be involved in such a sale but have been left in the dark.... Reports of a possible arms deal surfaced Tuesday when one of Israel's leading newspapers alleged there was a 'secret clause' in Israel's deal to normalize relations with the UAE -- one that would allow the UAE to buy billions of dollars in advanced military hardware from the US, including drones, F-35 stealth fighters and other weaponry.... The story raised hackles in Israel because of the potential threat to Israel's military superiority in the region.... Any sale involving the F-35 would require serious scrutiny from Congress.... But relevant committees in Congress have not been notified of an arms sale to UAE[.]" --s ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Did anyone really think there would not be some kind of secret side deal in any agreement with Donnie & Jared's prints on it?

Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: "The White House budget office has upended a decades-old practice on how federal agencies spend money, giving more power to political appointees to move money around, two senior administration officials confirmed. Previously, career staffers at the White House Office of Management and Budget, the kind of employees who work at agencies despite changes in administrations, were charged with signing off on approving the 'apportionment' of funds, deciding how to shift or restrict the disbursement of money already approved by Congress. Under a new system unilaterally put in place last week, those decisions will now be signed off on by political appointees chosen by the Trump administration who work as program associate directors at the OMB."

Julia Ainsley & Jacob Soboroff of NBC News tell a disgusting story of how the excrable Stephen Miller led a meeting of senior advisors in May 2018 who voted by a show of hands to separate children from their migrant parents. While some, especially then DHS Secretary Kirstgen Nielsen, objected to the project for logistical reasons, "no one in the meeting made the case that separating families would be inhumane or immoral...."

Beyond the Beltway

Michigan. Kathleen Gray of the New York Times: "As the state of Michigan on Thursday announced a $600 million settlement for the victims of the water crisis that upended Flint, the deal was another reminder of the damage and debt to thousands of children: Almost 80 percent of the settlement will go to people who were younger than 18 during the crisis, the officials said, and much of that will go to those who were younger than 7. Around Flint, residents said that the settlement, which still needs a federal judge's approval, felt like the start of hopeful news. Still, after all they have been through, some had lingering doubts. They questioned how long the process of deciding who qualifies for payment may take. And they said they were painfully aware that no amount of money can undo the exposure their children had to tainted water between 2014 and 2016."

Way Beyond

Russia. Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post: "Officials offered conflicting accounts Friday into what sickened Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny and doctors blocked his transfer abroad for treatment, stirring claims by Navalny's allies that Moscow was attempting to cover up a suspected poisoning of the country's most prominent opposition leader. The confusion added to the many questions since Navalny was suddenly stricken Thursday during a flight en route to Moscow from Siberia. His spokeswoman and others quickly claimed that the 44-year-old Navalny -- now in a coma -- was the latest victim of a poisoning ordered by the state, a method used before in attacks linked to Russian agents. Doctors treating Navalny at a Siberian hospital said Navalny had 'somewhat improved,' but denied his family's request to send him to Germany aboard a waiting plane with medical specialists."

News Lede

Washington Post: "Hundreds of thousands of acres of unpopulated land continued to burn across California on Thursday, as dozens of lightning-sparked wildfires moved quickly through dry vegetation and threatened the edges of cities and towns in the state's northern and central regions. Evacuations surged Thursday as authorities worried that high heat and gusty winds could cause the fires to spread rapidly. By midday, several of the major fires had more than doubled in size, in some cases jumping across major highways, as crews struggled to contain the blazes. The fires have been blamed for at least 5 fatalities. Many of the fires began days ago, as a heat wave and an unusual series of storms produced more than 20,000 lightning strikes."

The Commentariat -- August 20, 2020

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

David Sanger of the New York Times: "Four years after 50 of the nation's most senior Republican national security officials warned that Donald J. Trump 'would be the most reckless president in American history,' they are back with a new letter, declaring his presidency worse than they had imagined and urging voters to support former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. The new letter, released just hours before Mr. Biden formally accepts the nomination, lays out a 10-point indictment of Mr. Trump’s actions, accusing him of undermining the rule of law, aligning himself with dictators and engaging 'in corrupt behavior that renders him unfit to serve as president.' They also accused him of 'spreading misinformation' and 'undermining public health experts,' making him 'unfit to lead during a national crisis.'... There are more than 70 [signatories] in the new letter...."

Trump Indicts Biden for "Abandoning" Scranton -- When He Was Ten Years Old. Seung Min Kim & Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post: "Hours before former vice president Joe Biden accepts the Democratic presidential nomination, President Trump held a rally in this key swing state [Pennsylvania] where he took aim at his rival's record and accused him of having 'abandoned' Pennsylvania — even though Biden was only 10 when his family moved to Delaware for his father’s job. 'He left,' Trump said of Biden. 'He abandoned Pennsylvania. He abandoned Scranton. He was here for a short period of time, and he didn't even know it.'"

I Can't Stop Laughing. Alan Feuer & William Rashbaum of the New York Times: "Stephen K. Bannon, President Trump's former top adviser, was charged on Thursday in New York with fraud for his role in a scheme related to 'We Build the Wall,' an online fund-raising effort that collected more than $25 million for the president's much-touted plan to erect a barrier on the Mexican border, officials said. Mr. Bannon and three other defendants 'defrauded hundreds of thousands of donors, capitalizing on their interest in funding a border wall to raise millions of dollars, under the false pretense that all of that money would be spent on construction,' Audrey Strauss, the acting United States attorney in Manhattan, said in statement Thursday. Mr. Bannon was arrested early Thursday in Connecticut by U.S. postal inspectors and brought to Manhattan where he faced charges in a two-count indictment unsealed in federal district court. He was expected to appear before a U.S. magistrate judge in New York later in the day." Thanks to P.D. Pepe for the link. A Politico story by Josh Gerstein is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I heard the news on NPR as I was driving home from a doctor's visit, and yes, I'm still laughing. Every single element of this caper is perfect: Bannon. Trump. "The Wall." The marks, those dimwitted true Trump believers/xenophobic creeps. The rip-off. The USPS, for Pete's sake; I'm sure those inspectors were laughing even harder than I am. I do hope it turns out Brother Steve planned this scheme while he was hanging out that Italian monastery/fascist thug tank, where apparently he's failed to pay the rent. ~~~

     ~~~ UPDATE. Larry Neumeister, et al., of the AP: "Hours after his arrest, Bannon pleaded not guilty during an appearance in a Manhattan federal court. He is the latest addition to a startlingly long list of Trump associates who have been prosecuted, including his former campaign chair, Paul Manafort, whom Bannon replaced, his longtime lawyer, Michael Cohen, and his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn. Trump has also made clear that he is willing to use his near-limitless pardon power to help political allies escape legal jeopardy, most recently commuting the sentence of longtime political adviser Roger Stone. Bannon was taken into custody around 7 a.m. by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service on a 150-foot (45-meter) luxury yacht called Lady May, which was off the coast of Connecticut, authorities said. The boat is owned by exiled Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui and currently for sale for nearly $28 million.... At his hearing later Thursday, Bannon appeared with his hands cuffed in front of him and a white mask covering most of his face. He rocked back and forth on a chair in a holding cell where he appeared via video with his lawyers on the telephone. The magistrate judge approved Bannon's release on $5 million bail, secured by $1.75 million in assets.... After the arrest, Trump quickly distanced himself from Bannon and the the project. 'When I read about it, I didn't like it. I said this is for government, this isn't for private people. And it sounded to me like showboating,' he told reporters at the White House, adding that he felt 'very badly' about the situation." ~~~

~~~ Lachlan Markay of the Daily Beast: "Federal prosecutors on Thursday arrested former Trump adviser Steve Bannon and Brian Kolfage, the head of a nonprofit seeking to privately finance construction of a southern border wall, and accused them of illegally using that nonprofit to enrich themselves. But the sums the two men allegedly extracted from the organization just scratched the surface of their grandiose plans to make money off the effort. As he was using his group, We Build The Wall, to compile millions of email addresses and phone numbers, Kolfage was also plotting ways to use that data to start a Republican fundraising firm. The venture had gotten far enough that earlier this year, he was already shopping around for potential clients. Kolfage, a triple amputee Air Force veteran, described his plans to a Republican consultant in an email written early this year and seen by The Daily Beast." ~~~

~~~ Philip Bump: "The first time one of the people leading Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign faced criminal charges was in March of that year.... Back then, it was Corey Lewandowski.... He was arrested on misdemeanor battery charges after he grabbed a Breitbart reporter's arm after a speech at a Trump property in Florida. He and Trump vigorously denied that Lewandowski had touched reporter Michelle Fields.... Video produced by the Trump property, however, later showed that Fields's allegations were accurate. The charges against Lewandowski were dropped.... Each of the three people primarily responsible for helping shepherd Trump into the White House has, at some point since he announced his candidacy in June 2015, faced criminal charges. And those three people constitute less than half of the close Trump allies to have pleaded guilty to or been indicted on or convicted of criminal charges."

~~~ Then There's Junior's Deal with Polygamous Fraudsters. Graham Kates & Jessica Kegu of CBS News: "Amid a series of campaign appearances in Utah on July 24, Donald Trump Jr. took time to shoot Desert Tech rifles and appeared in promotional images for the company, which is owned by a prominent member of a polygamous sect. The government is currently trying to seize the company's headquarters, which prosecutors say was previously bought with funds originating from other members of the sect who entered guilty pleas in a $1.1 billion fraud scheme. In photos posted by the company to Instagram and Facebook, Trump Jr. is seen wearing a Desert Tech hat, posing with the company's founder, Nicholas Young, and firing the company's sniper rifles. A marketing video on YouTube also includes an image of Trump Jr." ~~~

~~~ Matthew Choi of Politico: "Joe Biden's campaign is calling desperate on the president's latest ad blitz, which portrays the former vice president as overly cozy with China and his son as a corrupt profiteer. Speaking with Politico's Jake Sherman and Anna Palmer on Thursday, senior Biden campaign adviser Symone Sanders dismissed the ad as a tired attack that reveals that the Trump campaign's other offensive strategies have failed."

Fred Imbert of CNBC: "The number of people filing for unemployment benefits last week was greater than expected, raising concern about the state of the economy as lawmakers struggle to move forward on a new pandemic stimulus package. The Labor Department said Thursday that initial jobless claims for the week ended Aug. 15 came in at 1.106 million. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected a total of 923,000. Initial claims for the previous week were also revised higher by 8,000 to 971,000. Last week marked the first time in 21 weeks that initial claims came in below 1 million."

There's Always a Crazy Heckler. Caitlin Oprysko of Politico: "Donald Trump did not hide that he was closely following the third night of the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday, firing off tweets in real time as former President Barack Obama and Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris delivered withering criticisms of his presidency. The first of Trump's all-caps broadsides came less than 10 minutes into his predecessor's speech, as Obama unleashed a blistering attack on Trump's presidency and his character."

Shayna Jacobs of the Washington Post: "President Trump's latest attempt to block the Manhattan district attorney from obtaining his tax records was rejected Thursday by a federal judge, who said Trump's legal team failed to show the subpoena was issued 'in bad faith.' U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero threw out the lawsuit brought by the president's personal lawyers, who had argued that the subpoena to Mazars USA, Trump's accounting firm, was 'overbroad' in its request for documents and that it amounted to 'harassment.' Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. argued repeatedly that the subpoena, issued by a grand jury, was legally valid and tied to a legitimate criminal investigation.... Shortly after Marrero's decision was announced, Trump's legal team filed an emergency motion asking for a delay in enforcing the subpoena so he may appeal. Vance's office agreed to a one-week grace period before acting on the subpoena...." A CNBC story is here. The New York Times' story is here.

Anita Kumar of Politico: "... Donald Trump may rail against mail-in ballots in public, but state and local Republicans are quietly telling Americans that's exactly how they should vote. In Iowa, the Republican Party mailed absentee ballot applications to voters without waiting for requests. In Pennsylvania, the GOP's website promotes voting by mail: 'Vote Safe: By mail. From home.' And in Ohio, the Republican Party sent mailers with Trump's photo saying 'Join President Trump and Vote by Absentee Ballot.'"

~~~~~~~~~~

The Washington Post's live updates of the Democratic National Convention Wednesday night are here. The New York Times' live updates Wednesday are here.

Astead Herndon & Lisa Lerer of the New York Times: "Democrats formally nominated Senator Kamala Harris for the vice presidency on Wednesday night, placing a woman of color on a major party ticket for the first time and showcasing the diversity of race and gender they believe will energize their coalition to defeat President Trump in the fall. The third night of the party's national convention also featured a striking repudiation of Mr. Trump by former President Barack Obama, a break with the presidential custom of not criticizing a successor by name. Mr. Obama praised Mr. Biden's character, contrasting it with Mr. Trump's, and directed a portion of his remarks to voters undecided about whom they will vote for, or whether they will vote at all.... Speeches by Mr. Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Senator Elizabeth Warren and Speaker Nancy Pelosi were intended to underscore the history-making moment of Ms. Harris's nomination, highlighting her uniquely American biography...." A Reuters story is here.

Sen. Kamala Harris accepts her nomination:

A civics lesson for the ages: ~~~

     ~~~ CNN has the transcript of President Obama's speech, as prepared. ~~~

~~~ Julie Pace of the AP: "Former President Barack Obama painted a unsparing portrait of American democracy on the brink if ... Donald Trump wins in November, warning in a scathing, and at times emotional, address Wednesday that his successor is both unfit for office and apathetic to the nation's founding principles.... Obama's address amounted to one of the most sweeping condemnations ever of a sitting president by one of his predecessors. It was aimed squarely at jolting Democrats, as well as Republicans who are skeptical of Trump, ahead of the November election, casting the contest not simply as a choice between two politicians or two parties, but as a test of the endurance of American ideals."

~~~ Ryan Lizza of Politico: "... the former president delivered a memorable speech that balanced torching the sitting president with assuring voters of the possibility of something better.... Despite the optimistic strands, Obama did not minimize the threat he believes the country faces under ... Donald Trump.... As Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and John Kasich -- three people with major ideological and personal differences between them -- all made clear in their earlier speeches, the case against Trump is not about policy. The urgency that has united socialists, liberals, and conservatives featured this week is about something much more fundamental.... Obama accused Trump of failing to 'discover some reverence for the democracy that had been placed in his care.' He essentially accused him of corruption and abuse of power, saying Trump had 'no interest in using the awesome power of his office to help anyone but himself and his friends.' And he accused his successor of a dangerous form of narcissism when he said that Trump had 'no interest in treating the presidency as anything but one more reality show that he can use to get the attention he craves.'"

~~~ Peter Baker of the New York Times: "After watching President Trump systematically demolish many of his achievements, Mr. Obama has almost as much at stake in this year's campaign as his former vice president and his party's 2020 presidential nominee, Joseph R. Biden Jr., does -- a second chance to redeem his legacy and prove to history that Mr. Trump's election was an anomaly, not a permanent repudiation.On the line is not just the opportunity to restore programs and international agreements that Mr. Trump abandoned and bolster those that remain threatened, but also to rewrite the narrative about America and its values according to Mr. Obama.... This time around, Mr. Obama's vehicle for validation happens to be the same man he gently eased aside for the Democratic nomination in 2016 in favor of Hillary Clinton, the woman Mr. Obama himself had defeated in 2008 by telling the country that she was a relic of the past. Many Democratic drinking sessions in the interim have been consumed by the what-if guessing game over what would have happened had Mr. Obama anointed Mr. Biden instead."

The convention included a clip from the January 2017 event when Barack Obama surprised Joe Biden by awarding him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, with Distinction (back when the Presidential Medal of Freedom was reserved for men & women of great accomplishments & merit):

Anne Gearan of the Washington Post: "Hillary Clinton Wednesday sought to channel the lessons, energy and disappointment of her campaign to become the first female president into an effort to unseat the man who defeated her, urging Democrats who never fully unified around her to come together against President Trump." ~~~

Jacqueline Feldscher of Politico: "The Army is launching an investigation into two soldiers who appeared in uniform during Democratic National Convention coverage Tuesday night, the service announced Wednesday. During the broadcast, two soldiers in uniform flanked officials from American Samoa while the territory awarded its delegates during the roll call.... The appearance goes against Defense Department regulations, which prohibit all troops from being in uniform at partisan political or campaign events.... The investigation comes following repeated accusations that the Trump administration has injected politics into the military. Most recently, Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. Mark Milley accompanied ... Donald Trump to a photo op outside a church during racial justice protests in Washington, D.C. Milley later said he regretted taking part. But the problem has extended throughout Trump's presidency, including when the Navy was told to cover up the name of the destroyer USS John S. McCain so it wasn't visible during a presidential speech in 2019. The Democratic Party's platform for 2020 promises to 'end the Trump administration's politicization of the armed forces.'"

Former Rep. Charlie Dent, a Pennsylvania Republican, in a CNN opinion piece, explains why he is voting for Joe Biden.

Alex Isenstadt of Politico: "... Donald Trump's campaign is dragging Hunter Biden back into the race -- on the day his father formally accepts the Democratic nomination. The reelection effort is to begin a nearly two-minute digital advertisement early Thursday morning highlighting the younger Biden's business dealings with China and resurfacing past allegations that Joe Biden's family profited off his vice presidency.... Starting Tuesday at midnight, the reelection effort has purchased 96 hours straight of advertising on YouTube, giving it full control of the site's masthead. As part of the plan, the campaign is also running digital advertising on the homepages of news outlets including the Washington Post, Fox News, and the Daily Caller. It will also appear on streaming services including Hulu."

How Do You Spell Hypocrisy? T-R-U-M-P. Miles Parks of NPR: "President Trump cast a vote-by-mail ballot in Florida this week after months of questioning the security of the method of voting, and in doing so he returned it to election officials using a technique many Republicans say should be illegal.... Trump submitted the Florida primary ballot by giving it to a third party to return, a spokesperson for the Palm Beach elections supervisor confirmed to NPR on Wednesday. Republicans often derisively refer to sending in a ballot this way as 'ballot harvesting,' and it's something Trump has criticized. 'GET RID OF BALLOT HARVESTING, IT IS RAMPANT WITH FRAUD,' he tweeted in April. House Republicans recently introduced a bill to force states (which are generally allowed to establish their own rules around voting) to make the practice of turning in a nonfamily member's ballot illegal."

Kanishka Singh of Reuters: "The re-election campaign of ... Donald Trump has sued New Jersey, following a decision on Friday by its Democratic governor to mail a ballot to every voter in the state for November's elections, as well as hold in-person voting amid the coronavirus pandemic. Governor Phil Murphy's announcement came as Trump, a Republican, stepped up his attacks on voting by mail, which is expected to increase dramatically this fall because of the novel coronavirus. The Trump campaign filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for New Jersey late on Tuesday to invalidate "'Executive Order 177'. The filing was made as a 'complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief' and described the step taken by the Democratic governor as 'illegal'." Related story about a Paterson, N.J., municipal election linked below.

Your GOP Today. Florida Congressional Race. Wendy Rhodes & Antonio Fins of the Palm Beach Post: "Laura Loomer ... won the U.S. House District 21 GOP primary. She’ll meet incumbent, ex-West Palm mayor Lois Frankel [D] in November.... Among those gathering to watch returns with Loomer were political strategist Roger Stone, British writer Milo Yiannopoulos and Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes. Even ... Donald Trump weighed in on Loomer's victory via Twitter. 'Great going Laura,' he wrote. 'You have a great chance against a Pelosi puppet!'... Long critical and even threatening on social media, Loomer has called for the widespread firing of Muslims and for Muslim congressional members to be jailed... Loomer told her supporters, Ronna McDaniel, chair of the Republican National Committee, called just before Loomer's acceptance speech to tell her she was a 'political rock star.'... Despite the pandemic, Loomer hosted a blow-out election night watch party for several hundred people at the Hilton Hotel by the West Palm Beach Airport.... The self-described 'Most Banned Woman on the Planet' has been permanently barred from sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Uber, Lyft, Paypal and Venmo, accused of using hate speech and being non-compliant with site rules." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "Laura Loomer (R-Wackadoodle) ... [became] the latest of a score of similarly bizarre figures to be chosen as the GOP standard-bearers in House and Senate races coast to coast. [Milbank has a great rundown of Loomer's intensely insane remarks & tricks.]... This is the new face of the Republican Party. Next week, Republicans, at a convention featuring the couple who waved guns at racial-justice demonstrators walking past their mansion, will renominate Trump, an avid purveyor of conspiracy theories. And the down-ballot nominees show how pervasive the party's Trump-induced madness has become. Nineteen Republican candidates and one independent who have embraced the QAnon conspiracy theory (about a pedophile ring in the U.S. government fighting Trump) have secured spots on the November ballot...." ~~~

~~~ Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "In tweets Tuesday night and early Wednesday, Trump offered Loomer his congratulations and retweeted news articles about her victory. Loomer could have been seen as part of the Republican fringe who got lucky in a crowded primary field, but Trump made sure that she was seen in another way -- as part of the team at the heart of the Republican Party.... The reason the Republican Party can't effectively police its ranks to stymie people like Loomer, of course, is Trump himself. The GOP can't disavow Loomer when the head of the party is clearly sympathetic to her, to her style and to her views. The GOP can't draw firm lines on behavior when Trump is always willing to cross them and always willing to embrace those who join him. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: "It should be a much bigger story that the president of the United States has now enthusiastically endorsed the congressional run of a virulently Islamophobic far-right conspiracy theorist.... It ... illuminates the stakes of the 2020 presidential race in a fresh way -- one that should help forestall the sort of terrible errors in media coverage of President Trump's hate-mongering that we saw in 2016.... Trump's championing of Loomer should compel a ... [clear] reckoning, one that faithfully conveys what we're really seeing here: reactionary illiberalism, naked bigotry and nativist incitement of anti-immigrant hate.... In Arizona [Tuesday], Trump [falsely] claimed Biden and Democrats ... want the 'complete elimination of America's borders. That they want to give every migrant 'a free ticket to invent an asylum claim.' That Biden would 'unleash a flood of illegal immigration like the world has never seen.' That Biden's campaign is a 'cult' for open border 'zealots.'... No one should refer to what Trump is doing as 'culture war politics' or 'stoking divisions' or even 'crazy Trump being crazy Trump.' It's extreme radicalization." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) See related stories under "Traitor in the White House."

Ken Meyer of Mediaite: "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announced on Wednesday that she had a conversation with Postmaster General Louis DeJoy ahead of his upcoming hearings before the House Oversight and Reform Committee. According to the speaker, DeJoy 'frankly admitted' that he did not intend to replace the pieces of the Postal Service infrastructure that were removed as part of his policy reform plans. Pelosi's office released a statement on the discussion, saying she told DeJoy that his announced suspension of changes 'is not a solution and is misleading.'"

Tony Romm & Jacob Bogage of the Washington Post: "The U.S. Postal Service blocked congressional lawmakers from interrogating the firm that helped select Louis DeJoy as the nation's postmaster general, prompting a sharp rebuke from Senate Democratic Leader Charles E. Schumer, who called on the organization Wednesday to be more transparent as a federal investigation unfolds. The spat over access has hindered lawmakers as they investigate DeJoy's recent, controversial changes to mail delivery and, in the process, potentially concealed key details about the involvement of President Trump and his top aides in those decisions, Schumer (N.Y.) warned in a letter to the agency. The missive threatens to add to the already sky-high tensions between the administration and the Senate as DeJoy prepares to testify at a Senate hearing Friday, then a House hearing on Monday." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Michigan. Stephen Henderson of WDET Detroit: "Ten mail sorting machines have been removed from United States Postal Service (USPS) centers in Detroit, Pontiac, and Grand Rapids, according to Chad Livengood of Crain’s Detroit Business. Livengood reports that the machines can process 300,000 letters per hour, and the move significantly reduces the centers’ capacity for processing first-class mail." The Crain article is firewalled. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Oregon. Olivia Rubin of ABC News: "... new images obtained by ABC News appear to show mail sorting machines -- critical pieces of equipment used to speed up the mail delivery process -- sitting in parts in a postal facility in Portland, Ore. The machines are wrapped in yellow caution tape after having recently been decommissioned and broken down into parts within the last month, according to the postal employee who took the photos, who requested anonymity.... At least six sorting machines at the Portland facility alone have already been taken offline in the past month, according to Joe Cogan, the head of Portland's postal union. Their fate remains unclear. Cogan, an employee with the postal service for 30 years, said these changes interfere with employees' ability to carry out their work." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Worth noting: Both Portland, Oregon, and Detroit, Michigan, vote heavily Democratic. Pontiac & Grand Rapids have been leaning Democratric lately. So it's quite clear who would benefit from making sure voters in these cities have a poor change of getting their ballots on time and getting the completed ballots back timely to the boards of election.

Kansas State House Election. Maria Kramer of the New York Times: “Aaron Coleman admitted that he harassed girls online when he was in middle school. He called one sixth-grade girl fat and told her she should kill herself. Seven years ago, he told another girl, who was 13 at the time, that he would circulate a naked photo of her if she didn’t send him more nude images. When she refused, she said, he followed through on his threat. 'They’re accurate,' Mr. Coleman, 19, said of the women’s claims. On Monday, Mr. Coleman, a dishwasher and community college student, was declared the winner of a Democratic primary for a seat in the Kansas House of Representatives, defeating the incumbent, Stan Frownfelter, by 14 votes.” Mrs. McC: He seems nice. An earlier AP story is here.

New Jersey Municipal Election. Trey Closson of the New York Times: “In the days before New Jersey’s third-largest city held municipal elections in May entirely by mail, postal workers became suspicious when they found hundreds of ballots bundled together. The discovery triggered an investigation that led to charges of voter fraud against two local elected leaders and resulted in nearly 20 percent of the ballots being rejected. It also prompted President Trump to cite the case as an example of how mail-in voting can corrupt elections, though election experts staunchly disagree. On Wednesday, a New Jersey judge ruled that the election in Paterson, N.J., had been irreversibly tainted and ordered a new vote to be held in November to settle the race for the City Council seat. The superior court judge, Ernest M. Caposela, wrote that the election 'was not the fair, free and full expression of the intent of the voters.' His decision came one day after the Trump campaign sued New Jersey over its recent decision to conduct the November election almost entirely by mail to keep people safe from the coronavirus.”

The Traitor* in the White House

* Mrs. McCrabbie: I'm using "traitor" here in the broad sense -- a person who betrays his country -- rather than in the Constitutional meaning: a person levying war against the U.S. or giving aid & comfort to a country with which the U.S. is at war.

** QAnon Backing Thrills Trump. Michael Shear of the New York Times: “President Trump spoke positively on Wednesday about proponents of the QAnon conspiracy theory, telling reporters at the White House that he had 'heard that it is gaining in popularity.' 'I don’t know much about the movement, other than I understand they like me very much, which I appreciate,; Mr. Trump said.... Mr. Trump claimed not to know that the central premise of the QAnon movement is a false belief that he is saving the world from a Satanic cult made up of Democratic pedophiles and cannibals. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has warned that QAnon poses a potential domestic terrorism threat.... The president’s response amounted to a remarkable public expression of support for a fringe conspiracy movement that has inspired outbursts of violence. He pointedly did not condemn the movement, instead appearing to suggest that the believers are motivated by opposition to the recent racial justice protests.... The QAnon theory predates the current wave of protests by several years. 'These are people that don’t like seeing what’s going on in places like Portland, in places like Chicago and New York, and other cities and states,' Mr. Trump said during a news conference in the White House briefing room. 'And I’ve heard these are people that love our country and they just don’t like seeing it.' Asked whether he agrees with the movement’s theories about his role in saving the world from a Satanic cult, Mr. Trump said, 'I haven’t heard that.' But he added: 'Is that supposed to be a bad thing or a good thing. If I can help save the world from problems, I’m willing to do it I’m willing to put myself out there.'” (Also linked above.) ~~~

     ~~~ Kevin Liptak of CNN: "After skirting the issue for weeks..., Donald Trump offered an embrace Wednesday of the fringe internet phenomenon QAnon, praising its followers for supporting him and shrugging off its outlandish conspiracies. His comments reflected the highest-profile endorsement to date of the group, which has infiltrated Republican circles even as party leaders attempt to distance themselves." ~~~

~~~ (MEANWHILE. Ben Collins & Brandy Zadrozny of NBC News: "Facebook on Wednesday banned about 900 pages and groups and 1,500 ads tied to the pro-Trump conspiracy theory QAnon, part of a sweeping action that also restricted the reach of over 10,000 Instagram pages and almost 2,000 Facebook groups pushing the baseless conspiracy theory, which has spawned real-world violence. Facebook also took down thousands of accounts, pages and groups as part of what it called a 'policy expansion,' seeking to limit violent rhetoric tied to QAnon, political militias and protest groups like antifa.")

Betsy Klein of CNN: "... Donald Trump is calling on his followers to not buy Goodyear tires, despite previously railing against 'cancel culture,' after an employee posted a viral photo of a company policy banning 'Make America Great Again' and other political attire in the workplace. 'Don't buy GOODYEAR TIRES - They announced a BAN ON MAGA HATS. Get better tires for far less! (This is what the Radical Left Democrats do. Two can play the same game, and we have to start playing it now!),' he tweeted Wednesday morning. The tweet came in response to an employee who posted a photo, obtained by CNN affiliate WIBW, from a Topeka, Kansas, Goodyear plant that showed a slide during a training that 'Black Lives Matter' and LBGT pride apparel were 'acceptable' and 'Blue Lives Matter,' 'All Lives Matter,' 'MAGA Attire,' and other political material were 'unacceptable.' Goodyear issued a statement following the President's tweet stating 'the visual in question was not created or distributed by Goodyear corporate,' but that it asks its associates to 'refrain from workplace expressions in support of political campaigning for any candidate or political party, as well as similar forms of advocacy that fall outside the scope of racial justice and equity issues.' The company also stated that it has 'always wholeheartedly supported both equality and law enforcement and will continue to do so.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: This seems amazingly stupid. Goodyear was established in Akron, Ohio, and their HQ is still there. Ohio is a state Trump needs to win. Texas, another close state, has four Goodyear plants, and there are plants in Arizona, Georgia & North Carolina -- all states where the presidential polls show tight races. ~~~

~~~ BUT Do Buy Trump Label Scottish Whisky. Martyn McLaughlin of The Scotsman: "Since [the] introduction [of US tariffs on Scotch whisky] last October, the 25 per cent tariff on single malts has resulted in a 30 per cent drop in exports, worth around £300m.... While his government has stood by its tariffs, the US president’s private family firm has openly embraced the Scotch industry in an attempt to project some much-needed glamour and prestige at its loss-making resorts in Scotland.... [T]he Trump Organisation partnered with the Glendronach distillery in Aberdeenshire to produce its own bespoke malt, complete with none too subtle Trump branding.... The fundamental point ... is that on the one hand, Trump is using his public office to punish the Scotch industry for a dispute it played no part in, while on the other, his resorts are using its products to help sell a luxury lifestyle." --s

Leia Idliby of Mediaite: “Former senior Trump administration official Miles Taylor, who now endorses Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, told MSNBC anchor Hallie Jackson that President Donald Trump wanted to trade 'dirty; Puerto Rico for Greenland.... “... before we went down [to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria], he told us not only did he want to purchase Greenland, he actually said he wanted to see if we could sell Puerto Rico, could we swap Puerto Rico for Greenland because, in his words, Puerto Rico was dirty and the people were poor.'... Jackson asked Taylor if the comment could have been a joke but Taylor insisted it was not.... 'And I’ll go even further about Puerto Rico, the president expressed deep animus towards the Puerto Rican people behind the scenes. These are people who are recovering from the worst disaster of their lifetimes. He is their president. He should be standing by them.'” (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

** Julian Barnes of the New York Times: "More than 200 pages into a sprawling, 1,000-page report on Russian election interference, the Senate Intelligence Committee made a startling conclusion endorsed by both Republicans and Democrats: Donald J. Trump knew of and discussed stolen Democratic emails at critical points late in his 2016 presidential campaign. The Republican-led committee rejected Mr. Trump’s statement to prosecutors investigating Russia’s interference that he did not recall conversations with his longtime friend Roger J. Stone Jr. about the emails, which were later released by WikiLeaks.... The report detailed even more of the president’s conversations with Mr. Stone than were previously known, renewing questions about whether Mr. Trump was truthful with investigators for the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, or misled them, much as prosecutors convinced jurors that Mr. Stone himself misled congressional investigators about his efforts to contact WikiLeaks." ~~~

~~~ A pdf of the report, via the Senate, is here. See also yesterday's Commentariat for more news stories on findings of the Intelligence Committee, including one that covers the same territory as Barnes' report, linked above.

The Trumpidemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates for coronavirus developments Wednesday are here: "Educators and families around the United States continued to grapple this week with the complicated realities of opening schools in the middle of a pandemic, as teachers’ unions threatened strikes, colleges rethought reopening plans on the fly, and school districts, discovering new cases, improvised quarantines and classroom cleanings. The voice of teachers in the reopening debate took center stage Wednesday in Michigan, where the Detroit Federation of Teachers voted to authorize their executive committee to call for a strike over plans to open public schools for in-person learning." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) 

Rand Paul Says You People Must Suffer. Rashaan Ayesh of Axios: "Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) told Fox News Wednesday that he opposes Congress passing more stimulus funding because 'if you give people money and you make it less painful to be in a recession,' governors 'will not have an incentive' to reopen the economy." Mrs. McC: I don't have to tell you that Li'l Randy has not voted to cut his own salary, the better to suffer along with the rest of us so as to nudge governors along. Ah, To see oursels as ithers see us!

Georgia. Kemp Can't Handle the Truth. Greg Bluestein & Scott Trubey of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “Gov. Brian Kemp accused The Atlanta Journal-Constitution of playing 'pandemic politics' and sparking panic at a testy press conference Wednesday, a day after a confidential report from ... Donald Trump’s coronavirus task force raised new concerns about his strategy to fight the disease. At the tail end of a media briefing focused on a new human trafficking crackdown, Kemp grew visibly upset as he fielded questions about the report, which urged Georgia officials to take 'continued, expanded and stronger mitigation efforts, including in all open schools.'... In a statement, AJC Editor Kevin Riley said: “The Atlanta Journal-Constitution summarized a White House report that said Georgia has the highest rate of new cases in the nation. The article included information about a recent decline in new cases and hospitalizations, and in positive test rates.... Attacking factual news reports won’t change the course of this pandemic in Georgia.'”

Venezuela. This Is Horrible. Anatoly Kurmanaev, et al., of the New York Times: “Venezuelan officials are denouncing people who may have come into contact with the coronavirus as 'bioterrorists' and urging their neighbors to report them. The government is detaining and intimidating doctors and experts who question the president’s policies on the virus. And it is corralling thousands of Venezuelans who are streaming home after losing jobs abroad, holding them in makeshift containment centers out of fear that they may be infected. President Nicolás Maduro has tackled the coronavirus much as he has any internal threat to his rule: by deploying his repressive security apparatus against it.” (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McC: The good news: Trump's response to the coronavirus U.S. is not as bad as Maduro's. The bad news: Trump probably would not do anything as bad as Maduro has done re: Covid-19, but a president* who would call for a boycott of a large American corporation because it didn't allow employes to wear political advocacy paraphernalia to work would pull quite a few stunts limiting Americans' Constitutional freedoms during a second term.

Alexander Mallin of ABC News: "Attorney General William Barr announced Wednesday that there have been nearly 1,500 arrests across eight U.S. cities thus far under the 'Operation Legend' law enforcement initiative launched roughly six weeks ago and highlighted by ... Donald Trump in his reelection campaign. Of those arrests, according to the Justice Department, approximately 217 defendants have been charged with federal crimes, most of which are drug and gun-related. Barr said investigators have also assisted state and local authorities in bringing homicide charges against more than 90 defendants. 'That’s more than 90 suspected killers who might still be on the streets without Operation Legend,' Barr said at a news conference in Kansas City, Missouri." Mrs. McC: Why not call it "Operation Trump Campaign"?

David Cay Johnston of DC Report: "New rules from the Trump administration will allow toxic methane gas to spew into the atmosphere while destroying jobs and speeding up global temperature increases.... Think of this as Trumpian idiocracy vs. science and sound economics. Every day that idiocracy prevails means decades of damage to the air we breathe and further disruption of the climate. The Trump rules let methane gas flow freely into the atmosphere. Methane is at least 80 times worse for raising global temperatures than carbon dioxide.... Climate scientists at Cornell University believe methane from North American shale wells accounts for 'more than half of all of the increased emissions from fossil fuels globally and approximately one-third of the total increased emissions from all sources globally over the past decade.'" --s

Katie Shepherd of the Washington Post: “A crowd of protesters marched to a county building in southeast Portland on Tuesday night, where a handful of people in masks and all-black outfits threw rocks through windows and lit a small fire inside, marking the 83rd night of protests in Portland that have led to millions of dollars in damage to city property, officials said. Several hundred people participated in the peaceful protest before a smaller group broke off, police said, lighting fires in dumpsters in the street to block traffic and slow down police who later tried to clear the scene. Some sprayed anti-police graffiti on the county building and scrawled instructions to 'aim here' across the windows on the first floor.”

Beyond the Beltway

California. Thomas Fuller of the New York Times: "On Wednesday millions of California residents were smothered by smoke-filled skies as dozens of wildfires raged out of control. They braced for triple-digit temperatures, the sixth day of a punishing heat wave that included a recent reading of 130 degrees in Death Valley. They braced for possible power outages because the state’s grid is overloaded, the latest sign of an energy crisis. And they continued to fight a virus that is killing 130 Californians a day. Even for a state accustomed to disaster, August has been a terrible month. Across the state there were 23 major fires reported on Wednesday and more than 300 smaller ones." ~~~

~~~ The New York Times has live updates of fire developments here.

Way Beyond

Russia. Mary Ilyushina & Zahra Ullah of CNN: "Russian opposition leader and outspoken Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny was unconscious and on a ventilator in a Siberian hospital Thursday after falling ill from suspected poisoning, his spokesperson said. Navalny, 44, started feeling unwell while on a return flight to Moscow from the Siberian city of Tomsk, his spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh, said on Twitter. The plane later made an urgent landing in Omsk, she added. He only drank black tea in an airport cafe before takeoff, Yarmysh told Russian radio station Echo of Moscow. 'We assume that Alexey was poisoned with something mixed into the tea. It was the only thing that he drank in the morning. Doctors say the toxin was absorbed faster through the hot liquid,' Yarmysh tweeted." A developing New York Times story is here.