The Commentariat -- Sept. 20, 2020

Afternoon Update:

In a compelling speech, Vice President Joe Biden addressed the nation on the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg: ~~~

     ~~~ Joe is awfully good at showing how small Donald Trump & Mitch McConnell are.

Emily Davies, et al., of the Washington Post: "The grounds of the Supreme Court bloomed into a memorial to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, drawing thousands who came to honor and remember the trailblazing icon.Mourners began arriving at the high court soon after news of her death came Friday evening, growing to a crowd of more than 1,000 who cried, sang and occasionally applauded. On Saturday, as the sun rose, dozens of people stood in silence as a flag flew at half-staff. And they kept coming by the hundreds. Bouquets, signs and chalk messages honoring Ginsburg multiplied by the minute. Joggers stopped mid-run, bikers paused and rested on their handlebars, and mothers from across the D.C. region brought their daughters to pay tribute to the pioneering liberal lawyer and advocate for equality. Even as lawmakers began to clash over when she would be replaced, the space outside the court was mostly one of quiet reflection. By nightfall, thousands packed the plaza, holding candles and listening to speakers."

Jordain Carney of the Hill: "Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said on Sunday that the Senate should not take up a Supreme Court nomination before the election, becoming the second GOP senator to voice opposition to a vote before Nov. 3. 'For weeks, I have stated that I would not support taking up a potential Supreme Court vacancy this close to the election. Sadly, what was then a hypothetical is now our reality, but my position has not changed,' Murkowski said in a statement. 'I did not support taking up a nomination eight months before the 2016 election to fill the vacancy created by the passing of Justice Scalia. We are now even closer to the 2020 election - less than two months out - and I believe the same standard must apply,' she added.... [Mitch] McConnell has not weighed in on the timing. If he wants to hold a vote before the election, he will need to hold together at least 50 of his 53 members, which would let Vice President Pence break a tie. That means in addition to [Susan] Collins [Maine] and Murkowski, Democrats need to win over at least two additional GOP senators."

Shane Goldmacher, et al., of the New York Times: "Despite the Biden team’s confidence, the prospect of Mr. Trump's appointing a third justice to the Supreme Court in his first term injects a highly volatile element into the race just six weeks before the election. Court battles have long been seen as greater motivation for Republican voters than for Democrats, though the record sums of money flooding into Democratic campaigns in the hours after Justice Ginsburg's death offered progressives hope that they might be equally energized this time. Still, Biden campaign officials said on Saturday that they did not see even a Supreme Court vacancy and the passions it will inevitably inflame as reason to fundamentally reorient the campaign's approach.... While confirmation fights have long centered on hot-button cultural divides such as guns and especially abortion, the Biden campaign, at least at the start, plans to chiefly focus on protecting the Affordable Care Act and its popular guarantee of coverage for people with pre-existing conditions." A Politico story, by Marc Caputo, is here.

John Parkinson of ABC News: "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi paid tribute to the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Sunday, calling her a 'powerful, brilliant brain on the court' in an appearance on ABC's 'This Week,' while refusing to take another impeachment inquiry off the table in order to block ... Donald Trump's upcoming nominee to the Supreme Court. 'We have our options. We have arrows in our quiver that I'm not about to discuss right now but the fact is we have a big challenge in our country. This president has threatened to not even accept the results of the election,' Pelosi told ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos. 'Our main goal would be to protect the integrity of the election as we protect the people from the coronavirus.'" ~~~

~~~ Axios: "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on ABC's 'This Week' on Sunday that President Trump is rushing to replace the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg because he 'wants to crush the Affordable Care Act....' Pelosi wants to steer the conversation around the potential Ginsburg replacement to health care, which polls show is a top issue for voters, especially amid the coronavirus pandemic. The Trump administration has urged the courts to strike down the law, and with it, protections for millions with pre-existing conditions.... The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments on the constitutionality of the ACA on Nov. 10, one week after the general election. In 2017, 20 Republican attorneys general sued to get rid of the ACA, with the Trump administration's support, charging that because Congress had repealed the individual mandate, the entire law was no longer valid. The law has worked its way back to the Supreme Court after a federal judge ruled the law was unconstitutional and an appeals court said the law's individual mandate was unconstitutional."

Jordan Novet, et al., of CNBC: "... Donald Trump said Saturday he has approved a deal in principle in which Oracle and Walmart will partner with the viral video-sharing app TikTok in the U.S., allowing the popular app to avoid a shutdown. 'I have given the deal my blessing -- if they get it done that's great, if they don't that's okay too,' Trump told reporters on the White House South Lawn before departing for North Carolina. 'I approved the deal in concept.' The U.S. Department of Commerce announced it would delay the prohibition of U.S. transactions with TikTok until next Sunday. Shortly after Trump's comments, Oracle announced it was chosen as TikTok's secure cloud provider and will become a minority investor with a 12.5% stake. TikTok confirmed Oracle's role and said it was working with Walmart on a commercial partnership." ~~~

~~~ Alexis Benveniste of CNN: "The back-and-forth of the TikTok deal has been rocky, but ... Donald Trump is certain that he wants to use the deal to create a $5 billion fund to 'educate people' about the 'real history of our country.' 'I think Walmart is going to buy it along with Oracle,' Trump said on Saturday at a rally in Fayetteville, North Carolina. He went on to say that as part of the deal, he requested '$5 billion into a fund for education so we can educate people as to real history of our country -- the real history, not the fake history.'" Mrs. McC: Real History, according to Prof. Trump: Donald Trump never told a lie. Donald Trump freed the slaves. Donald Trump led the Rough Riders up San Juan Hill. Donald Trump saved the crew of PT-109.

~~~ Jeanne Whalen of the Washington Post: "A federal court granted a preliminary injunction halting the Trump administration's planned ban of Chinese app WeChat, in response to a plaintiff lawsuit saying the ban would harm their First Amendment rights. The United States District Court in San Francisco said the plaintiffs, a group of WeChat users, had shown there are 'serious questions' related to their First Amendment claim. The Trump administration had planned to effectively ban WeChat in the U.S. late tonight by preventing it from appearing in mobile-phone app stores, and by blocking the app's access to Internet hosting services in the U.S. The planned ban stemmed from Trump's Aug. 6 executive order that declared that WeChat posed a threat to national security because it collected 'vast swaths' of data on Americans and other users, and offered the Chinese Communist Party an avenue for censoring or distorting information."

~~~~~~~~~~

Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: The Washington Post adopted the alliterative slogan "Democracy Dies in Darkness" in early 2017, to an appropriate degree of mockery. While we probably can agree that "sunlight is the best disinfectant" -- a less menacing expression of the same sentiment -- what we have learned these last few years is that democracy is dying in the light of day. We see evidence of its slow, painful death almost daily. A more accurate, if less catchy, saying might be "democracy dies in increments." It may be impossible to pinpoint the first incident that began the United States' descent. You might push it all the way back to nearly the birth of the nation, when the founders adopted a Constitution with a built-in undemocratic structure. Some of the fundamental errors of that original document have been cured, but others continue to plague us: the Electoral College, unequal representation in the Senate, the absence of a right to vote. In our recent history, surely one pernicious infection to our limited democratic body occurred the day the unscrupulous Mitch McConnell became the Senate's Republican leader in November 2006. ~~~

     ~~~ Update: As proof of how very undemocratic the courts are, Ian Millhiser of Vox provides the numbers: "Trump's two previous Supreme Court appointees, Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh..., share a dubious distinction.... They are the only members of the Supreme Court in history to be nominated by a president who lost the popular vote and confirmed by a bloc of senators who represent less than half of the country.... The [Senate's] Democratic 'minority' represents 15 million more people than the Republican 'majority').... If Trump fills the Ginsburg seat, fully one-third of the Court will be controlled by judges with no democratic legitimacy." ~~~

~~~ Maureen Dowd is not optimistic: "As it turned out, the founders created a country painfully vulnerable to whoever happens to be president. They assumed that future presidents would cherish what they had so painfully created, and continue to knit together different kinds of people from different areas with different economic interests. But now that we have a president who takes those knitting needles and stabs the country mercilessly with them, we can see how fragile this whole thing really is. All the stuff we took for granted -- from presidential ethics to electoral integrity to a nonpolitical attorney general -- is blown to smithereens.... He clearly doesn't see himself as president of a majority of the country. Whenever he talks about the half of the country that didn't vote for him, he paints a picture of a Scorsese urban hellscape the minute you cross state lines. On Wednesday, the president offered the heinous hypothetical that the death toll from the coronavirus would not be as bad 'if you take the blue states out.'"

** The Good. Nina Totenberg of NPR writes of her decades-long friendship with Ruth Bader Ginsburg. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

The Bad & the Ugly. Peter Baker & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "President Trump pressed Senate Republicans on Saturday to confirm his choice to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg 'without delay,' setting up a momentous battle sure to inflame the campaign even as party leaders weighed whether they could force a confirmation vote before the election on Nov. 3. Mr. Trump appears likely to nominate a successor to Justice Ginsburg this coming week after her death on Friday, a selection that if confirmed would shift the Supreme Court to the right for years. But with some Republican senators balking, Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader from Kentucky, was canvassing to figure out whether he had enough votes to rush a confirmation in the next six weeks. We were put in this position of power and importance to make decisions for the people who so proudly elected us, the most important of which has long been considered to be the selection of United States Supreme Court Justices,' Mr. Trump wrote Saturday morning on Twitter. 'We have this obligation, without delay!'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ The story has been updated. "Mr. Trump said he expected to announce his nomination in the next week and told a campaign rally that it 'will be a woman.'... In a telephone conversation on Friday night with Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the majority leader, according to two people familiar with the call, Mr. Trump identified two women as candidates: Judges Amy Coney Barrett of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago and Barbara Lagoa of the 11th Circuit in Atlanta." ~~~

     ~~~ Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: At the rally, which was held in Fayetteville, N.C., Trump celebrated & joked about his chance to pick another Supreme Court "justice." "The raucous nature of the rally stood in contrast to the vigil held for Ginsburg in Washington by the legions of the liberal justice's fans." Mrs. McC: I was surprised when someone at the White House released an appropriate statement about Justice Ginsburg's death, but I'm sure it comes as no surprise to anyone that it took Trump less than 24 hours to start showing the world how glad he is she died. ~~~

     ~~~ Blake Montgomery of the Daily Beast: "Moments after vowing to nominate a woman to the Supreme Court at his campaign rally in North Carolina on Saturday night, President Trump asked some of his female supporters in the crowd if their husbands had approved their attendance ... when he apparently recognized some of the women in Fayetteville from other rallies." Mrs. McC: This is yet another way Donald the Feminist mocks a chunk of Ruth Ginsburg's life's work. Ginsburg expanded women's rights by applying the equal protection clause to women; in Trump's view, the concept doesn't even exist, and wives remain chattel who must ask their husband's permission before doing anything. I doubt the mockery is intentional; it's just what Trump thinks is the "natural" order.

The Most Dishonest Senator. Matthew Schwartz of NPR: Lindsey "Graham [R-S.C.], who as chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee would oversee confirmation hearings, said Saturday that he would support President Trump 'in any effort to move forward regarding the recent vacancy created by the passing of Justice Ginsburg.' But this is a reversal from his earlier position; Graham has said multiple times that if a vacancy opened up in the run-up to a presidential election, he would hold off on confirmation. 'I want you to use my words against me. If there's a Republican president in 2016 and a vacancy occurs in the last year of the first term, you can say Lindsey Graham said, "Let's let the next president, whoever it might be, make that nomination,"' he said in 2016 shortly after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. 'And you could use my words against me and you'd be absolutely right.' Graham repeated the sentiment in October 2018 in an interview with The Atlantic's editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg. 'If an opening comes in the last year of President Trump's term, and the primary process has started, we'll wait till the next election.'" Graham has recently put forward phony rationales for going back on his word." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Alexander Bolton of the Hill: "Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), a key centrist vote in the Senate, said Saturday that the Senate should not vote to confirm late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's successor before the election and the nominee should be chosen by whoever wins on Nov. 3. 'Given the proximity of the presidential election ... I do not believe that the Senate should vote on the nominee prior to the election,' Collins said in a statement. 'In fairness to the American people, who will either be re-electing the president or selecting a new one, the decision on a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court should be made by the president who is elected on Nov. 3.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Pardon my cynicism, but this likely means that Mitch has secured assurances from 50 or more senators that they will vote to proceed with the confirmation process. Collins is behind her Democratic opponent Sara Gideon in recent polls, so Mitch can afford for her to take a fake "principled stand."

Steve M. "I think voters who aren't politically engaged will learn about this, see Trump and McConnell defying her last wishes, and be repulsed by their defiance of her final request. This has been an election about decency vs. cruelty. This will be another reminder of Trump and McConnell's cold-blooded, unfeeling nature. It's not a good look a few weeks before an election." Mrs. McC: I sure hope Steve, who is a cynic nes plus ultra, is right about this. (Also linked yesterday.)

New York Times Editors: "Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg ... will forever have two legacies. The one Americans could be focusing on right now is the one of legal trailblazer: Justice Ginsburg, the second woman ever to be appointed to the Supreme Court, paved the way for women's equality before the law, and for women's rights to be taken seriously by the courts and by society.... The other legacy of Justice Ginsburg's that the country is now urgently forced to confront is the cold political reality that she died in the final weeks of a presidential campaign, at a moment when President Trump and Mitch McConnell ... appear to be dead-set on replacing her with someone who would obliterate much of the progress she helped the country make. The court now faces a serious crisis of legitimacy. Senate Republicans, who represent a minority of the nation, and a president elected by a minority of the nation, are now in a position to solidify their control of the third branch of government."

Katelyn Burns of Vox: "According to the Democratic donor site ActBlue, $6.2 million flowed through the site in the 9 pm hour Friday, immediately following news of Ginsburg's death. It was more money raised in a single hour on the site since its launch 16 years ago -- and it was immediately eclipsed by the 10 pm hour, which saw $6.3 million raised." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Elena Schneider of Politico: "Democratic online donors set a new one-day fundraising record on ActBlue in the hours following Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death, pouring money into Democratic Senate campaigns and other causes as Republican senators pledge to vote for a new justice nominated by ... Donald Trump. Donors gave more than $42 million to candidates and groups Saturday via ActBlue, the digital fundraising platform widely used by Democratic candidates and political committees, with more than eight hours to go in the day, according to the ticker on the front page of ActBlue's website." ~~~

~~~ Michael Shear & Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "Just hours after Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death was announced on Friday, the leaders of three of the left's most potent advocacy groups, Demand Justice, Naral Pro-Choice America and Indivisible, were on a call with 1,000 progressive activists and strategists to begin to unfurl a plan they hoped they would not have to use. Demand Justice, a relatively new group led by the longtime Democratic aide Brian Fallon to match the powerful conservative legal apparatus, quickly pledged to spend $10 million 'to fight to ensure no justice is confirmed before the January inauguration.' At the same time, a coalition of President Trump's conservative allies said Saturday that it was preparing for an intense confrontation over Justice Ginsburg's seat, and was gearing up for a lobbying and public relations blitz. The message: Move quickly to replace her." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Presidential Race, Ctd.

Josh Gerstein of Politico: "The first signs of the impact of Ruth Bader Ginsburg's absence may come in a flurry of election-related disputes expected to reach the Supreme Court on an emergency basis in the coming weeks.... With scores of court challenges underway across the country seeking or opposing coronavirus-related changes to voting procedures, the change in the ideological balance of the high court could affect the outcome of such fights -- even if a new justice doesn't take the bench until after the election.... Donald Trump signaled Saturday night that he expects federal judges to play a key role in achieving a definitive result within hours of the polls closing on Election Day."

Trump Again Plays "How Low Can He Go" Against Himself. Mark Joyella of Forbes: "At a rally in Minnesota, President Trump described an MSNBC anchor hit by a rubber bullet while covering protests after the death of George Floyd in May as 'a beautiful sight,' comments quickly condemned by journalists including CNN's Jake Tapper. 'Absolutely heinous,' Tapper said on Twitter Saturday afternoon. 'Ali Velshi didn't deserve to be shot by a rubber bullet...and it's twisted for anyone, least of all a president, to call it "law and order."'... Velshi was reporting live in Minneapolis when police began firing rubber bullets and using tear gas against protesters -- while seeming to make no effort to avoid targeting journalists. Velshi, who told MSNBC viewers that there had been 'no provocation' before police began using force. 'The police pulled into this intersection, right into the middle of the crowd.' Velshi, video shows, was retreating -- and warning other journalists to take cover -- when he was hit. Despite the president falsely claiming that Velshi fell to the ground wailing 'my leg, my leg,' no such thing actually happened. Velshi told viewers he'd been hit and appeared to lean against a parked car."

Virginia. Nick Corasaniti & Stephanie Saul of the New York Times: "A group of Trump supporters waving campaign flags disrupted the second day of early voting in Fairfax, Va., on Saturday, chanting 'four more years' as voters entered a polling location and, at one point, forming a line that voters had to walk around outside the site. County election officials eventually were forced to open up a larger portion of the Fairfax County Government Center to allow voters to wait inside away from the Trump enthusiasts. Election officials said that the group stayed about 100 feet from the entrance to the building and, contrary to posts on social media, were not directly blocking access to the building. But they acknowledged that some voters and polling staff members felt intimidated by what some saw as protesters.... In an unnerved electorate, where concerns about voting rights and safely voting amid the coronavirus pandemic are at a fever pitch, the demonstration outside of a polling place served as preview of a likely contentious election season, and how groups may be utilizing tactics that rattle or even deter voters over the next six weeks." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: It's notable that this incident of voter intimidation grew out of a Republican party-sponsored event: "The demonstration originated from a 'Trump Train' parade that began in nearby Prince William County and featured Tommy Hicks Jr., the current Republican National Committee co-chairman. The event was set to end in the parking lot of the government center, which was also serving as the polling location on Saturday. Some of the people who attended the parade walked over to vote. Others gathered outside and began chanting, 'four more years, four more years!'" A party official defended the Trump backers' actions.

The Trumpidemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Saturday are here. Several news outlets, including NBC News (but not the Times or WashPo) are reporting that more than 200,000 Americans have died from Covid-19. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

** A Dangerous Power Grab. Sheila Kaplan of the New York Times: "In a stunning declaration of authority, Alex M. Azar II, the secretary of health and human services, this week barred the nation’s health agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration, from signing any new rules regarding the nation's foods, medicines, medical devices and other products, including vaccines. Going forward, Mr. Azar wrote in a Sept. 15 memorandum..., such power 'is reserved to the Secretary.' The bulletin was sent to heads of operating and staff divisions within H.H.S. It's unclear if or how the memo would change the vetting and approval process for coronavirus vaccines, three of which are in advanced clinical trials in the United States.... Dr. Peter Lurie, president of the Center for Science in the Public Interest and a former associate commissioner of the F.D.A., called the new policy 'a power grab.'"

Denise Grady, et al., of the New York Times: "AstraZeneca revealed details of its large coronavirus vaccine trials on Saturday, the third in a wave of rare disclosures by drug companies under pressure to be more transparent about how they are testing products that are the world's best hope for ending the pandemic."

Emily Shugerman of the Daily Beast: "The doctor at the center of a scandal over unwanted hysterectomies at an immigrant detention facility in Georgia is not a board certified OB-GYN, The Daily Beast has learned. Dr. Mahendra Amin came under scrutiny after immigrant rights groups issued a report accusing him of conducting unnecessary or unwanted gynecological procedures on women detained at the Irwin County Detention Center in Ocilla, Georgia. On Friday, a spokesperson for the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology told The Daily Beast that its records show Amin is not certified by the organization."

Evan Perez of CNN: "A package containing the poison ricin and addressed to ... Donald Trump was intercepted by law enforcement earlier this week, according to two law enforcement officials. Two tests were done to confirm the presence of ricin. All mail for the White House is sorted and screened at an offsite facility before reaching the White House. A US law enforcement official told CNN that investigators are looking into the possibility the ricin package sent to Trump came from Canada. The FBI and Secret Service are investigating the matter. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

The Commentariat -- Sept. 19, 2020

Afternoon Update:

** The Good. Nina Totenberg of NPR writes of her decades-long friendship with Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

The Bad & the Ugly. Peter Baker & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "President Trump pressed Senate Republicans on Saturday to confirm his choice to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg 'without delay,' setting up a momentous battle sure to inflame the campaign even as party leaders weighed whether they could force a confirmation vote before the election on Nov. 3. Mr. Trump appears likely to nominate a successor to Justice Ginsburg this coming week after her death on Friday, a selection that if confirmed would shift the Supreme Court to the right for years. But with some Republican senators balking, Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader from Kentucky, was canvassing to figure out whether he had enough votes to rush a confirmation in the next six weeks. We were put in this position of power and importance to make decisions for the people who so proudly elected us, the most important of which has long been considered to be the selection of United States Supreme Court Justices,' Mr. Trump wrote Saturday morning on Twitter. 'We have this obligation, without delay!'" ~~~

~~~ The Most Dishonest Senator. Matthew Schwartz of NPR: Lindsey "Graham [R-S.C.], who as chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee would oversee confirmation hearings, said Saturday that he would support President Trump 'in any effort to move forward regarding the recent vacancy created by the passing of Justice Ginsburg.' But this is a reversal from his earlier position; Graham has said multiple times that if a vacancy opened up in the run-up to a presidential election, he would hold off on confirmation. 'I want you to use my words against me. If there's a Republican president in 2016 and a vacancy occurs in the last year of the first term, you can say Lindsey Graham said, "Let's let the next president, whoever it might be, make that nomination,"' he said in 2016 shortly after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. 'And you could use my words against me and you'd be absolutely right.' Graham repeated the sentiment in October 2018 in an interview with The Atlantic's editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg. 'If an opening comes in the last year of President Trump's term, and the primary process has started, we'll wait till the next election.'" Graham has recently put forward phony rationales for going back on his word.

Alexander Bolton of the Hill: "Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), a key centrist vote in the Senate, said Saturday that the Senate should not vote to confirm late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's successor before the election and the nominee should be chosen by whoever wins on Nov. 3. 'Given the proximity of the presidential election ... I do not believe that the Senate should vote on the nominee prior to the election,' Collins said in a statement. 'In fairness to the American people, who will either be re-electing the president or selecting a new one, the decision on a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court should be made by the president who is elected on Nov. 3.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Pardon my cynicism, but this probably means that Mitch has secured assurances from 50 or more senators that they will vote to proceed with confirmation. Collins is behind her Democratic opponent Sara Gideon in recent polls, so Mitch can afford for her to take a fake "principled stand."

Steve M. "I think voters who aren't politically engaged will learn about this, see Trump and McConnell defying her last wishes, and be repulsed by their defiance of her final request. This has been an election about decency vs. cruelty. This will be another reminder of Trump and McConnell's cold-blooded, unfeeling nature. It's not a good look a few weeks before an election." Mrs. McC: I sure hope Steve, who is a cynic nes plus ultra, is right about this.

Katelyn Burns of Vox: "According to the Democratic donor site ActBlue, $6.2 million flowed through the site in the 9 pm hour Friday, immediately following news of Ginsburg's death. It was more money raised in a single hour on the site since its launch 16 years ago -- and it was immediately eclipsed by the 10 pm hour, which saw $6.3 million raised." ~~~

~~~ Michael Shear & Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "Just hours after Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death was announced on Friday, the leaders of three of the left's most potent advocacy groups, Demand Justice, Naral Pro-Choice America and Indivisible, were on a call with 1,000 progressive activists and strategists to begin to unfurl a plan they hoped they would not have to use. Demand Justice, a relatively new group led by the longtime Democratic aide Brian Fallon to match the powerful conservative legal apparatus, quickly pledged to spend $10 million 'to fight to ensure no justice is confirmed before the January inauguration.' At the same time, a coalition of President Trump's conservative allies said Saturday that it was preparing for an intense confrontation over Justice Ginsburg's seat, and was gearing up for a lobbying and public relations blitz. The message: Move quickly to replace her."

The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Saturday are here. Several news outlets, including NBC News (but not the Times or WashPo) are reporting that more than 200,000 Americans have died from Covid-19.

Evan Perez of CNN: "A package containing the poison ricin and addressed to ... Donald Trump was intercepted by law enforcement earlier this week, according to two law enforcement officials. Two tests were done to confirm the presence of ricin. All mail for the White House is sorted and screened at an offsite facility before reaching the White House. A US law enforcement official told CNN that investigators are looking into the possibility the ricin package sent to Trump came from Canada. The FBI and Secret Service are investigating the matter.

~~~~~~~~~~

John Kruzel of the Hill: "Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the liberal leader of the Supreme Court and a trailblazing champion of women's rights, died on Friday. She was 87 years old." ~~~

~~~ ** Linda Greenhouse writes the New York Times obituary for Justice Ginsburg. ~~~

~~~ Robert Barnes & Michael Fletcher write the Washington Post's obituary of Justice Ginsburg. "The death was announced in a statement by the U.S. Supreme Court. She had recently been treated for pancreatic cancer. Born in Depression-era Brooklyn, Justice Ginsburg excelled academically and went to the top of her law school class at a time when women were still called upon to justify taking a man's place. She earned a reputation as the legal embodiment of the women's liberation movement and as a widely admired role model for generations of female lawyers. Working in the 1970s with the American Civil Liberties Union, Justice Ginsburg successfully argued a series of cases before the high court that strategically chipped away at the legal wall of gender discrimination, eventually causing it to topple." ~~~

~~~ Joan Biskupic & Ariane de Vogue write Justice Ginsburg's obituary for CNN. ~~~

~~~ Nina Totenberg, a friend of Justice Ginsburg's, writes the Justice's obituary for NPR. "Just days before her death, as her strength waned, Ginsburg dictated this statement to her granddaughter Clara Spera: 'My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed.'" ~~~

President Barack Obama's statement on Justice Ginsberg's passing.

Rebecca Shabad of NBC News: "'The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president,' [Senate Minority Leader Chuck] Schumer tweeted, quoting [Majority Leader] McConnell, who made the same statement during Barack Obama's presidency after Justice Antonin Scalia died in 2016 [Mrs. McC: about 10 months before the election & nearly a year before the next president* was sworn in]."

John Santucci & Katherine Faulders of ABC News: "... Donald Trump is expected to put forth a nominee to fill Ruth Bader Ginsburg's seat on the Supreme Court in the coming days, multiple sources close to the president and with direct knowledge of the situation told ABC News." ~~~

     ~~~ Anita Kumar, et al., of Politico: "Trump is expected to make a formal nomination as soon as the middle of next week, according to two people familiar with the plans."

~~~ Remember Merrick Garland. Ted Barrett of CNN: "Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell released a statement following the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, saying President Trump's nominee to fill her seat 'will receive a vote on the floor of the United States Senate.'" Mrs. McC: McConnell put out this statement while Justice Ginsberg's body was still warm. Actually. ~~~

~~~ Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "President Trump, who counts his two Supreme Court appointments as among his greatest successes, last week issued a new list of 20 potential nominees to the court. There was no vacancy at the time, and the exercise seemed aimed at focusing attention on an issue that had helped secure his election in 2016." Mrs. McC: Nina Totenberg appeared on MSNBC last night, and she said she had learned a few weeks ago that Ginsberg was dying. Therefore, I would be willing to bet that Donald Trump knew, too, and that is why he flaunted his list of horribles for her "replacement." Perhaps I'm wrong, but I doubt it. Cruel, ghoulish bastard.

Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: A small crowd gathered outside the Supreme Court last night to mourn Ruth Bader Ginsburg. CNN reported that a few hecklers showed up. I saw a clip of a man pushing a woman in the group, which is more than "heckling." ~~~

Mrs. McCrabbie BTW: The documentary film "RBG" is available on Hulu & you can rent it on YouTube.

Presidential Race, Etc.

Trump's Racist Rally & Superspreader Spectacle. Matthew Choi of Politico: "... Donald Trump said his Democratic rival Joe Biden would 'turn Minnesota into a refugee camp' and bragged about deporting Somali nationals, sharpening his play for the battleground state during a Friday rally."

Sydney Ember & Reid Epstein of the New York Times: "Early voting began in four states on Friday, 46 days before Election Day on Nov. 3. Among the states where voters can now vote in person is Minnesota, where both President Trump and Joseph R. Biden Jr. will be making campaign stops on Friday. Voters also began casting ballots in South Dakota, Virginia and Wyoming. Elected Democrats, aiming to encourage their supporters to vote early, are eschewing the traditional Election Day photo-op for appearances at early voting sites. In Virginia, Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner voted in Richmond and Alexandria, while Gov. Ralph Northam cast his ballot in Richmond, where he was the fifth person in line at 8 a.m.... In 2012, Barack Obama became the first president to vote early, casting a ballot for himself at an early-voting site near his home on the South Side of Chicago." This is an item in the Times' election updates. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Michigan. David Eggert & Ed White of the AP: "A federal judge has blocked Michigan's longstanding ban on transporting voters to the polls, ruling it conflicts with U.S. election law. District Judge Stephanie Dawkins Davis in Detroit issued an injunction Thursday against enforcing the restriction in November's presidential election. A form of the prohibition has been on the books since 1895." --s ~~~

     ~~~ Eggert & White: "A judge on Friday cleared the way for more absentee ballots to be counted in Michigan, saying envelopes postmarked by the eve of the Nov. 3 election are eligible, even if they show up days later. The decision is significant in a state that is anticipating waves of absentee ballots this fall; about 2.3 million have already been requested. For absentee ballots to be counted, Michigan law requires them to be received by the time polls close on Election Day. But Court of Claims Judge Cynthia Stephens said there's a crucial need for flexibility in November, especially after more than 6,400 ballots were disqualified in the state's August primary election.... An absentee ballot can be counted if postmarked by Nov. 2 and received within 14 days after the election, said Stephens, who noted that it can take two weeks to certify Michigan election results anyway."

Arizona Senate Race. Yvonne Sanchez of the Arizona Republic: "If Mark Kelly [D] defeats incumbent Sen. Martha McSally [R] in Arizona's high-stakes [special] U.S. Senate race..., two Republican and Democratic election attorneys agree that state law and Senate practices would make Kelly eligible to take over the seat once held by Sen. John McCain as soon as Nov. 30, when the state election results are expected to be canvassed." McSally is an appointee. The November race is to take over McCain's Senate seat, not fill McSally's. Mrs. McC: How surprised would we be if Mitch McConnell refused to seat Kelly in December? For a normal leader, the fact that Kelly is an astronaut-hero married to former Congresswoman hero Gabby Giffords would make stiffing Kelly far more difficult. But Mitch is Mitch.

The Trumpidemic, Ctd.

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

David Lim of Politico: "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now says that close contacts of people with Covid-19 should be tested, regardless of whether they have symptoms -- reversing controversial recommendations it made last month, reportedly over the advice of agency scientists. CDC's testing guidelines now bluntly counsel people who have been within six feet of a person 'with documented SARS-CoV-2 infection' for at least 15 minutes to get screened. 'You need a test,' reads the latest version of the document, released Friday.... In addition to recommending testing for close contacts of sick people, the CDC now says that contacts should self-quarantine at home for 14 days, even if they test negative -- and stay away from other household members in a separate bedroom if possible."

White House Put Kibosh on Mass Mask Distribution. Benjamin Siegel & Lucien Bruggeman of ABC News: "The United States Postal Service drafted plans to distribute 650 million reusable cotton face masks to Americans last spring -- five to every household -- as the country grappled with the first wave of the coronavirus outbreak, according to USPS internal documents obtained by a watchdog group.... 'There was concern from some in the White House Domestic Policy Council and the office of the vice president that households receiving masks might create concern or panic,' one administration official told The Washington Post about the proposal. Instead, the initiative, announced by the Trump administration under the 'Project: America Strong,' was a more targeted program to send face masks to critical infrastructure sectors, companies and health care, community and religious organizations." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Noah Weiland of the New York Times: "... emails obtained by The New York Times ... illustrate how [Michael] Caputo and Dr. [Paul] Alexander [of Health & Human Services] tried to browbeat career officials at the C.D.C. at the height of the pandemic, challenging the science behind their public statements and trying to silence agency staff. On Friday, two days after Mr. Caputo went on medical leave and Dr. Alexander was dismissed from the Department of Health and Human Services, the C.D.C. reversed a heavily criticized recommendation suggesting that people who have had close contact with a person infected with the coronavirus do not need to get tested if they have no symptoms. The emails shed light on the monthslong fight that led to their departures.... Current and former C.D.C. officials called it a five-month campaign of bullying and intimidation."

How Jared Kushner Knowingly & Viciously Sickened & Killed Americans. Katherine Eban of Vanity Fair: On March 20, some of the U.S.'s top business leaders asked for a White House meeting to offer their help to fight the coronavirus pandemic, which had already hit New York hard. They "came armed with specific commitments of support, a memo on the merits of the Defense Production Act, a document outlining impediments to the private-sector response, and two key questions: How could they best help? And how could they best support the government's strategy?... [Jared] Kushner, seated at the head of the conference table, in a chair taller than all the others, was quick to strike a confrontational tone. 'The federal government is not going to lead this response,' he announced. 'It's up to the states to figure out what they want to do.'... 'Free markets will solve this,' Kushner said dismissively. 'That is not the role of government.'... [An] attendee [said] ... he feared that the system was breaking. As evidence, he pointed to a CNN report about New York governor Andrew Cuomo and his desperate call for supplies. That's the CNN bullshit,' Kushner snapped. 'They lie.' According to another attendee, Kushner then began to rail against the governor: 'Cuomo didn't pound the phones hard enough to get PPE for his state.... His people are going to suffer and that's their problem.'... Kushner was accompanied by Navy Rear Admiral John Polowczyk, who had just been posted to FEMA to lead supply-chain efforts. He heaped flattery on Kushner, calling his ideas 'brilliant,' and expressed skepticism concerning the motives of those in the room and on the phone."

Other Craziness, Corruption, Laziness & Lies

Jonathan Martin & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "After months of heated accusations and painstaking negotiations, the White House and the pharmaceutical industry neared agreement late last month on a plan to make good on President Trump's longstanding promise to lower drug prices. The drug companies would spend $150 billion to address out-of-pocket consumer costs and would even pick up the bulk of the co-payments that older Americans shoulder in Medicare's prescription drug program. Then the agreement collapsed. The breaking point, according to four people familiar with the discussions: Mark Meadows, Mr. Trump's chief of staff, insisted the drug makers pay for $100 cash cards that would be mailed to seniors before November -- 'Trump Cards,' some in the industry called them. Some of the drugmakers bridled at being party to what they feared would be seen as an 11th-hour political boost for Mr. Trump, the people familiar with the matter said."

Jamie Ross of the Daily Beast: "Lawyers representing the United States at Julian Assange's extradition trial in Britain have accepted the claim that the WikiLeaks founder was offered a presidential pardon by a Congressman on the condition that he would help cover up Russia's involvement in hacking emails from the Democratic National Committee.Jennifer Robinson, a lawyer, told the court that she had attended a meeting between Assange, then Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, and pro-Trump troll Charles Johnson at Assange's hide-out, the Ecuadorian embassy in London, on August 15, 2017. Robinson said the two Americans claimed to be emissaries from Washington and 'wanted us to believe they were acting on behalf of the president.' The pair allegedly told Assange that they could help grant him a pardon in exchange for him revealing information about the source of the WikiLeaks information that proved it was not the Russians who hacked Democratic emails." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Dan Alexander of Vanity Fair: Donald Trump has a 30% interest in a building in the San Francisco financial district that "is worth an estimated $442 million after debt -- making it the most valuable holding in his entire portfolio. It's worth more than twice as much as [his remaining interest in] Trump Tower, more than seven times as much as Trump's property in Vegas, 16 times as much as his Doral golf resort in Miami.... [On the] 43rd [floor is] a ... sign that read[s], 'Qatar Investment Authority Advisory (USA) Inc.' and, in smaller type, 'A subsidiary of the Qatar Investment Authority.' Nothing inside the place looked as if it had been touched.... [T]he office is just 5,557 square feet. If the Qataris are paying the average rate in the building, that would amount to $450,000 a year, and Trump's 30% would total $135,000.... Strip away the layers and it boils down to just the sort of arrangement the founding fathers feared. A foreign government, it seems, has been paying the president of the United States for more than a year. With so many other scandals brewing, this one has managed to go entirely undetected -- until now." --s ...

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I hope someone sometime figures out who got paid what to effect the supposed Trumpish Qatar-Israeli peace deal.

Aubrey Beldford & Adam Klasfeld of the OCCRP: "It was the day before Donald Trump's inauguration and, over lunch at Washington's Watergate Hotel, a foreign government was trying to break into the new U.S. administration.... The meeting on January 19, 2017, which has never before been disclosed, was key to building a close relationship between the administrations of Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. It has perhaps been the most successful foreign lobbying effort of the Trump presidency -- no mean feat for an administration mired from the beginning in foreign influence scandals.... The warm relationship that followed would see Trump administration officials, and the president himself, make decisions that baffled advisers who believed they put Erdoğan's interests over America's. In a recent memoir, Trump's former national security adviser, John Bolton, described a 'bromance' between the two leaders. But behind that bromance is a deeper story -- one that involves Russia-linked oligarchs, alleged crooks, and key players in Trump's Ukraine impeachment scandal, an investigation by OCCRP, Courthouse News Service and NBC News has found." --s

Aaron Davis of the Washington Post: "A pattern of campaign contributions by employees and relatives of Loui DeJoy before he became postmaster general indicates a possible effort to reimburse his associates for donations as recently as 2018, according to a Federal Election Commission complaint filed Thursday by a government watchdog group. The filing by the nonprofit Campaign Legal Center is the third complaint seeking a state or federal investigation since The Washington Post this month reported allegations that DeJoy and his aides urged employees at New Breed Logistics, his former North Carolina-based company, to write checks and attend fundraisers on behalf of Republican candidates. DeJoy then defrayed the cost of those political contributions from 2003 to 2014 by boosting employee bonuses, two employees told The Post.... 'There is reason to believe that Louis DeJoy violated [the Federal Election Campaign Act] by reimbursing his employees for federal political contributions, using his own funds and/or corporate funds from the company he led, XPO Logistics, and its predecessor, New Breed Logistics,' the complaint states." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Ana Swanson, et al., of the New York Times: "The Trump administration said Friday it would bar the Chinese-owned mobile apps WeChat and TikTok from U.S. app stores as of Sunday, striking a harsh blow against two popular services used by more than 100 million people in the United States.... TikTok is currently in talks to be acquired by the American software maker Oracle, and could announce a deal that assuages the administration's national security concerns. In its announcement, the Commerce Department said that the president had given until Nov. 12 for TikTok's national security concerns to be resolved, and if they were, the prohibitions in the order could be lifted.... [TikTok] has also been utilized as a political tool -- hundreds of teenage TikTok users claimed credit for low turnout at a rally for Mr. Trump in Tulsa, Okla., earlier this year." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Beyond the Beltway

Michigan. Tom Batchelor of Newsweek: "Hundreds of pro-gun activists have demonstrated at Michigan's State Capitol in support of the right to open-carry firearms inside the government building. Heavily-armed protestors, some waving Confederate flags and Trump campaign banners, stood on the lawn outside the capitol building in Lansing brandishing AR-15 firearms and wearing body armour. Among those in attendance were members of the Proud Boys -- a far-right, all-male organization with a history of violence against political opponents -- and the Michigan Liberty Militia, a paramilitary group. After two hours of speeches a group gathered on the steps of the Hall of Justice chanting 'U-S-A' and 'four more years' for Donald Trump."

The Commentariat -- Sept. 18, 2020

Afternoon Update:

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

Sydney Ember & Reid Epstein of the New York Times: "Early voting began in four states on Friday, 46 days before Election Day on Nov. 3. Among the states where voters can now vote in person is Minnesota, where both President Trump and Joseph R. Biden Jr. will be making campaign stops on Friday. Voters also began casting ballots in South Dakota, Virginia and Wyoming. Elected Democrats, aiming to encourage their supporters to vote early, are eschewing the traditional Election Day photo-op for appearances at early voting sites. In Virginia, Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner voted in Richmond and Alexandria, while Gov. Ralph Northam cast his ballot in Richmond, where he was the fifth person in line at 8 a.m.... In 2012, Barack Obama became the first president to vote early, casting a ballot for himself at an early-voting site near his home on the South Side of Chicago." This is an item in the Times' election updates.

Ana Swanson, et al., of the New York Times: "The Trump administration said Friday it would bar the Chinese-owned mobile apps WeChat and TikTok from U.S. app stores as of Sunday, striking a harsh blow against two popular services used by more than 100 million people in the United States.... TikTok is currently in talks to be acquired by the American software maker Oracle, and could announce a deal that assuages the administration's national security concerns. In its announcement, the Commerce Department said that the president had given until Nov. 12 for TikTok's national security concerns to be resolved, and if they were, the prohibitions in the order could be lifted.... [TikTok] has also been utilized as a political tool -- hundreds of teenage TikTok users claimed credit for low turnout at a rally for Mr. Trump in Tulsa, Okla., earlier this year."

White House Put Kibosh on Mass Mask Distribution. Benjamin Siegel & Lucien Bruggeman of ABC News: "The United States Postal Service drafted plans to distribute 650 million reusable cotton face masks to Americans last spring -- five to every household -- as the country grappled with the first wave of the coronavirus outbreak, according to USPS internal documents obtained by a watchdog group.... 'There was concern from some in the White House Domestic Policy Council and the office of the vice president that households receiving masks might create concern or panic,' one administration official told The Washington Post about the proposal. Instead, the initiative, announced by the Trump administration under the 'Project: America Strong,' was a more targeted program to send face masks to critical infrastructure sectors, companies and health care, community and religious organizations."

Aaron Davis of the Washington Post: "A pattern of campaign contributions by employees and relatives of Louis DeJoy before he became postmaster general indicates a possible effort to reimburse his associates for donations as recently as 2018, according to a Federal Election Commission complaint filed Thursday by a government watchdog group. The filing by the nonprofit Campaign Legal Center is the third complaint seeking a state or federal investigation since The Washington Post this month reported allegations that DeJoy and his aides urged employees at New Breed Logistics, his former North Carolina-based company, to write checks and attend fundraisers on behalf of Republican candidates. DeJoy then defrayed the cost of those political contributions from 2003 to 2014 by boosting employee bonuses, two employees told The Post.... 'There is reason to believe that Louis DeJoy violated [the Federal Election Campaign Act] by reimbursing his employees for federal political contributions, using his own funds and/or corporate funds from the company he led, XPO Logistics, and its predecessor, New Breed Logistics,' the complaint states."

Jamie Ross of the Daily Beast: "Lawyers representing the United States at Julian Assange's extradition trial in Britain have accepted the claim that the WikiLeaks founder was offered a presidential pardon by a Congressman on the condition that he would help cover up Russia's involvement in hacking emails from the Democratic National Committee. Jennifer Robinson, a lawyer, told the court that she had attended a meeting between Assange, then Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, and pro-Trump troll Charles Johnson at Assange's hide-out, the Ecuadorian embassy in London, on August 15, 2017. Robinson said the two Americans claimed to be emissaries from Washington and 'wanted us to believe they were acting on behalf of the president.' The pair allegedly told Assange that they could help grant him a pardon in exchange for him revealing information about the source of the WikiLeaks information that proved it was not the Russians who hacked Democratic emails."

~~~~~~~~~~

Presidential Race, Etc.

Katie Glueck of the New York Times: "Joseph R. Biden Jr. faced his first sustained questioning from voters as the Democratic presidential nominee on Thursday, as Pennsylvanians pressed him on issues including health care, racism and policing at a CNN town-hall-style event held less than seven weeks before Election Day. At a gathering in Moosic, Pa., not far from his childhood home in Scranton, Mr. Biden -- who played up his local, middle-class roots -- sought at every opportunity to turn the focus to President Trump's stewardship of the coronavirus, casting the president as a callous leader who cannot empathize with the concerns of most Americans and who has exacerbated the hardships they face.... Mr. Biden delivered a relatively energetic performance defined by withering criticism of Mr. Trump and palpable enthusiasm for connecting with voters after many months without much significant interaction with them...." Mrs. McC: I watched a bit of the event. It was so pleasant to see a candidate who knew the issues & could distill them for voters. And who managed to show he was aware of their problems & planned to address them. The contrast with Trump was stark. ~~~

     ~~~ Joseph Ax of Reuters: "... Joe Biden on Thursday bluntly contradicted ... Donald Trump's suggestion that a coronavirus vaccine may be only weeks away, warning Americans they cannot trust the president's word. 'The idea that there's going to be a vaccine and everything's gonna be fine tomorrow - it's just not rational,' Biden said during a CNN town hall in Moosic, Pennsylvania. Trump again said on Wednesday that a vaccine for COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, could be ready for distribution ahead of the Nov. 3 election.... Trump has accused Biden of spreading 'anti-vaccine rhetoric,' [Mrs. McC: not true] while Biden has emphasized that he will listen to scientists, not the president, regarding a vaccine's safety. [Mrs. McC: sensible]." Mrs. McC Note to Joe Ax: When a claim is false, write that down & report it out. ~~~

     ~~~ Glenn Thrush of the New York Times with some takeaways from Biden's town hall: "Mr. Trump and his backers have spent months suggesting, without proof, that Mr. Biden is in cognitive decline.... Despite a few miscues on Thursday night, Mr. Biden was lucid, sprightly, relaxed and conversant with granular details on energy policy, international relations, the economy and agricultural policy. At one point, he had to stop himself from going on a tangent about 'fertilizer and water tables.'... Mr. Trump's town hall on ABC earlier in the week had the feel of a confrontation between a chef and a restaurant full of angry patrons who hated what they were served.... CNN scheduled Mr. Biden's event near Scranton, Pa., his hometown, and Mr. Biden took fullest home-field advantage -- defusing potentially uncomfortable moments with folksy banter. When a former local police chief started to ask him a question about his stance on law-and-order, Mr. Biden interrupted with, 'Didn't I meet you when you were chief?' 'We did, sir,' the man responded."

~~~ From Moosic to Mosinee. AP: "... Donald Trump stepped up his rhetoric Thursday on cultural issues, aiming to boost enthusiasm among rural Wisconsin voters.... Trump's event took place largely outside an aircraft hangar at the Mosinee airport, his campaign's preferred format for mass rallies amid the coronavirus, though Trump has been willing to host large events indoors as well, sometimes in violation of state and federal distancing guidelines." ~~~

~~~ Earlier That Same Day. Aamer Madhani & Deb Riechmann of the AP: "... Donald Trump intensified efforts to appeal to his core base of white voters on Thursday by downplaying the historical legacy of slavery in the United States and blasting efforts to address systemic racism as divisive. The president's comments marking the 233rd anniversary of the signing of the Constitution amounted to a defense of white culture and a denunciation of Democrats, the media and others who he accused of trying to indoctrinate school children and shame their parents' 'whiteness.' He also argued that America's founding 'set in motion the unstoppable chain of events that abolished slavery, secured civil rights, defeated communism and fascism and built the most fair, equal and prosperous nation in human history.'... He said Thursday he will soon sign an order to establish a commission to promote patriotic education dubbed the 1776 Commission. The panel, he said, would be tasked with encouraging educators to teach students 'about the miracle of American history.'... The move is a response to The New York Times' '1619 Project,' which highlights the long-term consequences of slavery and the contributions of Black Americans." Thanks to Ken W. for the lead. ~~~

     ~~~ Trump Celebrates "Constitution Day" with Racist Speech. Maegan Vazquez of CNN: "In a speech rife with race-baiting and dog whistles, the President decried 'left-wing mobs' and claimed their tactics were comparable to anti-American propaganda used by foreign adversaries." ~~~

     ~~~ Michael Crowley of the New York Times: "President Trump escalated his attacks on 'left-wing demonstrators' and 'far-left mobs' on Thursday, portraying himself as a defender of American heritage against revolutionary fanatics and arguing for a new 'pro-American' curriculum in the nation's schools. Speaking at the National Archives Museum, Mr. Trump vowed to counter what he called an emerging classroom narrative that 'America is a wicked and racist nation,' and he said he would create a new '1776 Commission' to help 'restore patriotic education to our schools.' The president reiterated his condemnations of demonstrators who tear down monuments to historical American figures, and he even sought to link ... former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., to the removal of a founding father's statue in Mr. Biden's home state, Delaware.... Hours after extolling the United States' iconic heroes, Mr. Trump missed a [dedication] ceremony ... of a new memorial to President Dwight D. Eisenhower in Washington."

** Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "President Trump's response to the coronavirus pandemic showed a 'flat-out disregard for human life' because his 'main concern was the economy and his reelection,' according to a senior adviser on the White House coronavirus task force who left the White House in August. Olivia Troye, who worked as homeland security, counterterrorism and coronavirus adviser to Vice President Pence for two years, said that the administration's response cost lives and that she will vote for Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden this fall because of her experience in the Trump White House.... She was a major participant in the task force's work.... 'The president's rhetoric and his own attacks against people in his administration trying to do the work, as well as the promulgation of false narratives and incorrect information of the virus have made this ongoing response a failure,' she said in an interview.... 'I would not tell anyone I care about to take a vaccine that launches prior to the election,' she said.... Troye is the first Trump administration official who worked extensively on the coronavirus response to forcefully speak out against Trump and his handling of the pandemic." Administration officials took the opportunity to disparage Troye. CNN has a story here.~~~

~~~ Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "Despite Trump's repeated assertions to the contrary, the existing public record strongly supports [Olivia] Troye's contention that the president fumbled the government's response." Bump runs down a "greatest hits" list of Trumpian failures. ~~~

~~~ Betty Cracker of Balloon Juice: "The White House is trying to dismiss her as a deep state coffee girl, but it sounds like she has the goods, including details about how Trump interfered with scientists who were trying to manage the pandemic and his inexcusable politicization of mask-wearing[.]... Here's hoping some of the courageous generals will profit from the deep state coffee girl's example, step the fuck up already and spill all the goddamned tea." ~~~

~~~ Oh, Heavens to Betsy. Daniel Lippman & Michael Stratford of Politico: "Josh Venable, the former chief of staff to Education Secretary Betsy Devos, has joined another former Trump administration official's group opposing the president. Venable is lending his name as an adviser to the Republican Political Alliance for Integrity and Reform, a group [of] former Department of Homeland Security official Miles Taylor launched on Thursday of current and former Trump administration officials and other Republican leaders who want to see ... Donald Trump defeated in November.... Olivia Troye joined the group too...."

Former DNI Dan Coats writes a both-siderism New York Times op-ed for the books: "I propose that Congress ... create a supremely high-level bipartisan and nonpartisan commission to oversee the election.... It would monitor [ballot collection & tabulation] mechanisms and confirm for the public that the laws and regulations governing them have been scrupulously and expeditiously followed -- or that violations have been exposed and dealt with -- without political prejudice and without regard to political interests of either party. Also, this commission would be responsible for monitoring those forces that seek to harm our electoral system through interference, fraud, disinformation or other distortions.... The most urgent task American leaders face is to ensure that the election's results are accepted as legitimate..., rejecting the vicious partisanship that has disabled and destabilized government for too long.... We must firmly, unambiguously reassure all Americans that their vote will be counted, that it will matter, that the people's will expressed through their votes will not be questioned and will be respected and accepted." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Gee, Dan, who do you think is sowing doubt (trump barr) about the legitimacy of the vote? And why haven't you got the guts to say so? There seems to be a Fear of Trump that transcends firing & belittling & throwing sand in a former aide's face. ~~~

     ~~~ Martin Longman in the Washington Monthly: "... Donald Trump, is just as responsible for sowing doubt about the legitimacy of the upcoming elections as any Russian intelligence officer. What's especially troubling is that Coats knows this better than citizens who haven't had access to our most sensitive intelligence or the experience of working closely with Donald Trump. Yet, we don't need high-level access to classified information to notice Attorney General William Barr is doing everything he can to sow doubt about the results of the election. For months he's been warning that mail voting is susceptible to foreign manipulation, and he's been saying the same about Americans. As Dahlia Lithwick reports for Slate, Trump and Barr are doing a tag-team to convince us that 'our voting systems are faulty or fraudulent.'... It may be a nice idea for Congress to establish a commission to protect our elections, but the Republican Party is committed to the opposite which is why they'd never go along with Coats's idea." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Devlin Barrett of the Washington Post: "FBI Director Christopher A. Wray told Congress on Thursday that Russia is still working to influence the U.S. presidential election, and hoping to'denigrate' former vice president Joe Biden because it sees the Democratic nominee as part of an American policy establishment antagonistic to Moscow's interests. Election year politics were front and center at the House Homeland Security Committee hearing on threats to the country, as lawmakers pressed Wray to weigh in on a variety of issues where politics, extremism and violence overlap.... Unlike in 2016, when the most serious interference efforts involved hacking Democrats' emails and state election systems, Wray said Russian activity so far this year seems more limited to misinformation campaigns.... Trump's acting homeland security secretary, Chad Wolf, was a no-show Thursday, having broken his agreement to appear and prompting a showdown with the committee's chairman, who issued Wolf a subpoena." A Politico story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) The New York Times' story is here.

Louie's Bad Day

** Gene Johnson of the AP: "A U.S. judge on Thursday blocked controversial Postal Service changes that have slowed mail nationwide, calling them 'a politically motivated attack on the efficiency of the Postal Service' before the November election. Judge Stanley Bastian in Yakima, Washington, said he was issuing a nationwide preliminary injunction sought by 14 states that sued the Trump administration and the U.S. Postal Service.... The judge noted after a hearing that Trump had repeatedly attacked voting by mail by making unfounded claims that it is rife with fraud.... He also said the changes created 'a substantial possibility many voters will be disenfranchised.' Bastian, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, issued a written order later Thursday that closely tracked the relief sought by the states. It ordered the Postal Service to stop implementing the 'leave behind' policy, to treat all election mail as first class mail rather than as slower-moving categories, to reinstall any mail processing machines needed to ensure the prompt handling of election mail, and to inform its employees about the requirements of his injunction." A Washington Post story is here.

Tony Romm & others of the Washington Post write a long piece, based on some 10,000 emails & other documents, about how the USPS was in crisis even before Louis DeJoy took over, partly because of consequences of the coronavirus & partly because of action & inaction by the Trump administration & pro-Trump advisors. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Pennsylvania & Washington State. Nick Corasanini, et al., of the New York Times: "Courts on both sides of the United States issued rulings on Thursday that could expand mail-in voting in the election in November, as the postmaster general privately apologized to state officials for missteps in his agency's efforts to educate voters on mail-in ballots. In Pennsylvania, the state Supreme Court paved the way for more mail-in ballots to be counted by extending the due date they must be received by election officials and allowing expanded use of drop boxes. In Washington State, a federal judge blocked operational and policy changes made by the Postal Service in recent months that have slowed mail delivery and amounted to 'voter disenfranchisement.' Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, who instituted those changes, conceded during a video conference with election officials on Thursday afternoon that he had failed to adequately consult with state election officials on a postcard that was sent to addresses nationwide to educate voters about mail-in ballots."

Pennsylvania. Amy Gardner of the Washington Post: "The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Thursday blocked the Green Party presidential ticket from state ballots, allowing state and local election officials to resume preparations for Nov. 3 and begin mailing ballots to voters. The court ruled that presidential contender Howie Hawkins and his running mate, Angela Walker, did not qualify for the ballot because the party did not submit signed filing papers in person, as required by state rules. It's the second such ruling in a week. On Monday, the Wisconsin Supreme Court found deficiencies in the Green Party's ballot petition in that state, excluding the party from the ballot." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Alabama. Igor Bobic of the Huffington Post: "Alabama Republican Senate candidate Tommy Tuberville struggled to explain his position on questions surrounding the Voting Rights Act and had difficulty describing the law, according to audio obtained by HuffPost on Thursday. The former Auburn University football coach, a political neophyte running to unseat Sen. Doug Jones (D), was asked whether he supported extending the landmark 1965 civil rights statute during a Sept. 1 call with the Birmingham, Alabama, Sunrise Rotary Club. His answer ... verges on the incomprehensible and raises doubts about his understanding of the law that was key to ending the sweeping suppression of voting by Black people in the South[.]" Mrs. McC: Tuberville is likely to win, and what this country needs right now is one more know-nothing senator who doesn't give jack about minority voting rights.

Craziness, Corruption, Laziness & Lies

Even Trump Knows He's Only Part President*. Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Trump argued this week that the death toll from the coronavirus was actually not so bad. All you had to do was not count states that voted for Democrats. 'If you take the blue states out,' he said, 'we're at a level that I don't think anybody in the world would be at. We're really at a very low level.' The statement was as jarring as it was revealing, indicative of a leader who has long seemed to view himself more as the president of Red America rather than the United States of America. On the pandemic, immigration, crime, street violence and other issues, Mr. Trump regularly divides the country into the parts that support him and the parts that do not, rewarding the former and reproving the latter.... The contrast with his predecessors in moments of national crisis could hardly be more stark.... 'It's so unworthy of a president,' Tom Ridge, a Republican former governor of Pennsylvania and later secretary of homeland security under [George W.] Bush, said on Thursday. 'It's beyond despicable. It's soulless.... Covid-19 is really bipartisan.'"

Palling Around with Terrorists. CBS News: "Withdrawing troops from Afghanistan and partnering with the Taliban has made the United States less safe, says H.R. McMaster, President Trump's former national security adviser. The retired lieutenant general speaks to Scott Pelley in his first interview about his new book on the 53rd Season Premiere of 60 Minutes, Sunday, September 20 at 7:30 p.m. ET and 7 p.m. PT on CBS.
McMaster calls the drawdown of U.S. troops in Afghanistan a big mistake and writes in the book, 'Battlegrounds,' that the region is a hotbed of terrorism."

Lev! Shayna Jacobs of the Washington Post: "Federal prosecutors in Manhattan filed new charges Thursday against Lev Parnas, an associate of President Trump's personal attorney Rudolph W. Giuliani, accusing the Soviet emigre of defrauding investors in a fraud-protection company he founded -- and for which Giuliani was paid $500,000 to consult. Parnas already faced charges of campaign finance fraud for allegedly using a shell company to filter political donations from a foreign national to candidates seeking state and federal office in the United States. The superseding indictment filed Thursday in the Southern District of New York does not reference Giuliani, though it indicates that prosecutors have been closely scrutinizing a company that hired him while he was also serving as the president's lawyer."

Gosh, Jim Clyburn Says Bill Barr Is a Tad Insensitive. Devan Cole of CNN: "House Majority Whip James Clyburn on Thursday slammed Attorney General William Barr for comparing coronavirus lockdowns in the US to slavery.... 'You know, I think that that statement by Mr. Barr was the most ridiculous, tone-deaf, God-awful thing I've ever heard,' Clyburn, the No. 3 Democrat in the House and its highest ranking Black member, told CNN's John Berman.... 'It is incredible that (the) chief law enforcement officer in this country would equate human bondage to expert advice to save lives. Slavery was not about saving lives, it was about devaluing lives.'" (Also linked yesterday.)

Lucy Osborne of the Guardian: "A former model has come forward to accuse Donald Trump of sexually assaulting her at the US Open tennis tournament more than two decades ago, in an alleged incident that left her feeling 'sick' and 'violated'. In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, Amy Dorris alleged that Trump accosted her outside the bathroom in his VIP box at the tournament in New York on 5 September 1997. Dorris, who was 24 at the time, accuses Trump of forcing his tongue down her throat, assaulting her all over her body and holding her in a grip she was unable to escape from.... Dorris ... provided the Guardian with evidence to support her account of her encounters with Trump, including her ticket to the US Open and six photos showing her with the real estate magnate over several days in New York. Trump was 51 at the time and married to his second wife, Marla Maples. Her account was also corroborated by several people she confided in about the incident. They include a friend in New York and Dorris's mother, both of whom she called immediately after the alleged incident, as well as a therapist and friends she spoke to in the years since. All said Dorris had shared with them details of the alleged incident that matched what she later told the Guardian." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

The Trumpidemic, Ctd.

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

** Trumpies Publish Fake CDC Guidance That Could Kill You. Apoorva Mandavilli of the New York Times: "A heavily criticized recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last month about who should be tested for the coronavirus was not written by C.D.C. scientists and was posted to the agency's website despite their serious objections, according to several people familiar with the matter as well as internal documents obtained by The New York Times. The guidance said it was not necessary to test people without symptoms of Covid-19 even if they had been exposed to the virus. It came at a time when public health experts were pushing for more testing rather than less, and administration officials told The Times that the document was a C.D.C. product and had been revised with input from the agency's director, Dr. Robert Redfield. But officials told The Times this week that the Department of Health and Human Services did the rewriting and then 'dropped' it into the C.D.C.'s public website, flouting the agency's strict scientific review process. 'That was a doc that came from the top down, from the H.H.S. and the task force,' said a federal official with knowledge of the matter, referring to the White House task force on the coronavirus. 'That policy does not reflect what many people at the C.D.C. feel should be the policy.' The document contains 'elementary errors' -- such as referring to 'testing for Covid-19,' as opposed to testing for the virus that causes it -- and recommendations inconsistent with the C.D.C.'s stance that mark it to anyone in the know as not having been written by agency scientists.... Adm. Brett Giroir, the administration's testing coordinator and an assistant secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services, the C.D.C.'s parent organization, said in an interview Thursday that the original draft came from the C.D.C., but he 'coordinated editing and input from the scientific and medical members of the task force.'... A new version of the testing guidance, expected to be posted Friday, has also not been cleared by the C.D.C.'s usual internal review...." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Rachel Maddow says Redfield should resign. Yeah, so should "Admiral" Giroir & HHS Secretary Azar.

News Lede

The New York Times' live updates of Western wildfire developments are here. "A firefighter died while battling a fire that was sparked during a celebration to reveal the sex of a baby in Southern California, the authorities said on Friday, the 26th person to die in the fires that have consumed California this summer."