The Commentariat -- August 4, 2020

New York Times: "Five states hold primary elections Tuesday, with voters in Arizona, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri and Washington State choosing nominees for Congress and local offices." ~~~

~~~ James Arkin & Ally Mutnick of Politico outline some of the most hotly-contested races to be decided by today's primaries, starting with the GOP Senate battle in Kansas.

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Tuesday are here: "New York City's health commissioner, Dr. Oxiris Barbot, resigned on Tuesday in protest over her 'deep disappointment' with Mayor Bill de Blasio's handling of the coronavirus outbreak and subsequent efforts to keep the outbreak in check. Her departure came after escalating tensions between City Hall and top Health Department officials, which began at the start of the city's outbreak in March, burst into public view." ~~~

~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for Tuesday are here.

Philip Bump of the Washington Post: During his interview with Jonathan Swan of Axios, "Trump held a number of loose sheets of paper, each with a graph that, he clearly believed, showed how well the United States has done in combating the coronavirus pandemic.... These were the emperor's clothes, and he was proud of them. But Swan, given one of the few opportunities for a non-sycophant to interview the president, revealed them for what they were. Trump was left fumbling, unable to rationalize his repeated claims that all was well. Because, of course, it isn't.... It quickly became apparent that he didn't have a grasp on what was happening with the pandemic.... On Tuesday morning, Politico published an article looking closely at how the White House operates under its new chief of staff, former North Carolina congressman Mark Meadows. One White House staffer who spoke with Politico's reporters said that Meadows and his team were protecting Trump from bad political news.... The Swan interview certainly suggests that someone is keeping Trump from understanding what's actually happening with the pandemic. The odds are that the person who is doing so is Trump."

AP: "A massive explosion shook Lebanon's capital Beirut on Tuesday wounding a number people and causing widespread damage. The afternoon blast shook several parts of the capital and thick smoke billowed from the city center. Residents reported windows being blown out and a false ceilings dropping. The explosion appeared to be centered around Beirut's port and caused wide scale destruction and shattered windows miles away."

Trump says he has done more for black Americans than John Lewis -- and everybody else -- did. Also, Trump has nothing good to say about Lewis because Lewis did not attend his inauguration:

     ~~~ Maggie Haberman & Neil Vigdor of the New York Times: "President Trump played down the accomplishments of Representative John Lewis, the recently deceased civil rights icon, and criticized him for not attending the Trump inauguration in an interview conducted while Mr. Lewis was lying in state at the Capitol. The comments from Mr. Trump, which aired on 'Axios on HBO' Monday night, were unsurprising, given his penchant for grievance. But they were nonetheless stunning for the degree to which Mr. Trump refused to view Mr. Lewis's life and legacy in terms beyond how it related to Mr. Trump himself.... When asked to reflect on Mr. Lewis's contributions to the civil rights movement, Mr. Trump instead talked up his own record."

Mrs. McCrabbie: The video below came up after the video of Trump's remarks about John Lewis. Kind of interesting how this dyed-in-the-wool, life-long Republican gave up on Trump & the cult of Trump:

Black Lives Matter. Paul Murphy & Devan Cole of CNN: "The US Navy distanced itself on Sunday from an incident organized by the privately run Navy SEAL Museum, which is not sponsored the Navy, in which a Colin Kaepernick jersey was worn by a 'target' during a military working dog demonstration. In a pair of nearly two-year-old videos that were posted in January but went viral on social media over the weekend, a man can be seen wearing a red jersey emblazoned with Kaepernick's name and former player number during the working dog demonstration conducted by the museum. After a man in military fatigues begins the demonstration, a total of four military working dogs charge toward the jersey-wearing man and attack him, clinging to his arms and legs while a crowd of visitors watch on." Thanks to Akhilleus for the link. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Akhilleus mentioned in his commentary below that the so-called museum was in Fort Pierce, Florida. To double-check that, I clicked the link, and I'm so glad I did because now I plan to enter the raffle the "museum" is sponsoring: "A Chance to Win Two Weapons at Once!": a Shepherd Knife and a Cabot Pistol. Maybe I can pretend to be a SEAL & attack some terrorists (or football players exercising their First-Amendment rights) with those weapons.

The Trumpidemic, Ctd.

Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Donald Trump has told more than 20,000 lies since becoming president* according to a mid-July Washington Post account (or to put it as delicately as the WashPo does, "more than 20,000 false and misleading claims). But perhaps the biggest lie of all was one he told back in April 2016, before he was elected: "I will be so presidential." No, he would not. He never has been "presidential." He has no idea how to be "presidential." He doesn't seem to have any idea what real presidents do. Just look at this: ~~~

~~~ Maggie Haberman, et al., of the New York Times: "On the first day of the first full week when tens of millions of Americans went without the federal jobless aid that has cushioned them during the pandemic, President Trump was not cajoling undecided lawmakers to embrace a critical stimulus bill to stabilize the foundering economy. He was at the White House, hurling insults at the Democratic leaders whose support he needs to strike a deal. Mr. Trump called Speaker Nancy Pelosi 'Crazy Nancy,' charging that she had no interest in helping the unemployed. He said Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, only wanted to help 'radical left' governors in states run by Democrats. And he threatened to short-circuit a delicate series of negotiations to produce a compromise and instead unilaterally impose a federal moratorium on tenant evictions. The comments came just as Mr. Trump's own advisers were on Capitol Hill meeting with Ms. Pelosi and Mr. Schumer in search of an elusive deal, and they underscored just how absent the president had been from the negotiations. They also highlighted how, three months before he is to face voters, the main role that Mr. Trump appears to have embraced in assembling an economic recovery package is that of sniping from the sidelines in ways that undercut a potential compromise."

Axios has published Jonathan Swan's full interview of Donald Trump here. Poppy Harlow & Jim Sciutto of CNN urge you to watch it. ~~~

~~~ "It Is What It Is." Sam Baker of Axios: "Trump said in an interview with 'Axios on HBO' that he thinks the coronavirus is as well-controlled in the U.S. as it can be, despite dramatic surges in new infections over the course of the summer and more than 150,000 American deaths. 'They are dying, that's true. And you have -- it is what it is. But that doesn't mean we aren't doing everything we can. It's under control as much as you can control it." Here's an outrageous clip where Trump argues that the both number and percentage of deaths/population -- compared with incidences in other countries -- are irrelevant:

     ~~~ Trump persists in saying "you just can't do that" when Swan says the deaths/population ratios are relevant in comparing the U.S. response to the virus with efforts of other countries. Trump insists the only figure that matters is the percentage of deaths/cases. Mrs. McC: Trump's "logic" is doubly-nonsensical when you consider that Trump has repeatedly argued that the reason the number of cases in the U.S. is so high is that the U.S. has done so much more testing than other countries. If that were true, then the percentage of deaths per cases counted should be really, really low in the U.S. That is, if 1,000 people died, but we tested for & found only 100,000 cases, then the deaths/cases would be ten times higher than if those 1,000 people died and we had counted 1,000,000 cases. ~~~

     ~~~ Paul Campos in LG&$: "... the most consistently underrated fact about Trump is how genuinely stupid he is. And I don't mean stupid compared to how smart you would want a president of the United States or the manager of a Wendy's to be. Just flat out stupid in comparison to the average human being. Watch this clip and then imagine trying to brief him on anything."

The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Monday are here. The Washington Post's live updates for Monday are here: @11:35 am "White House staffers received an email Monday notifying them of a new mandatory system of random coronavirus testing for those working throughout the executive complex, according to senior administration officials. In addition to the stepped-up testing, those expected to come into contact with President Trump and Vice President Pence will continue to be tested beforehand.... Another official said that random testing has been occurring for several months, but until now it had been voluntary. The new move comes a week after the White House announced that Robert C. O'Brien, Trump's national security adviser, had tested positive for the coronavirus." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Mind you, Trump is still complaining that there's too much testing going on in the U.S.

It's hard to believe this has to be said, but if I';m elected president, I'll spend my Monday mornings working with our nation's top experts to control this virus -- not insulting them on Twitter. -- Joe Biden, in a tweet Monday afternoon ~~~

~~~ Max Cohen of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Monday slammed White House coronavirus task force coordinator Deborah Birx after the public health official said the pandemic was 'extraordinarily widespread.' Trump's attack comes shortly after top White House officials admonished House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for undermining trust in Birx. 'So Crazy Nancy Pelosi said horrible things about Dr. Deborah Birx, going after her because she was too positive on the very good job we are doing on combatting the China Virus, including Vaccines & Therapeutics,' Trump wrote on Twitter. 'In order to counter Nancy, Deborah took the bait & hit us. Pathetic!' Politico reported last week that Pelosi tore into Birx in closed-door negotiations with administration officials, saying the White House was in 'horrible hands' with the public health expert leading the coronavirus taskforce. Pelosi continued her criticism of Birx on Sunday during an appearance on ABC. Past reporting by The New York Times presented Birx as a coronavirus optimist who told Trump that the United States was on its way to flattening its curve like Italy and that outbreaks were easing." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Birx complained on CNN yesterday that the Times did not contact her for comment when the paper's reporters wrote weeks back that in mid-April, "Dr. Birx was the chief evangelist for the idea that the threat from the virus was fading." But according to Maggie Haberman, who was one of the story's five writers and who spoke today on CNN, the Times did contact Birx before publication, and Brix declined to comment. In fact, in the story, dated July 18, the authors wrote, "Dr. Birx declined to be interviewed." So besides being Dr. Pollyanna, Birx is a liar. As Trump says, "Pathetic!" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Betsy Klein of CNN: "While Trump and other top White House officials have publicly attacked Dr. Anthony Fauci, the tweet marked the first time Birx ... publicly drew Trump's ire. The dust-up comes as the country continues to be ravaged by coronavirus, with more than 150,000 US citizens dead and more than 4 million cases. Trump has consistently lied and misled mostly in attempts to downplay concerns about the virus as he presses for schools and businesses to reopen." Mrs. McC: Worth noting, too, that Trump demeaned two older women in one tweet, calling one "crazy" and the other "pathetic." Trump believes women should "know their place" and not criticize or even disagree with a big, strong boy like him. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update, from Monday's New York Times coronavirus updates (also linked above): "Dr. Anthony S. Fauci ... agreed on Monday with his colleague Dr. Deborah Birx that the United States has entered a 'new phase' of the coronavirus pandemic, in which the virus is now spreading uncontrolled in some states by asymptomatic people -- comments that drew fire from President Trump.... In backing up Dr. Birx, the Trump administration's coronavirus response coordinator, Dr. Fauci indirectly put himself at odds with the president.... "

Mrs. McCrabbie: This morning when I posted the story about Trump's "signing a healthcare plan," I thought he probably had given some hapless junior G-man the job of coming up with a plan -- in two weeks' time! -- that would provide healthcare benefits only to white people in Trump country. Well, congrats to that junior G-man! Dan Diamond, et al., of Politico: "... Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order Monday aimed at boosting health care in rural areas, where struggling hospitals have faced worsening economic conditions during the pandemic." Now, it's true that people of every ethnic persuasion live in rural areas, but maybe the junior G-man figured out a way to direct funds to the "right" rural areas. Ah, yes: "Under the new plan, the federal Medicare agency will leverage its authority to test new pilot projects...." Whaddaya bet the "new pilot projects" are initiated in rural Iowa, not in the Mississippi Delta? (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: "If you spend much of your tenure openly subverting the nation's interests to your own -- while manipulating the levers of government in service of unabashedly corrupt and megalomaniacal ends — then voters will ultimately grow wise to the scam. We are now learning, via an extraordinary new report in the New York Times that many scientists fear that Trump will attempt the ultimate 'October surprise.' These scientists -- which include some inside the government -- worry that Trump will thoroughly corrupt the process designed to ensure the safety and efficacy of any new vaccine against the coronavirus." Sargent goes on to elaborate on why the scientists are right to be concerned, citing examples of how Trump has done similar things numerous times before. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

The Kleptocracy, Ctd. Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: The Congressional Oversight Committee wants to know why Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin took $700 million out of a "special pot" of coronavirus money, a pot which Mnuchin alone controls, to give YRL Worldwide trucking company a $700 million loan. YRC "had lost more than $100 million in 2019 and was being sued by the Justice Department over claims it defrauded the federal government for a seven-year period." In addition, YRC was not very profitable, and the funds specifically were not to be used to prop up companies that were in trouble before the virus hit. But the company had friends in high places in the Trump administration. "YRC has financial backing from Apollo Global Management," AND ... Surprise! ... so does Jared Kushner's family: in 2017 Apollo lent $184 million to the Kushner family real estate business."

They're All Crooks. Paul McLeod of BuzzFeed News: "The chief adviser to Operation Warp Speed, the Trump administration's program investing billions of dollars into discovering a coronavirus vaccine, says media scrutiny of his stock ownership may delay a vaccine or make its discovery less likely because it is distracting him from his work. Moncef Slaoui made the remarks on the official Health and Human Services podcast, released Friday, while being interviewed by HHS assistant secretary of public affairs Michael Caputo. The interview quickly descended into a lengthy rant about the media.... [Slaoui] is working as a contractor voluntarily, drawing payment of only $1 [which] exempts him from ethics rules that would apply to federal employees. Slaoui worked for 30 years in senior roles at pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline. He still holds significant stock in the company. The HHS inspector general ruled that he can continue to own stock in the pharmaceutical industry and is exempt from disclosure rules that would apply if he joined the government." --s

[Pennsylvania. "Just Not Handling the Pandemic Well." Tim Elfrink of th Washington Post: "When a cigar shop clerk told Adam Zaborowski on Friday he had to wear a mask in the shop, the 35-year-old angrily refused. Instead, he grabbed two stogies, stormed outside -- and then pulled a handgun and shot at the clerk, Bethlehem Township, Pa., police said. The next day, cornered near his home, Zaborowski allegedly fired at police with an AK-47, sparking a wild shootout with at least seven officers that ended with him shot multiple times and under arrest. [His lawyer told the local newspaper 'He just wasn't ... handling the pandemic well.']... In recent weeks, police say arguments over masks have led to the vicious beating of Trader Joe's employees in New York, the fatal shooting of a Family Dollar store security guard in Michigan, and the shooting of a McDonald's worker in Oklahoma. That violence adds more challenges for retail stores and restaurants where workers are left to dictate mask rules that authorities often haven't given police the option to enforce."] ~~~

~~~ The Mask Slackers Will Always Be With Us. Christine Hauser of the New York Times reports on the controversy over mask-wearing during the 1918-1919 influenza epidemic (or what Trump calls the pandemic of 1917). In San Francisco, which was badly hit by the epidemic, an Anti-Mask League formed: "Their objections included lack of scientific evidence that masks worked and the idea that forcing people to wear the coverings was unconstitutional."

Russia. Vladimir Soldatkin of Reuters (August 1): "Russia's health minister is preparing a mass vaccination campaign against the novel coronavirus for October, local news agencies reported on Saturday, after a vaccine completed clinical trials. Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said the Gamaleya Institute, a state research facility in Moscow, had completed clinical trials of the vaccine and paperwork is being prepared to register it, Interfax news agency reported. He said doctors and teachers would be the first to be vaccinated. 'We plan wider vaccinations for October,' Murashko was quoted as saying." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

** Mary Papenfuss of the Huffington Post: "Mary Trump's scathing takedown of her uncle, the president of the United States, sold more books in a single week than Donald Trump's Art of the Deal sold in 29 years, according to sales stats.... The tell-all also debuted at the top of bestseller lists in the U.S., Canada, Britain and Ireland." --s

William Rahbaum & Benjamin Weiser of the New York Times: "The Manhattan district attorney's office suggested on Monday that it has been investigating President Trump and his company for possible bank and insurance fraud, a significantly broader inquiry than the prosecutors have acknowledged in the past. The office of the district attorney, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., made the disclosure in a new federal court filing arguing Mr. Trump's accountants should have to comply with its subpoena seeking eight years of his personal and corporate tax returns. Mr. Trump has asked a judge to declare the subpoena invalid. The prosecutors did not directly identify the focus of their inquiry but said that 'undisputed' news reports last year about Mr. Trump's business practices make it clear that the office had a legal basis for the subpoena.... The clash over the subpoena comes less than a month after the Supreme Court, in a major ruling on the limits of presidential power, cleared the way for Mr. Vance's prosecutors to seek Mr. Trump's financial records." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) An NBC News story is here.

The FBI Has Not Let Jared Off the Hook Yet. Jason Leopold, et al., of BuzzFeed News file a report & publish FBI interview summaries of principals in the Mueller investigation. The documents include a 5-page interview of Jared Kushner, which is completely redacted. "The FBI's notations indicate that much of the material relates to an ongoing law enforcement investigation. Senior Assistant Special Counsel Andrew Goldstein told Kushner that answering a question with 'I don't recall' if he indeed did recall was considered a lie." Interviews of "former deputy national security adviser K.T. McFarland, former White House lawyer and senior Justice Department official James Burnham, and former Stone associate Randy Credico are also almost entirely redacted. McFarland and Credico's summaries include markings that indicate redacted information relates to ongoing investigations."

Zoe Tillman, et al., of BuzzFeed News file a report on and publish e-mails that flew among Aaron Zelinsky, one of the lead prosecutors in the Roger Stone case, and other DOJ officials (and a Fox "News" reporter!) after Bill Barr recommended a lighter sentence for Stone than Zelinsky & the three other prosecutors on the case had proposed to the judge. For one thing, Zelinsky's supervisor told him he could not withdraw from the case minutes after Zelinsky formally withdrew from the case.

Fred Kaplan of Slate: "President Trump's insouciant rampage of lawlessness continues. His latest violation -- less serious than some of his actions, but more brazen than most -- involves his desire to give Anthony Tata a senior job in the Pentagon without the Senate's consent.... [O]n Sunday night, it was announced that Tata would be appointed to a job described as 'Performing the Duties of Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Policy.' Trump ... gave Tata this ungainly, unprecedented, and legally dubious title.... [Tata] doesn't hold any sort of official position. As his title puts it, he is merely 'Performing the Duties of' the deputy undersecretary.... However, Trump might legitimately be wondering if anybody in Congress cares about the fine print of the law. For instance, his secretary and deputy secretary of homeland security, Chad Wolf and Ken Cuccinelli, are both acting; neither has been confirmed by the Senate.... Cuccinelli isn't even an acting deputy; like Tata at the Pentagon, he is 'Senior Official Performing the Duties of' deputy secretary.) Under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, an acting secretary cannot serve in that role for longer than 210 days. Yet Chad Wolf has been acting DHS secretary for 263 days, meaning that all of his decisions for nearly the past two months -- including the ordering of armed border guards to battle protesters in Portland -- are illegal. Yet nobody has raised a fuss...." --s ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Nick Miroff & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post write about how Chad Wolf has become a Trump favorite, "a DHS chief giving [Trump] the answers he wants." The reporters don't mention that Wolf remains in his acting job illegally; either Kaplan is wrong -- or he's right and nobody cares.

** Hansi Wang of NPR: "The Census Bureau is ending all counting efforts for the 2020 census on Sept. 30, a month shorter than previously announced, the bureau's director confirmed Monday in a statement. That includes critical door-knocking efforts and collecting responses online, over the phone and by mail.... These last-minute changes to the constitutionally mandated count of every person living in the U.S. threaten the accuracy of population numbers used to determine the distribution of political representation and federal funding for the next decade. With roughly 4 out of 10 households nationwide yet to be counted and already delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, the bureau now has less than two months left to try to reach people of color, immigrants, renters, rural residents and other members of historically undercounted groups who are not likely to fill out a census form on their own.... The bureau's announcement comes after NPR first reported that the agency had decided to cut short door-knocking efforts for the 2020 census." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Coincidentally, I just completed my Census questionnaire on line Sunday, even though I received an "invitation" in the mail months ago. Obviously, there are millions of procrastinators like me, who moved the Census letter to the bottom of the to-do pile, where it remains. Like everything Trumpish, this is surely going to be the worst Census endeavor in U.S. history. AND, as Wang points out, the sloppiness and undercount are unconstitutional. If you haven't completed your questionnaire, today would be a good day to do it, unless you live on the East Coast and your power is out of course. BTW, I think you need the letter from the Census Bureau to do it, because the letter contains a code that has to be input before answering the questionnaire. I don't know if there's a workaround.

Black Lives Matter. Katie Mettier of the Washington Post: A Secret Service cruiser apparently purposely ran into a legally parked vehicle in which two women were sitting as they got ready to take their two babies -- then in the back seats -- for an outing on the National Mall near the White House. "Within seconds, [one of the women] recalled, a uniformed Secret Service officer was pointing a rifle at them, yelling 'Get out!' and 'Put your hands in the air!' More officers surrounded them with guns pulled, the women said. Over the next hour, Winston and Johnson said, they were handcuffed without reason, separated from their crying babies, and handled by police who, at first, did not wear masks to protect against the novel coronavirus. Initially, the women said, an officer told them the vehicle had been reported stolen and that the suspects were two Black men. But the women, both African American, said no men were with them and provided proof that Johnson was the owner. She told the Secret Service she had never reported the car stolen. Eventually, the women were released -- without an apology or answers to their questions, [one of the women] said."

Elections 2020

Michael Martina of Reuters: "Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said on Monday that ... Donald Trump was telling 'bald-faced lies' about voting by mail to distract from his own failures, after Trump last week suggested it could be cause to delay the election. Biden's remarks were his strongest on the issue since Trump, who trails the presumptive Democratic nominee in opinion polls, tweeted on Thursday that he would not trust the results of an election that included widespread mail voting - a measure many observers see as critical during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.... Speaking during a virtual campaign fundraiser on Monday, Biden said he believed Trump would do everything in his power to 'argue this election is fraudulent.'"

Domenico Montanaro of NPR: "It's hard to believe that the hole President Trump dug for himself could get deeper, but it has. A record and widening majority of Americans disapprove of the job he's doing when it comes to handling the coronavirus pandemic; he gets poor scores on race relations; he's seen a suburban erosion despite efforts to win over suburban voters with fear; and all that has led to a worsened outlook for Trump against Democrat Joe Biden in the presidential election. As a result, in the past month and a half, the latest NPR analysis of the Electoral College has several states shifting in Biden's favor, and he now has a 297-170 advantage over Trump with exactly three months to go until Election Day."

Elizabeth Drew, in a New York Times op-ed, argues that the presidential debates should be scrapped: "The debates have never made sense as a test for presidential leadership." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

New York Times: “In his latest assault on voting by mail, President Trump said Monday he thought the Democratic primary in New York's 12th Congressional District should be rerun because of lengthy delays counting mail-in ballots in the race.... On Monday evening, Mr. Trump focused his attention on the New York Democratic primary, where large numbers of voters mailed in their ballots to avoid standing in lines at crowded polling places for the June 23 primary where Representative Carolyn B. Maloney is facing Suraj Patel, a challenger. Nearly six weeks later, all the ballots have yet to be counted. , a fact that Mr. Trump said Monday proves that his critique about mail-in balloting is correct.... Prompted by a question at an afternoon news conference, Mr. Trump also claimed that he has the right to take executive action to stop the broad use of mail-in ballots nationwide, but said 'we haven't gotten there yet.' He offered no details on what authority he would cite to override state laws that allow mail-in voting." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Do bear in mind that a real president would be encouraging calm and patience and would be suggesting & implementing ways to help make elections run more smoothly.

Quint Forgey of Politico: "... Donald Trump threatened legal action Monday after Nevada's Legislature passed a bill to mail ballots to all active voters, suggesting the measure would make it impossible for Republicans to win there in November's general election. 'In an illegal late night coup, Nevada's clubhouse Governor made it impossible for Republicans to win the state,' Trump wrote on Twitter. 'Post Office could never handle the Traffic of Mail-In Votes without preparation. Using Covid to steal the state. See you in Court!'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Amy Gardner & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "President Trump's unfounded attacks on mail balloting are discouraging his own supporters from embracing the practice, according to polls and Republican leaders across the country, prompting growing alarm that one of the central strategies of his campaign is threatening GOP prospects in November. Multiple public surveys show a growing divide between Democrats and Republicans about the security of voting by mail, with Republicans saying they are far less likely to trust it in November. In addition, party leaders in several states said they are encountering resistance among GOP voters who are being encouraged to vote absentee while also seeing the president describe mail voting as 'rigged' and 'fraudulent.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

George Conway, in a Washington Post op-ed: "... it should have come as no surprise that Trump finally went where no U.S. president had ever gone before. In a tweet last week, he actually suggested that the country 'Delay the Election.' That trial balloon was a brazen effort to see if he can defraud his way into four more years in the White House. And why not try? After all, Trump has managed to swindle his way through life, on matters large and small essential and trivial.... Now he peddles a different lie: that somehow extensive 'Mail-In Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good)' would produce 'the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history. Hence the supposed need to 'Delay the Election.'... For the sake of our constitutional republic, he must lose, and lose badly. Yet that should be just a start: We should only honor former presidents who uphold and sustain our nation's enduring democratic values. There should be no schools, bridges or statues devoted to Trump. His name should live in infamy, and he should be remembered, if at all, for precisely what he was -- not a president, but a blundering cheat."

Josh Marshall of TPM: "As I've mentioned a few times, we are so locked in the house with Trump, so surrounded by his predation, that the nature and scope of much of his abuse and wrongdoing are only partly visible to us.... Taken together he is actually depriving the whole nation of the ability to conduct a free and fair election. He is hanging over us as we do the normal work of campaigning and election-ing the possibility he'll disrupt the process, won't accept the result or most directly that the whole process won't end up mattering at all. This in itself is a grave crime against the constitution and the republic." --s

Sarah Burris of the Raw Story: "Jerry Falwell Jr. posted and then quickly deleted a strange vacation photo, leaving some to question what was actually going on. The photo, captured by Relevant Magazine, shows the Liberty University president on a yacht with his pants undone and his shirt hiked up. Next to him stands a young woman identified as a 'friend' whose pants are similarly unzipped and Falwell was holding up her shirt to expose her abdomen. In his hand was a glass of dark liquid." Story includes photo. Mrs. McC: Luckily, an associate of Falwell's had some equally weird excuses for the photo. Falwell, the president of the Christian confederate post-high-school institution Liberty University, is an important booster of Donald Trump. Falwell, who is 5 years old, has been having a midlife sex crisis for quite awhile, most or all of which you don't want to think about. (See "Personal Life" at the bottom of the linked Wikipage.) It won't be long before he he caught in flagrante with a four-legged, hoofed beast on the portico of Arthur DeMoss Hall.

Way Beyond the Beltway

U.K./Russia. Jack Stubb & Guy Faulconbridge of Reuters: "Classified U.S.-UK trade documents leaked ahead of Britain's 2019 election were stolen from the email account of former trade minister Liam Fox by suspected Russian hackers, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.... The hack of Fox's account - which has not been previously reported - and subsequent leak of the classified documents ahead of last year's election is one of the most direct examples of suspected Russian attempts to meddle in British politics." --s

Earth. Oliver Milman of the Guardian: "The growing but largely unrecognized death toll from rising global temperatures will come close to eclipsing the current number of deaths from all the infectious diseases combined if planet-heating emissions aren't constrained, a major new study has found.... 'A lot of older people die due to indirect heat affects,' said Amir Jina, an environmental economist at the University of Chicago and a co-author of the study, published by the National Bureau of Economic Research. 'It's eerily similar to Covid -- vulnerable people are those who have pre-existing or underlying conditions. If you have a heart problem and are hammered for days by the heat, you are going to be pushed towards collapse.'" --s

News Lede

Weather Channel: "Tropical Storm Isaias ... will race northward near the East Coast through late Tuesday with damaging winds, flooding rainfall and tornadoes. Isaias made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane at 11:10 p.m. EDT Monday near Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina, with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph. Isaias is now centered over eastern Virginia and is moving to the north-northeast at 30 to 35 mph. Rainfall has spread northward ahead of the storm to locations as far north as New York and New England. A tornado watch is in effect until 12 p.m. EDT from eastern Maryland to Delaware and far southern New Jersey. There is a separate tornado watch in effect until 4 p.m. EDT for southeast Pennsylvania, central and northern New Jersey, southeast New York and southern Connecticut. There have been at least a dozen reports of tornadoes since last night from North Carolina to Virginia, Maryland and Delaware."

The Commentariat -- August 3, 2020

Afternoon Update:

The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Monday are here. The Washington Post's live updates for Monday are here: @11:35 am "White House staffers received an email Monday notifying them of a new mandatory system of random coronavirus testing for those working throughout the executive complex, according to senior administration officials. In addition to the stepped-up testing, those expected to come into contact with President Trump and Vice President Pence will continue to be tested beforehand.... Another official said that random testing has been occurring for several months, but until now it had been voluntary. The new move comes a week after the White House announced that Robert C. O'Brien, Trump's national security adviser, had tested positive for the coronavirus." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McC: Mind you, Trump is still complaining that there's too much testing going on in the U.S.

Max Cohen of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Monday slammed White House coronavirus task force coordinator Deborah Birx after the public health official said the pandemic was 'extraordinarily widespread.' Trump's attack comes shortly after top White House officials admonished House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for undermining trust in Birx. 'So Crazy Nancy Pelosi said horrible things about Dr. Deborah Birx, going after her because she was too positive on the very good job we are doing on combatting the China Virus, including Vaccines & Therapeutics,' Trump wrote on Twitter. 'In order to counter Nancy, Deborah took the bait & hit us. Pathetic!' Politico reported last week that Pelosi tore into Birx in closed-door negotiations with administration officials, saying the White House was in 'horrible hands' with the public health expert leading the coronavirus taskforce. Pelosi continued her criticism of Birx on Sunday during an appearance on ABC. Past reporting by The New York Times presented Birx as a coronavirus optimist who told Trump that the United States was on its way to flattening its curve like Italy and that outbreaks were easing." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Birx complained on CNN yesterday that the Times did not contact her for comment when the paper's reporters wrote weeks back that in mid-April, "Dr. Birx was the chief evangelist for the idea that the threat from the virus was fading." But according to Maggie Haberman, who was one of the story's five writers and who spoke today on CNN, the Times did contact Birx before publication, and Brix declined to comment. In fact, in the story, dated July 18, the authors wrote, "Dr. Birx declined to be interviewed." So besides being Dr. Pollyanna, Birx is a liar. As Trump says, "Pathetic!" ~~~

~~~ Betsy Klein of CNN: "While Trump and other top White House officials have publicly attacked Dr. Anthony Fauci, the tweet marked the first time Birx ... publicly drew Trump's ire. The dust-up comes as the country continues to be ravaged by coronavirus, with more than 150,000 US citizens dead and more than 4 million cases. Trump has consistently lied and misled mostly in attempts to downplay concerns about the virus as he presses for schools and businesses to reopen." Mrs. McC: Worth noting, too, that Trump demeaned two older women in one tweet, calling one "crazy" and the other "pathetic." Trump believes women should "know their place" and not criticize or even disagree with a big, strong boy like him.

Mrs. McCrabbie: This morning when I posted the story about Trump's "signing a healthcare plan," I thought he probably had given some hapless junior G-man the job of coming up with a plan -- in two weeks' time! -- that would provide healthcare benefits only to white people in Trump country. Well, congrats to that junior G-man! Dan Diamond, et al., of Politico: "... Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order Monday aimed at boosting health care in rural areas, where struggling hospitals have faced worsening economic conditions during the pandemic." Now, it's true that people of every ethnic persuasion live in rural areas, but maybe the junior G-man figured out a way to direct funds to the "right" rural areas. Ah, yes: "Under the new plan, the federal Medicare agency will leverage its authority to test new pilot projects...." Whaddaya bet the "new pilot projects" are initiated in rural Iowa, not in the Mississippi Delta?

Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: "If you spend much of your tenure openly subverting the nation's interests to your own -- while manipulating the levers of government in service of unabashedly corrupt and megalomaniacal ends -- then voters will ultimately grow wise to the scam. We are now learning, via an extraordinary new report in the New York Times, that many scientists fear that Trump will attempt the ultimate 'October surprise.' These scientists -- which include some inside the government -- worry that Trump will thoroughly corrupt the process designed to ensure the safety and efficacy of any new vaccine against the coronavirus." Sargent elaborates on why the scientists are right to be concerned, citing examples of how Trump has done similar things numerous times before.

Russia. Vladimir Soldatkin of Reuters (August 1): "Russia's health minister is preparing a mass vaccination campaign against the novel coronavirus for October, local news agencies reported on Saturday, after a vaccine completed clinical trials. Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said the Gamaleya Institute, a state research facility in Moscow, had completed clinical trials of the vaccine and paperwork is being prepared to register it, Interfax news agency reported. He said doctors and teachers would be the first to be vaccinated. 'We plan wider vaccinations for October,' Murashko was quoted as saying."

Quint Forgey of Politico: "... Donald Trump threatened legal action Monday after Nevada's Legislature passed a bill to mail ballots to all active voters, suggesting the measure would make it impossible for Republicans to win there in November's general election. 'In an illegal late night coup, Nevada's clubhouse Governor made it impossible for Republicans to win the state,' Trump wrote on Twitter. 'Post Office could never handle the Traffic of Mail-In Votes without preparation. Using Covid to steal the state. See you in Court!'" ~~~

~~~ Amy Gardner & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "President Trump's unfounded attacks on mail balloting are discouraging his own supporters from embracing the practice, according to polls and Republican leaders across the country, prompting growing alarm that one of the central strategies of his campaign is threatening GOP prospects in November. Multiple public surveys show a growing divide between Democrats and Republicans about the security of voting by mail, with Republicans saying they are far less likely to trust it in November. In addition, party leaders in several states said they are encountering resistance among GOP voters who are being encouraged to vote absentee while also seeing the president describe mail voting as 'rigged' and 'fraudulent.'"

William Rahbaum & Benjamin Weiser of the New York Times: "The Manhattan district attorney's office suggested on Monday that it has been investigating President Trump and his company for possible bank and insurance fraud, a significantly broader inquiry than the prosecutors have acknowledged in the past. The office of the district attorney, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., made the disclosure in a new federal court filing arguing Mr. Trump's accountants should have to comply with its subpoena seeking eight years of his personal and corporate tax returns. Mr. Trump has asked a judge to declare the subpoena invalid. The prosecutors did not directly identify the focus of their inquiry but said that 'undisputed' news reports last year about Mr. Trump's business practices make it clear that the office had a legal basis for the subpoena.... The clash over the subpoena comes less than a month after the Supreme Court, in a major ruling on the limits of presidential power, cleared the way for Mr. Vance's prosecutors to seek Mr. Trump's financial records."

Elizabeth Drew, in a New York Times op-ed, argues that the presidential debates should be scrapped: "The debates have never made sense as a test for presidential leadership."

~~~~~~~~~~

The Trumpidemic, Ctd.

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

Erica Werner & Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: "The Trump administration is looking at options for unilateral actions it can take to try to address some of the economic fallout caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic if no relief deal is reached with Congress, according to two people with knowledge of the deliberations. The discussions are a reflection of officials' increasingly pessimistic outlook for the talks on Capitol Hill. The White House remains in close contact with Democratic leaders, but a wide gulf remains and deadlines have already been missed." ~~~

~~~ Erica Werner & Eli Rosenberg of the Washington Post: "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows made clear in separate interviews Sunday that they remain far apart on a coronavirus relief deal that would restore expired unemployment benefits for millions of Americans. The three spoke a day after a rare weekend meeting at the Capitol yielded some signs of progress. They plan to meet again on Monday, but pointed to multiple areas of disagreement that suggest consensus remains elusive, even while saying they would continue to work toward a deal." ~~~

~~~ Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: It was so heartening to see Steve Mnuchin, a multimillionaire, on the teevee expressing deep concern that a few Americans might receive more money in unemployment benefits than they earned in their crap jobs, knowing that multimillionaire Mitch McConnell would not bring a bill to the Senate floor that displeased Mnuchin & his self-proclaimed billionaire boss Donald Trump, who was taking another day off to play golf at a cost to taxpayers of about $600,000. (It would take someone earning even a $15/hour wage almost 20 years to earn as much as it's cost us for each of Trump's regular weekend golf outings.)

Veronica Stracqualursi of CNN: "Dr. Deborah Birx on Sunday said the US is in a new phase in its fight against the coronavirus pandemic, saying that the deadly virus is more widespread than when it first took hold in the US earlier this year. 'What we are seeing today is different from March and April. It is extraordinarily widespread. It's into the rural as equal urban areas,' Birx, the White House coronavirus task force coordinator, told CNN's Dana Bash on 'State of the Union.'... Asked if it was time to reset the federal government response to the pandemic, Birx said, 'I think the federal government reset about five to six weeks ago when we saw this starting to happen across the south.' But roughly six weeks ago, Vice President Mike Pence, who heads the coronavirus task force, declared in a Wall Street Journal op-ed that the US is 'winning the fight' and there 'isn't a "second wave.'" Birx did not address those claims on Sunday." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Doina Chiacu & Christopher Bing of Reuters: "U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Sunday she does not have confidence in White House coronavirus task force coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx, linking her to disinformation about the virus spread by ... Donald Trump. 'I think the president has been spreading disinformation about the virus and she is his appointee so, I don't have confidence there, no,' Speaker Pelosi told ABC's 'This Week' when asked if she has confidence in Birx. Birx, asked about Pelosi's comment during an interview with CNN's 'State of the Union,' said she had great respect for Pelosi and attributed the criticism to a New York Times article on the White House pandemic response that described Birx as having embraced overly optimistic assessments on the virus." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Anne Gearan, et al., of the Washington Post: "'We're signing a health-care plan within two weeks, a full and complete health-care plan,' Trump pledged in a July 19 interview with 'Fox News Sunday' anchor Chris Wallace. Now, with the two weeks expiring Sunday, there is no evidence that the administration has designed a replacement for the 2010 health-care law. Instead, there is a sense of familiarity. Repeatedly and starting before he took office, Trump has vowed that he is on the cusp of delivering a full-fledged plan to reshape the health-care system along conservative lines and replace the central domestic achievement of Barack Obama's presidency. No total revamp has ever emerged." A related HuffPost story is here. Mrs. McC: What does "signing a plan" even mean? ~~~

     ~~~ Thanks to PD Pepe for the link to the HuffPost story & video.

** Daniel Villarreal of the New Civil Rights Movement, republished in the Raw Story: "A new report from the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform found that the Trump Administration repeatedly delayed an Obama-era order from the health-technology company Philips for 10,000 ventilators, wasting half-a-billion dollars for machines that won't even arrive until September 2022. According to the report, in 2014, the Obama Administration signed a contract with Philips to add 10,000 ventilators to the nation's stockpile by June 2019. Though Philips delayed the fulfillment until November 2019, had they been held to that deadline, the nation would have had plenty of ventilators for when the coronavirus epidemic started in March 2020." The story gets worse. The House Oversight Committee report is here. ~~~~

      ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: And let's not forget that Trump claimed repeatedly that "We had a ventilator problem that was caused by the fact that we weren't left ventilators by a previous administration. The cupboards were bare, as I say often." It turns out that in addition to the 10,000 the Trumpies paid 5 times as much for as Obama's contract provided, there was an additional 16,000+ stockpiled units.

Sapna Maheshwari of the New York Times: "Lord & Taylor, the floundering department store company that traces its roots to 1826, on Sunday became the latest retailer to file for bankruptcy protection as the coronavirus outbreak accelerates the demise of chains that were already teetering. The chain was acquired last year by the clothing rental start-up Le Tote in an unusual $100 million deal. Now Le Tote and Lord & Taylor are both seeking Chapter 11 protection from their creditors in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia."

Michigan. Craig Mauger of the Detroit News: "A Michigan senator who has been a vocal critic of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's handling of COVID-19 says he tested positive for the virus after going through a screening process because of his service in the Army National Guard. Sen. Tom Barrett, R-Charlotte, who is viewed as a rising star in the Republican Party, sponsored a bill in April to repeal one of the two state laws that allow the governor to declare emergencies. He becomes the third Michigan lawmaker to test positive for the coronavirus after Democratic State Reps. Tyrone Carter and Karen Whitsett of Detroit got infected early in the pandemic and recovered.... The Senate Business Office plans to contact individuals with whom Barrett had "close and/or sustained" contact, according to the notice.... The Senate plans to take 'special steps to disinfect any Senate spaces that Sen. Barrett may have visited or been present in.'" Mrs. McC: Of course Barrett is "a rising star in the Republican Party." He rejects science, he's unreasonable and he's irresponsible. Also too, he's white.

Jesse Drucker & David Enrich of the New York Times: "Deutsche Bank has opened an internal investigation into the longtime personal banker of President Trump and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, over a 2013 real estate transaction between the banker and a company part-owned by Mr. Kushner. In June 2013, the banker, Rosemary Vrablic, and two of her Deutsche Bank colleagues purchased a Park Avenue apartment for about $1.5 million from a company called Bergel 715 Associates.... Mr. Kushner ... disclosed in an annual personal financial report late Friday that he and his wife, Ivanka Trump, had received $1 million to $5 million last year from Bergel 715.... Mr. Kushner ... held an ownership stake in the entity at the time of the transaction with Ms. Vrablic. When Ms. Vrablic and her colleagues bought the apartment..., Mr. Trump and Mr. Kushner were her clients at Deutsche Bank. They had received roughly $190 million in loans from the bank and would seek hundreds of millions of dollars more. Typically banks restrict employees from doing personal business with clients because of the potential for conflicts between the employees' interests and those of the bank. Deutsche Bank said it had not been aware that Ms. Vrablic and her colleagues had done business with a company part-owned by Mr. Kushner until being contacted by The New York Times."

Ryan Browne of CNN: "A controversial Trump administration pick for a top Pentagon post [to become the Department of Defense's undersecretary of defense for policy], retired Army Brig. Gen. Anthony Tata, has been placed into a senior role [as the official Performing the Duties of the Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Policy] days after his nomination hearing was canceled amid bipartisan opposition to his nomination.... When the nomination hearing for Tata was canceled Thursday..., Donald Trump told aides the plan was to put him in a position he could have without a confirmation hearing.... The role he'll be in now is essentially the deputy of the role he had been nominated for. It was previously reported that Trump had a call with Senate Armed Services Chairman Jim Inhofe the evening prior and that the Oklahoma Republican bluntly told the President his nominee was in trouble. Tata was expected to face a tough nomination hearing on Thursday before the committee after CNN's KFile reported that he made numerous Islamophobic and offensive comments and promoted conspiracy theories." --safari

Presidential Race

Zachary Warmbrodt of Politico: "Rep. Karen Bass on Sunday walked back 2016 comments praising Cuban leader Fidel Castro, as scrutiny of her views toward the Communist government threatened her potential selection as former Vice President Joe Biden's running mate." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Evan Semones of Politico: "Rep. Karen Bass, a top-tier contender to be Joe Biden's running mate, on Saturday sought to clarify remarks she made in 2010 praising the Church of Scientology.... In her remarks, Bass called on treating humans with respect and fighting oppression, but also spoke highly of the controversial group and its founder, L. Ron Hubbard." (Also linked yesterday.)

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I wish to clarify or walk back every damned thing I ever said prior to August 2020. One or more of the following applies: "I never said that." "I was misquoted." "Obviously, I was just kidding." "I said 'was' when I meant 'wasn't.'" "My views have evolved." "Since that time, new information has come to light." "I don't recall." "I'll have to get back to you on that." "Fake news." "That's a nasty question." Update: "I have different brain cells now." (See Patrick's comment near the end of yesterday's thread for context.)

Chris D'Angelo & Alexander Kaufman of Mother Jones: "Ken Salazar, the Obama administration's first-term interior secretary, took a job at an industry law and lobbying firm just months after leaving office. There, he refashioned himself as an oil champion and avoided disclosing the companies that paid him to lobby. Now Salazar has a new role: adviser to Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.... [A]s Biden seeks to draw stark contrasts with President Donald Trump, government watchdogs say Salazar threatens to undermine the campaign's promises to bring ethics back to Washington, and could help Republicans obscure the Trump administration's uniquely egregious record of self -- dealing and pandering to polluters." --s

Isaac Stanley-Becker of the Washington Post: "The apparent convergence of Trump's inner circle with an ever-widening cohort of QAnon believers is alarming to scholars of extremism and digital communications.... [Most] worrisome, these observers say, is that the president's messaging is increasingly indistinguishable from some key elements of the conspiracy theory.... As the election has drawn closer, actions by the president and his associates have brought [QAnon cultists] more directly into the fold. The Trump campaign's director of press communications, for example, went on a QAnon program and urged listeners to 'sign up and attend a Trump Victory Leadership Initiative training.' QAnon iconography has appeared in official campaign advertisements targeting battleground states. And the White House's director of social media and deputy chief of staff for communications, Dan Scavino, has gone from endorsing praise from QAnon accounts to posting their memes himself. The president has repeatedly elevated its digital foot soldiers, sharing their tweets more than a dozen times on the Fourth of July alone. His middle son, Eric, who is 36 and a campaign surrogate, recently posted, and then deleted, an image drumming up support for his father's Tulsa rally that included a giant 'Q' and the [QAnon motto] text, 'Where we go one, we go all.'" ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: How crazy is Trump? So crazy that a story about his adopting insane conspiracy theories barely makes a blip. His endorsement of a woman who preaches demon sperm & space alien DNA is so last week. Clorox cocktails? I barely remember that.

"We Don't Know WTF We're Doing" -- RNC Officials. Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post: "The Republican National Committee says no final decision has been made about whether President Trump's renomination will be held in private at the GOP convention, contradicting previous reports that restrictions on crowd size during the coronavirus pandemic would prevent members of the press from attending. Two RNC officials insisted Sunday that they are still working through the logistics and press coverage options, a break with a statement reportedly made by a GOP convention spokesperson the previous day." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Senate Races

Kansas. James Arkin of Politico: "During [a] presentation [to GOP operatives by the] National Republican Senatorial Committee executive director Kevin McLaughlin, McLaughlin warned that if hardline conservative Kris Kobach wins next Tuesday's Kansas Senate primary, it could doom the GOP Senate majority -- and perhaps even hurt ... Donald Trump in a state that hasn't voted Democratic since 1964.... Democrats haven't won a Senate race in Kansas since the 1930s, but with Kobach on the ballot, Republicans would be forced to sink millions into trying to defend a seat party officials believe should have stayed safely in their column.... Democrat Barbara Bollier, a state senator and former Republican, faces only nominal opposition in her primary and has outraised all of her potential GOP foes."

Tennessee. Dave Weigel & Paul Kane of the Washington Post: Tennessee GOP Senate candidate"... Bill Hagerty, most recently ambassador to Japan, has the full backing of President Trump and appeared to be cruising to a victory in the primary, which would make him the prohibitive favorite to win the general election.... But Manny Sethi, a trauma surgeon who runs a health-care nonprofit, has caught a late burst of momentum in the race that drew the attention of Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.), both of whom endorsed Sethi. Cruz and Paul are backing candidates that they believe embody the more true version of Trumpism, more ideologically rooted as anti-immigration.... With the president focused on his own teetering reelection campaign these forces have felt more freedom to challenge candidates that Trump has endorsed or other establishment figures are supporting."

Nevada. Sam Metz of the AP: "State lawmakers passed a bill Sunday that would add Nevada to a growing list of states that will mail all active voters ballots ahead of the November election amid the coronavirus pandemic. The bill now heads to Gov. Steve Sisolak [D]. If he signs it as expected, Nevada will join seven states that plan on automatically sending voters mail ballots, including California and Vermont, which moved earlier this summer to adopt automatic mail ballot policies."

Mark Sherman of the AP: "Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is perhaps the most forthcoming member of the Supreme Court when it comes to telling the public about her many health issues. But she waited more than four months to reveal that her cancer had returned and that she was undergoing chemotherapy."

Kenneth Chang of the New York Times: "The first astronaut trip to orbit by a private company parachuted to a safe conclusion in the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday. It was the first water landing by NASA astronauts since 1975, when the agency's crews were still flying to and from orbit in the Apollo modules used for the historic American moon missions. Riding in a capsule built and operated by SpaceX, the rocket company founded by Elon Musk, two NASA astronauts -- Robert L. Behnken and Douglas G. Hurley -- splashed down near Pensacola, Fla., on Sunday afternoon. The Crew Dragon capsule, suspended under four giant billowing orange-and-white parachutes, settled upright into the water at a gentle pace of 15 miles per hour at 2:48 p.m. Eastern time.... More than an hour later, after Mr. Behnken and Mr. Hurley were helped out of the spacecraft, Mr. Hurley thanked the employees of NASA and SpaceX who helped make the mission a success." ~~~

~~~ The Washington Post has a livefeed on its front page of the SpaceX splashdown. The Post liveblogged the SpaceX landing here, and the New York Times liveblog is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Mike Isaac, et al., of the New York Times: "Microsoft said on Sunday that it would continue to pursue the purchase of TikTok in the United States after consulting with President Trump, clearing the way for a potential blockbuster deal between the software giant and the viral social media phenomenon. The announcement came as Mr. Trump has expressed repeated concerns about TikTok and national security in recent weeks because of the app's Chinese origins and backing; on Friday, Mr. Trump threatened to ban the app entirely within the United States, saying any decision could come as soon as Saturday. Those plans appeared to change after several of Mr. Trump's allies and Satya Nadella, the chief executive of Microsoft, spoke over the weekend with the president." Mrs. McC: Nadella probably promised Trump TikTok would ban Sarah Cooper.

Earth

Harry Cockburn of The Independent (UK): "The scientists who were among the first to declare the world's sixth mass extinction event was already underway in a 2015 study, have published new research revealing the rate at which wildlife is being destroyed is accelerating and is a direct threat to human civilisation. Stanford biologist Paul Ehrlich and colleagues at other institutions report in the new paper that the extinction rate is likely much higher than previously thought and is eroding nature's ability to provide vital services to people.... The huge increase in extinctions and rate of wildlife destruction will have a disastrous impact on humans too.... 'What we do to deal with the current extinction crisis in the next two decades will define the fate of millions of species,' said study lead author Gerardo Ceballos, a senior researcher at the National Autonomous University of Mexico's Institute of Ecology. 'We are facing our final opportunity to ensure that the many services nature provides us do not get irretrievably sabotaged.'" --s

News Ledes

Weather Channel: "Tropical Storm Isaias (ees-ah-EE-ahs) is expected to regain hurricane strength before it pushes ashore into the Carolinas later Monday with strong winds, flooding rainfall and storm surge flooding. The storm will then spread its impacts up the East Coast as far north as New England through Tuesday night. A hurricane warning has been issued for a portion of the upper South Carolina and lower North Carolina coasts since Isaias is forecast to make landfall as a Category 1 hurricane tonight. The hurricane warning includes Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and Wilmington, North Carolina. Tropical storm warnings extend as far north as Watch Hill, Rhode Island. Tropical storm watches extend as far north as Maine." ~~~

     ~~~ New Lede: "Hurricane Isaias (ees-ah-EE-ahs) is expected to push ashore into the Carolinas late Monday or early Tuesday with life-threatening storm surge flooding, damaging winds and flooding rainfall. Some additional strengthening is possible before landfall and Isaias will only slowly weaken as it spreads those impacts up the East Coast as far north as New England through early Wednesday."

New York Times: "John Hume, a moderate Roman Catholic politician who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his dogged and ultimately successful campaign to end decades of bloodshed in his native Northern Ireland, died on Monday, the Social Democratic and Labour Party said. He was 83."

The Commentariat -- August 2, 2020

Afternoon Update:

Veronica Stracqualursi of CNN: "Dr. Deborah Birx on Sunday said the US is in a new phase in its fight against the coronavirus pandemic, saying that the deadly virus is more widespread than when it first took hold in the US earlier this year. 'What we are seeing today is different from March and April. It is extraordinarily widespread. It's into the rural as equal urban areas,' Birx, the White House coronavirus task force coordinator, told CNN's Dana Bash on 'State of the Union.'... Asked if it was time to reset the federal government response to the pandemic, Birx said, 'I think the federal government reset about five to six weeks ago when we saw this starting to happen across the south.' But roughly six weeks ago, Vice President Mike Pence ... declared in a Wall Street Journal op-ed that the US is 'winning the fight' and there 'isn't a "second wave."' Birx did not address those claims on Sunday." ~~~

~~~ Doina Chiacu & Christopher Bing of Reuters: "U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Sunday she does not have confidence in White House coronavirus task force coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx, linking her to disinformation about the virus spread by ... Donald Trump. 'I think the president has been spreading disinformation about the virus and she is his appointee so, I don't have confidence there, no,' Speaker Pelosi told ABC's 'This Week' when asked if she has confidence in Birx. Birx, asked about Pelosi's comment during an interview with CNN's 'State of the Union,' said she had great respect for Pelosi and attributed the criticism to a New York Times article on the White House pandemic response that described Birx as having embraced overly optimistic assessments on the virus."

The Washington Post has a livefeed on its front page of the SpaceX splashdown. The Post is liveblogging events here, and the New York Times is liveblogging developments here.

"We Don't Know WTF We're Doing" -- RNC Officials. Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post: "The Republican National Committee says no final decision has been made about whether President Trump's renomination will be held in private at the GOP convention, contradicting previous reports that restrictions on crowd size during the coronavirus pandemic would prevent members of the press from attending. Two RNC officials insisted Sunday that they are still working through the logistics and press coverage options, a break with a statement reportedly made by a GOP convention spokesperson the previous day."

Zachary Warmbrodt of Politico: "Rep. Karen Bass on Sunday walked back 2016 comments praising Cuban leader Fidel Castro, as scrutiny of her views toward the Communist government threatened her potential selection as former Vice President Joe Biden's running mate." ~~~

~~~ Evan Semones of Politico: "Rep. Karen Bass, a top-tier contender to be Joe Biden's running mate, on Saturday sought to clarify remarks she made in 2010 praising the Church of Scientology.... In her remarks, Bass called on treating humans with respect and fighting oppression, but also spoke highly of the controversial group and its founder, L. Ron Hubbard." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I wish to clarify or walk back every damned thing I ever said prior to August 2020. One or more of the following applies: "I never said that." "I was misquoted." "Obviously, I was just kidding." "I said 'was' when I meant 'wasn't.'" "My views have evolved." "Since that time, new information has come to light." "I don't recall." "I'll have to get back to you on that." "Fake news." "That's a nasty question."

~~~~~~~~~~

The Trumpidemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Saturday are here: "Hours after unemployment benefits for tens of millions of Americans lapsed, administration officials arrived on Capitol Hill on Saturday morning for a rare meeting with top congressional Democrats to discuss a coronavirus relief package and work to break an impasse over new aid as the American economy continues to shudder. Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, who hosted the meeting with Senator Chuck Schumer of New York in her Capitol Hill suite, emerged from the three-hour meeting -- the longest meeting held over the last six days -- and said the discussion 'was productive in terms of moving us forward,' but they remained far apart on a number of issues. They declined to offer specifics. Also in attendance were Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff, and Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ AND what was the fake author of The Art of the Deal doing while Nancy & the boys were trying in vain to make a deal as millions of Americans were out of work and out of money? Maybe getting sick or evicted from their homes? Why, golfing at one of his clubs, of course. ~~~

~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for Saturday are here: "July's infection total was more than double that of June and represents about 42 percent of the 4.5 million cases the country has logged since the outbreak started, according to tracking by The Washington Post.... 'July was definitely a disaster, and even though there was a lot more testing, the percent positivity was quite high in many areas, indicating that the rise in cases wasn't attributable solely to increased detection,' Ellie Murray, an epidemiologist at Boston University, told The Post. 'The U.S. has failed to take the opportunity that the summer could have presented to control this virus and is instead entering the fall in a disastrously bad position.'"

Julie Bosman, et al., of the New York Times: "First, the Pacific Northwest and the Northeast were hit hardest as the coronavirus tore through the nation. Then it surged across the South. Now the virus is again picking up dangerous speed in much of the Midwest -- and in cities from Mississippi to Florida to California that thought they had already seen the worst of it. As the United States rides what amounts to a second wave of cases, with daily new infections leveling off at an alarming higher mark, there is a deepening national sense that the progress made in fighting the pandemic is coming undone and no patch of America is safe. In Missouri, Wisconsin and Illinois, distressed government officials are retightening restrictions on residents and businesses, and sounding warnings about a surge in coronavirus-related hospitalizations. In the South and the West, several states are reporting their highest levels of new coronavirus cases, with outbreaks overwhelming urban and rural areas alike." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ ** Joel Achenbach, et al., of the Washington Post: "The coronavirus is spreading at dangerous levels across much of the United States, and public health experts are demanding a dramatic reset in the national response, one that recognizes that the crisis is intensifying and that current piecemeal strategies aren't working. This is a new phase of the pandemic, one no longer built around local or regional clusters and hot spots. It comes at an unnerving moment in which the economy suffered its worst collapse since the Great Depression, schools are rapidly canceling plans for in-person instruction and Congress has failed to pass a new emergency relief package. President Trump continues to promote fringe science, the daily death toll keeps climbing and the human cost of the virus in America has just passed 150,000 lives." (Also linked yesterday.)

Evan Semones of Politico: "... Donald Trump publicly rebuked Dr. Anthony Fauci on Saturday, forcefully rejecting the nation's top infectious disease expert's testimony on why the U.S. has experienced a renewed surge in coronavirus cases. 'Wrong!' Trump wrote in a retweet of a video where Fauci explained to a House subcommittee that the U.S. has seen more cases than European countries because it only shut down a fraction of its economy amid the pandemic. 'We have more cases because we have tested far more than any other country, 60,000,000. If we tested less, there would be less cases,' the president added."

Kate Bennett of CNN: "As ... Donald Trump continues to demand a return to in-person classes for schools around the country despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the school attended by his youngest son has received an order prohibiting on-campus learning for the start of the school year. Montgomery County, Maryland, on Friday issued a directive demanding that private schools not conduct in-person learning until October 1. Barron Trump, who is slated to enter 9th grade in the fall, attends St. Andrew's Episcopal School, a private school in Potomac, Maryland, part of Montgomery County."

Lauren Egan of NBC News: "Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz., said Saturday he tested positive for the coronavirus, becoming the second lawmaker this week to announce they had contracted the virus. Grijalva said in a statement that he did not have any symptoms and felt fine. The congressman said he would self-quarantine at the recommendation of the Capitol's attending physician.... Grijalva had attended a a hearing of the Natural Resources Committee with [Rep. Louis] Gohmert [R-Texas] on Tuesday. During the hearing Gohmert [who has refused to wear a mask & tested positive this week] was at times seen without a face covering, sitting in close proximity to other lawmakers including Grijalva. 'While I cannot blame anyone directly for this, this week has shown that there are some Members of Congress who fail to take this crisis seriously,' Grijalva said in his statement, which did not mention Gohmert by name." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

William Saletan of Slate cites statistics that show Republican voters are not only becoming pro-mask, but also favoring mask mandates: "In a Yahoo News poll released on Friday, 57 percent of Republicans said it should be 'mandatory to wear a mask in public,' and 65 percent said it should be mandatory to do so in 'states with large numbers of new COVID-19 cases.'"

Germany. Not All Dummkopfs Are Americans. Loveday Morris & Miriam Berger of the Washington Post: "Thousands of largely mask-less demonstrators marched through central Berlin on Saturday chanting 'We are free people' to the beat of Queen's 'We Will Rock You' in a coronavirus restrictions protest that was also riddled with virus-related conspiracy theories. The demonstration took place despite recent warnings from German health officials about a new rise in infections.... Those present on Saturday included a hodgepodge of science skeptics, libertarians, Germany's far-right and constitutional loyalists, Reuters reported."

Alexander Vindman in a Washington Post op-ed: "At no point in my career or life have I felt our nation's values under greater threat and in more peril than at this moment. Our national government during the past few years has been more reminiscent of the authoritarian regime my family fled more than 40 years ago than the country I have devoted my life to serving. Our citizens are being subjected to the same kinds of attacks tyrants launch against their critics and political opponents. Those who choose loyalty to American values and allegiance to the Constitution over devotion to a mendacious president and his enablers are punished. The president recklessly downplayed the threat of the pandemic even as it swept through our country. The economic collapse that followed highlighted the growing income disparities in our society. Millions are grieving the loss of loved ones and many more have lost their livelihoods while the president publicly bemoans his approval ratings." Thanks to unwashed for the link. Mother Jones has a summary here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Maureen Dowd compares Donald Trump to Shakespeare's MacBeth. She cites liteary historian Stephen Greenblatt: "The tyrant, Macbeth and other plays suggest, is driven by a range of sexual anxieties: a compulsive need to prove his manhood, dread of impotence, a nagging apprehension that he will not be found sufficiently attractive or powerful, a fear of failure. Hence the penchant for bullying, the vicious misogyny, and the explosive violence. Hence, too, the vulnerability to taunts. Especially those bearing a latent or explicit sexual charge." ~~~

~~~ Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: I've sort of quit blaming Trump for the situation we're in. He's too stupid & crazy to be taken seriously. I blame Republicans who didn't stand up to him when it became clear early on that he could not lead a team to manage the pandemic. mike pence can't be fired; Trump put him in charge of the task force. pence should have actually taken charge. CDC director Robert Redfield should have gone on the teevee & showed some leadership, urging American to pay no attention to Trump. Mitch McConnell should have formed a coalition with Nancy Pelosi to take charge. ~~~

Victoria Vasseti & Norm Eisen in a Politico Magazine opinion piece: "... Attorney General William Barr has pivoted from establishment D.C. attorney -- sworn to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States == into Trump's family lawyer.... Is Election Day set by law? 'I've never looked into it,' Barr demurred in his testimony this week. Is it appropriate for the president to solicit or accept foreign assistance in an election? Barr's first answer: 'It depends what kind of assistance.' These are the answers of a man who has turned the once-proud Department of Justice into the president's personal law firm. That is contrary to every tradition of the Justice Department, but consistent with how Trump has operated for his entire professional life.... Barr has tried to muzzle Trump's critics, protect his friends, hide information from Congress and investigate those who investigated the president." ~~~

~~~ Bill Barr Is Preparing to Lie to You Again. Joshua Geltzer & Ryan Goodman in a Washington Post opinion piece: "... there's every reason to suspect [William] Barr will soon try again to mislead [the public] -- this time regarding one of his most important initiatives to date, an investigation by his handpicked U.S. attorney, John Durham -- in an effort to skew the 2020 elections.... Based on Barr's track record, it's important for the public to realize now that they can't take Barr's word on what Durham actually has found.... Barr has a history of mischaracterizing and even lying about the results of investigations before their details are public. That's what Barr did to special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's investigation... [and when he falsely claimed SDNY U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman had resigned]. The urgency of bracing people to disbelieve the attorney general increased dramatically on Tuesday, as Barr was asked whether he'd apply long-standing Justice Department policy not to announce politically sensitive new cases before an election by holding Durham's findings until after Nov. 3. Barr's answer was, for him, a rarity in its clarity: He said no." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: IOW, Barr is getting ready to tell you that Durham found extensive evidence that Joe Biden is a criminal.

Shane Harris of the Washington Post: "A senior Department of Homeland Security official whose office compiled 'intelligence reports' about journalists and protesters in Portland, Ore., has been removed from his job, according to three people familiar with the matter. Brian Murphy, the acting undersecretary for intelligence and analysis, was reassigned to a new position elsewhere in the department, the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity.... Acting homeland security secretary Chad Wolf made the decision on Friday, one person said." A Politico story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ It's Cooch's Fault! Betsy Swan of Politico: "Before the Department of Homeland Security's intelligence arm put together intelligence reports about journalists, its leaders advocated for less internal oversight of the office. Several months ago, the leadership of the Office of Intelligence and Analysis asked DHS's second-in-command, Ken Cuccinelli, to limit a department watchdog from regularly reviewing the intelligence products it produces and distributes. Cuccinelli signed off on the move, according to two sources..., which constrained the role of the department's Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties in approving the intelligence office's work. Before the policy change, I&A had to get the civil liberties watchdog's signoff to distribute its intelligence products to law enforcement partners.... In the months since the change, I&A's work has drawn withering criticism."

Elections 2020

GOP Bans Reporters. Frank Lockwood of Arkansas Online: "When Republicans renominate Donald Trump for president in Charlotte, N.C., on Aug. 24, journalists won't be on hand to witness it, a convention spokesperson told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette this week. Reporters also will be kept from the room when the Republican National Committee meets to conduct official party business. The spokesperson couldn't say whether C-SPAN, the nonprofit public service network, would be allowed to air the proceedings." ~~~

~~~ Kevin Freking of the AP: "The vote to renominate ... Donald Trump is set to be conducted in private later this month, without members of the press present, a spokeswoman for the Republican National Convention, citing the coronavirus. While Trump called off the public components of the convention in Florida last month, citing spiking cases of the virus across the country, 336 delegates are scheduled to gather in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Aug. 24 to formally vote to make Trump the GOP standard-bearer once more.... If the GOP decision stands, it will mark the first party nominating convention in modern history to be closed to reporters." Mrs. McC: Wolf Blitzer is exercised about this because freedom of the press, but I see it as just weird. Besides, if there's something crooked about Trump's nomination, it will leak fastly.

Georgia Senate Race. Tia Mitchell & Chris Joyner of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler [R-Ga.] granted an interview to a TV pundit associated with white supremacy and Nazism. The interview aired on One America News Network on Thursday and Loeffler promoted it heavily on her Facebook and Twitter accounts Friday.... Jewish groups and media observers pointed out that [interviewer Jack] Posobiec promotes conspiracy theories and once associated with white supremacists including Richard Spencer.... Posobiec has been criticized in the past for posting anti-Semitic tweets.... Loeffler's team would not say whether she was aware of Posobiec's ties to Nazism and anti-Semitism, and they condemned the AJC for asking about it....[When] she spoke to Posobiec..., [she] focused on her ongoing clash with the WNBA over its 'Black lives matter' campaign.... She is co-owner of the Atlanta Dream WNBA team. She has spent about a month criticizing players' decision to wear shirts saying 'Black lives matter' or other social justice slogans and those who walk off the court during the national anthem.... A Monmouth University poll released Wednesday shown Loeffler leading U.S. Rep. Doug Collins [R-Obnoxious] in the November special election with 26% of support compared to his 20%. That free-for-all race also includes Democrats and third-party candidates."

Brian Fung of CNN: "... Donald Trump said Friday night that he will ban the popular short-form video app TikTok from operating in the United States, rejecting a potential deal for Microsoft to buy the app from its Chinese-owned parent company. 'As far as TikTok is concerned, we're banning them from the United States,' Trump said to reporters while aboard Air Force One. Trump said he could use emergency economic powers or an executive order. It was not immediately clear what such an order would look like and what legal challenges it might face. 'Well, I have that authority,' he said. Earlier on Friday, people working on the issue within the Trump administration expected the President to sign an order to force ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns the social media platform, to sell the US operations of TikTok, according to a person familiar with the matter. The move was aimed at resolving policymakers' concerns that the foreign-owned TikTok may be a national security risk." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Tommy Christopher of Mediaite: "President Donald Trump rocked the social media world when he blurted out that he will be banning TikTok on Saturday, prompting a flood of reactions that pegged his decision to the dual humiliations of comedian Sarah Cooper and the pack of users who sabotaged his Tulsa rally." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Update. Dan Primack of Axios: "President Trump 'has a deal on his desk,' whereby Microsoft would lead an acquisition of 100% of the U.S. operations of TikTok, according to a source familiar with the negotiations.... Trump Friday night said he plans to ban TikTok, as India has done, over concerns that the app could be sharing U.S. user data with the Chinese government.... U.S. presidents don't typically have approval or veto power over merger agreements. But this situation is different because of the involvement of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS), which has been reviewing ByteDance's 2017 acquisition of U.S. app Musical.ly and eventually merged with TikTok."

Way Beyond the Beltway

Germany. Katrin Bennhold of the New York Times: "Germany has belatedly begun dealing with far-right networks that officials now say are far more extensive than they ever understood. The reach of far-right extremists into its armed forces is particularly alarming in a country that has worked to cleanse itself of its Nazi past and the horrors of the Holocaust. In July the government disbanded an entire company infiltrated by extremists in the nation's special forces.... But ... the problem of far-right infiltration is neither new nor confined to to ... Germany's elite special forces..., the KSK, or even the military. Far-right extremism penetrated multiple layers of German society in the years when the authorities underestimated the threat or were reluctant to countenance it fully, officials and lawmakers acknowledge. Now they are struggling to uproot it." Mrs. McC: Are we paying more attention to German extremism now because the country has become the leader of the free world?

News Ledes

Weather Channel: "Isaias (ees-ah-EE-ahs) is moving on its way to Florida's East Coast, now as a tropical storm, before tracking up the East Coast as far north as New England in the first half of the week ahead. Winds have decreased slightly in Isaias since Saturday afternoon as the storm fights with dry air and wind shear, and tries to recover from interaction with the Bahamas' Andros Island. A hurricane warning is in effect from Boca Raton to the Flagler/Volusia County Line in Florida. A hurricane warning means that hurricane conditions are expected within the warning area within 36 hours." ~~~

~~~ On its front page, the Miami Herald says it is providing unlimited access to Hurricane Isaias stories. It's not clear from the blurb whether or not you have to sign up for access. ~~~

~~~ Update. Washington Post: "Tropica Storm Isaias is skirting along Florida's east coast and, through Sunday night, will unleash scattered areas of strong winds, heavy rain, and, along the shore, rough surf. But the storm, which has spared the Sunshine State from its most severe weather, is ... set to charge up the entire East Coast, crashing ashore in the Carolinas Monday night, before surging up the rest of the Eastern Seaboard from Virginia to Maine and exiting late Wednesday. Tropical storm warnings and watches stretch from the Florida coast to Long Island, including Norfolk, Va., the Chesapeake Bay and Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, coastal New Jersey, and New York City. Heavy rains are predicted to drench large areas of the Southeast, Mid-Atlantic, as well as New England regions."

Washington Post: "The launch two months ago went about as smoothly as possible, flying American astronauts into orbit from U.S. soil for the first time since 2011. And SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft docked so gracefully with the International Space Station that NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley didn't even feel it. Now they are coming home.... [Behnken and Hurley] boarded their Endeavour spacecraft and undocked from the station at 7:35 p.m. Eastern time Saturday. [They are] aiming [to splash down at] a site in the Gulf of Mexico near Pensacola in the Florida Panhandle.... Splashdown Sunday is scheduled for 2:48 p.m."

New York Times: "Wilford Brimley, a portly actor with a walrus mustache who found his niche playing cantankerous coots in 'Absence of Malice,' 'The Natural,' 'Cocoon' and other films, died on Saturday at age 85.: