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Friday

Jul172020

The Commentariat -- July 17, 2020

Afternoon Update:

President* Trump on His Agenda -- White House Remarks, July 16

So we have many exciting things that we'll be announcing over the next eight weeks, I would say. Things that nobody has even contemplated, thought about, thought possible, and things that we're going to get done and we have gotten done -- and we've started in most cases. But it's going to be a very exciting eight weeks, a eight weeks, like I prob- -- I think, Mike, we can honestly say nobody has ever going to see eight weeks like we're going to have. Because we really have -- we have -- we're taking on immigration, taking on education, we're taking on so many aspects of things that people were hopelessly tied up in knots in Congress. They can't -- they've been working on some of these things for 25, 30 years. It wasn't happening. But you'll see levels of detail, and you'll see levels of thought that a lot of people believed very strongly we didn't have in this country. We're going to get things done. We're going to get things done that they've wanted to see done for a long, long time. So I think we'll start sometime on Tuesday. We'll be discussing our one plan on suburbia, but that's one of many, many different plans. Then we're going into the immigration -- the world of immigration, the world of education. We're going into the world of healthcare -- very complete healthcare. And we have a lot of very exciting things to discuss. But cutting of regulation has been really something that I felt we could do, and we could do fairly easily. Nothing is easy in this country. We had statutory requirements where we'd do phase one, and then we'd have to wait 90 days. We'd do phase two, and we'd have to wait 60 days. You'd do phase three, and we're set -- 'Let's do phase four, sir. I'm sorry you have to wait one year.' But we were able to do things that nobody has ever been able to do, or even close, on deregulation.

Source: White House transcript, unedited.

Horrible News for Many Reasons. Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg announced Friday that she is being treated for a recurrence of cancer, this time on her liver, but says she remains able to do her work on the Supreme Court. 'I have often said I would remain a member of the court as long as I can do the job full steam,' Ginsburg said in a written statement. 'I remain fully able to do that.' Ginsburg, 87, and the court's oldest member, has battled cancer four times and has had other health concerns." An AP story is here.

Wow! Deborah Yetter of the Louisville Courier Journal: "Jerry Lundergan, a former Kentucky Democratic Party chairman and the father of former Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, was sentenced Thursday to 21 months in federal prison for election finance violations related to his daughter's unsuccessful U.S. Senate campaign, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Kentucky. Lundergan, 73, of Lexington, was convicted last year along with Dale Emmons, of Richmond, for being part of a scheme to funnel more than $200,000 in illegal campaign donations to the Senate campaign in which Grimes, a Democrat, in 2014 ran unsuccessfully against Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell. Emmons, a campaign consultant hired by Lundergan, was sentenced to nine months in a halfway house, three years of supervised release and fined $50,000. Lundergan also was sentenced to two years of supervised release and fined $150,000."

Dan Lamothe of the Washington Post: "Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper effectively banned displays of the Confederate battle flag on U.S. military installations, saying in a memo Friday that the 'flags we fly must accord with the military imperatives of good order and discipline, treating all our people with dignity and respect, and rejecting divisive symbols.' The memo does not explicitly mention Confederate banners but states that the American flag is the 'principal flag we are authorized and encouraged to display.'... A defense official..., speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said the White House is aware of the new policy. It was not immediately clear if President Trump supports it.... Esper's new policy does not address the base-naming issue. An amendment in the new defense spending bill would require the Pentagon to change the names as well as remove other Confederate references, symbols and paraphernalia from installations within three years. Trump has threatened to veto the bill if the amendment is included." ~~~

~~~ Must Not Upset Trump. Lolita Baldor of the AP: "The [Confederate flag-ban] policy, laid out in a memo released Friday, was described by officials as a creative way to bar the flag's display without openly contradicting or angering ... Donald Trump, who has defended people's rights to display it."

Mitch Prothero of Business Insider: "Israel is involved in an extended campaign to pressure or damage Iran before President Donald Trump can be voted out of office in the November election, a former Israeli defense official and a current European Union intelligence official told Insider.... These attacks have put the country on edge, with nearly daily reports of fires, explosions, and other mishaps treated as potential foreign sabotage.... The attacks appear to be part of a campaign of 'maximum pressure, minimal strategy,' said the EU intelligence official.... With a broad belief among America's allies that Trump is unlikely to win reelection, Israel's apparent shift in tactics toward high-pressure 'kinetic' operations seem to reflect a belief that under a Biden administration, there would be a move to save the 2015 nuclear deal that had been scuttled by Trump." --s

Josh Katz, et al., of the New York Times have produced a detailed interactive map of where people say they are wearing masks when they expect to come into contact with others. "Our data comes from a large number of interviews conducted by the global data and survey firm Dynata at the request of The New York Times." Mrs. McC: My area is doing poorly, although I can say that when I do my 6 am grocery shopping, mask-wearers are 100% of the early birds.

S.N.A.F.U. Dara Lind of ProPublica: "As hospitals across the United States brace for a difficult six months -- with the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic still raging and concerns about a second wave in the fall -- some are acutely short-staffed because of ... a proclamation issued by ... Donald Trump on June 22, barring the entry of most immigrants on work visas.... Hundreds of young doctors were unable to start their residencies on time.... The proclamation stated that doctors 'involved with the provision of medical care to individuals who have contracted COVID-19 and are currently hospitalized' should be exempt from the ban, but it delegated the issuing of guidance to the departments of State and Homeland Security. That guidance has been slow and inconsistent."

Jesse McKinley of the New York Times: "Jamaal Bowman has scored a stunning victory over Representative Eliot L. Engel of New York in a Democratic primary, defeating the 16-term incumbent and overcoming the efforts of the Democratic establishment in a profound show of progressive political power. Mr. Bowman, a middle school principal from Yonkers, was declared the winner on Friday, after a count of absentee ballots verified what seemed clear on Primary Night, when he emerged with a commanding lead over Mr. Engel, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.... In the closing weeks of the campaign, as Mr. Bowman gained momentum and prominent backers, members of the Democratic old guard tried to salvage Mr. Engel's flagging campaign.... The Black Lives Matter movement ... gave a powerful talking point for Mr. Bowman, who is African-American and said he had been physically attacked by police as a child. The Black Lives Matter movement also served as backdrop for a cringe-inducing moment for Mr. Engel. At a news conference in the Bronx in early June, the congressman was caught on microphone suggesting that he was only there because of his contested race. 'If I didn't have a primary, he said, I wouldn't care.'" ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie Note to Donald Trump: "I really don't care" turns out not to be the best campaign message. And two-thirds of the country already knows that's your message, whether or not your wife has it painted on the back of her jacket.

MEANWHILE, Across the Pond:

~~~~~~~~~~

The Trumpidemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates for coronavirus developments Friday are here: "As clashes over face-covering mandates and school reopening plans intensified throughout the United States, the country shattered its single-day record for new cases on Thursday -- more than 75,600, according to a New York Times database. This was the 11th time in the past month that the record had been broken. The previous single-day record, 68,241 cases, was announced last Friday. The number of daily cases has more than doubled since June 24, when the country registered 37,014 cases after a lull in the outbreak had kept the previous record, 36,738, standing for two months."

The New York Times' live updates for coronavirus developments Thursday are here. Dr. Donnie prescribes PhucPsyence: "The White House press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, reiterated President Trump's view that schools must open in the fall. 'When he says open,' she said, 'he means open and full, kids being able to attend each and every day at their school. The science should not stand in the way of this.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

The Man with No Plan. Philip Rucker, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump has vowed that the nation's schools must reopen for the fall semester, but neither he nor his administration has detailed a plan for how to do so safely. Trump has boasted that the United States leads the world in coronavirus testing, yet he has declined to produce a national testing plan, and in many communities tests can take a week or longer to process, rendering their results all but useless in slowing the spread. And with case numbers spiking from coast..., Trump's most clearly articulated plan to end the covid-19 pandemic is to predict the virus will 'just disappear' and to bank on a vaccine being ready 'very, very soon.'... There is no cohesive national strategy, apart from unenforced federal health guidelines. Instead, the administration is offering a patchwork of solutions, often in reaction to outbreaks after they occur. Although Trump and his team declare sweeping objectives..., they have largely shirked responsibility for developing and executing plans to achieve them, putting the onus instead on state and local authorities." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

John Bresnahan & Jake Sherman of Politico: "... Donald Trump has signaled to Hill Republicans that he will not sign a new coronavirus stimulus package without the inclusion of a payroll tax cut, according to three sources close to the issue.... The president has been fixated on a payroll tax cut for months, even though it has fallen on deaf ears on Capitol Hill -- Senate Republicans and House Democrats don't care for the proposal, and have resoundingly rejected it." Mrs. McC: Not only would a payroll tax cut further explode the deficit, it obviously does nothing for people who have been laid off because of business shutdowns forced by the coronavirus. (Also linked yesterday.)

Gary Langer of ABC News: "With COVID-19 cases soaring nationally, Americans by nearly a two to one margin distrust what ... Donald Trump says about the pandemic, and six in 10 in a new ABC News/Washington Post poll disapprove of how he's handling it, up steeply since the early days of the outbreak. Just 38% in the national survey now approve of Trump's response, down from 46% in late May.... There's also a disconnect in terms of priorities, with Americans, by 63-33%, saying it's more important to control the spread of the virus than to restart the economy, a goal Trump has stressed.... Concern about catching the disease, moreover, remains persistently high. Sixty-six percent are very or somewhat worried that they or someone in their immediate family might become infected, and an additional 5% of Americans now say this already has happened." Mrs. McC: The amazing part is the huge 38% dingbat club that trusts a guy who suggested taking shots of bleach was a cure for the virus.

Lena Sun & Amy Goldstein of the Washington Post: "On the eve of a new coronavirus reporting system this week, data disappeared from a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website as hospitals began filing information to a private contractor or their states instead. A day later, an outcry -- including from other federal health officials -- prompted the Trump administration to reinstate that dashboard and another daily CDC report on the pandemic. And on Thursday, the nation's governors joined the chorus of objections over the abruptness of the change to the reporting protocols for hospitals, asking the administration to delay the shift for 30 days. In a statement, the National Governors Association said hospitals need the time to learn a new system, as they continue to deal with this pandemic. The governors also urged the administration to keep the information publicly available." CDC officials made the decision to take down the data dashboard. The article is free to nonsubscribers. A Politico story is here.

** White House Hides Bad News. Liz Whyte of the Center for Public Integrity: "A document prepared for the White House Coronavirus Task Force but not publicized suggests more than a dozen states should revert to more stringent protective measures, limiting social gatherings to 10 people or fewer, closing bars and gyms and asking residents to wear masks at all times. The document, dated July 14 and obtained by the Center for Public Integrity, says 18 states are in the 'red zone' for COVID-19 cases, meaning they had more than 100 new cases per 100,000 population last week. Eleven states are in the 'red zone' for test positivity, meaning more than 10 percent of diagnostic test results came back positive.... For instance, the document recommends that Georgia, in the red zone for both cases and test positivity, 'mandate statewide wearing of cloth face coverings outside the home.' But Gov. Brian Kemp signed an order Wednesday banning localities from requiring masks.' [More on Kemp linked below.] The 18 states that are included in the red zone for cases in the document are: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nevada, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Utah. The 11 states that are in the red zone for test positivity are Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, South Carolina, Texas and Washington."

Nathaniel Weixel of The Hill: "Top Trump administration officials are preparing guidance that will recommend people who test positive for COVID-19 do not need to get retested to prove they no longer have the disease. The move, previewed in a call with reporters by the administration's testing coordinator Brett Giroir, comes as the U.S. testing system faces severe strains and a national backlog of results.... Giroir said the guidance, which will be released in the coming days, will apply to people who are isolating at home after testing positive." --s

Trump's "Medical Experts" "Fact-Check" Fauci:

Morgan Chalfant of The Hill: "White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said on Thursday that Anthony Fauci was wrong to liken the coronavirus to the 1918 flu pandemic, calling his remarks 'false' and 'irresponsible.' Meadows made the comments on Fox News after rebuking White House trade adviser Peter Navarro's decision to pen an op-ed criticizing Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert, which the chief of staff said was 'not appropriate.' Meadows went on to argue that not everything that Fauci says is correct." --s ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: It's great for Meadows to share his medical expertise with Foxbots. But, gosh, it turns out Meadows does not have a background in the study of infectious diseases. Why, he's not even a doctor or scientist. In fact, he does not have so much as a bachelor's degree, although he lied about that in official documents until December 2018, when reporters at the Tampa Bay Times noticed Meadows had quietly changed his Wikipedia page to reflect that he had only a two-year degree (A.A.) just as he was being vetted for an administration job. But, hey, thanks, Mark, for correcting Dr. Fauci. ~~~

Joe Concha of The Hill: "Former game show host Chuck Woolery announced Wednesday his son has tested positive for COVID-19, just days after Woolery accused medical professionals and Democrats of lying about the virus in an effort to hurt the economy and President Trump's reelection chances.... The message comes after Woolery tweeted Monday denouncing 'outrageous lies' being told about the coronavirus, comments that Trump retweeted to his more than 83 million followers.... Woolery ... has since deleted his Twitter account[.]" --s ~~~

~~~ At least Peter Navarro does have a doctorate, albeit in economics. ~~~

~~~ Jeremy Barr of the Washington Post: "Facing intense criticism on social media, USA Today has admitted errors in an opinion piece written by a White House official that attacked Anthony S. Fauci..., saying in a post-publication note attached to the piece that it 'did not meet USA Today's fact-checking standards.' Published online Tuesday evening and in print on Wednesday, the opinion piece was authored by Peter Navarro, who heads the Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy, and was paired with the provocative headline: 'Anthony Fauci has been wrong about everything I have interacted with him on.' On Wednesday evening, editorial page editor Bill Sternberg added a note that both explained the piece's origins as well as its mistakes. 'Navarro's response echoed comments made to other news outlets in recent days,' he wrote, alluding to talking points critical of Fauci circulated by White House aides. 'We felt it was newsworthy because it expanded on those comments, put an on-the-record name to the attacks on Fauci, and contradicted White House denials of an anti-Fauci campaign.'... As part of the publication's response to the backlash that stemmed from publication of the piece, USA Today also published a 'fact check' piece on Wednesday night that concluded that 'Peter Navarro's claims about Dr. Anthony Fauci are misleading, lack context.'" (Also linked yesterday.) An AP story is here.

Noah Weiland of the New York Times: "The scientist leading the Trump administration's coronavirus vaccine program will be allowed to remain a government contractor, a decision that permits him to avoid ethics disclosures required of federal employees and maintain his investments in pharmaceutical companies. Two prominent watchdog groups as well as some Democrats in Congress had called for the Department of Health and Human Services to require that the scientist, Dr. Moncef Slaoui, a venture capitalist and a former executive at the pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, fall under the same ethics rules as federal employees. The office of the inspector general at H.H.S. responded this week that it could not require such a shift, citing the unusual role that Dr.Slaoui was playing in the administration amid the pandemic." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Common Dreams via RawStory: "Ethics watchdogs on Wednesday slammed a ruling by the Health and Human Services Department's inspector general, who decided this week that Moncef Slaoui, a former pharmaceutical executive now heading the Trump administration's coronavirus vaccine task force, does not have to disclose or divest his investments in the industry. As the co-director of Operation Warp Speed, a public-private partnership aimed at finding a vaccine for Covid-19 by the end of 2020, Slaoui is in the position to award contracts to pharmaceutical companies researching potential vaccines and treatments." --s (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Yeganeh Torbati of Propublica: "White House officials have pushed the U.S. Agency for International Development to purchase thousands of [ventilators] from U.S. companies and donate them abroad.... But the effort has been marked by dysfunction, with little clarity on how countries are chosen or how the ventilators are allocated. A USAID memo seen by ProPublica shows equipment donated to wealthy nations that typically do not get foreign aid, such as NATO countries, and to a few locations ill-equipped to use devices that require round-the-clock staffing and regular maintenance.... But public health experts said that without carefully assessing each country's health care expertise -- and following through to ensure hospitals can keep the machines running -- the donations could go to waste or even risk patients' lives." --s (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Jim Morelli of Boston 25 News: "COVID-19 can seem an indiscriminate killer, but a new study out of Brigham and Women's Hospital suggests several commonalities with its victims.... [T]he study found at least 15% of every age group -- including young adults -- did not survive the disease.... [T]he study found [people with] high rates of obesity ... raises the risk of death from COVID-19.... Other independent risk factors for death from COVID-19 include being male and having coronary artery disease or an active case of cancer. Two striking findings from the study: First, while African-Americans seemed to be admitted to hospitals and ICUs more frequently, they did not die from COVID-19 in disproportionate numbers.... Second, patients admitted to hospitals with fewer ICU beds to begin with had a much poorer prognosis than those treated in hospitals with large numbers of such beds." --s

Arizona, et al. Liz Essley Whyte of the Arizona Republic: "A document prepared for the White House Coronavirus Task Force but not publicized suggests more than a dozen states, including Arizona, should revert to more stringent protective measures, limiting social gatherings to 10 people or fewer, closing bars and gyms and asking residents to wear masks at all times.... The document, dated July 14 and obtained by the Center for Public Integrity, says 18 states are in the 'red zone' for COVID-19 cases, meaning they had more than 100 new cases per 100,000 population last week. Eleven states are in the 'red zone' for test positivity, meaning more than 10 percent of diagnostic test results came back positive." --s

Florida. Coronavirus Shuts Down Coronavirus Ops Center. Isaac Stanley-Becker of the Washington Post: "The coronavirus thrashing Florida has penetrated the state's emergency operations center, a clearinghouse for disaster-related information and a command center of sorts for the pandemic response. A new set of cases caused the center, located in Tallahassee, to shut down Thursday as staff shifted to remote work. One official with knowledge of the events, who spoke on the condition of anonymity..., said 13 people working at the center had tested positive for the novel coronavirus and that the office would be closed at least until Monday. Staff were in the process of clearing out essential equipment." Mrs. McC: How is that a coronavirus "command center" didn't plan for its employees contracting the coronavirus? ~~~

~~~ Chuck Weber of 12 News (Florida): "As local leaders debate the best way to reopen our schools, there's conflicting information about the actual COVID-19 health risks for kids. Palm Beach County School Board members were set to vote Wednesday afternoon on a reopening plan to submit to the state for approval. Last week, board members backed starting with virtual or distance learning when classes begin Aug. 10. But Gov. Ron DeSantis has repeatedly said it's safe to send kids to school and this month.... On Tuesday, Dr. Alina Alonso, the state health department director in Palm Beach County, brought up the positivity test rate among children [which] in the past week ... increased from 29 to above 33 percent. 'That literally means that a third of the age under 18 that we test are positive,' said Alonso, who also, for the second week in a row, mentioned lung damage showing up even in children who are asymptomatic." --s

Georgia. Veronica Stracqualursi & Paul LeBlanc of CNN: "Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp announced Thursday he is suing Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms over the city's mask mandate, claiming the measure violates his emergency orders.... The lawsuit marks a stunning escalation in the brewing feud between Kemp and Bottoms after the Atlanta mayor introduced her mandatory mask ordinance. Under her order, not wearing a mask within Atlanta's city limits was punishable by a fine and even up to six months in jail.... The lawsuit also comes just one day after Kemp suspended all local government mask mandates despite the rise in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations in his state....Kemp's executive order voids masks mandates imposed by some local governments as Covid-19 cases tick up in cities across the state, already claiming over 3,000 lives. Even as Kemp has been resistant to a statewide mask mandate for Georgia, other Republican governors are now requiring face coverings in their states." ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Worth remembering that Kemp is the genius who said in early April that he had had no idea that asymptomatic people could transmit the coronavirus. Newsweek: "Kemp's remarks prompted shocked reactions on Twitter, with Shannon Watts, the founder of Moms Demand Action, noting: 'In a bizarre turn of events, information the rest of the nation had in January didn't reach Georgia Governor Brian Kemp until April.'" Rather than suing Mayor Bottoms, Kemp should be jailed for felony stupid.

Alexander Smith of NBC News: "Hackers from Russia's intelligence services have been attempting to steal information related to the development of a COVID-19 vaccine from the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, British officials said Thursday. The attacks have been carried out by a group called "APT29, also known as 'the Dukes' or 'Cozy Bear, which has been been using malware to target various organizations across the three countries, the United Kingdom's National Cyber Security Centre said in a statement. The United States' National Security Agency and Canada's Communications Security Establishment both agree with the assessment, the British officials said." Mrs. McC: IOW, another Russian attack on the U.S. & our allies that Trump will ignore. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Update: The Washington Post's report is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Sometimes a Great Moment. Katie Kindelan of ABC News: "The veteran known as Captain Tom who raised tens of millions of dollars for the British National Health Service during the coronavirus pandemic will receive a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth. Captain Sir Thomas Moore will receive the honor during an investiture ceremony on Friday at Windsor Castle. The investiture will be the first that the 94-year-old queen has taken part in since she began following strict stay-at-home orders in March during the pandemic.... Moore originally aimed to raise $1,000 for charity by walking laps in his garden while under lockdown in Buckinghamshire, England. He hoped to complete 100 laps before he turned 100 in late April. Moore's online campaign exploded and by the time he reached his 100th birthday on April 30, the World War II veteran had raised tens of millions of dollars. Moore also received a promotion from Queen Elizabeth to the rank of colonel and a special flyover to commemorate his achievements."

Now, here's a drug that has passed its field tests and is safe for men & women of all ages. Dr. Hattie prescribes:

Finally a job @IvankaTrump is qualified for. pic.twitter.com/dHMEJzB8lL
— Matt Ortega (@MattOrtega) July 15, 2020

~~~ Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Went to the freezer yesterday to find a delicious lunch, and there it was: Si es "Smart Ones" tiene que ser bueno: ~~~

~~~ Anonymous has a great comment in today's thread on Ted Cruz's obvious lie defending free speech & beans: "... My grandparents ate Goya black beans twice a day for nearly 90 years. And now the Left is trying to cancel Hispanic culture and silence free speech. The link Anonymous provides addresses much more than Ted's mythical math. For instance, Susie Meister: "What if, and I'm just spitballing here, Ted Cruz cared about the kids in cages at the border as much as he cares about beans?" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Here's how Republican political analysis works: If Joe Biden says, "Nice day!" he is finally admitting that climate change is a hoax. If Donald Trump says, "Nice day!" he has brought in the sunshine and saved the world from darkness. It's very nuanced.

Ha! Annals of Journalism, Ctd. Cavuto Gave Foxbots an Econ Lesson. Aidan McLaughlin of Mediaite: "Fox News host Neil Cavuto cut away from a speech by ... Donald Trump on deregulation to fact-check his claims regarding the economy of his predecessor. Trump went after the regulations put in place by former President Barack Obama following the 2008 financial crisis -- calling them 'job destroying regulations' -- in his speech from the Rose Garden on Thursday.... Cavuto said ... Trump had 'mischaracterized the regulations that were added under Barack Obama -- they were largely financial related.... You might recall we had this little thing called the financial meltdown,' Cavuto explained, 'and much of those regulations were geared to preventing banks from ever investing in things like risky mortgage securities, pooling them, selling them off.' The Fox News anchor also rejected Trump's premise that those financial regulations yielded devastating results. 'The unemployment rate did, under Barack Obama, go down from a high of 10% to around 4.7%. President Trump, of course, sent that even lower, eventually getting us down to a 3.5% unemployment rate.... 'It was not a disaster under Barack Obama,' Cavuto said. 'Not only did the Dow essentially triple during his tenure, but... those companies did very well. Americans did very, very well....'"

Oliver Darcy of CNN: "Mary Trump's tell-all book had sold a staggering 950,000 copies by the end of its first day on sale, publisher Simon & Schuster said Thursday. That figure, which included pre-sales, as well as e-books and audiobooks, is a new record for Simon & Schuster, the company said. The book ... went on sale Tuesday and portrays President Trump in an unflattering light."

When Crazy Conspiracy Theorists Conspire. Timothy Johnson of Mediaite: "Roger Stone signed a document to accept [Donald Trump's] commutation of his prison sentence during a broadcast of far-right conspiracy theory program The Alex Jones Show[, starring, of course, Alex Jones].... During his appearance, Stone also thanked several conservative media figures for cheerleading his commutation, which included Alex Jones ('who never abandoned me')."

It's About Time. Chris Walker of Truthout: "The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a nonprofit civil rights organization..., added a new entry to its database of extremists: White House senior adviser Stephen Miller. Miller was added to the organization's website on Wednesday, with the SPLC noting that ... Donald Trump's trusted confidante 'is credited with shaping the racist and draconian immigration policies of President Trump,' including the zero-tolerance policy that led to thousands of children being separated from their families. Miller also shaped the White House's early Muslim ban, pushed for the president to attempt to end the popular ... DACA program, and advised moves to halt the issuance of green cards for immigrants using the coronavirus pandemic as a means to do so, SPLC said." Mrs. McC: Why isn't the Extremist-in-Chief Donald Trump on the list? Miller may have instigated some of Trump's "racist and draconian" policies, but Trump -- at the very least -- embraced and signed off on them.

Carol Morello of the Washington Post: "Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday that the American way of life and its founding principles are 'under attack,' focusing his criticism on voices in the mainstream news media and protesters who have torn down statues of historical figures. Speaking in Philadelphia at the National Constitution Center..., Pompeo said the events roiling the United States today are antithetical to the nation's ideals. 'And yet today, the very core of what it means to be an American, indeed the American way of life itself, is under attack,' he said. 'Instead of seeking to improve America, leading voices promulgate hatred of our founding principles.'" Mrs. McC: If Mike & his boss are "leading voices," I he's right. (Also linked yesterday.)

Sarah Lynch of Reuters: "U.S. Attorney General William Barr installed a new interim U.S. attorney in the Northern District of Alabama on Thursday, the latest appointee to come out of the Justice Department in Washington to serve in an acting capacity as a top federal prosecutor. Prim Escalona, the department's principal deputy assistant attorney general for the Office of Legislative Affairs, will take over from Jay Towns, who resigned on Wednesday to take a job with a defense contractor. A Justice Department spokesman did not have any immediate comment on why Barr tapped Escalona, who does not appear to have a background prosecuting criminal cases based on her LinkedIn profile.... Separately, Barr also recently appointed Deputy Associate Attorney General Stephen Cox as the top prosecutor in the Eastern District of Texas." --s

** Oregon. Jonathan Levinson & Conrad Wilson of Oregon Public Broadcasting: "Federal law enforcement officers have been using unmarked vehicles to drive around downtown Portland and detain protesters since at least July 14. Personal accounts and multiple videos posted online show the officers driving up to people, detaining individuals with no explanation of why they are being arrested, and driving off. The tactic appears to be another escalation in federal force deployed on Portland city streets, as federal officials and ... Donald Trump have said they plan to 'quell' nightly protests.... [I]nterviews conducted by OPB show officers are also detaining people on Portland streets who aren't near federal property, nor is it clear that all of the people being arrested have engaged in criminal activity." --s ~~~

~~~ Samantha Vinograd in a CNN opinion piece (June 7th): "In Washington, DC, alone, there has been a dizzying array of security personnel deployed in the last few days. From members of the military to DC police to the US Bureau of Prisons, the streets have become an alphabet soup of acronyms when it comes to law enforcement and security personnel, all designated -- by various levels of government -- to seemingly promote safety. But, as Americans countrywide exercise their constitutional right to protest peacefully, unnecessary assaults on democratic freedoms and civil liberties have proliferated.... Unmarked officers and 'secret police' have been used in authoritarian crackdowns throughout history. We used to refer to Russian President Vladimir Putin's unidentified proxies during his annexation of Crimea as 'little green men' for wearing unmarked green uniforms. Unattributable shows of force just shouldn't happen in American democracy. They're dangerous on many levels both in the near and longer term." --s

Dan Diamond & Adam Cancryn of Politico: "Congressional Democrats on Thursday condemned Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma after a watchdog report found she mishandled millions of dollars in government contracts, with some lawmakers renewing or issuing new calls for ... Donald Trump to replace his controversial Medicare chief.... In a joint release, the chairs of the House Oversight and Energy and Commerce committees and the top Democrats on the Senate HELP and Finance committees ... also warned that their own year-long investigation -- which drew on 'tens of thousands of pages of documents' provided by contractors and the health department -- would contain further information about Verma's spending and decisions.”

This is another excerpt from the Business Insider piece linked yesterday that should be highlighted. We are all less safe: ~~~

~~~ "[A] NATO military intelligence official who regularly deals with Russian intelligence matters confirmed the nature of Russia's activity. He said NATO had limited some parts of its relationship with the US because of its closeness to Russia. Specifically some worried that US officials would send them its intelligence." --s (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Elections 2020

Jeffrey Jones of Gallup: "Since January, Americans' party preferences have shifted dramatically in the Democratic Party's direction. What had been a two-percentage-point Republican advantage in U.S. party identification and leaning has become an 11-point Democratic advantage, with more of that movement reflecting a loss in Republican identification and leaning (down eight points) than a gain in Democratic identification and leaning (up five points).... Currently, half of U.S. adults identify as Democrats (32%) or are independents who lean toward the Democratic Party (18%). Meanwhile, 39% identify as Republicans (26%) or are Republican leaners (13%)." --s

Elena Schneider of Politico: "Joe Biden has nearly closed the once-yawning cash gap between him and ... Donald Trump, with big donors flooding his campaign and the Democratic National Committee with money in recent months. Trump and the Republican National Committee have spent years building a formidable war chest, starting soon after he was elected and continuing as Democrats burned money in their own primary in 2019 and early 2020. The Trump campaign and its affiliated groups closed out June with $295 million in the bank. But Biden and the DNC, which outraised Trump and the RNC for two consecutive months, has rapidly cut down that advantage to just $53 million, according to Biden's campaign manager, Jen O'Malley Dillon."

Liar-in-Chief Tries out New Lies about Biden. Katie Glueck, et al., of the New York Times: "Facing weak poll numbers and criticism for failing to offer a second-term agenda or a cohesive case against Mr. Biden, the president is accelerating his attacks on his Democratic opponent -- a sign of nervousness for any incumbent.... He has shaken up his campaign staff and intensified a tear-down operation aimed at Mr. Biden with a dizzying barrage of attacks, highlighted by dark, and at times misleading, television ads. Deprived of his favored forum of raucous campaign rallies because of the coronavirus pandemic, Mr. Trump has road-tested his messages in the Rose Garden, at a staid appearance in Atlanta to announce rollbacks of environmental regulations and on Twitter, supplying an onslaught of scattershot and sometimes contradictory criticisms of the former vice president.... The president's lack of discipline is a caution against any Republican hopes that this might be the start of a new chapter."

Justine Coleman & Jonathan Easley of the Hill: "Republicans announced Thursday they will scale back the Republican National Convention in August as coronavirus cases rise in Florida, where President Trump is expected to deliver a speech accepting his party's nomination for reelection. Ronna Romney McDaniel, the chairwoman of the Republican National Committee (RNC), informed members of the decision in a letter on Thursday that blamed the pandemic for the changes. The letter states that admittance to the convention in Jacksonville, Fla., will be limited only to regular delegates for the first three days, amounting to a crowd of about 2,500 people. Trump shifted the site of the celebration from North Carolina to Florida when it appeared the Jacksonville site might allow for large gatherings.... The official business for the convention will still take place in Charlotte, [North Carolina,] but the four-day celebration has been moved to Jacksonville." (Also linked yesterday.)

Maggie Miller of The Hill: "Secretary of StateMike Pompeo on Wednesday expressed confidence that other countries, including potentially Russia and China, would attempt to interfere in the 2020 U.S. elections. 'Yes, I am confident that many countries will do their level best to have an impact on our election,' Pompeo said during a virtual event hosted by The Hill on the future of national security." --s

** Supremes Disenfranchise Florida's Ex-Felons. Gary Fineout of Politico: "In a blow to voting rights that could have consequences for the presidential election, the U.S. Supreme Court let stand a Florida law restricting felon voting rights. The result is that hundreds of thousands of people with past felony convictions in the battleground state likely will be ineligible to vote in the August state primaries and, possibly, the November presidential election.... The high court on Thursday did not explain its decision. Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg..., dissented. In a stinging rebuke, Justice Sotomayor said that 'this court's inaction continues a trend of condoning disenfranchisement.'... A study by University of Florida political professor Daniel Smith found that nearly 775,000 people with felony convictions have some sort of outstanding legal financial obligation.... Now the case will return to the appeals court, which is scheduled to hold a hearing Aug. 18, the same day as Florida's primary." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Amy Gardner & Lori Rozsa of the Washington Post: "The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Thursday to overturn a federal appeals court's decision that blocked some Florida felons' eligibility to participate in elections -- a major blow to efforts to restore voting rights to as many as 1.4 million people in the battleground state. The decision lets stand a temporary halt by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit of a judge's order that had cleared the way for hundreds of thousands of felons in the state to register to vote." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Mark Stern of Slate Says It Best: "The Supreme Court all but guaranteed that nearly 1 million Floridians will be unable to vote in the 2020 election because of unpaid court debts in a shattering order handed down on Thursday. Its decision will throw Florida's voter registration into chaos, placing a huge number of would-be voters in legal limbo and even opening them up to prosecution for casting a ballot. The justices have effectively permitted Florida Republicans to impose a poll tax in November."

Capitalism Is Awesome, Ctd. Ryan McCarthy of Propublica: "[A]n analysis by ProPublica and First Draft, a global nonprofit that researches misinformation, shows that Facebook is rife with false or misleading claims about voting, particularly regarding voting by mail.... Many of these falsehoods appear to violate Facebook's standards yet have not been taken down or labeled as inaccurate. Some of them, generalizing from one or two cases, portrayed people of color as the face of voter fraud.... The false claims, including conspiracy theories about stolen elections or outright misrepresentations about voting by mail by Trump and prominent conservative outlets, are often among the most popular posts about voting on Facebook[.]" --s (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Great. False and racist, too. Thanks, Zuck!

Michigan Congressional Race. Quint Forgey of Politico: "Rep. Justin Amash, the Libertarian Michigan congressman who abandoned the Republican Party after calling for ... Donald Trump's impeachment, appeared to confirm reports Thursday that he would not seek reelection to Congress. 'I love representing our community in Congress. I always will,' Amash wrote on Twitter. 'This is my choice, but I'm still going to miss it. Thank you for your trust.'... Amash's apparent acknowledgment that he will not seek reelection in November opens up a Republican-leaning district that both parties were prepared to contest, though Democrats would have had better odds with Amash in the race."

Racist ... and Sexist, Too. Will Hobson & Liz Clarke of the Washington Post: Fifteen "former female [Washington NFL team] employees ... told The Washington Post they were sexually harassed during their time at the club.... [Fourteen] women spoke on the condition of anonymity, citing a fear of litigation because some signed nondisclosure agreements with the team that threaten legal retribution if they speak negatively about the club. [Only one, Emily Applegate, would speak on the record.] The team declined a request from The Post to release former female employees from these agreements so they could speak on the record without fear of legal reprisal.... Team owner Daniel Snyder declined several requests for an interview. Over the past week, as The Post presented detailed allegations and findings to the club, three team employees accused of improper behavior abruptly departed, including Larry Michael, the club's longtime radio voice, and Alex Santos, the team's director of pro personnel. In a statement, the team said it had hired D.C. attorney Beth Wilkinson and her firm, Wilkinson Walsh, 'to conduct a thorough independent review of this entire matter and help the team set new employee standards for the future.'"

Way Beyond the Beltway

James Gallagher of BBC: "The world is ill-prepared for the global crash in children being born which is set to have a 'jaw-dropping' impact on societies, say researchers. Falling fertility rates mean nearly every country could have shrinking populations by the end of the century. And 23 nations - including Spain and Japan - are expected to see their populations halve by 2100. Countries will also age dramatically, with as many people turning 80 as there are being born.... It has nothing to do with sperm counts or the usual things that come to mind when discussing fertility. Instead it is being driven by more women in education and work, as well as greater access to contraception, leading to women choosing to have fewer children." --s (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Yemen/World. Patrick Wintour of the Guardian: "Time is running out to prevent a disastrous oil spill from a deteriorating tanker loaded with 1.1m barrels of crude that is moored off the coast of Yemen, the UN's environment chief has said. Inger Andersen told the UN security council that a spill from the FSO Safer, which has had no maintenance for more than five years, would wreck ecosystems and livelihoods for decades.... Houthi rebels who control the area where the ship is moored have insisted on setting conditions linked to Yemen's six-year civil war before allowing UN inspectors onboard.... The Safer contains 1,148,000 barrels of light crude oil, meaning that if a full spillage occurred the release would be four times larger than the Exxon Valdez disaster off Alaska in 1989, says the UN." --s

News Ledes

AP: "The Rev. C.T. Vivian, an early and key adviser to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. who organized pivotal campaigns in the civil rights movement and spent decades advocating for justice and equality, died Friday at the age of 95. Vivian began staging sit-ins against segregation in Peoria, Illinois, in the 1940s -- a dozen years before lunch-counter protests by college students made national news. He met King soon after the budding civil rights leader's leadership of the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott, and helped translate ideas into action by organizing the Freedom Rides that eventually forced federal intervention across the South.... President Barack Obama honored Vivian with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013, saying that 'time and again, Reverend Vivian was among the first to be in the action: in 1947, joining a sit-in to integrate an Illinois restaurant; one of the first Freedom Riders; in Selma, on the courthouse steps to register blacks to vote, for which he was beaten, bloodied and jailed.'"

The Wrap: "The Daily Beast foreign editor Chris Dickey died unexpectedly in Paris Thursday at the age of 68. The cause of death was heart failure, according to the Daily Beast's editor in chief Noah Shachtman. The outlet posted a tribute to Dickey's decades-long career, which included stints at the Washington Post and Newsweek, and praised his personality."

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Wednesday

Jul152020

The Commentariat -- July 16, 2020

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Carol Morello of the Washington Post: “Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday that the American way of life and its founding principles are 'under attack,' focusing his criticism on voices in the mainstream news media and protesters who have torn down statues of historical figures. Speaking in Philadelphia at the National Constitution Center..., Pompeo said the events roiling the United States today are antithetical to the nation's ideals. 'And yet today, the very core of what it means to be an American, indeed the American way of life itself, is under attack,' he said. 'Instead of seeking to improve America, leading voices promulgate hatred of our founding principles.'" Mrs. McC: If Mike & his boss are "leading voices," I guess he's right.

Now, here's a drug that has passed its field tests and is safe for men & women of all ages. Dr. Hattie prescribes:

Mrs. McCrabbie: I see where USA Today is catching up with me & other critics: ~~~

Finally a job @IvankaTrump is qualified for. pic.twitter.com/dHMEJzB8lL
— Matt Ortega (@MattOrtega) July 15, 2020

Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Went to the freezer just now to find a delicious lunch, and there it was: Si es "Smart Ones" tiene que ser bueno: ~~~

Justine Coleman & Jonathan Easley of the Hill: "Republicans announced Thursday they will scale back the Republican National Convention in August as coronavirus cases rise in Florida, where President Trump is expected to deliver a speech accepting his party's nomination for reelection. Ronna Romney McDaniel, the chairwoman of the Republican National Committee (RNC), informed members of the decision in a letter on Thursday that blamed the pandemic for the changes. The letter states that admittance to the convention in Jacksonville, Fla., will be limited only to regular delegates for the first three days, amounting to a crowd of about 2,500 people. Trump shifted the site of the celebration from North Carolina to Florida when it appeared the Jacksonville site might allow for large gatherings.... The official business for the convention will still take place in Charlotte, [North Carolina,] but the four-day celebration has been moved to Jacksonville."

~~~ Update: The Washington Post's report is here. ~~~

~~~ This is another excerpt from the Business Insider piece linked below that should be highlighted. We are all less safe: ~~~

Noah Weiland of the New York Times: "The scientist leading the Trump administration's coronavirus vaccine program will be allowed to remain a government contractor, a decision that permits him to avoid ethics disclosures required of federal employees and maintain his investments in pharmaceutical companies. Two prominent watchdog groups as well as some Democrats in Congress had called for the Department of Health and Human Services to require that the scientist, Dr. Moncef Slaoui, a venture capitalist and a former executive at the pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, fall under the same ethics rules as federal employees. The office of the inspector general at H.H.S. responded this week that it could not require such a shift, citing the unusual role that Dr. Slaoui was playing in the administration amid the pandemic." ~~~

Ryan McCarthy of Propublica: "[A]n analysis by ProPublica and First Draft, a global nonprofit that researches misinformation, shows that Facebook is rife with false or misleading claims about voting, particularly regarding voting by mail.... Many of these falsehoods appear to violate Facebook's standards yet have not been taken down or labeled as inaccurate. Some of them, generalizing from one or two cases, portrayed people of color as the face of voter fraud.... The false claims, including conspiracy theories about stolen elections or outright misrepresentations about voting by mail by Trump and prominent conservative outlets, are often among the most popular posts about voting on Facebook[.]" --s ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Great. False and racist, too. Thanks, Zuck!

~~~~~~~~~~

The Trumpidemic, Ctd.

Fred Imbert of CNBC: "The number of Americans who filed for unemployment benefits rose more than expected last week as the country continues to grapple with the economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. Initial weekly jobless claims came in at 1.3 million for the week ending July 11, the Labor Department said Thursday. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected a print of 1.25 million. It was also the 16th straight week in which initial claims totaled at least 1 million. Continuing claims -- which refer to those receiving benefits for at least two straight weeks -- totaled 17.33 million for the week of July 4." ~~~

~~~ Reuters: "U.S. retail sales increased more than expected in June, but the budding economic recovery is being threatened by a resurgence in new Covid-19 infections and high unemployment. The Commerce Department said on Thursday retail sales rose 7.5% last month. That was on top of the 18.2% jump in May, which was the biggest gain since the government started tracking the series in 1992. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast retail sales advancing 5% in June."

The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Wednesday are here. The Washington Post's live updates for Wednesday are here: "Sidelined by the White House and harshly criticized in an extraordinary op-ed from a top adviser to the Trump administration, Anthony S. Fauci -- the nation's top infectious-disease expert -- said in an interview with the Atlantic published Wednesday that the country needs to focus on a surging virus 'rather than these games people are playing.'"

Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "After several days spent weathering attacks from White House officials, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci hit back on Wednesday, calling recent efforts to discredit him 'bizarre' ... in an interview with The Atlantic published on Wednesday ... and a hindrance to the government's ability to communicate information about the coronavirus pandemic.... On Wednesday, Peter Navarro, Mr. Trump's top trade adviser, published a brazen op-ed article in USA Today describing Dr. Fauci as 'wrong about everything.' Over the weekend, another of Mr. Trump's top advisers shared a mocking cartoon that portrayed Dr. Fauci as a leaky faucet. Other White House officials have targeted Dr. Fauci by distributing opposition research-style documents to reporters that detail what they say are his mistakes. All the while, White House officials -- including the president and the press secretary -- assert in the face of the evidence that there is no concerted effort to attack Dr. Fauci...., but so far [they have] not attacked the substance of [Navarro's] piece." An ABC News story is here. ~~~

~~~ Quint Forgey of Politico has a related story here. ~~~

Ultimately, it hurts the president to do that. When the staff lets out something like that and the entire scientific and press community push back on it, it ultimately hurts the president. -- Anthony Fauci, in an Atlantic interview this week

~~~ Jill Colvin & Zeke Miller of the AP: "... a person familiar with the matter said Trump himself was amused by the spat, believing Navarro highlighted errors by Fauci and helped reduce his public stature, which has grated on some in the West Wing for months.... 'Peter Navarro's statement or op-ed, whatever you want to classify it as, was an action that is a violation of well-established protocols that was not supported overtly or covertly by anyone in the West Wing,' [chief-of-staff Mark] Meadows told reporters aboard Air Force One on Wednesday evening. His 'comments really just reflect Peter Navarro's personal thinking and not the thinking of the West Wing.'" ~~~

~~~ Brian Williams of MSNBC said the LA Times is reporting that a senior White House official said Navarro had Trump's permission to write the op-ed and encouraged him to do so. ~~~

~~~ Kadia Goba & Dan Vergano of BuzzFeed News: "... thousands of ... doctors [are] publicly defending Fauci. The Infectious Diseases Society of America released a statement Wednesday speaking on behalf of its 12,000 medical doctors, research scientists, and public health experts, saying they won't be 'sidelined' and calling the campaign to discredit Fauci 'disturbing.'... The American Society for Microbiology also wrote a letter Tuesday to Vice President Mike Pence expressing its support for Fauci and other health officials 'prioritizing science-based public health strategies to address the COVID-19 pandemic.'... During an unrelated White House event on Wednesday..., Donald Trump skirted questions on whether he’s OK with Navarro's op-ed.... 'I get along very well with Dr. Fauci,' Trump said. When pressed on the question again, 'That's Peter Navarro, but I have a very good relationship with Dr. Fauci.' Later, the president told reporters that Navarro made a statement 'representing himself. He shouldn't be doing that.'" Mrs. McC: It's pretty impressive that even the nation's biggest bully has figured out he can't win by dissing Fauci. ~~~

~~~ Kevin Drum of Mother Jones debunks Peter Navarro's diatribe/op-ed against Anthony Fauci. Drum zeroes in on Navarro's "proofs" that Fauci got everything wrong: "... it turns out to be just the latest in an increasingly common conservative genre: a piece that links to articles that literally make the opposite of the point the author is claiming." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Gee, when the New York Times published a hateful, error-dotted op-ed by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), the newsroom revolted & the editorial page editor resigned. But when USA Today publishes a hateful, error-filled op-ed by a top administration official -- well, crickets.

~~~ Summer Concepcion of TPM: "... Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on Wednesday threw his support behind Dr. Anthony Fauci as the White House continues its efforts to discredit the top official in its coronavirus task force. When McConnell was asked during a press conference on Wednesday about his level of confidence in Fauci, after the Senate leader argued that Fauci has been the best source of advice since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, McConnell replied 'total.'" Mrs. McC: Obvious follow-up question: "What's you level of confidence in Donald Trump?" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Amy Goldstein & Lena Sun of the Washington Post: "State health leaders, public health experts and hospital officials warn that an abrupt change in how the Trump administration requires them to report coronavirus data will increase the burden on facilities already strained by the pandemic and could impede the distribution of critical medicines. The opposition came after the Department of Health and Human Services notified governors and hospital leaders this week that it was changing the protocol for sending the federal government daily information about coronavirus patients, supplies and bed capacity.... Officials also suggested that states might want to get the National Guard to assist hospitals -- an idea the industry has condemned." An AP report is here. ~~~

~~~ Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Also too, as Chris Hayes of MSNBC noted, the point person for disseminating information to the public is loudmouthed super-partisan Michael Caputo, a protégé of Roger Stone. Great! ~~~

The Trump Administration is going to have to give a full justification for this, because until they do, it's hard to see how this step won't further sideline public health experts and obscure the severity of this crisis. -- Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), in a tweet ~~~

~~~ Adriel Bettelheim of Politico: "An HHS-imposed change in how hospitals and states report coronavirus data to the government is drawing fierce criticism from public health groups and congressional Democrats concerned that the Trump administration could manipulate the numbers for political purposes.... A group of public health experts including former CDC Director Tom Frieden called the change unproductive, noting that Inadequate funding for health data at CDC and local agencies is already hindering a response to Covid-19. The experts said the new reporting system would be complicated to set up, adding that the administration hadn't consulted with state and local officials ahead of time." ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Can't imagine why anyone thinks HHS would do a lousy job: ~~~

~~~ Dan Diamond & Adam Cancryn of Politico: "A top Trump administration health official violated federal contracting rules by steering millions of taxpayer dollars in contracts that ultimately benefited GOP-aligned communications consultants, according to an inspector general report set to be released today. The contracts, which were directed by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services chief Seema Verma, were only halted after a Politico investigation raised questions about their legality and the agency had paid out more than $5 million to the contractors.... The report paints a detailed portrait of Verma's use of federal contracts to install allies who managed high-priority projects and exercised broad authority within CMS, while circumventing the agency's career officials and funding projects that ethics experts have said wasted taxpayers' money."

Griff Witte of the Washington Post: "... masks on Wednesday moved ever closer to becoming a new national reality in America's pandemic-scarred life, with businesses, states and health experts preaching their promise as the country's last line of defense against a fast-growing viral threat. Even as the White House continued to resist pushing for a national mask mandate, evidence abounded that face coverings were becoming a de facto requirement -- and not only in big cities where they have been in widespread use for months. Alabama's governor, who leads one of the country's most conservative states, on Wednesday said people would be obligated to wear masks when leaving the house..., mean[ing] nearly half of all states now have a mandate.... Walmart Inc., issued the same requirement for shoppers in its stores.... 'Shopping in a store is a privilege, not a right,' said the National Retail Federation."

Uh, Not in Georgia. Jeremy Redmon, et al., of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "Gov. Brian Kemp (R) on Wednesday extended Georgia's coronavirus restrictions while explicitly banning cities and counties from adopting rules requiring masks or other face coverings, a measure that could bolster the state's case in a possible legal battle ... against a string of cities that have defied Kemp's emergency order by requiring masks.... Kemp's executive order -- which was set to expire Wednesday evening -- still encourages, rather than requires, Georgians to wear masks in public. The governor has called such a requirement 'a bridge too far,' and his office has said local mandates are unenforceable.... The rate of new tests [in Georgia] that are positive for the disease is soaring...." Mrs. McC: Ali Velshi of MSNBC (I think it was) noted that when Kemp met Trump Wednesday, he donned a mask. Trump did not.

Florida. Skyler Swisher of the South Florida Sun Sentinel: "Nearly one-in-three children tested for the new coronavirus in Florida has been positive, and a South Florida health official is concerned the disease could cause lifelong damage even for children with mild illness. Dr. Alina Alonso, Palm Beach County's health department director, warned county commissioners Tuesday..., '[X-rays] are seeing there is damage to the lungs in these asymptomatic children.... We don't know how that is going to manifest a year from now or two years from now,' Alonso said.... Her comments stand in contrast to [not-a-doctor] Gov. Ron DeSantis' messaging that children are at low risk, and classrooms need to be reopened in the fall."

Oklahoma. KFOR-TV Oklahoma City: "One day after the Sooner State saw it's largest spike in COVID-19 cases, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt ... announced he was tested for COVID-19 on Tuesday and his results came back positive. He is currently quarantining at home." Mrs. McC: Oddly, that part about Stitt's testing positive is the last part of the story, at least as it's currently written. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Update. Nicholas Wu & Courtney Subramanian of USA Today: "Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt announced Wednesday he had tested positive for the coronavirus weeks after attending ... Donald Trump's rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he sat, bare-faced, among top state officials in a crowd of thousands." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Barbara Hoberock of the Tulsa World: "Stitt said he was 'not thinking about a mask mandate at all.... I am just hesitant to mandate something that is problematic to enforce,' the governor said." ~~~

~~~ Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "The coronavirus pandemic has for the first time infected one of the nation's governors. Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) says he was 'pretty shocked' to have that distinction. But Stitt has also been among the most cavalier about the threat posed by the virus. The most visible example of Stitt's attitude toward the virus came last month, when he encouraged President Trump to hold a rally in Tulsa even as health officials balked. Stitt then attended the rally while, like the vast majority of people there, declining to wear a mask. 'My response to those folks, the naysayers, is: When is the right time?' Stitt said to critics of the rally.... In March, Stitt ... tweeted a picture of him and his children in a crowded restaurant and commented, 'It's packed tonight!'... [Stitt ultimately bowed to pressure to declare a coronavirus state of emergency.] At the time, Oklahoma was one of just eight states -- all of them with GOP governors and also in the middle of the country -- who resisted the stricter stay-at-home or 'shelter-in-place' orders."

Maryland. Gov. Larry Hogan (R) in a Washington Post/Outlook opinion piece, trashes Donald Trump for his stubborn refusal to do anything to confront the coronavirus. Mrs. McC: Reading what Hogan & his wife Yumi went through to try to get testing supplies for Maryland, some of which has been reported previously, is maddening.

California. Rashaan Ayesh of Axios: "The 2021 Rose Parade on New Year's Day has been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association announced Wednesday.... The last time the Rose Parade was canceled was in 1945 because of World War II."

** Tim Arango, et al., of the New York Times: "Almost from the moment George Floyd encountered the police on May 25, with a gun pointed at him, he appeared terrified and emotionally distraught, according to police camera footage that was newly made available for viewing Wednesday at a courthouse in downtown Minneapolis. Mr. Floyd was visibly shaken, with his head down, and crying, as if he were in the throes of a panic attack, as he put his hands on the steering wheel in response to a frantic order from an officer. He told the officers over and over that he was claustrophobic, as two officers struggled to push him to the back seat of a police vehicle. Throughout the video, he never appeared to present a physical threat to the officers, and even after he was handcuffed and searched for weapons, the officers seemed to be more concerned with controlling his body than saving his life, the footage showed. The video offers the fullest portrait yet of the tragic events around Mr. Floyd's killing.... The footage was made available for viewing Wednesday ... but was not allowed to be copied or recorded." ~~~

~~~ A Washington Post report is here. The Minneapolis Star Tribune's report is here.

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Based on reporters' accounts, it seems the police tortured Floyd before they murdered him. Allegedly.

Missouri. Night Rider in the White House. Meagan Flynn, et al., of the Washington Post: "The prosecutor investigating the St. Louis couple who aimed guns at protesters says she has received racist attacks and death threats that have worsened as President Trump has thrown his support behind the couple. 'This is a modern-day night ride, and everybody knows it,' St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner (D) said in an interview with The Washington Post, referring to the terroristic forays of the Ku Klux Klan into African American neighborhoods in the 19th and 20th centuries. 'And for a president to participate in it, in the larger context of racism and cronyism, is scary.'... Both the president and Republican governor [Mike Parson] have offered impassioned defenses of Mark and Patricia McCloskey, who went viral after brandishing guns at protesters on the private street outside their mansion."

** Mitch Prothero of Business Insider: "Russia routinely exploited a US policy of increased information sharing to target Chechen dissidents, according to three law-enforcement and intelligence officials in Europe. The practice emerged after the Trump administration backed a policy of sharing more secret information with Russia, in hope of strengthening relations. Sources told Insider Russia routinely sought information on its targets of choice -- dissidents who fled the rule of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov. The US appears to have received little in return.... The officials Insider spoke with confirmed the existence of the modern-day US-Russian arrangement after a former US intelligence official described it on the JustSecurity blog." --s (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

What's He Hiding? Ctd. Shayna Jacobs of the Washington Post: "President Trump intends to fight the Manhattan district attorney's effort to access his tax records after last week's defeat at the Supreme Court, and may argue now that attempts to subpoena his accounting firm are politically motivated, Trump's lawyers told a judge on Wednesday.... Lawyers for Cyrus Vance, Jr.'s office, which faces a looming statute-of-limitations deadline should he decide to pursue a felony case, said in Wednesday's joint filing that the district attorney could enforce the subpoena immediately but would give the president until July 27 to file his new claims before doing so."

After pimping Goya food products how long will it be until Ivanka is shilling out for automobiles and big box stores? -- Bobby Lee, in yesterday's Comments thread ~~~

~~~ Darlene Superville of the AP: "Ivanka Trump on Wednesday defended tweeting a photo of herself holding up a can of Goya beans to buck up a Hispanic-owned business that she says has been unfairly treated, arguing that she has 'every right' to publicly express her support. Government watchdogs countered that ... Ivanka Trump doesn't have the right to violate ethics rules that bar government officials from using their public office to endorse specific products or groups.... The White House would be responsible for disciplining Ivanka Trump for any ethics violation but chose not to in a similar case involving White House counselor Kellyanne Conway in 2017. White House chief of staff Mark Meadows told reporters accompanying the president to Atlanta on Wednesday that he doubted Ivanka Trump would face any repercussions." Mrs. McC: The screenshot of Ivanka's tweet, which accompanies the story, is a classic. Ivanka truly looks like a Latina hawking beans in a can. ~~~

~~~ Wait, Wait! It Gets Worse. (You Knew It Would.) Justin Wise of the Hill: "President Trump on Wednesday shared a photo on Instagram with several Goya Foods products as the White House doubled down on its public support of the company even as a similar tweet from Ivanka Trump raised concerns about the violation of ethics rules for public officials. The photo, taken from the Oval Office, was promoted on the president's Instagram account.... The White House strongly pushed back against the criticism Ivanka Trump faced, claiming the media and the 'cancel culture movement' was responsible." Mrs. McC: I'd like to see Joe & Jill in their kitchen whipping up some delicious Ortega chili bowls with a side of fat-free Ortega refried beans. ~~~

~~~ Jenna Grande of CREW: "President Trump's Chief of Staff Mark Meadows appears to have violated the Hatch Act twice during separate interviews with Fox News, according to a complaint sent today to the Office of Special Counsel by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). While appearing in his official position as White House Chief of Staff, Meadows advocated in both interviews for President Trump's reelection and against his 2020 opponent, Joe Biden, and in one he also endorsed the Republican candidate running for his former congressional seat.... 'It is alarming and disturbing to see the president's Chief of Staff so blatantly violate the law by using his official position for politics. As one of the highest ranking officials in the White House, he should know better,' said CREW Executive Director Noah Bookbinder.... The Hatch Act prohibits executive branch employees from 'us[ing their] official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the result of an election.'"

All the Best People ... Leak. Dan Diamond, et al., of Politico: "In the middle of a devastating pandemic and a searing economic crisis, the White House has an urgent question for its colleagues across the administration: Are you loyal enough to ... Donald Trump? The White House's presidential personnel office is conducting one-on-one interviews with health officials and hundreds of other political appointees across federal agencies, an exercise some of the subjects have called 'loyalty tests' to root out threats of leaks and other potentially subversive acts just months before the presidential election, according to interviews with 15 current and former senior administration officials.... The reinterviewing exercise is being led by Johnny McEntee, a 30-year-old who's been a Trump aide since the 2016 campaign and was installed earlier this year as chief of the White House personnel office and is responsible for filling thousands or jobs across the federal agencies."

Elections 2020

Max Greenwood of the Hill: "Former Vice President Joe Biden has widened his lead over President Trump to 15 points in a new national Quinnipiac University poll. The poll released Wednesday shows Biden with 52 percent of the vote to Trump's 37 percent, the widest lead for the presumptive Democratic nominee recorded by a Quinnipiac survey to date. A similar poll from last month found Biden leading Trump by 8 points."

Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "President Trump is shaking up his re-election team with less than four months until November's vote, replacing his campaign manager, Brad Parscale, in an acknowledgment of the president's diminished standing in nearly all public and private polling since the spring. Mr. Parscale, who was named campaign manager unusually early, in February 2018, will step out of the job and Bill Stepien, currently the deputy campaign manager and a veteran political operative, will take over. Mr. Parscale will stay on with the campaign, becoming a senior adviser for data and digital operations.... Jared Kushner ... confirmed the moves Wednesday night.... Mr. Parscale has no background in politics, and he suffered something of a mortal wound in the role three weeks ago when a much-hyped rally in Tulsa, Okla., to 'reboot' Mr. Trump's campaign was sparsely attended." Mrs. McC: The problem could be the product, not the packager. Update: A Politico story is here.

Alabama. Amber Phillips of the Washington Post on the lessons Jeff Sessions' humiliation teach other elected Republicans. (Also linked yesterday.)

Texas. Annie Karni of the New York Times: "Dr. Ronny L. Jackson, the former White House physician with no political experience who ran a campaign based on his close relationship with President Trump, won a Republican runoff election for a House seat in Texas on Tuesday night, effectively stamping his ticket to Congress next year." Jackson, who ran in a crowded primary field, got a good deal of help from the Trump campaign. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ And Jackson Is Still the Great Doctor He Always Was. Quint Forgey of Politico: "Ronny Jackson ... said Wednesday that Americans should not be required to wear masks to slow the spread of the coronavirus. 'I think that wearing a mask is a personal choice, and I don't particularly want my government telling me that I have to wear a mask. And so I think that's a choice that I can make,' Jackson told 'Fox & Friends.' The remarks from Jackson, a retired Navy rear admiral who served as the personal doctor for Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump, not only contradict the universal guidance of public health experts, but also undermine Texas Gov. Greg Abbott -- who has mandated that most of his state's residents wear a mask." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Mark Berman & Tim Elfrink of the Washington Post: "In an early morning, 5-4 order, the Supreme Court cleared the way for the second federal execution this week. The decision, with all four liberal justices dissenting, comes after the court allowed the first federal execution since 2003 to proceed on Tuesday. In an order posted after 3 a.m. on Thursday, the court lifted two separate injunctions blocking the execution of Wesley Purkey, 68, who was convicted in 2003 of raping and murdering 16-year-old Jennifer Long. He killed Long in 1998, and that same year, he also killed 80-year-old Mary Ruth Bales, court records show."

Colby Itkowitz of the Washington Post: "Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg left Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore on Wednesday, a day after being admitted for treatment of a possible infection. The court's spokeswoman, Kathy Arberg, said in an emailed statement that Ginsburg 'is home and doing well' but provided no other details about the justice's condition."

Major Twitter Hack. Sheera Frenkel, et al., of the New York Times: Wednesday afternoon, "dozens of the biggest names in America -- including Joseph R. Biden Jr., Barack Obama, Kanye West, Bill Gates and Elon Musk -- posted similar messages on Twitter: Send Bitcoin and the famous people would send back double your money. It was all a scam, of course, the result of one of the most brazen online attacks in memory. A first wave of attacks hit the Twitter accounts of prominent cryptocurrency leaders and companies. But soon after, the list of victims broadened to include a Who's Who of Americans in politics, entertainment and tech, in a major show of force by the hackers. Twitter quickly removed many of the messages, but in some cases similar tweets were sent again from the same accounts, suggesting that Twitter was powerless to take back control of the accounts. The company eventually disabled broad swaths of its service, including the ability of verified users to tweet, as it scrambled to prevent the scam from spreading further.... The attack was concerning to security experts because it suggested that the hackers could have easily caused much more havoc." A Politico story is here.

Capitalisim Is Awesome, Ctd. Timothy Floyd of Reuters: "The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation believes firms in the nearly $10-trillion private investment funds industry are being used as vehicles for laundering money at scale, according to a leaked intelligence bulletin prepared by the agency in May.... It also said the industry lacks adequate anti-money laundering programs and called for greater scrutiny by regulators, which have yet to issue rules for the industry.... The FBI bulletin cites four cases of planned or reported laundering operations, involving hundreds of millions of dollars, using private funds. One of those cases led to a criminal conviction.... The bulletin was contained among a cache of law enforcement documents, dubbed 'BlueLeaks', which were obtained through a security breach at a web development firm." --s (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Way Beyond the Beltway

Archie Bland of the Guardian: "The statue of slave trader Edward Colston was replaced in Bristol on Wednesday morning -- with a sculpture of one of the protesters whose anger brought him down. The figure of Jen Reid, who was photographed standing on the plinth with her fist raised after the 17th century merchant was toppled by Black Lives Matter demonstrators last month, was erected at dawn by a team directed by the artist Marc Quinn.... After meticulous planning to ensure the statue could be erected quickly enough to have it in place before officials arrived, the vehicles left the scene about 15 minutes after they got there.... The ambush sculpture is likely to reignite the debate over public statuary in the UK that began with the toppling of the Colston figure five weeks ago." --s (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

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Tuesday

Jul142020

The Commentariat -- July 15, 2020

Afternoon Update:

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

KFOR-TV Oklahoma City: "One day after the Sooner State saw it's largest spike in COVID-19 cases, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt ... announced he was tested for COVID-19 on Tuesday and his results came back positive. He is currently quarantining at home." Mrs. McC: Oddly, that part about Stitt's testing positive is the last part of the story, at least as it's currently written. ~~~

Kevin Drum of Mother Jones debunks Peter Navarro's diatribe/op-ed against Anthony Fauci. Drum zeroes in on Navarro's "proofs" that Fauci got everything wrong: "... it turns out to be just the latest in an increasingly common conservative genre: a piece that links to articles that literally make the opposite of the point the author is claiming." ~~~

~~~ Summer Concepcion of TPM: "Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on Wednesday threw his support behind Dr. Anthony Fauci as the White House continues its efforts to discredit the top official in its coronavirus task force. When McConnell was asked during a press conference on Wednesday about his level of confidence in Fauci, after the Senate leader argued that Fauci has been the best source of advice since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, McConnell replied 'total.'" Mrs. McC: Obvious follow-up question: "What's you level of confidence in Donald Trump?"

Amber Phillips of the Washington Post on the lessons Jeff Sessions' humiliation teach other elected Republicans.

Annie Karni of the New York Times: "Dr. Ronny L. Jackson, the former White House physician with no political experience who ran a campaign based on his close relationship with President Trump, won a Republican runoff election for a House seat in Texas on Tuesday night, effectively stamping his ticket to Congress next year." Jackson, who ran in a crowded primary field, got a good deal of help from the Trump campaign. ~~~

~~~ And Jackson Is Still the Great Doctor He Always Was. Quint Forgey of Politico: "Ronny Jackson ... said Wednesday that Americans should not be required to wear masks to slow the spread of the coronavirus. 'I think that wearing a mask is a personal choice, and I don't particularly want my government telling me that I have to wear a mask. And so I think that's a choice that I can make,' Jackson told 'Fox & Friends.' The remarks from Jackson, a retired Navy rear admiral who served as the personal doctor for Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump, not only contradict the universal guidance of public health experts, but also undermine Texas Gov. Greg Abbott -- who has mandated that most of his state's residents wear a mask."

Timothy Floyd of Reuters: "The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation believes firms in the nearly $10-trillion private investment funds industry are being used as vehicles for laundering money at scale, according to a leaked intelligence bulletin prepared by the agency in May.... It also said the industry lacks adequate anti-money laundering programs and called for greater scrutiny by regulators, which have yet to issue rules for the industry.... The FBI bulletin cites four cases of planned or reported laundering operations, involving hundreds of millions of dollars, using private funds. One of those cases led to a criminal conviction.... The bulletin was contained among a cache of law enforcement documents, dubbed 'BlueLeaks', which were obtained through a security breach at a web development firm." --s

~~~~~~~~~~

Primary Election Results

Alabama. Re-Elect Doug Jones! Jane Coaston of Vox: "Former Auburn University football coach Tommy Tuberville defeated former Attorney General Jeff Sessions in Alabama's Republican primary runoff election on Tuesday, setting up a November match against current Democratic Sen. Doug Jones, who became the first Democrat to win a Senate seat in the state since 1992 when he defeated Roy Moore, who has been accused of child molestation, in a 2017 special election. In a state Donald Trump won handily in 2016, Tuberville is favored to win in November. Tuberville has never served in elected office (and moved to Alabama only two years ago), and his campaign against Sessions was largely based on his support for the president. Trump endorsed Tuberville in March.... On a Monday call with Alabama voters, Trump said of Tuberville, 'He's going to have a cold, direct line into my office....'" The New York Times has runoff results here. Update: The New York Times story on the likely end of Sessions' political career is here. Mrs. McC: Do you suppose JeffBo finally has figured out he backed the wrong horse in 2016?

Maine. Elect Sara Gideon! Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "Sara Gideon, the speaker of the Maine House of Representatives, on Tuesday formally became the Democratic nominee to challenge Senator Susan Collins of Maine, wielding a formidable war chest in a race that could determine whether Republicans retain control of the Senate in November. Ms. Gideon, backed by the Senate Democratic campaign arm and a number of outside political groups, had long been the favorite to challenge Ms. Collins, the sole remaining New England Republican in Congress. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report has rated the race a tossup, and the election has already become the most expensive in Maine history."

The Trumpidemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Tuesday are here: "On Monday, California, Florida and Texas recorded at least 30,000 new cases, 18 percent of the global total. France celebrated public health workers as heroes during Bastille Day, a day after granting them pay raises.... After months of equivocation over mandating face coverings to stop the spread of the coronavirus, the government of Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain announced on Tuesday that people in England would be required to wear masks inside shops and supermarkets." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Lily Altavena of the Arizona Republic: "In a news conference Monday..., Donald Trump was asked about Kimberly Lopez Chavez Byrd, an Arizona teacher who died after teaching a summer school class. Trump responded by saying schools should reopen. Byrd's summer school class was virtual, but she and two other teachers in the Hayden-Winkelman School District shared a classroom while they taught. All three teachers contracted COVID-19. Byrd died after she was admitted to the hospital. In Monday's briefing, a reporter asked Trump 'What do you tell parents, who look at this, who look at Arizona where a school teacher recently died teaching summer school, parents who are worried about the safety of their children in public schools?'... He responded, 'Schools should be opened. Schools should be opened. Those kids want to go to school. You're losing a lot of lives by keeping things closed. We saved millions of lives while we did the initial closure.'" Mrs. McC: I wonder if Melanie's "I Really Don't Care" jacket comes in extra-large? (Also linked yesterday.)

Sahil Kapur & Julia Ainsley of NBC News: "Facing blowback and lawsuits, the Trump administration is rescinding its directive blocking international students from staying in the United States while taking online-only classes. U.S. District Court Judge Allison Dale Burroughs in Massachusetts announced Tuesday that the government and plaintiffs had reached a resolution in a lawsuit brought by Harvard University and MIT. The government was to rescind its July 6 rule that said foreign students on F-1 and M-1 visas would need to take at least some courses in person in order to legally remain in the U.S. in the fall semester amid the coronavirus pandemic." At 3:40 pm ET Tuesday, this was a developing story. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) Update: A New York Times story is here.

DHHS Preps for Major Evidence Tampering Caper. Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: "The Trump administration has ordered hospitals to bypass the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and send all Covid-19 patient information to a central database in Washington beginning on Wednesday. The move has alarmed health experts who fear the data will be politicized or withheld from the public. The new instructions were posted recently in a little-noticed document on the Department of Health and Human Services website. From now on, the department -- not the C.D.C. -- will collect daily reports about the patients that each hospital is treating, the number of available beds and ventilators, and other information vital to tracking the pandemic.... News of the change came as a shock at the C.D.C.... Public health experts have long expressed concerns that the Trump administration is politicizing science and undermining its health experts, in particular the C.D.C.; four of the agency's former directors, spanning both Republican and Democratic administrations, said as much in an opinion piece published Tuesday in The Washington Post. The data collection shift reinforced those fears." ~~~

~~~ Former CDC Directors Tom Frieden, Jeffrey Koplan, David Satcher & Richard Besser in a Washington Post op-ed: "The four of us led the CDC over a period of more than 15 years, spanning Republican and Democratic administrations alike. We cannot recall over our collective tenure a single time when political pressure led to a change in the interpretation of scientific evidence.... Through last week, and into Monday, the administration continued to cast public doubt on the agency's recommendations and role in informing and guiding the nation's pandemic response. On Sunday, Education Secretary characterized the CDC guidelines as an impediment to reopening schools quickly rather than what they are: the path to doing so safely.... Unfortunately..., sound science is being challenged with partisan potshots, sowing confusion and mistrust at a time when the American people need leadership, expertise and clarity. These efforts have even fueled a backlash against public health officials across the country: Public servants have been harassed, threatened and forced to resign when we need them most." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Do Not Listen to Donald Trump! -- Fauci. Ramsey Touchberry of Newsweek: "The nation's top infectious disease expert has advice for America's next generation of college graduates: Listen to the health experts when it comes to a pandemic, not politicians. 'You can trust respected medical authorities. I believe I'm one of them. So, I think you can trust me,' Dr. Anthony Fauci said. 'I would stick with respected medical authorities who have a track record of telling the truth, who have a track record of giving information and policy and recommendations based on scientific evidence and good data.'... 'Don't get involved in any of the political nonsense,' he said of the politicized rhetoric that so is so often aired from elected officials unqualified to be speaking about medical issues." ~~~

~~~ MEANWHILE, Peter Navarro, Trump's trade advisor hydroxychloroquine advocate and not-a-medical-doctor or health scientist, has an enlightening op-ed in USA Today. Here's how it starts: "Dr. Anthony Fauci has a good bedside manner with the public, but he has been wrong about everything I have interacted with him on." ~~~

~~~ Update. Brett Samuels of the Hill: "The White House on Wednesday distanced itself from an op-ed by trade adviser Peter Navarro questioning the credibility of Anthony Fauci, the government's top infectious diseases expert. 'The Peter Navarro op-ed didn't go through normal White House clearance processes and is the opinion of Peter alone,' White House director of strategic communications Alyssa Farah tweeted. '@realDonaldTrump values the expertise of the medical professionals advising his Administration.'" Mrs. McC: Gee, I'll bet Peter is going to get in a lot of trouble for writing an op-ed that says what Trump wanted to say. ~~~

~~~ It's Not a Miracle. It's Democracy. ~~~

Caitlin Oprysko of Politico: "Former White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney on Monday criticized the U.S. coronavirus testing process, calling his family's difficulties in obtaining tests and delays in the results 'inexcusable' in the seventh month of the pandemic, splitting from his former boss' repeated boasts about testing. 'I know it isn't popular to talk about in some Republican circles, but we still have a testing problem in this country,' Mulvaney wrote in an op-ed for CNBC. Mulvaney ... said his son had recently been tested for the virus and had to wait up to a week for the results, and that his daughter was turned away from getting a test before she went to visit her grandparents." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Missouri. David Edwards of RawStory: "A school district in Missouri is requiring parents to sign a waiver in case children become infected with COVID-19 and die. The 'waiver of liability' from Hazelwood School District was shared on Tuesday by attorney Natasha Scruggs. 'I feel sick reading it,' Scruggs said. The document asks parents to acknowledge that COVID-19 is a public health crisis and to relinquish their rights to hold the district responsible even if a student's death is 'caused by the negligence of carelessness' of school staff." --s (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Today in Bubonic Plague News. Jon Haworth of ABC News: "Public health officials have announced that a squirrel in Colorado has tested positive for the bubonic plague. The town of Morrison, Colorado, in Jefferson County, which is just west of Denver, made the startling announcement saying that the squirrel is the first case of plague in the county.... It is possible for humans to be infected with the bubonic plague through bites from infected fleas and by direct contact with blood or tissues of infected animals such as a cough or a bite." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Joe Biden has a multi-faceted jobs plan. Here's Trump's "plan." It's a DIY thing: ~~~

~~~ Hamza Shaban of the Washington Post: "Ivanka Trump urged out-of-work Americans to 'find something new' Tuesday as part of a new jobs initiative designed to tout the benefits of skills training and career paths that don't require a college degree. But the effort -- complete with website, advertising campaign and virtual roundtable featuring Apple CEO Tim Cook and IBM chair Ginni Rometty -- was swiftly derided on social media as 'clueless' and 'tone-deaf' given the pandemic, recession and Trump's own familial employment history." ~~~

~~~ Esther Wang of Jezebel: "Ivanka Trump, who has coasted through life largely on the coattails of her tarnished family name, has some advice for struggling workers in the U.S. right now -- just 'find something new!'" ~~~

~~~ Inae Oh of Mother Jones: "In the midst of this economic crisis facing millions of Americans, enter Ivanka Trump with advice for the unemployed: Embrace the chaos, she urges, and 'Find Something New.' The initiative comes as her most recent diamond-encrusted middle finger to American families since the pandemic hit."

Trump Sticks up for White People, Part 1. Morgan Chalfant of the Hill: "President Trump on Tuesday asserted that 'more' white Americans die at the hands of police than Black Americans and criticized a reporter for asking why African Americans are still dying in law enforcement custody. 'So are white people. So are white people. What a terrible question to ask,' Trump told CBS News' Catherine Herridge when asked about the deaths of Black Americans at the hands of police. 'So are white people. More white people, by the way. More white people.' Police departments are not mandated to report statistics on police killings, however studies have shown that police killings disproportionately impact Black Americans. A Washington Post analysis updated earlier this year found that the rate at which black Americans are killed by law enforcement officers is over twice as high as the rate for their white counterparts. White Americans, who make up a larger share of the U.S. population, account for more deaths at the hands of police overall." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Grace Segers of CBS News: "One study published in 2018 found that Black men are roughly 3.5 times more likely to be killed by law enforcement than White men." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Trump Sticks up for White People, Part 2. Brett Samuels of the Hill: "President Trump on Tuesday defended a St. Louis couple that went viral after they stood outside their home brandishing weapons as a group of protesters marched by their house. 'They were going to be beat up badly, if they were lucky. OK? If they were lucky,' Trump asserted in an interview at the White House with the conservative outlet Townhall. 'They were going to be beat up badly, and the house was going to be totally ransacked and probably burned down like they tried to burn down churches,' the president continued. 'These people were standing there, never used it, and they were legal, the weapons,' Trump said. 'And now I understand somebody local they want to prosecute these people. It's a disgrace.' Mark and Patricia McCloskey made headlines late last month after video footage surfacedof them pointing guns at an informal Black Lives Matter protest that passed through their neighborhood en route to the home of Mayor Lyda Krewson (D)." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Trump's weird reverie is a textbook example of white racist fantasy. The racist sees some black people walk by, and he immediately imagines the black people are going to beat him up -- or worse -- then ransack & burn down his house. I don't need to tell you this is insane. The St. Louis protesters, some of whom were white, showed no indication they planned to pay any attention to the McCloseys; they were on their way to yell at the mayor. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Trump Sticks up for White People*, Part 3. CBS News: "In an interview with CBS News' Catherine Herridge, President Trump said he considers flying the Confederate flag a 'freedom of speech' issue. (Video.) *Assuming here that 99.9% of confederate flag lovers are white. (Also linked yesterday.)

New York. Allison McCann, et al., of the New York Times: "... the New York Times found more than 60 videos that show the [NYPD] using force on protesters during the first 10 days of demonstrations in the city after the death of George Floyd. A review of the videos, shot by protesters and journalists, suggests that many of the police attacks, often led by high-ranking officers, were not warranted.... In instance after instance, the police are seen using force on people who do not appear to be resisting arrest or posing an immediate threat to anyone.... They hit people who were walking away from them.... They grabbed people from behind.... And they repeatedly pummeled people who were already on the ground." This is a long report that includes the sickening videos.

Tim Elfrink of the Washington Post (July 13): In Portland, Oregon, federal agents shot a protester "in the head [with] a less-than-lethal munition" even though he apparently posed no threat to people or property. The young man "suffered a fractured skull and required facial reconstruction surgery" and is in serious condition. The agents "have been dispatched to Portland as part of President Trump's crackdown on destructive protests, a fact that has become a flashpoint for local officials already bristling over the feds being sent without their consent. On Sunday, many blamed Trump's policies for the bloodshed. 'The consequences of Donald Trump unilaterally dispatching fed'l law enforcement into U.S. cities played out in Portland w/a peaceful protester shot in the head,' Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) tweeted. 'Trump & Homeland Security must now answer why fed'l officers are acting like an occupying army.' Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler (D) demanded federal agents in Portland start following local rules, which prohibit police from firing tear gas or less-than-lethal rounds unless lives are in danger."

Texas. Des Bieler of the Washington Post: "The president of the University of Texas said Monday that the school song, 'The Eyes of Texas,' would continue to be sung at football games and other events despite a request from some Longhorns players that it be replaced with 'a new song without racist undertones.'... 'The Eyes of Texas,' the school song since the early 1900s and a staple at Longhorns games, has roots in blackface minstrel shows, according to historians. Going back even further, the words to the song were inspired in part by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, who after the Civil War was a teacher at what would become Washington and Lee University, where he made an impression on future UT president William Prather by repeatedly telling students that 'the eyes of the South are upon you.'"

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Tucker Carlson Stands up for White Supremacist, Misogynist. Erik Wemple of the Washington Post: "Tucker Carlson took out the old Fox News playbook on Monday night: When bad news surfaces, attack the people who broke it, and brush aside the unflattering substance.... Instead of detailing what Neff had posted on AutoAdmit, Carlson euphemized those postings...: 'What Blake wrote anonymously was wrong. We don't endorse those words. They have no connection to the show....'... The notion that, somehow, the innermost thoughts of the show's top writer have 'no connection to the show' is like saying that pizza sauce has no connection to pizza.... The prevailing emotion from Carlson isn't regret or remorse. It's anger -- anger that he has lost his top writer to a mob of 'ghouls.'... Carlson has spent his entire career as a Fox News prime-time host -- nearly four years -- skewering those who call out President Trump for being, well, racist, sexist and other offensive things.... There was no way that he was going to use his own show to call out racism by its name." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Hailey Fuchs of the New York Times: "Hours after the Supreme Court rejected a last-minute legal-challenge on a 5-4 vote, the Justice Department put a 47-year-old man to death for his role in the 1996 murder of a family of three, the first federal execution in more than 17 years. The death row prisoner, Daniel Lewis Lee, 47, a former white supremacist who renounced his ties to that movement, was executed by lethal injection at the federal penitentiary in Terre Haute, Ind., the Bureau of Prisons said. He is the first of three federal death row inmates scheduled for execution this week." A CNN story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

John Bresnahan & Ally Mutnick of Politico: "Kansas GOP Rep. Steve Watkins was charged with three felony counts of voter fraud [and one misdemeanor] related to the 2019 municipal elections, according to court records.... Watkins has acknowledged that he used a UPS store in Topeka for his home address for a 2019 municipal election, according to the Topeka Capitol-Journal. The newspaper first reported that Watkins had signed the allegedly improper address on voter-registration documents.... In addition to his legal troubles, Watkins could lose his committee assignments. GOP Conference rules require anyone who is indicted on felony charges carrying a potential prison sentence of two or more years to give up their committee posts.... Watkins downplayed the allegations during a previously scheduled debate appearance [with a primary challenger] on Tuesday night.... [Watkins'] father, Steve Watkins, Sr., told Politico in March that the Federal Election Commission is investigating him for giving thousands of dollars to his daughters, a home-building contractor and the contractor's wife, which they then used to max out to his son's campaign. Those types of donations violate campaign finance laws."

Elections 2020

When Donald Trump thinks about climate change, the only word he can muster is 'hoax.' When I think about climate change, the word I think of is 'jobs.' -- Joe Biden, in a speech Tuesday ~~~

~~ Katie Glueck & Lisa Friedman of the New York Times: "Joseph R. Biden Jr. announced on Tuesday a new plan to spend $2 trillion over four years to significantly escalate the use of clean energy in the transportation, electricity and building sectors, part of a suite of sweeping proposals designed to create economic opportunities and build infrastructure while also tackling climate change. In a speech in Wilmington, Del., Mr. Biden built on his plans, released last week, for reviving the economy in the wake of the coronavirus crisis, with a new focus on enhancing the nation's infrastructure and emphasizing the importance of putting the United States on a path to significantly cut fossil fuel emissions." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Monica Alba & Carol Lee of NBC News: "... Donald Trump and Republican officials are preparing for the possibility of a fully outdoor convention in Jacksonville, Florida, next month as coronavirus cases in the state shatter records, according to two GOP officials involved in the planning. The president met with his top political advisers at the White House on Monday to discuss how several events, scheduled for six weeks from now, could move from an indoor venue to several outside ones. The Republican National Committee, or RNC, has already contracted with several open-air arenas, stadiums and amphitheaters to more safely bring together attendees and delegates, but it's unclear how many people total will be allowed to gather." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Should be fun. Huge crowds of old white folks yelling & sharing their infected spit on hot, humid August nights with thunderstorms (or hurricanes!) in the forecast.

David Nakamura, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump on Tuesday held a Rose Garden event under the guise of punishing China over its crackdown on Hong Kong, delivering a lengthy diatribe against ... Joe Biden in a display that resembled a campaign speech at the White House. The president began his rambling 54-minute opening statement by announcing that he had signed congressional legislation that authorizes his administration to enact sanctions on banks that do business with Chinese officials and an executive order to revoke Hong Kong's special economic trading status. But he glossed over the specifics and said nothing about the pro-democracy protests in the city as he pivoted swiftly to his attacks on Biden.... [It was] a stunning display of partisanship in an exquisitely manicured setting that presidents have traditionally considered off-limits for direct and extended political attacks.... Trump dumped almost an hour's worth of opposition research against his Democratic rival with less than four months to go before the election, hitting him over immigration, energy policy and the environment." Mrs. McC: The speech was laced with lies; as the reporters write, "Much of Trump's summary of Biden's policy proposals was false or misleading." ~~~

If anyone else said that shit yesterday in the Rose Garden, the next thing you'd see are two big guys dressed in scrubs carrying one of those Pierre Cardin canvas wrap-around blazers with the buckle in the back, taking him off for a real cognitive assessment test. -- unwashed, in today's Comments thread

~~~ Reed Richardson of Mediaite: "After spending the initial minutes of his speech bashing China's actions in Hong Kong, the president quickly pivoted to transforming the event into a nearly hour-long, often circular, stream-of-consciousness political rant that mimicked his performances at his trademark rallies. Though the Rose Garden is traditionally considered a partisan-free zone, Trump cast aside decorum to go through a long list of political opponents. But without the energy of an adoring fan base cheering him on, Trump seemed enervated during his diatribe, his demeanor noticeably dour, his voice consistently flat." ~~~

~~~ The Gray Lady Reports the Meltdown. Peter Baker of the New York Times: Yesterday, reporters hastily summoned to the Rose Garden were treated to "an hour of presidential stream of consciousness as Mr. Trump drifted seemingly at random from one topic to another, often in the same run-on sentence. Even for a president who rarely sticks to the script and wanders from thought to thought, it was one of the most rambling performances of his presidency.... 'We could go on for days,' he said at one point, and it sounded plausible. At times, it was hard to understand what he meant. He seemed to suggest that ... former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., would get rid of windows if elected and later said that Mr. Biden would 'abolish the suburbs.' He complained that Mr. Biden had 'gone so far right.' (He meant left.)" Baker goes on and provides one extended example of Trump's stream-of-unconsciousness, where he is apparently trying to explain how well his administration is curbing immigration:

We have great agreements where when Biden and Obama used to bring killers out, they would say don't bring them back to our country, we don't want them. Well, we have to, we don't want them. They wouldn't take them. Now with us, they take them. Someday, I'll tell you why. Someday, I'll tell you why. But they take them and they take them very gladly. They used to bring them out and they wouldn't even let the airplanes land if they brought them back by airplanes. They wouldn't let the buses into their country. They said we don't want them. Said no, but they entered our country illegally and they're murderers, they're killers in some cases.

Joe Biden's supporters are fighting to defund police departments. Violent crime has exploded. You won't be safe in Joe Biden's America. -- Text of a Trump campaign ad, "Abolished," over images of violence and a recording of a police answering machine, released July 2, 2020

Biden, to the dismay of activists on the left, has refused to back proposals to defund police and, in fact, has called for increased federal spending to bolster the number of police. So the Trump campaign uses slippery language of how 'Biden supporters' back defunding and the result will be unchecked violence in 'Biden's America' that would leave Americans unsafe. We think most viewers of this ad ... would come away believing he supports defunding the police. -- Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post ~~~

~~~ David Ignatius of the Washington Post: "It's laughable, really, that President Trump is presenting himself as the candidate of 'law and order' in the 2020 presidential campaign. His record in office has been one of illegality and disorder. Trump's presidency has been a sustained attack on our traditional conception of the rule of law in America.... He defies Congress and the courts almost on a weekly basis. Trump's contempt for the law was obvious in his granting of clemency last week to his campaign crony Roger Stone.... Since the beginning of June, he has tweeted or retweeted the phrase 'law and order' 33 times.... [Joe] Biden ... shouldn't cede this ground. He should make the case that real law and order are impossible without social justice.... The next time you hear Trump talk about law and order, remember that it's a code for maintaining his personal power."

Trump Fundraising Emails Like "Mob Collections." Charlie Nash of Mediaite: "... Donald Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign is coming under fire over campaign fundraising emails which some supporters are calling 'gross' and 'scary.' Most of the emails -- which typically claimed to be from the president himself or one of his children -- attempted to shame Trump supporters for not donating enough money, and used manipulative language to guilt recipients into giving more, prompting social media users to make comparisons to 'mob collections' and 'slumlord' eviction notices. 'I hate to be the one to tell you, but according to our records, your Trump 100 Club offer has been RESCINDED,' read one email, which was posted on Twitter. 'You've received multiple emails from Team Trump, including my father, inviting you to join this BRAND NEW, prestigious club, and you've ignored every single one of them.'... Other emails put 'FINAL NOTICE' in red at the top, giving them the appearance of an overdue bill...."

Trump, GOP Welcome Crazy Terrorists. Matthew Rosenberg & Jennifer Steinhauer of the New York Times: "More than two years after QAnon, which the F.B.I. has labeled a potential domestic terrorism threat, emerged from the troll-infested corners of the internet, the movement's supporters are morphing from keyboard warriors into political candidates. They have been urged on by Mr. Trump, whose own espousal of conspiracy theories and continual railing against the political establishment have cleared a path for QAnon candidates. And even as party leaders publicly distance themselves from the movement, they are quietly supporting some QAnon-linked candidates -- demonstrating the thin line they are trying to walk between radical elements among their base and the moderate voters they need to win over.... t is a development that threatens to further alienate the kinds of traditional Republican voters who typically care about lowering taxes, not chasing imaginary Satanists from the government." (Also linked yesterday.)

New York Congressional Race. Dana Rubinstein of the New York Times: "Mondaire Jones, a progressive candidate supported by the institutional left, was declared the victor in a crowded Democratic House primary in the suburbs north of New York City, all but ensuring that he will join Congress next year as among its first openly gay African-American members. The race was not called by The Associated Press until Tuesday, three weeks after the primary, even though Mr. Jones had a commanding advantage after the machine ballot count: He had twice as many votes as his closest competitor, Adam Schleifer. Mr. Jones's support grew as Primary Day drew closer, as Black Lives Matters protests galvanized voters across the district and allowed candidates, for the first time since the pandemic, to campaign in the open air." A Hill story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

John Kruzel of the Hill: "Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was hospitalized on Tuesday for treatment for a possible infection after experiencing fever and chills, according to a Supreme Court spokeswoman. The 87-year-old justice also underwent a procedure Tuesday 'to clean out a bile duct stent that was placed last August,' spokeswoman Kathleen Arberg added. 'The Justice is resting comfortably and will stay in the hospital for a few days to receive intravenous antibiotic treatment'" Arberg said." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

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