Tuesday
Oct062020
The Commentariat -- October 7, 2020
Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Reality Chex is still bobbing up & down, but the "down" doesn't last long. However, be sure to save your comments because this also happens when you're trying to post them. I'm having a better Squarespace experience today. I'm not sure if that's because they fixed a bug; they have not contacted me.
The Trumpidemic, Ctd.
Erica Werner & Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: “President Trump said Tuesday that he was withdrawing from economic relief talks until after the election, abruptly ordering Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to stop negotiating with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. In a series of tweets posted less than 24 hours after he was released from the hospital, Trump accused Pelosi of failing to negotiate in good faith, after she rejected an opening bid from Mnuchin in their latest round of talks.... 'I have instructed my representatives to stop negotiating until after the election when, immediately after I win, we will pass a major Stimulus Bill that focuses on hard-working Americans and Small Business,' Trump wrote. The pronouncement was so stunning that Pelosi told Democratic colleagues on a conference call that the president’s sudden change in position might be connected to the steroids he’s taking as he battles coronavirus.... The pronouncement came just hours after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell said in a speech that more economic stimulus was needed. Some White House staff members wondered whether Mr. Trump’s behavior was spurred by a cocktail of drugs he has been taking to treat the coronavirus, including dexamethasone, a steroid that can cause mood swings.... Three days ago..., follow[ing] his first night in the hospital..., [Trump] wrote on Twitter 'OUR GREAT USA WANTS & NEEDS STIMULUS. WORK TOGETHER AND GET IT DONE. Thank you!'” Politico's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: This cannot be a bully taking his marbles & going home because Trump has lost his marbles. So it's a blackmailer telling needy American people, "Vote for me or you won't get your measly government handouts." It's just plain mean. ~~~
~~~ of the New York Times: “Jerome H. Powell, the Federal Reserve chair, delivered a blunt message to Congress and the White House on Tuesday: Faced with a once-in-a-century pandemic that has inflicted economic pain on millions of households, go big. Hours later, President Trump delivered his own message: Forget it.... The Fed chair, who has increasingly called for more government help, said policymakers should err on the side of injecting too much money into the economy rather than too little.... In a series of conflicting tweets, the president said the economy was 'doing very well' and coming back 'in record numbers,' suggesting that no additional help was needed while also saying that he would wait until after the election to 'pass a major Stimulus Bill that focuses on hardworking Americans and Small Business.' While the chances of Congress reaching a deal on another package were already slim, Mr. Trump’s directive sent markets swooning as the reality sank in that the economic recovery, which is slowing, would not get another jolt before Nov. 3. The S&P 500 fell more than 1 percent soon after Mr. Trump’s tweet....” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Philip Bump of the Washington Post explains Trump's decision to screw American workers less than a month before the election as a move to please his extremist followers & Sean Hannity. O-kaaay. Mrs. McC: As Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) told Chris Hayes Tuesday night, people should get over the idea that Donald Trump is some kind of political genius.
~~~ Okay, so all that and then this. Turns out Donald Trump can dance almost as well as Ginger Rogers: okay, no high hells, but backwards. Looks as if that stock-market plunge today spooked him because he sure as hell doesn't care about ordinary people. Whaddaya mean, chaos? This is nuts! -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie ~~~
True! https://t.co/ZJmcxG2CoO— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 6, 2020Update. Then this @ 9:54 pm ET Tuesday: The House & Senate should IMMEDIATELY Approve 25 Billion Dollars for Airline Payroll Support, & 135 Billion Dollars for Paycheck Protection Program for Small Business. Both of these will be fully paid for with unused funds from the Cares Act. Have this money. I will sign now! -- Donald Trump, in a tweet
Update. Then this @ 10:18 pm ET Tuesday: If I am sent a Stand Alone Bill for Stimulus Checks ($1,200), they will go out to our great people IMMEDIATELY. I am ready to sign right now. Are you listening Nancy? -- Donald Trump, in a tweet
Morgan Chalfant of the Hill: “White House physician Sean Conley said Tuesday that President Trump is reporting 'no symptoms' after being discharged from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center during his treatment for the novel coronavirus. 'This morning the President’s team of physicians met with him in the Residence. He had a restful first night at home, and today he reports no symptoms,' Conley wrote in a memorandum issued Tuesday afternoon, less than five days after Trump was diagnosed with COVID-19.” ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: NBC News reporter Shannon Pettypeace, speaking on MSNBC, noted that Conley's report began with the caveat that Trump had approved his report & that the person "reporting no symptoms" was the patient, not the doctor. Pettypiece speculated that Trump may be reporting no symptoms in an effort to make him eligible, under guidelines, to participate in a debate with Joe Biden next Thursday. P.S. Akhilleus has a great! idea in today's Comments on one thing Biden could demand in negotiations on terms of the debate.
This Lincoln Project video is just perfect. The Lincoln Project won't say who the vocalist is. She's very good, IMO. Thanks to PD Pepe for the link: ~~~
~~~Speaking of "Triumph of the Swill," as Patrick did yesterday for our amusement, there's this. (The soundtrack, BTW, comes from Trump's video, a self-parody which Trump apparently thought was a good idea): ~~~
I split screened shots from Leni Riefenstahl's 1935 Nazi propaganda film, Triumph of Will, with @realDonaldTrump’s video of his return from the hospital. Not sure if this was intentional, but it's eerily similar. His media team looking to history for inspiration, perhaps? pic.twitter.com/ZsZfHLttdL
— matt danzico (@mattdanzico) October 6, 2020
Quint Forgey of Politico: “... Donald Trump on Tuesday continued to downplay the coronavirus and suggested the United States should learn to live with the pandemic, posting to Twitter hours after returning to the White House from being hospitalized with Covid-19. In his morning tweet, the president likened the highly contagious disease to the seasonal flu, reprising a misleading comparison he repeatedly invoked in the early stages of the U.S. outbreak. 'Flu season is coming up! Many people every year, sometimes over 100,000, and despite the Vaccine, die from the Flu,' Trump wrote in a post that was later flagged by Twitter for violating the platform’s coronavirus misinformation policies. 'Are we going to close down our Country?' Trump wrote. 'No, we have learned to live with it, just like we are learning to live with Covid, in most populations far less lethal!!!'... Over the past 10 years, an average of just under 36,000 Americans have died annually from the flu.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Update. Donie O'Sullivan of CNN: "Facebook on Tuesday removed a post from President Trump in which he falsely claimed that Covid-19 is less deadly than the seasonal flu. Facebook spokesperson Andy Stone confirmed the company removed the post for breaking its rules on Covid-19 misinformation.... While battling his own bout of the disease, he has continued to dishonestly downplay the severity of the virus... The President also posted the same message on Twitter. That post is still live, but Twitter has appended a message to the Tweet stating it violated the company's rule on spreading misleading information related to Covid-19." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
This may be almost too obvious to mention, but 'The virus is so deadly that it would have killed untold millions without my actions' and 'This virus is just like the flu, you'll do fine, get out of the house' make zero sense next to each other. -- Benjy Sarlin of NBC News, in a tweet
Maggie Haberman & Annie Karni of the New York Times: “The White House that President Trump woke up in on Tuesday morning was in full-blown chaos, even by the standards of the havoc of the Trump era. Aides said the president’s voice was stronger after his return from the hospital Monday night, but at times he still sounded as if he was trying to catch air. The West Wing was mostly empty, cleared of advisers who were out sick with the coronavirus themselves or told to work from home rather than in the capital’s most famous virus hot spot. Staff members in the White House residence were in full personal protective equipment, including yellow gowns, surgical masks and disposable protective eye covers. Four more White House officials tested positive, including Stephen Miller, a top adviser to Mr. Trump, bringing to 14 the number of people carrying the virus at the White House or in the president’s close circle. Mr. Trump, diagnosed with Covid-19 last week, was still livid at his chief of staff, Mark Meadows, whose effort on Saturday to tamp down the rosy portrait of Mr. Trump’s condition given to reporters by his chief doctor was caught on camera. Other officials were angry with Mr. Meadows for not even trying to control the president.... As the day progressed on Tuesday, parts of the White House resembled a hazard zone. Workers dressed in head-to-toe protective suits sanitized common spaces in the West Wing....”
Patricia Yeo of the Daily Beast: "President Trump tried to go back to the Oval Office on Tuesday, multiple White House sources told Bloomberg, less than 24 hours after being released from Walter Reed hospital and just six days after testing positive for COVID-19." Mrs. McC: Apparently aides (or doctors) talked him out of it (or locked him in the residence, I don't know).
John Bowden & Brett Samuels of the Hill: "White House senior adviser Stephen Miller has tested positive for COVID-19 and is currently self-quarantining, The Hill has confirmed. Miller said he began a period of self-isolation several days ago before receiving a positive test for the coronavirus on Tuesday." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Brian Williams reports that four of Kayleigh McEnany's aides now have tested positive for the coronavirus. Yesterday, reports were that two of her aides, as well as McEnany herself, had tested positive. ~~~
'Take a look at what happened this week at the White House,' Fauci said in an interview with American University’s Kennedy Political Union, when asked what advice he had about how people could discuss preventive actions with relatives who believed the pandemic was a hoax. 'That is a reality, right there. And every day that goes by more people are popping up that are infected. It’s not a hoax. It’s an unfortunate situation when you see something like that because that could have been prevented,' Fauci said.”
Lolita Baldor of the AP: "Top military leaders are under self-quarantine after a senior Coast Guard official tested positive for the coronavirus, the Pentagon said Tuesday. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley, was among those affected, U.S. officials said. Military leaders who were in contact with Adm. Charles W. Ray, the vice commandant of the Coast Guard, have been tested, Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said in a statement. None have [Mrs. McC: has] exhibited symptoms or have so far tested positive." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Update. Courtney Kube of NBC News: "Seven members of the eight-member Joint Chiefs of Staff are now quarantining after they attended a Pentagon meeting Friday with a Coast Guard admiral who has since tested positive for Covid-19, said three defense officials. The only member of the Joint Chiefs who is not in quarantine, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger, was traveling last week and missed the meeting. Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. Gary Thomas attended in his place and is now in quarantine." (Also linked yesterday.)
Peter Alexander of NBC News: "A military valet who comes in contact with Trump tested positive for Covid-19 over the weekend, a person familiar with the matter tells NBC News." This is part of a liveblog on Trump's condition. (Also linked yesterday.)
Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: “Rick Bright, a senior vaccine scientist who said he was demoted this spring for complaining about 'cronyism' and political interference in science, resigned his final government post on Tuesday, saying he had been sidelined and left with nothing to do. In a new addendum to the whistle-blower complaint he filed in May, Dr. Bright’s lawyers say officials at the National Institutes of Health, where he worked after his demotion, rejected his idea for a national coronavirus testing strategy 'because of political considerations.'”
Zachary Brennan of Politico: "The FDA on Tuesday told coronavirus vaccine developers that it will hold them to strict standards for emergency authorization, releasing new guidelines that the White House had fought against for weeks. The agency guidelines were released Tuesday afternoon after being held up at the White House budget office for review. Just hours earlier, the FDA had released a summary of those guidelines in instructions to vaccine makers.... Hours after FDA released the guidelines, Trump called them 'just another political hit job!' in a tweet addressed to FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn.... The news that the FDA is plowing ahead with the stricter standards comes after almost a month of back and forth between the White House and the agency over how to set the bar for vaccine authorization." Mrs. McC: Trump's tweet to Hahn was another crazy outburst in a string of crazy outbursts.
“It Is a Slaughter.” Brett Murphy & Letitia Stein of USA Today: “A former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and public health titan who led the eradication of smallpox asked the embattled, current CDC leader to expose the failed U.S. response to the new coronavirus, calling on him to orchestrate his own firing to protest White House interference. Dr. William Foege, a renowned epidemiologist who served under Democratic and Republican presidents, detailed in a private letter he sent last month to CDC director Dr. Robert Redfield his alarm over how the agency has fallen in stature while the pandemic raged across America. Foege, who has not previously been a vocal critic of the agency's handling of the novel coronavirus, called on Redfield to openly address the White House’s meddling in the agency’s efforts to manage the COVID-19 crisis and then accept the political sacrifice that would follow. He recommended that Redfield commit to writing the administration's failures — and his own — so there was a record that could not be dismissed.... Foege wrote ... that simply resigning without coming clean would be insufficient. 'Don’t shy away from the fact this has been an unacceptable toll on our country. It is a slaughter and not just a political dispute.'”
Arkansas. Sarah Burris of the Raw Story: "The chairman of the Craighead County Republican Committee in Arkansas has died from complications while fighting the coronavirus, reported KAIT8 News. Steven Farmer’s GOP committee hosted a social gathering with Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) and Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX), who just recovered from COVID-19, in mid-September. The Reagan Day event was photographed extensively, and it showed very few masks being worn and no social distancing." (Also linked yesterday.)
New York. Troy Closson of the New York Times: "When an 80-year-old man at a bar near Buffalo, N.Y., noticed a fellow customer not wearing a face mask, he confronted him. The customer responded by swiftly pushing him to the ground, the police said. Five days later, the man was dead. On Monday, the customer, Donald Lewinski, 65, of West Seneca, N.Y., was arrested and charged with criminally negligent homicide in the death of the 80-year-old, Rocco Sapienza. The case is believed to be one of the first of its kind in New York State. Mr. Lewinski pleaded not guilty on Tuesday in court in Erie County. The charge carries up to four years in prison. The encounter followed months of tension and often vitriolic confrontations across the country over masks. Disputes have escalated to violence: Retail employees have broken up fistfights between customers, and in New York City dozens of transit workers have been attacked after trying to enforce the rules."
Presidential Race, Etc.
Domenico Montenaro of NPR: "Vice President Pence and California Sen. Kamala Harris square off in the first and only vice presidential debate Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET in Salt Lake City." ~~~
~~~ Patrick Hipes of Deadline on where to watch the veep debate. ~~~
~~~ Dan Merica & Jim Acosta of CNN: "Mike Pence's team agreed Tuesday night to allow the Commission on Presidential Debates to erect a plexiglass barrier near the vice president for Wednesday's debate in Salt Lake City, a Pence aide and commission member told CNN, bringing an end for now the negotiations over coronavirus safety precautions around the contest. Pence's team made clear throughout the week that they thought putting any plexiglass barriers near the vice president was unnecessary and that they opposed such a move.... The commission member said the Pence team agreed Tuesday evening that 'if ([Kamala] Harris) feels safer having it up on her side, they will leave it up on his side.'" Mrs. McC: IOW, they will accommodate the fraidy-cat girl.
** New York Times Editors Endorse Joe Biden for President: "In the midst of unrelenting chaos, [Joe] Biden is offering an anxious, exhausted nation something beyond policy or ideology. His campaign is rooted in steadiness, experience, compassion and decency. A President Biden would embrace the rule of law and restore public confidence in democratic institutions. He would return a respect for science and expertise to the government. He would stock his administration with competent, qualified, principled individuals. He would stand with America’s allies and against adversaries that seek to undermine our democracy. He would work to address systemic injustices. He would not court foreign autocrats or give comfort to white supremacists. His focus would be on healing divisions and rallying the nation around shared values. He would understand that his first duty, always, is to the American people." ~~~
~~~ Kathleen Kingsbury of the New York Times: "The grim reality of American life at this moment — the hundreds of thousands of coronavirus deaths, the financial struggles, the disinformation, the factionalism, the warming planet — makes the case for Joe Biden far more powerfully than any endorsement ever could. For many, the choice is as plain as the mask on Mr. Biden’s face. Still, we hope today’s New York Times editorial board endorsement of Joe Biden will be clarifying and insightful to readers."
Biden's Gettysburg Address. Sydney Ember & Katie Glueck of the New York Times: “Joseph R. Biden Jr. delivered an impassioned call for national unity on Tuesday from the swing state of Pennsylvania, casting the nation as a 'house divided' and the election as a high-stakes contest defined by seismic issues of life-or-death consequence that, he argued, should transcend traditional partisan disagreements. In a 22-minute speech outdoors in Gettysburg, near the Civil War battlefield that serves as a symbol of a country split against itself, Mr. Biden drew parallels between that dark time in American history and the turmoil of the current moment, saying the country was again in 'a battle for the soul of the nation,' reprising a central theme of his candidacy four weeks before Election Day.... The message was a striking contrast with the recent actions of Mr. Biden’s opponent, President Trump, who on Tuesday ended talks with Democrats about an economic stimulus bill even as millions of Americans struggle with the financial fallout of the pandemic.... Mr. Biden, who shared a debate stage with the president a week ago, tested negative again on Tuesday, his campaign said. Asked later by reporters if he would feel safe debating Mr. Trump — there is a debate scheduled for next week — the Democratic nominee replied, 'if he still has Covid, we shouldn’t have a debate,' according to a pool report.” Politico's report is here. ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: A remarkable contrast with Benito Trumpolini scowling from the balcony yesterday.
Wear a mask. pic.twitter.com/TSuLuzAXEB
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) October 6, 2020
Robin Givhan of the Washington Post: "... Joe Biden was standing on the tarmac Monday chatting with reporters at New Castle County Airport.... Biden was wearing a mask and so were the journalists, but the plane’s engine was whirring and as he was answering questions..., he began to drift from socially distanced range into normal speaking range. And so, with no fanfare but unmistakable firmness, Jill Biden approached her husband from behind, reminded him of proper spacing and physically moved him several paces back. Biden apologized for his spatial indiscretion and then carried on with his thoughts about the importance of following the science in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. An entire campaign was summed up in that simple gesture — and by Biden’s response to it." You can see video of the moment here. Awfully sweet.
AP: “Michelle Obama is going after ... Donald Trump in a scathing new video that accuses him of 'willful mismanagement' of the coronavirus crisis and of racism. She calls on Black and all young voters not to 'waste' their votes. In the video, released Tuesday by Joe Biden’s campaign, Mrs. Obama notes that more Americans have died from COVID-19 than died in the Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam and Korean wars combined. She charges that with respect to the virus, 'our commander in chief, sadly, has been missing in action.'” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
The New York Times' live Trumpidemic updates Tuesday are here: “President Trump announced on Tuesday that he is planning to attend next Thursday’s debate in Miami against former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. despite his continued struggle with the coronavirus and unresolved questions about the event’s rules. 'FEELING GREAT!' he added in a separate Tweet. By midday Monday, Mr. Trump made it clear he would soon be moving forward with his campaign, even as medical experts warned that the course of his illness is unpredictable in a man of his age and weight.” The Hill's story is here. Mrs. McC: If indeed Trump does show up, he should be wheeled in in a hermetically-sealed plexiglass box. Okay with me if he says, "Mmbeep-beep." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Keith Allen & Devan Cole of CNN: "... Joe Biden said Tuesday that the second presidential debate should not be held if ... Donald Trump is still infected with coronavirus, but that he would base his participation in the debate upon recommendations from medical experts." The story expands on the Times item linked. ~~~
~~~ Trump Is Not Welcome in Miami. Marc Caputo of Politico: “The Republican mayor of Miami said Donald Trump shouldn’t come to his city for the Oct. 15 debate with Joe Biden if the president is still testing positive with Covid-19. 'I don’t think it’s safe, not for him and anybody else, anywhere or anyone he interacts with,' Mayor Francis Suarez told Politico.... Dr. Aileen Marty, a Florida International University epidemiologist who advises Miami-Dade County government and its school district, said she needs far more data on Trump’s illness to be conclusive about his condition on Oct. 15. But when she factors in the information that’s been publicly released, her knowledge of the virus and the 74-year-old Trump’s obesity, she thinks he should not come at all.”
Florida. Special! Tuesday Only! Really. Gary Fineout of Politico: “Florida extended the deadline for voter registration after the state’s online portal crashed under the weight of heavy traffic hours before the Oct. 5 deadline. Registration will be open for an additional seven hours, from noon to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Secretary of State Laurel Lee said in a written statement. The move should short-circuit a lawsuit that civil rights and voting groups were preparing to file early Tuesday. Lee met with Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday to review trouble with the portal. In a written statement, she said the site’s failure appeared to be linked to 'unprecedented volume and traffic' and that her office 'will work with our state and federal law-enforcement partners to ensure this was not a deliberate act against the voting process.' The portal went down Monday afternoon, hours before the midnight deadline for registering.” (Also linked yesterday.)
Found on the Twitters. My compliments to the cartoonist, whoever s/he may be.
James Stewart of the New York Times: Last week's New York Times’ exposé revealed that Donald “Trump spent more than $70,000 on hairstyling during several years of his run on 'The Apprentice,' his reality-TV show.... But what is really remarkable about the revelation is that Mr. Trump’s production company deducted his hairstyling expenses from its taxable income, reducing its tax bill. Tax experts told me that deducting what is ordinarily considered a personal expense is prohibited under almost any circumstances. And they said such a deduction could potentially constitute criminal tax fraud if the cost of the hairstyling was reimbursed by someone else..... [Mrs. McC: I think Stewart means "to someone else."] Taxpayers are not allowed to deduct reimbursed business expenses. In any case, courts have ruled that hairstyling, even for someone on a TV program, is a personal expense that cannot be deducted.”
Natasha Bertrand, et al., of Politico: “Even as he recovers from a coronavirus case that left him hospitalized for days..., Donald Trump has intensified a late-campaign effort to undermine widely accepted evidence about Russia’s election interference efforts in 2016. Trump authorized the declassification and release of documents this week based on intelligence that even his own advisers warn could be Russian disinformation, in what his allies have signaled is aimed at sowing doubt about the intelligence community’s conclusion that the meddling in the 2016 campaign came at the Kremlin’s direction — and was intended to boost Trump’s candidacy.... Some of those documents were released on Tuesday afternoon, including heavily redacted notes from former CIA Director John Brennan after a briefing with then-President Barack Obama. The notes describe intelligence reports that were drawn from Russian operatives, summaries of which Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe declassified last week. In the legible, unredacted portion of Brennan’s notes, first published by Fox News, he wrote: 'We’re getting additional insight into Russian activities from [REDACTED].”
** Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the New York Times: “The Department of Homeland Security warned on Tuesday that violent white supremacy was the 'most persistent and lethal threat in the homeland' in an annual assessment that a former intelligence chief had accused the agency of withholding in deference to President Trump. The intelligence chief-turned-whistle-blower last month accused the department of blocking the report and directing analysts to play down the threat of violent white racism as well as Russian election interference to align the agency’s message with the president’s. But the final report appeared to do no such thing. The threat assessment highlighted white supremacists as the most deadly among domestic terrorists in recent years and Russia as the primary threat to spreading disinformation. 'I am particularly concerned about white supremacist violent extremists who have been exceptionally lethal in their abhorrent, targeted attacks in recent years,” Chad F. Wolf, the acting secretary of homeland security, wrote in the foreward to the assessment. The threat report also stated that 'Russia is the likely primary covert influence actor and purveyor of disinformation and misinformation within the homeland.'”
** Michael Shear, et al., of the New York Times: “The Justice Department’s top officials [-- Jeff Sessions, Rod Rosenstein & Gene Hamilton, an ally of Stephen Miller -- ] were 'a driving force' behind the policy that spurred the separation of thousands of families, many of them fleeing violence in Central America and seeking asylum in the United States, before Mr. Trump abandoned it amid global outrage, according to a draft report of the results of the investigation by Michael E. Horowitz, the department’s inspector general.” Mrs. McC: I well remember when I thought Rosenstein might be a principled hero, saving the world from Trump. Ha! Not only was he a prime driver of removing even breast-feeding infants from their mothers, he is now trying really hard to deny responsibility.
Tony Romm, et al., of the Washington Post: "Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google engaged in anti-competitive, monopoly-style tactics to evolve into four of the world’s most powerful corporate behemoths, according to congressional investigators who called in a wide-ranging report released Tuesday for sweeping changes to federal laws so that government regulators can bring Silicon Valley back in check. The approximately 450-page document, capping a roughly 16-month investigation by the House’s top antitrust panel, found that the four tech giants relied on dubious, harmful means to solidify their dominance in Web search, smartphones, social networking and shopping — and in the process evaded the very federal regulators whose primary task is to ensure that companies do not grow into such unmatched corporate titans."
Beyond the Beltway
Missouri. Lauren Trager of KMOV (St. Louis): "A grand jury indicted Mark and Patricia McCloskey Tuesday on charges of exhibiting guns at protesters in a June incident in their neighborhood and added a charge of tampering with evidence for both members of the couple.... Mark and Patricia McCloskey had previously been charged with felony counts of exhibiting weapons -- for pointing guns at protestors outside their central west end home. They have long maintained they were protecting themselves and their property from people hurling threats." Mrs. McC: These accused felons are such great American heroes that they appeared in a video during the Republican's national convention.
News Ledes
Four Generations of Tylers Span 273 Years of American History. New York Times: “Lyon Gardiner Tyler Jr., the older of two surviving grandsons of the 10th president of the United States, John Tyler, and part of a genealogical marvel that in just three generations spanned almost the entire history of the United States, died on Sept. 26 in Franklin, Tenn. He was 95. His daughter, Susan Selina Pope Tyler, said his death, at Williamson Medical Center, was caused by Alzheimer’s disease. He lived in Franklin. Mr. Tyler, a lawyer and historian, and his 91-year-old brother, Harrison Ruffin Tyler, were the last surviving sons of Lyon Gardiner Tyler Sr. (1853-1935), a longtime president of the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Lyon Tyler Sr.’s father, who was born just after George Washington became president 231 years ago and who served in the White House from 1841 to 1845, was the president who annexed Texas as the 28th state as America expanded west. But he may be better known for the Whig Party’s catchy 1840 presidential campaign slogan, 'Tippecanoe and Tyler Too.'... ~~~
~~~ “Lyon Gardiner Tyler Jr., in a talk to the Daughters of the American Revolution in 2013 in Dyersburg, Tenn., went back even further: to his great-grandfather, John Tyler Sr., (1747-1813), who served in the Continental Army, became governor of Virginia and had eight children, including the future president. 'John Tyler’s father, also named John, was Thomas Jefferson’s roommate at the College of William & Mary,” Lyon Tyler said. 'Jefferson and John Tyler Sr. shared the same political views, played their fiddles together in college and remained lifelong friends.'”
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I read about this family's remarkable genealogy some 20 years ago, and I was blown away. I remain amazed.
New York Times: “The Nobel Prize in Chemistry was jointly awarded on Wednesday to Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer A. Doudna for their 2012 work on the development of Crispr-Cas9, a method for genome editing. The announcement marks the first time a science Nobel has been awarded to two women.”
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Reader Comments (12)
Taking relief funds away from a hundred million Americans unless they vote for you?
Satan is doing the tarantella.
Fatty has been demanding that Joe Biden take a drug test before debating him, the idea being that Biden can’t keep up with the manly Trump unless he’s juicing.
Biden should agree to that as long as Covid Man does the same. Dollars to doughnuts, he’ll be pumped full of more combined drugs than Michael Jackson, John Belushi, and Elvis, that night on the toilet.
Projection, once you know about it, is a tell like no other.
@Akhilleus: Uh, yeah, someone could suggest a steroid is a "performance-enhancing drug" (altho Trump might not be on any steroids a week from now).
I would like to suggest a minor editorial change to the threat report mentioned above.
'
RussiaTrump is thelikelyprimarycovertovert influence actor and purveyor of disinformation and misinformation within the homeland.'@unwashed: Can't see any objection to your edit, which seems 100% accurate. In fact, Trump could probably be dropped into quite a bit of the report as a primary cause of "threats to homeland." For instance, look at his part in encouraging white supremacy, another highlight of the report.
Here's the newest from the Lincoln Project: An Eva Peron parody–-perfect!
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/lincoln-project-evita-covita-trump-musical_n_5f7d3a8fc5b6e5aba0d1ec48
@Marie: Your comment re: thinking that Rosenstein might have been "a principled hero" back in the day and I recall we two thought he was attractive in an intellectual quirky way. The former we can scrap but the latter we may still hang on to albeit with a cringe.
If some of you lament the loss of John Stewart and his brand of irony and sarcasm as I do here is a terrific piece from the NYT that delves into the world of comedy with a fine tooth comb.
HOW PRESIDENT TRUMP RUINED POLITICAL COMEDY:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/07/magazine/trump-liberal-comedy-tv.html?action=click&module=Editors%20Picks&pgtype=Homepage
As usual, the American public has no real idea what’s going on with Covid Man, how sick he really is, what he’s being shot up with, how fucked up he is mentally with whatever cocktail of experimental drugs he’s getting, and what is being discussed inside the Fat Bubble.
Guess who does?
Uncle Vlad and Cousin Xi! Natch.
Because the Trumpy Blight House is about as secure as a makeshift kennel, foreign spy organizations, especially well run and well funded ones like the Russians and the Chinese, have, without a doubt, been listening in. It’s well known that Fatty calls his billionaire pals and winger imbeciles like Sean Hannity on unsecured cell phones. Spy agencies all know who these people are. They’re probably also listening in on conversations between the doctors who are lying to us about what’s going on.
And, again as usual, the Blight House must, per the demands of the little king, focus all their energy on him and making him look good—at the expense of national security, which, on the list of Fatty priorities, is somewhere between “Sign up for ACLU membership” and “Release tax returns, unredacted”.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/10/07/trump-covid-diagnosis-russia-china-spies-national-security/5898459002/
A three judge panel on the 2nd circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that NY can get Trumps tax records from his long time accountant. Naturally this is being appealed back to the supreme court by Trumps legal team.
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/07/trump-loses-appeal-to-block-subpoena-for-tax-returns-by-prosecutor.html
There must be some real nastiness in those papers, to the point the lawyers might want full PPE when they open the boxes.
Stephen Miller has tested positive for Covid.
This is distressing, because it means that the virus has mutated to allow cross-class transmission, from mammals to reptiles.
When it crosses into insects, were really screwed, and Hannity will have to cocoon.
Someone posted on Instagram that the Democrat party should be investigated because it's mostly R politicians and their associates getting the virus. She wants to know how the Dems are managing to do this without becoming infected.
My reply: could be difference in IQ, could be wearing a mask, could be social distancing, staying out of non mask wearing crowds. Got no response.
Patrick: I saw so many variations yesterday on comment sections, and daughter offered tweets-- so many people despise Miller, unsurprisingly... Mostly they were hilarious, but I am reminded that this leftover from a horror film has outsize influence in the administration. I doubt if he got it from the crowd in the former rose garden-- can you imagine anyone voluntarily hugging him??
Am so sick of the propaganda film of the rectangle-faced dictator-- they might as well ditch that. He looks like a cartoon. And yeah, like the Nazi propaganda film... The stupid salute is icing on the cake-- this guy and all his family members don't have an acquaintance with the military-- his salutes where he doesn't even look at the person who is saluting HIM are simply ridiculous. A salute is respect, something that Dumpalini is completely unfamiliar with--
Still hoping Halfpence, DisBarr and Ghouliani are amongst the sickies soon. I'm sure the Toxic Tortoise is currently living in a hole.