The Commentariat -- September 2, 2020

Afternoon Update:

Here's the New York Times' full story on Scott Atlas, by Noah Weiland & others, & outlined (linked below) in the Times' coronavirus live updates.

** Marc Caputo of Politico: "Joe Biden and the Democratic National Committee reported raising a record $365 million in August, surprising even seasoned party fundraisers and putting to rest fears that President Trump would drown him in campaign spending. The staggering cash coincides with Biden naming Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate before the convention. It more than doubles Trump's $165 million record, set in July, and also eclipses the $193 million raised by Barack Obama in September 2008. Trump has not yet announced his August numbers."

Molly Beck of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "Former Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill Biden, will visit Kenosha on Thursday as tensions simmer in the city following the shooting of a Black man by a white police officer and the deaths of two people protesting his shooting by an armed teenager.... It's the first visit to Wisconsin by Biden this year, and the first to the state by a Democratic presidential nominee since 2012.... 'Vice President Biden will hold a community meeting in Kenosha to bring together Americans to heal and address the challenges we face,' his campaign said in a release. 'After, Vice President Biden and Dr. Biden will make a local stop.'"

Republicans' Fake "Democrat Cities" Argument. Emily Badger of the New York Times: "Minneapolis, Chicago, Portland, Ore., and Kenosha, Wis., are first and foremost 'Democrat cities' in President Trump';s telling.... Mr. Trump has sharpened his party's long-running antipathy toward urban America into a more specific argument for the final two months of the campaign: Cities have problems, and Democrats run them. Therefore, you don't want Democrats running the country, either. But that logic misconstrues the nature of challenges that cities face, and the power of mayors of any party to solve them, political scientists say. And it twists a key fact of political history: If cities have become synonymous with Democratic politics today, that is true in part because Republicans have largely given up on them.... Mr. Trump and his surrogates have pushed that history to its seeming conclusion: Rural and suburban problems in America today are national problems -- but urban problems are Democratic problems.... [Yet] politicians, of either party, do not blame Republican county executives for rural opioid problems.... The president ... has never mentioned ... Republican-led Tulsa, Okla., San Bernardino, Calif..., Miami, Jacksonville, Fla., or Fort Worth -- in his vows to deploy federal forces to help control urban crime. Numerous studies suggest that the partisanship of mayors has limited effect on much of anything: not just crime, but also tax policy, social policy and economic outcomes."

Philip Bump of the Washington Post: Nearly four years later, Trump still can't accept the fact that he lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton. Now, besides his usual fake claim that he really won except for all the voter fraud in California, blah blah, he's claiming that the vote that were to libertarian candidate Gary Johnson in 2016 were really votes for Trump. Mrs. McC: This is a fairly hilarious post, except for a couple of factors, like Bump's final note that Trump "creates these rationalizations that have the unhappy side effect of reducing confidence in the electoral system."

Trumps Go All-in for the Crazy. Chris Rodrigo of the Hill: "Lara Trump recently joined Republican congressional candidate Laura Loomer at a campaign event in Florida, throwing the support of the Trump name behind the far-right activist and self-described Islamophobe. President Trump's daughter-in-law and campaign adviser was photographed with Loomer, the GOP nominee to challenge Rep. Lois Frankel (D-Fla.) in a reliably blue district, at a campaign event with some pictures showing a lack of face masks and social distancing." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Both parties get stuck with radical candidates on their side. In the past, if the candidates were bad enough, the party denounced them & denied them campaign money and endorsements. Otherwise, party leaders held their noses & tentatively accepted the nutters, but maybe without financial support or endorsements. Party leaders sure as hell don't campaign with nonconforming candidates. So when a Trump family member actually campaigns with a crazy QAnon candidate -- and one who has almost no chance of winning -- it's obvious that they're pushing hard for the batshit-crazy vote. It also suggests, especially when considering Trump's recent insane endorsement of wacky ideas, that the Trumps themselves are batshit crazy.

Scandal of the Year. Lock Her Up. Jaclyn Peiser of the Washington Post: "For almost six months, hairdressers in San Francisco have been prohibited from cutting and styling their clients' hair inside a salon. But on Monday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), one of the most outspoken Democratic lawmakers on following coronavirus restrictions, became an exception to the rule in her home district. Surveillance footage aired on Fox News on Tuesday showed Pelosi walking through a salon with a mask around her neck as a stylist wearing a mask followed behind. Republican critics pounced on Pelosi, accusing her of hypocrisy.... A spokesman for Pelosi insisted she was following the rules outlined by the salon before her visit. 'The speaker always wears a mask and complies with local covid requirements,' spokesman Drew Hammill said in a statement to The Washington Post, adding Pelosi briefly took down her mask while getting her hair washed. 'This business offered for the speaker to come in on Monday and told her they were allowed by the city to have one customer at a time in the business. The speaker complied with the rules as presented by this establishment.'... [But] San Francisco Mayor London Breed (D) announced last week that salons could reopen for outdoor service only starting Tuesday." An AP story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: While I suppose Pelosi didn't anticipate a videographer would stalk her, this was still a stupid move. Pelosi is extremely wealthy and could easily have afforded to have a Covid-tested stylist come to her home.

~~~~~~~~~~

Massachusetts Primary Elections. From the Washington Post's live updates:

Sen. Edward J. Markey fended off a primary challenge from Rep. Joe Kennedy, making it the first time a Kennedy has lost a statewide election in Massachusetts. Markey, 74, faced Kennedy, 39, who was not yet born when the senator began his political career, and who came into the race with a long list of endorsements. But Kennedy's message of generational change, which helped power some primary challenges in other states, did not resonate as much as Markey's focus on his long liberal record and his sponsorship of the Green New Deal.

Rep. Richard E. Neal fended off a primary challenge from Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse in Massachusetts's 1st District, according to the Associated Press. Neal had touted the endorsement of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), while Morse had the backing of liberal Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).

In the 8th [Congressional] District, Rep. Stephen F. Lynch beat back a left-wing challenger, the latest and best-organized of his 19-year career in the House. Republicans are not contesting the race in November. ~~~

~~~ A Politico story by Stephanie Murray is here. The New York Times story, by Jonathan Martin, is here.

The Strange Case of the Madman in the White House

(1) What Is Trump Hiding? Mrs.  McCrabbie: I was just thinking reporters ought to get to the bottom of the real reason Trump rushed to Walter Reed last November, then lied about it (story linked yesterday), when -- without prompting -- Trump himself provided a clue! ~~~

~~~ Brett Samuels of the Hill: "President Trump on Tuesday denied that he made an emergency visit to the hospital last year after suffering 'a series of mini-strokes' after a new book claimed that Vice President Pence was on standby in the event Trump was incapacitated. The president's denial raised eyebrows, as the book from New York Times correspondent Michael Schmidt did not specifically state that Trump had suffered from a series of small strokes. 'It never ends! Now they are trying to say that your favorite President, me, went to Walter Reed Medical Center, having suffered a series of mini-strokes. Never happened to THIS candidate -- FAKE NEWS,' Trump tweeted, before insinuating that ... Joe Biden may have dealt with health issues." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I hope some pro-Biden group -- not the Biden campaign itself -- will start hounding Trump about his secretive hospital visit. It is a matter of public interest as to why a president* is rushed to the hospital & the veep is called to stand by. Voters deserve to have a full & truthful answer (not gonna happen, I know). ~~~

~~~ Mike Pence's Convenient Memory Lapse. Axios: "Vice President Mike Pence said in an interview with Fox News on Tuesday that he does not 'recall' being told to be on standby to assume the powers of the presidency if President Trump was put under anesthesia during his sudden visit to Walter Reed Medical Center last November.... The White House physician later issued a statement at the request of Trump saying the president 'has not experienced nor been evaluated for' a stroke or mini-stroke." Mrs. McC: If I might be about to become President-for-a-Day, I'm sure I'd "recall" it.

(2) What Is Trump Hiding? Benjamin Weiser & William Rashbaum of the New York Times: "President Trump on Tuesday won another delay in the long-running legal battle over whether he must turn over eight years of tax returns to the Manhattan district attorney's office, which subpoenaed them a year ago in a criminal investigation focused on Mr. Trump, his business and his associates. In a brief order, a federal appeals court in New York said it would temporarily block a grand jury subpoena issued by the district attorney, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., a Democrat, while it considers Mr. Trump's arguments that the request was 'wildly overbroad' and politically motivated. The ruling is the latest development in the president's aggressive effort to keep his tax returns and other financial records out of the hands of prosecutors, Congress and others -- a dispute that has reached the United States Supreme Court once and is almost certain to end up there again." A Hill story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Mrs. McCrabbie: Remember back in June when we thought those Western militia were idiots for believing in crazy conspiracy theories about impending Antifa invasions? Well, guess what? Donald Trump is one of the idiotic conspiracy theorists. ~~~

~~~ Dan Martin of the American Independent: "Donald Trump doubled-down Tuesday morning on a bizarre conspiracy theory about a plane full of black-clad rioters and looters that has been thoroughly debunked.... Trump was asked about his earlier claims on Tuesday, before flying to Wisconsin to meet with law enforcement and survey property damage in Kenosha.... He insisted to reporters that the debunked conspiracy was true, but provided no evidence other than suggesting a person on that plane had told him about the experience. Trump refused to identify his source." ~~~

... a person was on a plane said that there were about six people like that person, more or less. And what happened is the entire plane filled up with the looters, the anarchists, the rioters, people that obviously were looking for trouble. And the person felt very uncomfortable on the plane. This would be a person you know, so I will see whether or not I can get that person -- I'll let them know and I'll see whether or not I can get that person to speak to you. But this was a firsthand account of a plane going from Washington to wherever. And I'll see if I can get that information for you. Maybe they'll speak to you, maybe they won't. -- Donald Trump, to reporters Tuesday morning

~~~ Ben Collins of NBC News: "The conspiracy theory that ... Donald Trump pushed Monday that a plane 'almost completely loaded with thugs' had been set to disrupt the Republican National Convention was almost identical to a rumor that went viral on Facebook three months ago.... He ... claimed the matter was 'under investigation right now.' There is no evidence of any such flight.... [A] version of the rumor picked up enough steam in Idaho Facebook groups [in June] that the Payette County Sheriff's Office had to release a statement insisting that the viral rumor was 'false information.'... One of the most viral rumors on an Antifa invasion into the suburbs was taken down after Twitter said it was created by a troll account with ties to white nationalists. Some armed Americans took to town squares in several towns to fight off fictitious busloads of Antifa in June, spurred by false rumors on Facebook pages. Seven days after the original Idaho rumor went viral on Facebook, armed men stood guard over protests in Missoula, Montana, worried about the planeloads of Antifa supporters." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: As Collins pointed out to Chris Hayes of MSNBC, a real president would be informing the public about real threats, such as the coronavirus, Russia interfering in the 2020 election (story linked below), and other matters he learned from intelligence agencies. Instead, he's validating false conspiracy theories. Update: To further confirm the B.S. nature of Trump's "intelligence," Collins also noted this morning that Trump changed his original story: he told Ingraham the dark, shadowy people were coming to D.C.; in the version yesterday, they were leaving D.C.

~~~ Davey Alba & Ben Decker of the New York Times: "In a wide-ranging interview with the Fox News host Laura Ingraham on Monday night, President Trump spread multiple conspiracy theories about the protests that have erupted across the nation. Many of his unfounded claims can be traced back to narratives that have been swirling online for months. Here are three of the baseless conspiracy theories that Mr. Trump spread and where they came from. [1] A plane 'loaded with thugs' headed to the Republican convention.... [2] Some 'very stupid rich people' are bankrolling racial justice protests across the U.S.... The unsupported idea echoes claims spread online for months that George Soros, the billionaire investor and Democratic donor, was funding protests against police brutality.... The false notion that a shadowy cabal of Democratic elites like Mr. Soros pulls strings behind the scenes and controls the world with money is a main pillar of the far-right extremist conspiracy theory QAnon. [3] 'People that you haven't heard of' are controlling Joseph Biden[.] This rumor, too, is a pillar of the baseless internet conspiracy QAnon. The theory states, falsely, that the world is run by a group of Satan-worshiping pedophiles that is plotting against Mr. Trump while operating a global child sex-trafficking ring." ~~~

~~~ Reporter Ben Collins worried aloud on MSNBC that Trump was wasting the presidency warning Americans about fake dangers instead of real one. Well, here's an update that should reassure Collins: ~~~

... You have people coming over with big bags of soup and ... the the anarchists take it and they start throwing it at our cops and our police... -- Donald Trump, in Kenosha Tuesday ~~~

Actual photo of violent liberal Democrat anarchist in action. Heavy: "Some dubbed ... Donald Trump the 'Soup Nazi' -- a reference to a famous 'Seinfeld' episode -- after he said cans of soups were being weaponized during protests over racism and police brutality in Portland, Oregon, and Kenosha, Wisconsin. Trump originally made the comments while meeting the National Association of Police Organizations Leadership in July, according to Second Nexus."

Another Fake Trump Video-op. Ben Johnson of WTMJ Milwaukee: "A Kenosha business owner is accusing ... Donald Trump of using his destroyed store for political gain. Tom Gram's century-old camera shop burned to the ground a week ago during the unrest in Uptown Kenosha. Gram said he declined President Trump's request to be a part of his tour of damage Tuesday in Kenosha. Instead, a former owner of the shop was invited and he praised the president's efforts." ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I think it was Jason Johnson, speaking on MSNBC, who noted that -- while Trump claimed he went to Kenosha to "survey the damage" -- Trump did nothing to survey the real human damage in Kenosha: the police shooting of Jacob Blake and a teenager's (alleged) murders of Joseph Rosenbaum & Anthony Huber and the wounding of Gaige Grosskreutz.

Josh Margolin, et al., of ABC News: “In early July the Department of Homeland Security withheld publication of an intelligence bulletin warning law enforcement agencies of a Russian scheme to promote 'allegations about the poor mental health' of former Vice President Joe Biden, according to internal emails and a draft of the document obtained by ABC News.... The document mentions Iranian and Chinese efforts to criticize Trump, but focuses on -- and takes its title from -- Russia's attacks on Biden's mental fitness. It is a line of attack also utilized by both ... Donald Trump and his reelection campaign.... Critics said the decision to withhold the document will fuel concern that the Trump administration has sought to politicize intelligence, particularly after an announcement over the weekend that senior intelligence leaders will cease congressional election security briefings due to alleged leaks from lawmakers, and will instead provide only written reports." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: This is a good example of "some-say" and "he-said/she-said" "journalism." The report makes clear that a political appointee -- acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf (& his acting chief-of-staff) -- kept the bulletin secret. A reasonable person would assume that was for political reasons. Yet the ABC reporters cite only "critics" (they name one) who had "concerns" the top Trump appointee was politicizing intelligence to aid Trump. Then for the "she-said" part, the report cites an unnamed DHS spokesperson who claimed the bulletin "failed to meet the agency's standards." Yeah, right. ~~~

~~~ Trump's Deep State. John Sipher, a former CIA official, in a New York Times op-ed: John Ratcliffe, "the director of national intelligence is ending oral briefings with Congress -- a significant step toward eroding oversight and expanding executive overreach.... It smacks of the very thing that Mr. Trump has used to stoke outrage in his followers -- the formation of a politicized national security apparatus that can serve as a personal weapon for the president. A 'deep state.'... If our powerful secret agencies become handmaidens to the political whims of whoever sits in the White House, then our democracy and security are at risk in ways that are hard to imagine."

Presidential Race, Etc.

Shane Goldmacher of the New York Times: "Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s campaign unveiled a new television ad late Tuesday that packages portions of his speech on Monday in Pittsburgh condemning the sporadic violence that has erupted in some cities. The ad came as the former vice president pushes back against President Trump's efforts to define the Democrats as a party tolerant of lawlessness." ~~~

Matt Viser of the Washington Post: "Joe Biden on Wednesday will turn his focus to the struggles that students and parents are facing around the country with school districts unable to fully reopen amid the ongoing concerns about the coronavirus. Biden and his wife, Jill, will receive a briefing from education leaders in their hometown of Wilmington, Del, before the Democratic presidential nominee delivers remarks on school reopenings. It is another attempt by Biden to continue emphasizing President Trump's response to the global pandemic, the issue that Biden's campaign believes will guide voters’ decisions more than any other."

Kate Sullivan of CNN: "Eighty-one Nobel Prize winners endorsed Joe Biden for president in an open letter on Wednesday, citing the former vice president's 'willingness to listen to experts' and his 'deep appreciation for using science to find solutions.' The Nobel laureates, winners of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Medicine and Physics, stressed the importance of elected leaders making decisions based on science, particularly during a global pandemic." Mrs. McC: I hope these very intelligent, accomplished scientists don't think they can influence the Trumpenproletariat who are shooting paintballs, Mace & live ammo to protect us from ... something.

A Racist Campaign Stop in Kenosha. Ashley Parker, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump on Tuesday inserted himself into a city already roiled by the police shooting of an unarmed Black man, using a trip to Kenosha, Wis., to highlight his hard-edge law-and-order message and press what he and his campaign advisers view as a political advantage against Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. Unwelcome by local officials -- including the city's Democratic mayor and the state's Democratic governor -- but hailed by others, Trump and an entourage that included Attorney General William P. Barr descended on the city ... for a campaign-style journey that included a visit to businesses and properties destroyed in rioting and to meet with law enforcement officials. At an event focused on community safety near the end of his visit, Trump said Kenosha had 'been ravaged by anti-police and anti-American riots' and vowed to stand firmly with law enforcement.... During his visit, Trump said he doesn't believe there is systemic racism in law enforcement and refused to engage on whether systemic racism is a broader issue in the country." Trump did not meet with anyone from victim Jacob Blake's family.

** The Big China Conspiracy Lie. Natasha Bertrand of Politico: "From the president's Twitter feed to the Republican National Convention to Fox News, a new talking point has taken hold among Donald Trump and his allies: that U.S. intelligence shows that China would prefer a Joe Biden presidency and is trying to help him win. 'Just In: Chinese State Media and Leaders of CHINA want Biden to win "the U.S. Election,"' Trump tweeted on August 26. 'Beijing Biden is so weak on China that the intelligence community recently assessed that the Chinese Communist Party favors Biden,' Donald Trump Jr. said at the RNC. 'Our intelligence community has concluded that China prefers Joe Biden's candidacy to the reelection of President Trump,' Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) wrote for Fox last week. But the intelligence community has said no such thing, according to public statements by the country's top counterintelligence official Bill Evanina and multiple sources who have seen the underlying intelligence.... When asked in a Fox News interview on Sunday...,' Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe replied that 'in an unclassified setting, I can't get into a whole lot of details, other than to say that China is using a massive and sophisticated influence campaign that dwarfs anything that any other country is doing.' But a national security official who has seen the underlying intelligence said it shows no evidence of such a concerted campaign aimed at interfering in the election." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: While it's plausible that China would prefer President Joe Biden be sworn in next January, so would all of our allies.

Devlin Barrett of the Washington Post: "Attorney General William P. Barr imposed new rules Tuesday tightening the use of government surveillance on political candidates or their staffers -- a move likely to cheer conservatives who have long criticized how the FBI investigated the Trump campaign in 2016. In a pair of memos, the attorney general said that before the FBI and Justice Department seek a warrant from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to secretly monitor the communications of an elected official, a declared political candidate, or any of their staff, official advisers or informal advisers, officials must first consider warning that person that foreign governments may be targeting them, and if they choose not to give such a warning, the FBI director must spell out in writing the reasons for not doing so."

** Electioneering on Your Dime. Isaac Arnsdorf of ProPublica: "Millions of Americans who are struggling to put food on the table may discover a new item in government-funded relief packages of fresh fruits and vegetables, dairy and meat: a letter signed by President Donald Trump. The message, printed on White House letterhead in both English and Spanish, touts the administration's response to the coronavirus, including aid provided through the Farmers to Families Food Box Program, a U.S. Department of Agriculture initiative to buy fresh food and ship it to needy families. The letter is reminiscent of Trump's effort to put his signature on stimulus checks and send a signed letter to millions of recipients.... Democratic lawmakers have gone so far as to say the USDA letter violates the federal Hatch Act. The law prohibits government officials from using their positions or taxpayer resources to engage in electioneering. Though the president himself is exempt, the ban applies to White House staff and agencies such as the USDA." --s

Sheera Frenkel & Julian Barnes of the New York Times: "The Russian group that interfered in the 2016 presidential election is at it again, using a network of fake accounts and a website set up to look like a left-wing news site, Facebook and Twitter said on Tuesday. The disinformation campaign by the Kremlin-backed group, known as the Internet Research Agency, is the first public evidence that the agency is trying to repeat its efforts from four years ago and push voters away from the Democratic presidential candidate, Joseph R. Biden Jr., to help President Trump. Intelligence agencies have warned for months that Russia and other countries were actively trying to disrupt the November election.... Now Facebook and Twitter are offering evidence of this meddling, even as the White House in recent weeks has sought to more tightly control the flow of information about foreign threats to November's election and downplay Russian interference. The Trump administration's top intelligence official as recently as Sunday has tried to suggest that China is a graver risk than Moscow." ~~~

~~~ Elizabeth Dwoskin & Craig Timberg of the Washington Post: "Facebook removed a network of fake accounts and pages created by Russian operatives who had recruited U.S. journalists to write articles critical of Democratic nominee Joe Biden and his running mate, Sen. Kamala D. Harris, in an apparent bid to undermine their support among liberal voters. Facebook said it caught the network of 13 fake accounts and two pages early, before it had a chance to build a large audience -- an action that the company said was evidence of its growing effectiveness at targeting foreign disinformation operations ahead of the 2020 election. The takedown emerged as a result of a tip from the FBI and was one of a dozen operations tied to the Russian Internet Research Agency or individuals affiliated with it.... The pages had about 14,000 followers." An AP story is here.

Hannah Denham of the Washington Post: "How ready is the U.S. Postal Service to process and deliver election mail on time come November? Not ready enough, the agency's watchdog says in a new report. In its audit of election mail processing, the agency's Office of Inspector General listed several potential trouble spots, including ballots mailed without bar codes used for tracking; ballot mailpiece designs that impede processing; election and political mail sent too close to Election Day for the mail service to deliver it on time; postmark requirements for ballots; and outdated voter addresses. 'Resolving these issues will require higher level partnerships and cooperation between the Postal Service and various state officials, including secretaries of state and state election boards,' the office said in a release. 'Timely delivery of Election and Political Mail is necessary to ensure the integrity of the U.S. election process.'... The audit doesn't reflect operational changes implemented by [new Postmaster General Louis] DeJoy. Those measures, plus widely reported mail delays during the summer, have led to questions from lawmakers and others about the GOP donor and his connection to the White House, especially after President Trump said he would block Postal Service funding to impede its ability to process ballots."

Iowa Senate Race. Joni goes Q. Katie Shepherd of the Washington Post: "When a man in the crowd of her Iowa campaign stop told Sen. Joni Ernst (R) on Monday that he believed the number of U.S. coronavirus deaths had been overcounted, Ernst replied that she too was 'so skeptical.' 'These health-care providers and others are reimbursed at a higher rate if covid is tied to it, so what do you think they’re doing?' she said to the crowd outside Waterloo, Iowa, according to a report by the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier. Ernst's comments echo conspiracy theories pushed by QAnon followers that have been debunked by doctors and public health experts. According to fact-checking site PolitiFact, public health experts believe the number of coronavirus deaths is probably undercounted, because many of the hardest-hit cities lacked the resources to effectively document every death early in the pandemic." Here's a report from Iowa Starting Line.

Black Lives Matter

Kentucky. After Police Shot Her Dead in Her Own Home, the D.A. Tried to Frame Breonna Taylor. Marty Johnson of the Hill: "The lead attorney representing Breonna Taylor's family says Louisville prosecutors offered Jamarcus Glover -- her ex-boyfriend who is facing multiple drug-related charges -- a plea deal that listed Taylor, who was shot and killed by police in her own home in March, as a co-defendant in the case. Sam Aguiar posted a picture of the purported plea deal on Facebook Monday. '[Jefferson County] Commonwealth Attorney Tom Wine tried to give the Elliott Ave. defendants a plea deal on July 13 which would have identified Breonna Taylor as a "co-defendant" for actions related to the arrests on April 22, 2020,' Aguiar said in the post. '[W]hen was Breonna Taylor ever a co-defendant? And oh by the way, the cops killed her a month and a half before April 22 and four months to the day before the date of this effort to get a plea deal.'... In response to Aguiar's damning Facebook post, Wine released a statement later on Monday, stating that the document 'was a draft that was part of preindictment plea negotiations with Mr. Glover and his attorney.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) A Washington Post story is here.

Wisconsin. Natasha Korecki & Christopher Cadelago of Politico: "With a hand from Trump, the right makes [Kyle] Rittenhouse a cause célèbre. The rush to embrace Kyle Rittenhouse shows how far apart the pro- and anti-Trump sides are -- even when it comes to outright violence.... Online crowdfunding petitions have sprouted, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars in support of Rittenhouse.... During Trump's visit [to Kenosha], his supporters and Black Lives Matter activists clashed in the street along the main government complex near downtown, trading chants of 'All Lives Matter' and 'Black Lives Matter.'... Joe Biden has not spoken in-depth about Rittenhouse, though he said last week he was concerned about armed militias. In a statement Monday after Trump's news conference, Biden criticized the president for refusing to repudiate the Kenosha shootings. 'He is too weak, too scared of the hatred he has stirred to put an end to it,' Biden said. He urged Trump to join him in saying 'violence is wrong, period. No matter who does it, no matter what political affiliation they have. Period.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Seriously, do you feel safer knowing there is a baby-faced 17-year-old vigilante who drove into town to "protect property" by shooting people dead with an AR-15 he was carrying illegally? That kid and his fans terrify me.

The Trumpidemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Wednesday are here: "Dr. Scott W. Atlas has argued that the science of mask wearing is uncertain, that children cannot pass on the coronavirus and that the role of the government is not to stamp out the virus but to protect its most vulnerable citizens as Covid-19 takes its course. Ideas like these, both ideologically freighted and scientifically disputed, have propelled Dr. Atlas, a radiologist and senior fellow at Stanford University's conservative Hoover Institution, into President Trump's White House, where he is pushing to reshape the administration's response to the pandemic. Mr. Trump has embraced Dr. Atlas even as he upsets the balance of power within the White House coronavirus task force with ideas that top government doctors and scientists find misguided -- even dangerous -- according to people familiar with the task force's deliberations. That might be the point. 'I think Trump clearly does not like the advice he was receiving from the people who are the experts -- Fauci, Birx, etc. -- so he has slowly shifted from their advice to somebody who tells him what he wants to hear,' said Dr. Carlos del Rio, an infectious disease expert at Emory University."

The Washington Post's live updates of coronavirus developments Tuesday are here: "White House testing czar Brett Giroir on Tuesday tamped down calls from many public health experts for the federal government to approve and fund more cheap antigen tests that can be taken regularly at home. But while in the past Giroir has suggested that kind of widespread coronavirus screening would be unhelpful, he now says it is simply unfeasible. 'I don't live in a utopian world. I live in the real world. And the real world had no test for this new disease when this first started,' Giroir, assistant secretary of health, told reporters on a late-morning conference call." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Cristina Cabrera of TPM: "Dr. Anthony Fauci on Tuesday threw cold water on ... Donald Trump and his allies' attempt to distort the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) data to misleadingly shrink the COVID-19 death toll. During an interview on 'Good Morning America,' Fauci clarified the CDC's recent report that states 6 percent (approximately 9,000) of the 183,500 COVID-19 deaths were attributed to the coronavirus alone. The infectious disease expert pointed out that the figure simply means COVID-19 caused those 9,000 deaths without causing the pneumonia, cardiac arrest, or other complications that killed the other 94 percent of people who contracted the virus. That data 'does not mean that someone who has hypertension or diabetes who dies of COVID didn't die of COVID-19. They did,' Fauci said." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I heard on the teevee where Trump tried to push this 6 percent hoax in his interview with Laura Ingraham, and Ingraham actually fact-checked him & shut down his claim. You know it's bad when a Fox "News" personality corrects Trump's malarkey in real time. Update: Here's the clip:

** Matthew Goldstein of the New York Times: "The Trump administration announced an order on Tuesday to bar evictions for most renters for the rest of the year as the nation grapples with the coronavirus pandemic. The order, put forward by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the action was needed to stop the spread of the virus and to avoid having renters wind up in shelters or other crowded living conditions, compounding the crisis. The moratorium would go further than the eviction ban under the pandemic CARES Act, which covered as many as 12.3 million renters in apartment complexes or single-family homes financed with federally backed mortgages. That provision expired in July, though landlords could not begin eviction proceedings for 30 days. To apply for the new moratorium, tenants will have to attest to a substantial loss of household income, the inability to pay full rent and best efforts to pay partial rent. Tenants must also stipulate that eviction would be likely to leave them homeless or force them to live with others at close quarters. Forms will be available on the C.D.C. website once the order is published in the Federal Register."

Jim Tankersley & Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told lawmakers [House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis.] on Tuesday that the economy was recovering from the pandemic-induced recession but said 'more work' was needed in certain areas, suggesting that the administration may be willing to agree on a stimulus package as large as $1.5 trillion.... The testimony, combined with renewed stimulus discussions among Republican lawmakers, highlighted divisions over how big of an economic package is needed as the pandemic continues to hurt businesses and keeps millions of people out of work. Mr. Mnuchin reiterated his support for at least some version of two of Democrats' top priorities in negotiations: enhanced benefits for the unemployed and additional money for revenue-constrained state and local governments, albeit at lower levels than Democrats support. But Senate Republicans appeared to be coalescing around a scaled-back stimulus plan that they could vote on as soon as next week but will not win Democrat support."

Odd Country Out. Emily Rauhala & Yasmeen Abutaleb of the Washington Post: "The Trump administration said it will not join a global effort to develop, manufacture and equitably distribute a coronavirus vaccine, in part because the World Health Organization is involved, a decision that could shape the course of the pandemic and the country's role in health diplomacy. More than 170 countries are in talks to participate in the Covid-19 Vaccines Global Access (Covax) Facility, which aims to speed vaccine development, secure doses for all countries and distribute them to the most high-risk segment of each population."

Tony Romm & Eric Yoder of the Washington Post: "The U.S. government will implement an across-the-board payroll tax deferral for about 1.3 million federal employees starting in mid-September, forcing some workers to take a temporary financial boost now that they likely will have to repay next year. The policy, confirmed Monday by a senior administration official, comes in response to a widely panned policy directive issued by President Trump earlier in August. Unions have sharply criticized the government's decision, fearing federal workers may not have a choice in whether to take the deferral -- resulting in them receiving smaller paychecks in 2021 until the past-due taxes are paid off." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

They Really Don't Care, Do They? Julia Ainsley & Jacob Soboroff of NBC: "A recent report from the inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security has confirmed NBC News reporting that migrant children who had been separated from their parents were left waiting in vans for hours, in some cases overnight, while waiting to be reunited.... The inspector general said 73 migrant children were left waiting between 10 and 41 hours before they were reunited with their parents, who were being held inside the Port Isabel facility. The report attributed the wait times to ICE and the HHS Office of Refugee Settlement having 'fundamentally different understandings about the timing and pace of reunifications.'" --s ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: This is child abuse, pure & simple. Every agent & officer involved should do hard time.

Sarah Ellison & Paul Farhi of the Washington Post: "Since becoming the overseer of Voice of America in June, [Trump appointee] Michael Pack has fired subordinates, disbanded advisory boards and declined to renew the visas of foreign journalists who work under him.... Pack ... has offered a unique justification for his actions: He is rooting out potential spies.... Yet Pack has presented no evidence that anyone at VOA is a foreign intelligence agent. Nor has he explained why VOA and sister agencies such as Radio Free Europe and Radio Free Asia -- media organizations that don't control sensitive government information -- would be an appealing target for penetration by a hostile power. Now, a segment of staffers who had seethed quietly over Pack's attempts to reshape the agencies are in open revolt over his unsupported accusations about 'spies.'... On Monday, 14 senior journalists at VOA sent a letter to acting director Elez Biberaj protesting Pack's actions, which they said harmed the agency's mission and endangered its reporters.... After the letter was first published by NPR, at least a dozen more VOA journalists added their names to it...." The NPR story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Likely millions of Americans are "potential spies," "potential criminals" or "potential screw-ups." You don't fire staff for what you think they are capable of doing at some time in the future if offered compelling incentives. I suspect Pack's real motive is to weed out journalists who write unbiased reports that don't promote Donald Trump or present Trump as he is.

Trump's Shady Backers

Matt Zapotosky, et al., of the Washington Post: "Federal prosecutors are preparing to charge longtime GOP fundraiser Elliott Broidy in connection with efforts to influence the U.S. government on behalf of foreign interests, according to people familiar with the matter, a result of a sprawling, years-long investigation that involved a figure who helped raise millions for Donald Trump's election and the Republican Party. Broidy is under scrutiny for his alleged role in a campaign to persuade high-level Trump administration officials to drop an investigation of Malaysian government corruption, as well as for his attempt to push for the extradition of an outspoken Chinese dissident back to his home country.... In the past few years, the Chinese billionaire [Guo Wengui] has been closely aligned with Stephen K. Bannon, Trump's former campaign chief and top White House strategist. Bannon was on Guo's yacht off the coast of Westbrook, Conn., when he was arrested last month on charges he fleeced donors who supported a group that claimed to be building a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border."

Rampant Corruption, Ctd. Jorban Libowitz of CREW: "Charles Rettig, the Trump-appointed IRS Commissioner who has refused to release President Trump's tax returns, has made hundreds of thousands of dollars renting out Trump properties while in office, according to documents obtained by CREW. Last year Rettig said it was his decision whether to turn over Trump's tax returns to Congress, under the supervision of Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin.... When he was first nominated, he failed to disclose the properties were in a Trump-branded building. At his confirmation hearing, he did not directly answer concerns about the properties, only saying he would serve in an 'impartial, unbiased' manner." --s

Roger Sollenberger of Salon: "Senior Trump campaign official Jason Miller appears to have been paid about $20,000 a month for work done for a nonprofit co-founded by indicted former Trump strategist Steve Bannon, according to public court filings obtained by Salon. The nonprofit -- now reportedly under investigation in connection with the federal charges against Bannon -- started paying Miller the same month that Bannon's associates learned they were under federal investigation, court documents and public reports show. The Trump campaign has not disclosed any payments to Miller since news of his hiring broke in June -- nor has the campaign disclosed any salary payments to campaign manager Bill Stepien, according to mandatory federal filings. Publicly available court documents obtained by Salon together with Federal Election Commission (FEC) records suggest that the campaign is paying Miller $35,000 a month, apparently through non-public indirect transactions."

Even Melanie Is a Flagrant Scofflaw. Jada Yuan of the Washington Post: "Melania Trump regularly used a private Trump Organization email account, an email from a MelaniaTrump.com domain, iMessage and the encrypted messaging app, Signal, while in the White House, according to her former senior adviser and close friend Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, who says she corresponded multiple times a day with the first lady. 'Melania and I both didn't use White House emails,' says Winston Wolkoff, in an interview with The Washington Post, upon the publication of her tell-al memoir, 'Melania and Me...'. The Post has viewed messages dated after the inauguration that appear to be from private email and messaging accounts used by Melania Trump. The messages contained discussions of government hires and contracts (including Winston Wolkoff's), detailed schedules for the president and first lady during the Israeli and Japanese state visits, strategic partnerships for the first lady's Be Best initiative, the logistics of the Easter egg roll, and finances for the presidential inauguration, key parts of which Winston Wolkoff ... planned.... A first lady is not a government employee, said Richard Painter, who was the chief White House ethics lawyer for George W. Bush from 2005 to 2007, but 'if she is doing United States government business, she should be using the White House email.'"

News Lede

ESPN: "Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver, who led the New York Mets to an improbable World Series victory in 1969, has died at age 75. The Baseball Hall of Fame announced that Seaver died Monday from complications of Lewy body dementia and COVID-19." The New York Times' obituary of Tom Seaver is here.

Comments

[Akhilleus]

They can’t even lie properly...

And you’d think, by now, the lyingest bunch of slippery liars would have it down cold.

Hey, look. There’s little mikey. Hey, mikey, remember that day, not long ago, when they told you to stand by because you might be president of the United States in a few hours?

Whazzat? You don’t recall? Seriously?

Jesus. If you’re gonna lie, at least go all in. “Stand by to be president? Nope. Never happened.”

Because it either happened or it didn’t. “Can’t recall” is a stupid answer. “Oh, Magic 8 Ball, was I almost President a couple of months back?” “Answer hazy. Ask again later.”

Yeah. Good job, mikey. It’s like asking someone if they remember that time they discovered the cure for cancer. “Um...not sure I remember that...”

It’s a yes or no answer, dude. “Can’t recall” is taking the Fifth (or drinking one). So I’m gonna make a wild guess and say “Yes, he absolutely was told he might be president”. Fatty will be sending the half-pence off to remedial lying class any day now. He can’t have someone crumbing the plate on one of his biggest con jobs.

Fucking jabronis, the lot of ‘em.

[Akhilleus]

In the Age of Trump, shit gets crazier by the day. It’s like there’s a contest to see who can out-crazy everyone else.

So, in Louisville, the cops break into Breonna Taylor’s place and shoot her dead. But now, months later, she’s being found guilty of...what? Being in her own home? They haven’t done enough damage by KILLING HER? There’s some more crap they want to pile on?

It’s like those stories of Judge Roy Bean (Law, west of the Pecos) who, according to legend, would hang a guy after he was already dead so everyone would know it was Judge Roy who was meting out the justice.

What’s next? Charge her family back rent on the grave?

[Ken Winkes]

Among all the truly bizarre elements of this election season, which for the many Americans began in November, 2016, is that we're talking as if our electoral fate might be determined by either Russia or China,

It's as if (maybe because it is) we are no longer running our own show, in charge of our own lives.

True or not, that's what the nations apparently feels.

I've heard that condition called an absence of agency, the sense that nothing one does matters because all the important decisions are being made somewhere else by someone(s) else.

Politically, that absence of agency naturally translates into depression (dare one say malaise?), or apathy, while it simultaneously heightens receptivity to any conviction that someone else is pulling the strings, because we're darn sure it's not us.

To rampant conspiracies, in other words, that run the gamut from those rooted in reason, like those based on the certainty that money talks louder than most of us can shout, to the over-the-edge looniness the Pretender is recently displaying by couuntenancing Q-anon and planeloads of blad clad thugs..

I would go further to suggest that the inward-looking withdrawal from the world being engineered by the Pretender might be a symptom of the same depressive state. All this wall-building and disengagement touted as a sign of strength is, in fact, an expression of weakness, an admission that one has given up any hope of exerting influence outside of a rapidly narrowing circle, and given instead to a desperate desire to control the little that one believes one can.

I'm reminded of my clinically depressed mother who took four or so minutes to properly spread mayonnaise on a piece of bread.

It was painful to watch.

[PD Pepe]

I once knew a woman who was slowly losing her mind. Her marriage was eroding, she hated the new house she and her husband had just acquired, she missed her family in Canada and so forth. I first noticed her decline when she told me that she suspected her husband had hired spies to follow her every move. She became so paranoid that by the time she was hauled off to hospital she had locked herself in a room and was found curled up in a fetal position.

Now I'm not suggesting that we'll ever find Fatty curled up in a big ball underneath his desk but given his latest conspiracy theories it might very well be an indication that his paranoia is accelerating OR he's just doing his usual "make up shit schtick" to muddle up the mess he finds himself in.

On another matter: Rachel had on Stephanie Winston Wofkoff, former advisor and longtime confident to Melania, on last night. From the beginning of the Trump triumph Rachel has been bothered by the lack of info re: the amount of money that was spent on the inauguration. *Looks like we may be getting the answers to that and more. Stephanie has binders and recordings and is involved with the Southern district of N.Y. Here's the skinny on that story with video:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/stephanie-winston-wolkoff-melania-trump-tapes_n_5f4efd62c5b6fea87461e8c8

[Marie Burns]

@PD Pepe: Not sure he'll fit, but if Trump can't find a way to claim he won the November election, expect to read that in early November, aides found him curled in a fetal position under the Resolute desk, perhaps chained to it.

[PD Pepe]

@Marie: Your scenario might not be far fetched––he ain't gonna let go easily if indeed he has to let go––oh, please! let it be so!

@Ken: Watching your mother's decline is something I can relate to and yes, it is painful to watch. There is a scene in "Driving Miss Daisy" when one morning she awakes thinking she is still teaching and is troubled she has misplaced her student's papers. My mother awoke one morning while we were all visiting my brother, came into the kitchen where I was fixing breakfast, took my arm and said she didn't know where she was. After I told her she looked horrified and frightened and said––"I feel like I'm losing my mind."

Which she did eventually and I dealt with it by going along with her mindset: If she was in Morocco dancing in the moonlight I was right there with her; if she thought I was her mother I became her mother and scolded her for not drinking her milk––and she laughed.

So according to the experts on how to deal with dementia patients it's best not to correct them––enter their world. Nancy Reagan told us how difficult it was for her to watch "her Ronny's" decline; if Trump is showing signs of this same decline one wonders if Melania will feel the same as Nancy or will she sport the jacket that reveals her true spirit–-"I really don't care, do you?"

[unwashed]

I wonder to whom I should address delivery of my slightly used chain cutter?

[MAG]

My copy of "Melania & Me" arrived yesterday and am into several chapters already! Quick read! Sleazy details! Laughed when I read about why Donald and his wives rarely attended charity/social benefits in NYC. HE'S CHEAP! If he had to show up (but only if there was a good chance he'd be photographed on the red carpet) then this alleged billionaire bought the lowest priced tickets.

Back in the 80's this was well-known, I was friendly with some special event planners who did many large scale events such as Stephanie Winston Wolkoff ... and often, they'd be asked, "Are the Trumps coming?" No. Once heard someone say, "He doesn't like to go out because he has a young family and wants to be at home with them." Yeah, yeah, yeah!

I haven't had such a fun 'beach read' since the days of Judith Krantz!

[Marie Burns]

@MAG: Ha ha. I'd guess Trump had a secretary whose job it was to get on mailing lists from every organization (well, okay, not the NAACP & the Urban League) in the city and comb every source for upcoming social or quasi-social events. I read of at least one charity event where he showed up uninvited, made no contribution, but muscled his way onto the podium, pushing out some actual big contributor. (I think maybe he announced a big pledge at the event, which he never paid a penny on.)

I attended at least two events at NYU where Trump just showed up, obviously uninvited and -- at least in one case -- obviously unwelcome. Then-NYU President Jay Oliva gave him a "Hello, Donald" "welcome" a la Seinfeld's "Hello, Newman." Others just shook their heads. There were a number of well-known celebrities at these events, and I assume they were the draw, as far as Trump was concerned. I'm sure the "Hello, Donald" "greeting" was a scene repeated in some version many times throughout the city.

[Patrick]

One of several examples of DiJiT crashing charity events and pretending to be a donor

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-boasts-of-his-philanthropy-but-his-giving-falls-short-of-his-words/2016/10/29/b3c03106-9ac7-11e6-a0ed-ab0774c1eaa5_story.html

[Akhilleus]

Unwashed,

Send that bolt cutter to the USPS. Postal service agents should be the ones to drag his Royal Flabbiness out of the White House. They can chain him up in the dead letter room while he awaits his trial for treason, and his many other lawless acts.

[Akhilleus]

Now that Orange Menace has become the face of Qanon and one of the premier pipelines for their paranoid conspiracy fantasies, he should be the one to answer this question. The seminal rationale (if you can call it that) for the Qanon mishegas involves their “Save the children” alarums. The base (and I do mean base) upon which the whole megillah rests is the psychotic claim that devil worshipping Democrats have been kidnapping hundreds (thousands?) of children and selling them into sexual slavery.

Okay. So....where are all the parents? If even twenty kids had been grabbed and sold, the parents would be raising holy hell. So where are they? How come we never hear from these hundreds of parents? Oh...oh...maybe they’re all in on it. Yeah. That must be it. Prob’ly all ACLU members.*

A hallmark of giant lies like these (and Fatty’s new claim about plane loads of thugs and assassins are being sent out by Joe Biden to murder “real” Americans) whackadoodle conspiracy fairy tales is the lack of hard details. It all comes down to Trump’s standby excuse for not providing any corroboration for his bullshit stories: “people are saying”, or, “I have it on very good authority...” or some other such shaky line of steaming crapola.

So, no parents? I guess they’ve all been bought off by George Soros and Jeff Bezos.

*And yes, I realize that kids disappear every day and are never found, but this Qanon bullshit depends on their being able to say that they have actual knowledge of these goings on. But they’re the only ones? If there really were this kind of grand scale sex slave pipeline, how come nuts eating frozen pizza in their parents’ basements are the only ones who know about it? Oh, yeah. And a fat man eating frozen pizzas in the White House.

[Ken Winkes]

On "Democrat" Cities:

My comment to the Right Wing tool Marc Thiessen in yesterday's WAPO, another windmill tilt.

"Another pathetic column.

The equivalence of looters and the radical left (Social Democrats, maybe? Like the people who brought us the Social Security Trump is trying to wreck?).

Come on Marc. Get real.

And Antifa and BlM in the same sentence as if they were equivalent. Maybe Thiessen really thinks they are, which makes him part of the problem. If he doesn't think so and still wrote it, that's another problem. Not sloppy thinking but more arrant dishonesty.

Of course, there's more protest in large cities, and of course, they're often governed by Democrats. Their populations are more diverse; they house more of the nation's poor and vulnerable, people Republicans care not a whit about once they're born. And that's where the majority of Blacks killed by cops used to live--before they were dead.

What's the Republican solution to any of the problems associated with economic disparity and demographic diversity?

More cops with more guns? More dead Black people?

Give me (and the nation) a break."

[PD Pepe]

Here's another social event Donald dumped his sorry ass into:

"Shortly after the success of The Art of the Deal (1987) made Donald Trump a supposed expert on negotiation, he lobbied the George H.W. Bush administration to put him in charge of arms reduction talks with the Soviet Union. The position went instead to Richard Burt, an experienced diplomat and arms control expert. When the two men met at a New York social event, Trump pulled Burt aside to tell him what he would have done—and what Burt should do—to start off the negotiations. Greet the Soviets warmly, he said. Let the delegation get seated and open their papers. Then stand up, put your knuckles on the table, lean over, say “Fuck you,” and walk out of the room." ) From Jessica Mathews)

[citizen625]

I saw this, "The Dignity of Disabled Lives" https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/02/opinion/disabled-human-rights.html and had a few thoughts to share. The Orange Turd makes it too easy to insult him and people like him. In my view, he's intelligent while depraved and a clear example of someone with dyslexia and likely ADD, etc. His actions make it hard to retain our compassion for similar characters. Our compassion is a strength he and too many of his supporters will never possess.
Thinking about compassion for one's enemies made me consider the success of MLK: it so deeply informed his message that it almost acted as a concentrating agent to focus on the goals of the movement. The movement advanced because it was not dissuaded from its central purpose. Elect Democrats in November.
As a lysdexic non-traditional grad student, I realize now, after so many years, what it's like to be the last person picked for the team. Repeatedly. Some people make lemonade out of their 'lemons' and some very bright people never learn compassion and share trusting friendships and love. Thanks for keeping this site.