The Commentariat -- October 13, 2020

Afternoon Update:

Jan Wolfe of Reuters: "The Supreme Court on Tuesday put an end to a lawsuit brought by congressional Democrats that accused ... Donald Trump of violating anti-corruption provisions in the U.S. Constitution with his business dealings. The justices refused to hear an appeal by 215 Senate and House of Representatives Democrats of a lower court ruling that found that the lawmakers lacked the necessary legal standing to bring the case that focused on the Republican president's ownership of the Trump International Hotel in Washington. The lawmakers accused Trump of violating the Constitution's rarely tested 'emoluments' clauses that bar presidents from taking gifts or payments from foreign and state governments without congressional approval. The lead plaintiff in the case is U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut."

David Eggert & Kathleen Foody of the AP: "Members of anti-government paramilitary groups discussed kidnapping Virginia's governor [Ralph Northam (D)] during a June meeting in Ohio, an FBI agent testified Tuesday during a court hearing for a group of men accused of plotting to kidnap Michigan's governor. Special Agent Richard Trask also revealed new details about investigators' use of confidential informants, undercover agents and encrypted communication to arrest and charge six men last week in the plot aimed at Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer [Michigan]." A Washington Post story is here.

Allan Smith of NBC News: "Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, said Tuesday he's fed up with how 'vile' and 'vituperative' American politics have become, placing the blame largely on ... Donald Trump. 'I have stayed quiet with the approach of the election,' Romney said in a statement posted to Twitter. 'But I'm troubled by our politics, as it has moved away from spirited debate to a vile, vituperative, hate-filled morass that is unbecoming of any free nation -- let alone the birthplace of modern democracy.... The president calls the Democratic vice presidential candidate "a monster;" he repeatedly labels the speaker of the House "crazy;" he calls for the Justice Department to put the prior president in jail; he attacks the governor of Michigan on the very day a plot is discovered to kidnap her,' Romney said of comments Trump has made within the last week in Fox News interviews and on Twitter. Romney then lamented commentary and actions on the left side of the aisle, saying Democrats 'launch blistering attacks of their own -- though their presidential nominee refuses to stoop as low as others.'"

Jeff Stein & Erica Werner of the Washington Post: "Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced on Tuesday that the Senate will take up a narrow economic relief bill when it comes back in session next week. President Trump immediately undermined the move, writing on Twitter: 'STIMULUS! Go big or go home!!!' The clashing messages were a stark display of GOP disunity just three weeks before the November election, as Senate Republicans balk at a $1.8 trillion relief package Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has offered to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). Trump, though, has suggested Republicans should agree to an even bigger deal than what Democrats have offered."

Mark Sherman, et al., of the AP: "Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett ... declined to commit to recusing herself from any cases arising from [the presidential] election. 'I can't offer an opinion on recusal without short-circuiting that entire process,' she said." Mrs. McC: Looks as if Judge Amy is signaling she plans to join the massive right-wing conspiracy (and, no, I'm not kidding) to steal the election. These people truly believe they have a right to "win" by any means necessary, the will of the voters be damned. ~~~

~~~ Tom Hamburger of the Washington Post: "When asked at last month's presidential debate by moderator Chris Wallace if he was counting on the Supreme Court, including a potential Justice Barrett, to settle an election dispute, Trump responded: 'Yeah. I think I'm counting on them to look at the ballots, definitely.' Democrats and ethics experts point to a federal statute that requires judges to recuse themselves from any proceeding in which their 'impartiality might reasonably be questioned' by the public. 'In light of Trump's public statements, it will reasonably appear to the public that Trump offered her the job with the implicit understanding that just weeks later she would help him keep his,' said Stephen Gillers, an expert on judicial ethics at New York University Law School."

Summer Concepcion of TPM: "... Rudy Giuliani went all in on President Trump's efforts to portray himself as an all-powerful strongman who has beat COVID-19 (he has not) during an indoors Italians for Trump rally in Philadelphia Monday night. Speaking to a crowd of about 75 Trump supporters at the campaign's Northeast Philadelphia office space -- which was originally scheduled to be held at the 15,000-square-foot 2300 Arena, but was forced to relocate when the arena's owners canceled the night before after finding out the event was a Trump rally -- Giuliani falsely declared victory over COVID-19 as the country tops more than 215,000 fatalities amid the pandemic. 'People don't die of this disease anymore,' Giuliani said, before baselessly insisting that 'young people don't die at all' and that 'middle age people die very little[.]... And even elderly people have only 1 percent chance of dying,' Giuliani said, without evidence." Mrs. McC: According to the lede of a Philadelphia Inquirer story (which I can't link), people at the event were "squeezed shoulder-to-shoulder" & many wore "Save Colombus" masks.

~~~~~~~~~~

Senate Confirmation Hearings

The New York Times' live updates of Judge Amy Coney Barrett's Senate confirmation hearing Tuesday are here. The Washington Post's live updates for Tuesday are here. The Guardian's live updates are here.

Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "Republicans and Democrats offered sharply divergent arguments on Monday in a Supreme Court confirmation fight whose outcome is likely to steer the court to the right for years, vying to define Judge Amy Coney Barrett and frame the political stakes of President Trump's rush to install her before he faces voters. In a marathon day of opening statements, Democrats assailed Judge Barrett as a conservative ideologue who would overturn the Affordable Care Act and abortion rights, and whose nomination amounted to an illegitimate power grab by a president in the last days before the election. Republicans steered clear of addressing Judge Barrett's anticipated effect on the court, instead promoting her sterling qualifications and accusing Democrats of unjustly attacking her because of her Catholic faith, despite the fact that [Democrats] made no mention of it on Monday." ~~~

~~~ Mark Leibovich of the New York Times: "Senator Mike Lee, Republican of Utah, who attended the super spreader event -- the Rose Garden announcement of President Trump's nomination of Judge Barrett to the Supreme Court -- and tested positive soon after, delivered his opening statement sans mask. He had previously assured everyone that he had been 'cleared' by his doctor." Mrs. McC: The committee's chair, Lindsey Graham, has refused to be tested despite also attending the Rose Garden superspreader. And good news: Leibovich learned from talking to protesters that one can purchase a hazmat suit at Walgreens. Seems like an appropriate Halloween costume. ~~~

~~~ Paul Kane of the Washington Post: "On Sept. 29, Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) attended a party together to watch the first presidential debate. Two days later, feeling sick, Lee took a test for the novel coronavirus, receiving a positive diagnosis, the first of three GOP senators to announce in a 24-hour span that they contracted the virus. Less than 11 full days later, Lee participated in Monday's Supreme Court confirmation hearing for Judge Amy Coney Barrett, delivering an opening statement in person -- with no mask -- and periodically whispering to his GOP colleagues. Yet Cruz, who tested negative and has never had any symptoms, remained in quarantine at his Washington apartment and delivered his statement via videoconference technology.... Also in the room were the Senate's two oldest members -- Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), both 87.... Cruz is expected to attend Tuesday's question-and-answer session in person." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Frankly, it makes me feel sick just thinking of going to a party & finding Ted Cruz & Mike Lee there.

The New York Times' live updates of Monday's confirmation hearing for Judge Amy Coney Barrett are here. The Washington Post's live updates are here. CNN's live updates are here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: So here's the only part of the hearing I watched. Judge Amy looks very mean:

~~~ Marissa Lang of the Washington Post: "More than a dozen protesters calling on senators to reject the confirmation of ... Judge Amy Coney Barrett were arrested Monday moments before the first day of Senate Judiciary Committee hearings began. Unlike in past years, the public was not allowed to watch the hearings in person because of the coronavirus pandemic. Demonstrators instead took their dissent to the entrances of Senate office buildings and the marble steps of the Supreme Court. About 8:45 a.m., anti-Barrett protesters were handcuffed and removed from the doorway of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, where a sit-in was underway. They carried signs and wore cloth face masks bearing the likeness of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.... Across the street, conservative women cheered as they held up signs that said 'confirm Amy' and 'women for Amy.' The group, dotted with maskless students and women holding their children, chanted 'law and order' from behind a police line as officers lifted protesters to their feet, one at a time. For hours, competing chants of 'let the people decide' and 'fill that seat' filled the cold, wet air outside government buildings. Tense debates broke out among members of the two groups as others resorted to shouting." (Also linked yesterday.)

Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times: "Republicans once insisted that Merrick Garland, Obama's final Supreme Court nominee, didn't deserve a hearing because the election was only 11 months away.... In October 2016, Senator Ted Cruz suggested that the Senate ... wouldn't move on a Clinton nominee either, essentially reducing the court to eight judges.... Throughout Obama's administration, Republicans went to extraordinary lengths to stop the president from appointing federal judges, describing his ordinary attempts to fill vacant seats as 'court packing.' Senator Tom Cotton, then in the House, even sponsored a bill, the Stop Court-Packing Act, that would have shrunk the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 11 judges to eight.... Now, facing another presidential election that they expect to lose, Republicans are caterwauling about Democratic calls to expand the court. As they prepare to jam through ... Amy Coney Barrett, Republicans are shocked -- shocked! -- that Democrats would contemplate playing constitutional hardball just as Republicans do."

Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "Confidence in the Supreme Court has fallen dramatically since Justice Clarence Thomas's confirmation. Fifty-six percent of Americans had high confidence in the high court back in 1985, according to Gallup. That figure has averaged in the high 30s lately. Views are overwhelmingly partisan: Fifty-three percent of Republicans have confidence, compared with 33 percent of Democrats. And that was before President Trump proposed, as Ruth Bader Ginsburg lay in state, to replace the liberal icon with her jurisprudential opposite, forming the most right-wing court in 70 years. On top of this is the rank hypocrisy of Republicans breaking their promises not to hold confirmation hearings so close to an election.... This confirmation is indefensible. Republicans shut down the Senate floor because of a covid-19 outbreak that apparently began at Barrett's nomination ceremony at the White House. But they are still pushing through, mere days before an election that Trump appears likely to lose, a nominee who Trump hopes, by his own account, will help him delegitimize the election result."

Presidential Race, Etc.

Scott Wartman & Sharon Coolidge of the Cincinnati Enquirer: "The path to the White House could begin in Cincinnati, former Vice President Joe Biden said Monday during a campaign stop at Union Terminal. Biden called Cincinnati the 'starting gate' to winning Ohio.... 'You here in Cincinnati can make all the difference and all the difference in Ohio,' Biden said.... Biden spoke for about 35 minutes to about 20 local Democrats and union leaders in the massive rotunda of Cincinnati's Union Terminal.... It was the second of two campaign events in Ohio on Monday, the first being at a union hall in Toledo. Biden's speech [in Cincinnati] was invitation-only to keep crowds small and protect against the spread of COVID-19. All 20 attendees wore masks and had their temperatures checked before entering.... Biden portrayed a message of unity, which he contrasted with Trump.... Biden raised his voice at the end for the first time urging people to vote. 'It's time to stand up, take back our democracy and unite,' Biden said. 'Let's for the first time in awhile reflect the values a vast majority hold.'"

Wall Street Welcomes Democrats. Mark Phillips of the New York Times: Wall Street "investors and analysts have begun to take into account the possibility that Mr. Trump's time in the White House may soon be over, as Democratic presidential candidate Joseph R. Biden Jr. continues to pull ahead in polls just weeks before the election. And that is producing some optimism on Wall Street, because many investors believe that the higher Mr. Biden climbs in polls, the lower the chance of a contested presidential election.... Largely, investors are of the view that a 'blue wave' victory -- in which Democrats retain the House of Representatives and retake the Senate as well as the presidency -- represents the best chance to get another large injection of federal money into an economy that continues to struggle. Economists and policymakers, including the Federal Reserve chair, Jerome H. Powell, say such assistance is sorely needed...."

David Jackson of USA Today: "Faced with a daunting new political environment..., Donald Trump returned to the campaign trail Monday as he proclaimed himself healthy and took the podium maskless at a Florida rally just a week-and-a-half after testing positive for COVID-19.... While claiming himself cured of COVID, Trump also asserted he is 'immune' from the virus moving forward, though some medical professionals said there is no guarantee of that. 'Now they say I'm immune. I just feel so powerful,' Trump said. 'I'll kiss everyone in that audience. I'll kiss the guys and the beautiful women and the... I'll just give you a big, fat kiss.' Trump also returned to familiar themes, attacking Biden and the 'Washington establishment,' talking up the stock market and Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, and savaging the media for reporting on his illness. He pledged to have new COVID-19 vaccines soon, though doctors said that are still months away.... Trump said the new polls showing Biden expanding his lead are 'fake,' and he continued to attack mail-in voting as potential 'fraud.'... Trump's comeback rally lasted a little more than an hour...." ~~~

~~~ Maggie Haberman & Annie Karni of the New York Times: "Mr. Trump, whose voice sounded hoarse and strained as he began to speak onstage at a hangar at Orlando Sanford International Airport, claimed he was fully recovered and therefore immune to the coronavirus -- a claim for which there is no conclusive scientific backing.... Mr. Trump arrived in Florida only hours after the White House physician, Dr. Sean P. Conley, said that the president had tested negative 'on consecutive days' using a rapid antigen coronavirus test not intended for that purpose. Experts cautioned that the test's accuracy had not been investigated enough to be sure that the president was virus-free or, as his doctor claimed, 'not infectious to others.'" Also, see Bobby Lee's comment below. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: An infectious disease expert appearing on MSNBC called Dr. Conley's memo a "campaign document" rather than a medical report. She said she regarded it as proof that Trump had failed recent PCR tests. Although Conley has previously written, without providing the results, that Trump took a recent PCR test, he did not release those results in yesterday's memo, either. Instead, he released only the rapid antigen test results, a test which gives false negatives in as many of 30% of cases.

Trump's Final Appeal Is to Racism & Sexism. Kathleen Ronayne of the AP: "Grasping for a comeback..., Donald Trump and his Republican allies are intensifying their focus ... on Sen. Kamala Harris -- arguing without evidence that it's Harris, the first Black woman on a major party ticket, who would really be in charge if Democrats win the White House. The effort is laced with sexist and racist undertones, and one that is aimed at winning back Republicans and independents who are comfortable with Biden's more moderate record, but may associate Harris with Democrats' left flank, despite her own more centrist positions on some major issues. During the past week, Trump told Sean Hannity of Fox News that Harris would assume the presidency within 'three months' of Biden's inauguration. During a conversation with Rush Limbaugh, he warned that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi would 'replace' Biden with Harris.... Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich ... call[ed] Biden 'docile' and Harris 'aggressive.'"

Erin Banco & Justin Baragona of the Daily Beast: "... Dr. Anthony Fauci demanded that the Trump campaign refrain from using him in future campaign ads, saying Monday that it would be 'outrageous' and 'terrible' if he was featured in another commercial and it could 'come back to backfire' on Team Trump.... 'By doing this against my will they are, in effect, harassing me,' Fauci said. [CNN's Jake] Tapper..., [in an interview of Fauci], suggested that the Trump campaign was already planning on using Fauci again, without his permission, in another political commercial." ~~~

~~~ Lara Seligman of Politico: "... Donald Trump's campaign is running an online political ad that uses an image of his vice president, his Pentagon chief and his most senior military adviser watching the raid on ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi from the Situation Room on Oct. 29, 2019.... But the campaign didn't seek approval from Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley to use his image in the ad, a defense official said. 'This photo, like many others, was not used with [Milley's] knowledge or consent,' said the official, who requested anonymity.... The military has strict rules against uniformed service members participating in political campaigns, and the ad is just the latest example of the president or those around him pulling the nation's highest-ranking officer and other Defense Department officials into the political realm."

SN.AFU. WDIV Detroit: "Eric Trump has canceled a Michigan based campaign event scheduled to take place Tuesday at Huron Valley Guns in New Hudson after one of its former employees was linked to the domestic terror plot against the state's governor [and others]. Just last week 13 men were charged in a domestic terror plot to kidnap [Michigan Gov. Gretchen] Whitmer and overthrow the government." Mrs. McC: So Eric & the Trump campaign thought it was a good idea to hold a campaign event at a gun shop, but backed out when they found out the shop previously employed a terrorist, who according to the shop, "would show up for work in a LOT of tactical gear." See, the Trumpies do have standards.

Trump Bribes Farmers (With Your Money, Of Course). Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "For the American farmers President Trump counts on for support, the government money is flowing faster than ever. Federal payments to farmers are projected to hit a record $46 billion this year as the White House funnels money to Mr. Trump's rural base in the South and Midwest ahead of Election Day. The gush of funds has accelerated in recent weeks as the president looks to help his core supporters who have been hit hard by the double whammy of his combative trade practices and the coronavirus pandemic. According to the American Farm Bureau, debt in the farm sector is projected to increase by 4 percent to a record $434 billion this year and farm bankruptcies have continued to rise across the country.... Government support will account for about 40 percent of total farm income this year.... Last week, the Office of Special Counsel determined that Mr. Trump's Agriculture secretary, Sonny Perdue, had improperly used his position to push the president's re-election by promising more help for farmers." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Nice to know that you've paid 40 percent more for much of what you eat.

Today in GOP Vote-Stealing & Voter-Suppression

** California. IOKIYAR. Glenn Thrush & Jennifer Medina of the New York Times: "The California Republican Party has admitted responsibility for placing more than 50 deceptively labeled 'official' drop boxes for mail-in ballots in Los Angeles, Fresno and Orange Counties -- an action that state officials said was illegal and could lead to voter fraud. The dark gray metal boxes have been popping up over the past two weeks near churches, gun shops and Republican Party offices, mostly in conservative areas of a deep-blue state, affixed with a white paper label identifying them as either an 'Official Ballot Drop off Box' or a 'Ballot Drop Box.' To the average voter, they are virtually indistinguishable from drop-off sites sanctioned by the state, which are governed by strict regulations intended to prevent the partisan manipulation of ballots.... California Attorney General Xavier Becerra ... called the boxes 'fake.'... He warned that anyone 'engaging in this activity' could be subject to criminal prosecution or civil action. Hector Barajas, a spokesman for the California Republican Party, said the party would continue to distribute the boxes, without adding any label identifying them explicitly as Republican ballot drops.... [He] said the party's actions were legal because state law did not restrict 'ballot harvesting,' a practice that allows a third party to collect voters' completed ballots. Mr. Trump and his supporters have decried the practice as corrupt when Democrats have been accused of collecting bundles of ballots...." ~~~

~~~ Georgia. Sam Levine of the Guardian & Agencies: "Voters in Georgia faced hours-long lines on Monday as people flocked to the polls for the first day of early voting in the state, which has developed a national reputation in recent years for voting issues.... In Atlanta, some voters reported waiting more than 10 hours for their chance to cast an early ballot." Mrs. McC: In all of the photos & videoclips I've seen, the majority of voters standing in line appear to be black. I wonder why that is.

Michigan Senate Race. Jaclyn Peiser of the Washington Post: "In the late 1980s, Sen. Gary Peters's wife at the time, Heidi, was four months pregnant when her water broke. leaving the baby with no chance of survival. The hospital in Detroit wouldn't allow Heidi's doctor to perform an abortion, so the physician told them to go home and wait for a miscarriage. 'The mental anguish someone goes through is intense,' Peters, a Michigan Democrat, said in an interview with Elle magazine published on Monday, 'trying to have a miscarriage for a child that was wanted.' But the situation became more critical when Heidi's health deteriorated, so the couple found a doctor at another hospital who agreed to do the procedure.... Peters joins a small group of members of Congress who have spoken about their personal experiences with abortion.... Peters [is fighting] to retain his seat in the Senate in a battleground state that President Trump narrowly won in 2016. Peters faces John James, a well-funded Republican businessman...."

The Trumpidemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live Covid-19 updates for Tuesday are here.

Matthew Herper of STAT: "The study of Johnson & Johnson's Covid-19 vaccine has been paused due to an unexplained illness in a study participant. A document sent to outside researchers running the 60,000-patient clinical trial states that a 'pausing rule' has been met, that the online system used to enroll patients in the study has been closed, and that the data and safety monitoring board -- an independent committee that watches over the safety of patients in the clinical trial -- would be convened."

India. Hannah Ellis-Peterson & Manoj Chaurasia of the Guardian: "While the coronavirus pandemic has wreaked devastation on India, no one has suffered worse than its children. In the space of seven months, the country has been set back decades in the fight against child labour, child trafficking and child marriage, with the lockdown and the economic collapse that followed creating a perfect storm of poverty and exploitation. Schools, which are not only vital for education but act as an essential surveillance mechanism to ensure that children are kept out of the hands of child traffickers and not pushed into arranged underage marriages, have been closed since March." --s

The Trump Kids Are Bilking You Twice. David Fahrenthold, et al., of the Washington Post: "Eric Trump took his Secret Service agents to Trump golf courses in Scotland, as he led transatlantic tours for paying customers. Donald Trump Jr. took his protectors to the Trump hotel in Vancouver, stopping over on hunting trips to Canada. And Ivanka Trump took her Secret Service detail to the Trump golf club in Bedminster, N.J., again and again -- even after she asked other Americans to 'please, please' stay home during the coronavirus pandemic. On trips like these, Secret Service agents were there to protect Trump's children.... When Trump's adult children visited Trump properties, Trump's company charged the Secret Service for agents to come along. The president's company billed the U.S. government hundreds, or thousands, of dollars for rooms agents used on each trip, as the agency sometimes booked multiple rooms or a multiroom rental cottage on the property[.]" So not only do we pay Secret Service agents to protect Trump's children while they galavant around the world promoting Trump businesses, in many cases we're also paying directly into Trump's pockets. ~~~

~~~ You're Paying Trump to Wine, Dine & Entertain a Billionaire Aide. Martyn McLaughlin of The Scotsman (Oct. 7): "US federal government receipts show that Woody Johnson enjoyed a £426 dinner with his wife during a visit to the US president's Turnberry property, and spent several hundred pounds on its golf offerings. One leading ethics watchdog said it was 'simply embarrassing' that the 'multi-billionaire' diplomat, who is from one of the wealthiest families in America, would play golf at Mr Trump's course and leave the US public to pay for the privilege.... The new receipts [totalling £1,143] ... detail the extent of Mr Johnson's spending during his stay at the property, which coincided with Mr Trump's own two-night stay there in the summer of 2018.... The bill includes nearly £600 spent on 'golf retail', as well as green fees for Turnberry's Arran golf course, and a series of payments listed as 'refreshment centre'." --s

Patrick Wintour of the Guardian: "China, Russia, Cuba, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are expected to be elected to the board of the UN human rights council on Tuesday, leaving human rights campaigners in the countries aghast and pleading with EU states to commit to withholding their support. The Geneva-based monitoring NGO UN Watch described the situation as the equivalent of allowing five convicted arsonists to join the fire brigade.... Donald Trump withdrew the US from the council two years ago, which campaigners say has strengthened the authoritarian view that human rights should be measured through the prism of economics as opposed to individual freedom." --s

News Lede

New York Times: "Roberta McCain, whose son, Senator John McCain of Arizona, said she had inspired his will to survive as a prisoner of war in Vietnam -- and who at 96 campaigned spiritedly in his losing bid for the presidency against in 2008 -- died on Monday at her home in Washington. She was 108."

The Commentariat -- October 12, 2020

Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "A deeply divided Senate Judiciary Committee will kick off four days of contentious confirmation hearings on Monday for Judge Amy Coney Barrett, President Trump's nominee for the Supreme Court, drawing battle lines that could reverberate through the election.... Monday's hearing will begin at 9 a.m., and is expected to take most of the day as each member of the Judiciary Committee gets 10 minutes to deliver an opening statement. Judge Barrett will be the last to speak, and is expected to give a short, mostly biographical statement before taking questions later in the week." ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I'm certain not to watch, but I'll link stories related to the proceedings. Also, how surprising that Trump didn't postpone the hearings so everyone could celebrate Indigenous Heritage Day. Why, he might even have invited Sen. Pocahontas to the White House for the corona cocktail hour to show that he had heh-heh buried the hatchet. ~~~

~~~ The New York Times' live updates of the hearing Monday are here. The Washington Post's live updates are here. CNN's live updates are here. ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: So here's the only part of the hearing I watched. Judge Amy looks very mean:

~~~ Marissa Lang of the Washington Post: "More than a dozen protesters calling on senators to reject the confirmation of ... Judge Amy Coney Barrett were arrested Monday moments before the first day of Senate Judiciary Committee hearings began.... The public was not allowed to watch the hearings in person because of the coronavirus pandemic. Demonstrators instead took their dissent to the entrances of Senate office buildings and the marble steps of the Supreme Court. About 8:45 a.m., anti-Barrett protesters were handcuffed and removed from the doorway of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, where a sit-in was underway. They carried signs and wore cloth face masks bearing the likeness of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.... Across the street, conservative women cheered as they held up signs that said 'confirm Amy' and 'women for Amy.' The group, dotted with maskless students and women holding their children, chanted 'law and order' from behind a police line as officers lifted protesters to their feet, one at a time. For hours, competing chants of 'let the people decide' and 'fill that seat' filled the cold, wet air outside government buildings. Tense debates broke out among members of the two groups as others resorted to shouting."

Presidential Race, Etc.

Paul Sonne of the Washington Post: "When President Trump ... welcomed hundreds of people on Saturday to what resembled a campaign rally on the White House grounds, the guests filed onto the South Lawn past a military band in resplendent red, its horns blasting the tune 'America' from 'West Side Story.' The use of the United States Marine Band for a de facto political rally, where guests donned 'Make America Great Again' hats and 'Blexit' T-shirts -- backing a movement that urges Black Americans to exit the Democratic Party -- marked another instance of the president pushing the boundaries of U.S. law and the military tradition of political neutrality.... Federal regulations bar the use of government resources for, and the coercion of federal employees into, political activities aimed at a candidate's reelection -- and taxpayer-funded military bands cannot be used for campaign events. Members of the U.S. military are prohibited from wearing military uniforms at political campaign events.... 'The United States Marine Band provided musical support for the Peaceful Protest for Law and Order event, an official event on the South Lawn of the White House,' Capt. Joseph Butterfield, a spokesman for the Marine Corps, said in a statement." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: "Pushing the boundaries"? How about "stepping way over the line"? ~~~

     ~~~ Rachel Scott & Will Steakin of ABC News: "Some guests for Saturday's White House event on the South Lawn, which [was] President Donald Trump's first since testing positive for the coronavirus, had their travel and lodging paid for by controversial conservative activist Candace Owens' group BLEXIT, according to emails obtained by ABC News." --s

Kaitlin Collins of CNN: "The Trump campaign released [a] new ad last week after the President was discharged from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center following treatment for Covid-19. The 30-second ad, which is airing in Michigan, touts Trump's personal experience with the virus and uses a quote from [Dr. Anthony] Fauci in an attempt to make it appear as if he is praising Trump's response.... Fauci did not consent to being featured in .. [the] advertisement.... Instead, the nation's leading infectious disease expert told CNN his words were taken out of context. 'In my nearly five decades of public service, I have never publicly endorsed any political candidate. The comments attributed to me without my permission in the GOP campaign ad were taken out of context from a broad statement I made months ago about the efforts of federal public health officials,' Fauci said in a statement provided exclusively to CNN when asked if he agreed to be featured in the ad." ~~~

~~~ Kelly O'Donnell of NBC News: "In the ad, a clip of Fauci plays in which the infectious disease expert says he 'can't imagine that anybody could be doing more.' That comment, however, came from a March interview Fauci conducted with Fox News in which the expert is speaking about the whole of government response, not specifically Trump's efforts.... Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh told NBC News that they will continue to run the ad despite Fauci's objections." Mrs. McC: I suppose at some time between 2009 & 2016, Joe Biden said, "The President did a great job." Expect that to end up in a Trump campaign ad touting Trump. ~~~

~~~ Fadel Allassan of Axios: "The White House refused to allow Anthony Fauci or any of the medical experts on the coronavirus task force to appear on ABC's 'This Week,' host Jon Karl said Sunday.... President Trump has previously faced criticism for silencing Fauci, and White House officials have refused to answer basic questions about President Trump's COVID test results, as it scrambles to respond to an outbreak within its own ranks."

... when Joe Biden was vice president, we had an opportunity to save Kayla Mueller. It breaks my heart to reflect on it, but the military came into the Oval Office, presented a plan. They said they knew where Kayla was. Baghdadi had held her for 18 months, abused her mercilessly before they killed her. But when Joe Biden was vice president, they hesitated for a month. And when armed forces finally went in, it was clear she'd been moved two days earlier. -- Vice President Pence, in remarks during his debate with Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.), October 7

There is no evidence that the military presented the plan to the 'Oval Office' and no action was taken by Obama for a month. Moreover, Pence ignored the most detailed report on the rescue mission, which states that Obama approved the plan as soon as it was presented to him in the Situation Room.... Whatever delays took place appear to have happened before Obama learned of the proposed rescue. -- Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post

South Carolina Senate Race. James Arkin of Politico: "South Carolina Democrat Jaime Harrison raised a staggering $57 million in the third quarter of this year, shattering the previous record for a Senate candidate as he seeks to unseat GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham. The haul only increases Harrison's massive financial advantage over Graham, who is seeking a fourth term in the Senate and facing the most competitive reelection race of his career."

California. Look Who's Stealing the Election. Alicia Robinson & Brooke Staggs of the Orange County Register: "The California Secretary of State has received reports in recent days about possible unauthorized ballot drop boxes in Fresno, Los Angeles and Orange counties.... Reports place such boxes at local political party offices, candidate headquarters and churches.... Reports came out Saturday night about a metal box in front of Freedom's Way Baptist Church in Castaic that had a sign matching the one on the Orange County box. The church posted on social media that the box was 'approved and brought by the GOP.' The post said church officials don't have a key to the box and that GOP officials picks up the ballots.... On its website, the Fresno County Republican Party also shared a list of 'secure' ballot collection locations. None are official county drop box sites, with the local GOP instead listing its own headquarters, multiple gun shops and other local businesses." --s  A Washington Post story is here.

Massachusetts. Arsonists for Trump. Teo Armus of the Washington Post: "After several Joe Biden yard signs went missing near his family farm, Dicken Crane decided to do one better. On the sprawling property in the Berkshires, Crane and his employees used more than a dozen bales of hay to erect a giant sign last Thursday in support of the Democratic presidential candidate. Wrapping the bundles in white plastic and stacking them 15 feet high, he wanted to ensure the endorsement stood out to the cars passing by on Route 9.... Police announced Sunday that they had arrested Lonnie Durfee, 49, and charged the local resident with burning personal property."

Nate White, a British writer, explains in the London Daily News what the Brits don't like about Donald Trump. Here's a sample: "He turns being artless into an art form; he is a Picasso of pettiness; a Shakespeare of shit. His faults are fractal: even his flaws have flaws, and so on ad infinitum.... Rarely has stupidity been so nasty, or nastiness so stupid. He makes Nixon look trustworthy and George W look smart. In fact, if Frankenstein decided to make a monster assembled entirely from human flaws -- he would make a Trump." Thanks to Ken W. for the link. Mrs. McC: Today we are all Brits.

Michael Rosenwald of the Washington Post finds a way Trump is like Abraham Lincoln, after all: they probably both transmitted deadly diseases to their "body men." This is a terrific story; I recommend it to anyone who has a WashPo subscription.

David Sanger & William Broad of the New York Times: "President Trump's long rants and seemingly erratic behavior last week -- which some doctors believe might have been fueled by his use of dexamethasone, a steroid, to treat Covid-19-- renewed a long-simmering debate among national security experts about whether it is time to retire one of the early inventions of the Cold War: the unchecked authority of the president to launch nuclear weapons. Mr. Trump has publicly threatened the use of those weapons only once in his presidency, during his first collision with North Korea in 2017. But it was his decision not to invoke the 25th Amendment and turn control over to Vice President Mike Pence last week that has prompted concern inside and outside the government. Among those who have long argued for the need to rethink presidents' 'sole authority' powers are former Defense Secretary William J. Perry, considered the dean of American nuclear strategists, who has cited the fragility of a nuclear-weapons control chain and the fear that it can be subject to errors of judgment or failure to ask the right questions under the pressure of a warning of an incoming attack.... The 'sole authority' tradition is unusual among the world's nine nuclear powers; even Russia requires two out of three designated officials to sign off on a nuclear launch."

Annals of "Journalism," Ha Ha Ha. Marshall Cohen, et al., of CNN: "While most of the nation was largely fixated over the past week on ... Donald Trump's coronavirus diagnosis, the President and his allies in right-wing media have been engrossed with something else entirely. Trump, with the help of outlets like Fox News, has been pushing a dishonest narrative in touting intelligence documents that his administration declassified last month on the eve of the first presidential debate. They claimed the information was a supposed smoking gun proving that Hillary Clinton and the Obama administration sought to frame Trump with a Russian collusion scandal. But when examined closely the documents indicate no such thing. In fact, by the Trump administration's own admission, they are based on unverified Russian intelligence that could be totally bogus. Which is to say that the President and Fox News personalities such as Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson are hyping and disseminating information that originates from a foreign adversary to bludgeon top Democratic officials."

The Trumpidemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live Covid-19 updates for Monday are here.

Connor O'Brien of Politico: "Regeneron chief executive Leonard Schleifer on Sunday said ... Donald Trump's treatment with the company's experimental antibody cocktail is 'a case of one,'" but stressed ongoing clinical trials still need to show its efficacy. 'The president's case is a case of one, and that's what we call a case report, and it is evidence of what's happening, but it's kind of the weakest evidence that you can get,' Schleifer said in an interview on CBS' 'Face the Nation.'... 'The real evidence has to come about how good a drug is and what it will do on average has to come from these large clinical trials, these randomized clinical trials, which are the gold standard. And those are ongoing,' Schleifer said. 'We've got some preliminary evidence that we've talked with the FDA, and we're going for an emergency use authorization, because we think it's appropriate at this time.' Trump ... was treated with the experimental antibody drug and touted it as a 'cure.'"

Colorado. Bryan Pietsch & Christina Morales of the New York Times: "A private security guard hired by a Denver television news station was being held by the authorities in connection with a fatal shooting that happened on Saturday after opposing rallies between far-right and far-left activists. The guard, Matthew Dolloff, 30, was being investigated for first-degree murder, the Denver Police Department said on Twitter on Sunday. He was being held in the Denver County Jail, according to court records.... The security guard was contracted through the company Pinkerton, Mark A. Cornetta, president and general manager of 9News, said on Saturday.... Mr. Dolloff has never held the required license with Denver to work as a security guard, said Eric Escudero, a spokesman for the city and county licensing department. 'If he was operating as a security guard, he was in violation of the law, he said." The victim was identified as Lee Keltner; he owned a business in Brighton, Colorado.

Oregon. So-Called Liberals Are Idiots, Too. Shane Kavanaugh of the Oregonian: "A group of protesters toppled statues of former presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln and shattered the entrance to the Oregon Historical Society in Portland's South Park Blocks late Sunday before moving into other areas of downtown, smashing storefronts and engaging in other acts of destruction. Police declared the event a riot and ordered people rampaging through the city's streets to disperse but did not directly intervene until nearly an hour after the first statue fell. The crowd scattered when police cruisers flooded the area, and officers in tactical gear appeared to make several arrests. Protest organizers had promoted the event on social media as an 'Indigenous Peoples Day of Rage.'"

Pennsylvania. Jaclyn Peiser of the Washington Post: "Normally, state troopers accompany Pennsylvania's second lady whenever she leaves the house. But on Sunday, when Gisele Barreto Fetterman realized it was her last chance to get golden kiwis on sale at her neighborhood grocery store, she decided to run out for a few minutes on her own. While she waited in line, she said, a woman recognized her as the wife of Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (D) and began yelling insults at her, including racist slurs. 'She said, "There's that n-word that Fetterman married. You don't belong here. No one wants you here. You don't belong here,"' Fetterman, who was born in Brazil, said in an interview with The Washington Post. Upset and shaken, Fetterman managed to film the woman accosting her again outside her car. She posted a video of the abuse to Twitter Sunday night, along with a description of what happened." Fetterman also snapped a picture of the attacker's license plate.

** Damian Carrington of the Guardian: "One-fifth of the world's countries are at risk of their ecosystems collapsing because of the destruction of wildlife and their habitats, according to an analysis by the insurance firm Swiss Re..., one of the world's biggest reinsurers and a linchpin of the global insurance industry.... Natural 'services' such as food, clean water and air, and flood protection have already been damaged by human activity. More than half of global GDP -- $42tn (£32tn) -- depends on high-functioning biodiversity, according to the report, but the risk of tipping points is growing.... Among the G20 leading economies, South Africa and Australia were seen as being most at risk, with China 7th, the US 9th and the UK 16th." --s

News Lede

New York Times: "Two American economists, Paul R. Milgrom and Robert B. Wilson, were awarded the Nobel in economic science on Monday for improvements to auction theory and inventions of new auction formats -- innovations that have had huge practical applications when it comes to allocating scarce resources. The pair, close collaborators who are both affiliated with Stanford University, have pioneered new auction formats that governments have since used to auction off radio frequency."

The Commentariat -- October 11, 2020

Presidential Race, Etc.

Bill Barrow of the AP: "With the backdrop of a union facility in a key battleground county of Pennsylvania, Joe Biden on Saturday blistered ... Donald Trump as only pretending to care about the working-class voters who helped flip the Rust Belt to the Republican column four years ago. 'Anyone who actually does an honest day's work sees him and his promises for what they are,' Biden told a masked, socially distanced crowd at a training facility for plumbers and other tradespeople.... He lamented 'the most unequal recovery in American history' since COVID-19 ground the economy to a halt in the spring. The investor class and top wage earners are fine, Biden said, 'but what did the bottom half get?' The former vice president and his aides believe it's critical for voters to connect the pandemic to the economy.... Nowhere could Biden's arguments prove more decisive than in Erie County. Long a Democratic bastion, it was among the most populous counties in the nation to flip from the Democratic column to Republicans in 2016.... Erie County rebounded strongly to Democrats in the 2018 midterms."

Just What You'd Expect from a Sickly Dictator. Annie Karni & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "... Mr. Trump, eager to prove he has fully recovered a week after being hospitalized for Covid-19, appeared briefly on Saturday afternoon in front of hundreds of chanting supporters gathered at the White House.... Mr. Trump ... re-enter[ed] the arena with his signature bluster and without any acknowledgment that he might still be contagious to those around him. His short speech, delivered from the Blue Room balcony overlooking the South Lawn, was the first time he has been seen in public since leaving the hospital on Monday. (A television interview with Fox News that aired Friday night had been pretaped.)... But the event ... was uncharacteristically brief.... The gathering ... was not a campaign event, White House officials said, although most attendees wore 'Make America Great Again' red caps, and the president's speech was filled with attacks against his Democratic rival, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.... The White House physician has not released any update about President Trump's health since Thursday, nor has the White House made public the results of his latest coronavirus test, which he claims he took on Friday....

This was the plan. Really.~~~ "In several phone calls last weekend from the presidential suite at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Mr. Trump shared an idea he was considering: When he left the hospital, he wanted to appear frail at first when people saw him, according to people with knowledge of the conversations. But underneath his button-down dress shirt, he would wear a Superman T-shirt, which he would reveal as a symbol of strength when he ripped open the top layer. He ultimately did not go ahead with the stunt."

~~~ A Politico story is here. ~~~

~~~ Toluse Olorunnipa of the Washington Post: "President Trump held his first public event since contracting the novel coronavirus, gathering a crowd of hundreds of supporters at the White House on Saturday despite providing no evidence that he was no longer infectious.... Speaking from the balcony of the building where he is under isolation, Trump continued to downplay the coronavirus pandemic. 'It's going to disappear,' he said, repeating a line he first uttered in February, or more than 213,000 deaths ago. 'It is disappearing.'"

~~~ Update. Jonathan Lemire & Aamer Madhani of the AP: "The White House doctor said Saturday night that ... Donald Trump is no longer at risk of transmitting the coronavirus, a diagnosis that comes as the president prepares to resume campaign rallies and other activities. In a memo released by the White House, Navy Cmdr. Dr. Sean Conley said Trump meets the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention criteria for safely discontinuing isolation and that by 'currently recognized standards' he is no longer considered a transmission risk.... The memo followed Trump's first public appearance since returning to the White House after being treated for the coronavirus." ~~~

~~~ Maeve Reston of CNN: "The latest memo from ... Navy Cmdr. Dr. Sean Conley said that the President has met US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention criteria for 'the safe continuation of isolation.' But it does not say Trump has received a negative coronavirus test since first testing positive for the virus, although that is not a criteria for clearing isolation, according to the CDC.... But the memo's opacity, the inability for reporters to question the doctor and the fact that the White House still will not say when Trump last tested negative before his positive diagnosis only adds to the confusion over his case.... Trump leaned into his law-and-order message in a speech threaded with falsehoods on Saturday that was clearly a campaign rally disguised as a White House event. Trump claimed that if the left gains power, they'll launch a crusade against law enforcement. Echoing his highly inaccurate campaign ads that suggest that Democratic nominee Joe Biden would defund 911 operations and have a 'therapist' answer calls about crime, Trump falsely claimed that the left is focused on taking away firearms, funds and authority from police.... He made no mention of the growing power of right-wing hate and anti-government extremist groups...." See Akhilleus' comment below on the truthiness of Conley's memo. ~~~

     ~~~ Drs. Ezekiel Emanuel & Vin Gupta, in a USA Today op-ed, speculate on Trump's prognosis, based on woefully incomplete information the White House has released.

A Bad Omen for Trump. Tamara Lush of thHouse e AP: "The Villages, [a huge Florida retirement community] where the median age is 66, is built on the American dream of a golden retirement.... Politically, it long has been considered a conservative redoubt, so entrenched that it's a must-stop for any national or statewide Republican running for office. One clear measure of its importance: Vice President Mike Pence's scheduled visit Saturday.... But on Wednesday..., an armada of as many as 500 golf carts gathered at the Sea Breeze Recreation Center to caravan to the nearby elections office, so folks could drop off ballots for [Joe] Biden.... Not only has Florida been slammed by the virus, but also no other demographic has been affected more than older people. About 93% of Florida's 15,100 deaths from the virus have been people 55 and older, and many are scared -- and enraged." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

BUT Trump Has Expanded His Base! Sami Yousafzai of CBS News: "Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told CBS News in a phone interview, 'We hope he will win the election and wind up U.S. military presence in Afghanistan.' The militant group expressed some concern about Mr. Trump's bout with the coronavirus. 'When we heard about Trump being COVID-19 positive, we got worried for his health, but seems he is getting better,' another Taliban senior leader told CBS News."

Just What You'd Expect from a Tinpot Dictator. David Sanger of the New York Times: "President Trump's order to his secretary of state to declassify thousands of Hillary Clinton's emails, along with his insistence that his attorney general issue indictments against Barack Obama and Joseph R. Biden Jr., takes his presidency into new territory -- until now, occupied by leaders with names like Putin, Xi and Erdogan. Mr. Trump has long demanded -- quite publicly, often on Twitter -- that his most senior cabinet members use the power of their office to pursue political enemies. But his appeals this week ... were so blatant that one had to look to authoritarian nations to make comparisons. He took a step even Richard M. Nixon avoided in his most desperate days: openly ordering direct, immediate government action against specific opponents, timed to serve his re-election campaign. 'There is essentially no precedent,' said Jack Goldsmith, who led the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel under President George W. Bush... 'but it's no different from what he has been saying since the beginning of his presidency. The only thing new is that he has moved from talking about it to seeming to order it.'"

** Perfect! Blake Montgomery of the Daily Beast: "As Mike Pence spoke to retirees [at the Villages] in Florida on Saturday, a banner towed by a plane flew over his head: 'Pence is why you can't see your grandkids.'" Thanks to Bobby Lee for the lead.

Let's See What GOP Senators Are Saying

Rats ... Sinking Ship. John Harris & Melanie Zanona of Politico: "For Republicans, fearful of a possible electoral disaster just weeks away, it has become safe at last to diss Donald Trump -- or at least to distance themselves from him in unmistakably purposeful ways. A barrage of barbed comments in recent days shows how markedly the calculus of fear has shifted in the GOP. For much of the past four years, Republican politicians were scared above all about incurring the wrath of the president and his supporters with any stray gesture or remark that he might regard as not sufficiently deferential. Now, several of them are evidently more scared of not being viewed by voters as sufficiently independent.... And so far, there's little evidence the strategy is working." The reporters cite how well a number of senators do the backstroke. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

Mississippi. Army of the Confederacy. Ashton Pittman of the Mississippi Free Press: "The day before ... Donald Trump announced Amy Coney Barrett as his U.S. Supreme Court pick, U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith [R-Miss.] said Republican senators would come with'guns loaded' and 'packed' to ensure the president's nominee is confirmed. 'You can expect anything possible in the tactics that (Democrats) can come up with' to delay the vote, the senator from Mississippi told American Family Radio Host Tony Perkins on his Washington Watch radio program on Sept. 25. AFR, a branch of the Tupelo, Miss.-based American Family Association, later uploaded the interview to SoundCloud. The senator told Perkins, whose organization the Southern Poverty Law Center calls a hate group, that 'it wouldn't surprise (her) at all' if Democrats try to stop Republicans from confirming Barrett before the election." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

South Carolina. Whistling Dixie. Jessica Glenza of the Guardian: "In a televised campaign event US senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said African Americans and immigrants can 'go anywhere' in his home state but they 'just need to be conservative'. Graham made the comment in a televised 'conversation' with his political rival, former South Carolina Democratic party chair Jaime Harrison, the first African American to serve in the role.... '... To young people out there, young people of color, young immigrants, this is a great state, but one thing I can say without any doubt, you can be an African American and go to the Senate but you just have to share our values.... If you're a young, African American or an immigrant, you can go anywhere in this state, you just need to be conservative, not liberal'." Thanks to Akhilleus for the link.

Ohio. Appeals Court Orders Voter Suppression in Populous Counties. Andrew Tobias of Cleveland.com: "A federal appeals court has agreed to reinstate Ohio's limit on ballot drop boxes at least temporarily while it considers whether to make a more permanent ruling on the case. U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals Judges Richard Griffin and Amul Thapar in an order Friday night sharply criticized a Thursday decision from a federal judge in Cleveland who struck down the drop box limit as unconstitutional after early voting had already begun. Griffin and Thapar said Secretary of State Frank LaRose's decision to limit ballot drop boxes, used to store completed absentee ballots, to one site per county was reasonable, and sided with LaRose's arguments that making a change during an election would pose a security risk. They also said legal precedent weighs against making late-stage changes to election procedures through the courts.... Judge Helene White dissented.... Griffin and White are appointees of President George W. Bush, while Thapar is an appointee of ... Donald Trump." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Pennsylvania. Amy Gardner of the Washington Post: "A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Trump campaign in Pennsylvania seeking to block the use of drop boxes as receptacles for mail ballots, require ballot signatures to match voter registration records and allow nonresident poll watchers at polling places, ruling that the president's claims of potential fraud were 'speculative.' In a sharply worded opinion issued Saturday morning, U.S. District Judge J. Nicholas Ranjan of the Western District of Pennsylvania ruled that the Trump campaign has no standing because of the lack of evidence of actual fraud." A CNN report is here.

The Trumpidemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live Covid-9 updates for Sunday are here.

The New York Times' live Covid-9 updates for Saturday are here.

Minyvonne Burke of NBC News: "The daily rise in coronavirus cases set new records in six U.S. states and worldwide. Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma and West Virginia all had record single-day increases in cases on Friday, according to NBC News' tally. The World Health Organization meanwhile announced that 350,766 new infections were reported Friday, surpassing by nearly 12,000 a record set earlier in the week. The new cases include more than 109,000 from Europe alone.... Coronavirus cases have nearly doubled over a two-week period in New Mexico, New Hampshire, and Vermont." Mrs. McC: And Donald Trump won't talk about it because Covid-19 is so yesterday. He's cured.

Burgess Everett & Jake Sherman of Politico: "Senate Republicans lashed out at a potential framework for a new coronavirus deal between the Trump administration and Speaker Nancy Pelosi on a conference call Saturday, warning that there was little support for a big spending bill right before the election.... 'There's no appetite right now to spend the White House number or the House number,' said Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), according to two sources briefed on the call. Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) said that giving into Pelosi on anything seen as expansion of Obamacare in the next recovery bill will be seen as 'an enormous betrayal by our supporters,' according to people familiar with the call." Mrs. McC: Yes, boys, what with your humungous tax cut for the rich, there just isn't enough in the piggy bank to come to the aid of ordinary Americans. Funny how it always works out that way.

Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: "Pressure is mounting on the leaders of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- from inside and outside the agency -- to speak publicly against the White House's manhandling of C.D.C. research and public health decisions, with career scientists so demoralized they are talking of quitting if President Trump wins re-election. The situation came to a boiling point this week when William H. Foege, a giant in public health who led the C.D.C. under Democratic and Republican presidents, called for its current director, Dr. Robert R. Redfield, to 'stand up to a bully' — he meant Mr. Trump -- even at the risk of being fired. 'Silence becomes complicity,' he said in an interview, after a private letter he wrote to Dr. Redfield leaked to the news media." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Sheila Kaplan of the New York Times: "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention drafted a sweeping order last month requiring all passengers and employees to wear masks on all forms of public and commercial transportation in the United States, but it was blocked by the White House, according to two federal health officials. The order would have been the toughest federal mandate to date aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus, which continues to infect more than 40,000 Americans a day. The officials said that it was drafted under the agency's 'quarantine powers' and that it had the support of the secretary of health and human services, Alex M. Azar II, but the White House Coronavirus Task Force, led by Vice President Mike Pence, declined to even discuss it." Mrs. McC: So mike pence also doesn't care if you get sick & die. Better take your family sleigh over the river and through the woods to grandmother's house this Thanksgiving. Public transportation is a bad bet. (Sorry, forgot to link this earlier.) (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Veronica Stracqualursi of CNN: "Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said he was released from the hospital Saturday morning following treatment for the coronavirus. '... I will have more to say about all of this next week,' the former Republican governor tweeted Saturday.... Christie, who is overweight and asthmatic, checked himself into Morristown Medical Center as a precautionary measure. He remained under doctors' observations for the week and was prescribed the anti-viral drug remdesivir. He had helped Trump prepare for the first presidential debate; no one wore masks during the debate preparation sessions. He had also attended a Supreme Court nomination ceremony for Judge Amy Coney Barrett on September 26, now believed to have been a superspreader event." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

"The Swamp That Trump Built." Nicholas Confessore, et al., of the New York Times: "Campaigning for president as a Washington outsider, Mr. Trump electrified rallies with his vows to 'drain the swamp.' But Mr. Trump ... reinvented [the swamp], turning his own hotels and resorts into the Beltway's new back rooms, where public and private business mix and special interests reign.... As president, he built a system of direct presidential influence-peddling unrivaled in modern American politics.... An investigation by The Times found over 200 companies, special-interest groups and foreign governments that patronized Mr. Trump's properties while reaping benefits from him and his administration.... Just 60 customers with interests at stake before the Trump administration brought his family business nearly $12 million during the first two years of his presidency, The Times found. Almost all saw their interests advanced, in some fashion, by Mr. Trump or his government.... Some of Mr. Trump's patrons lost out to better-favored interests, to the chaos of his White House or to the president's own fleeting attention span.... But whether they won or lost, Mr. Trump benefited financially." The reporters provide many examples. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-Michigan) in a Washington Post op-ed: "When I addressed the people of Michigan on Thursday to comment on the unprecedented terrorism, conspiracy and weapons charges against 13 men, some of whom were preparing to kidnap and possibly kill me, I said, 'Hatred, bigotry and violence have no place in the great state of Michigan.' I meant it. But just moments later, President Trump's campaign adviser, Jason Miller, appeared on national television accusing me of fostering hatred. I'm not going to waste my time arguing with the president. But I will always hold him accountable. Because when our leaders speak, their words carry weight." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

"Justice" in the Age of Trump/Barr. Katie Benner of the New York Times: "The Justice Department suspended all diversity and inclusion training for its employees and managers this week, complying with President Trump's recent executive order to eliminate any training that suggests that implicit racial and gender biases exist in the workplace, according to a memo distributed to the department's executive officers. The guidance, sent on Thursday to Justice Department leaders, seemingly goes further than the president's executive order -- which pertains only to diversity training -- to include work-related programs, activities and events that touch on diversity."

Beyond the Beltway

Colorado. Bryan Pietsch & Concepción de León of the New York Times: "One person was fatally shot in Denver on Saturday against the backdrop of opposing rallies between far-right and far-left activists, though the police did not immediately connect the shooting to the dueling demonstrations. The shooting happened at 3:37 p.m. local time near the courtyard of the Denver Art Museum as the protests were winding down, officials said. A video shows a single shot being fired and several police officers rushing to the scene, shouting, 'Drop the gun!' A man can be seen lying down on the sidewalk as officers surround him. The victim was taken to a hospital, where he later died...." ~~~

     ~~~ AP Update: "A private security guard working for a TV station was in custody Saturday after a person died from a shooting that took place during dueling protests in downtown Denver.... The KUSA TV station said on its website that it had contracted the private security guard who was arrested in connection with the shooting." A KUSA story is here.

Way Beyond

Brad Lendon of CNN: "North Korea unveiled what analysts believe to be one of the world's largest ballistic missiles at a military parade celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Workers' Party broadcast on state-run television on Saturday. The massive weapon was carried by an 11-axle truck at the climax of the almost two-hour ceremony and military parade in the capital of Pyongyang. Analysts said the new missile is not known to have been tested, but a bigger weapon would allow North Korea to put multiple warheads on it, increasing the threat it would pose to any targeted foe. 'Largest *road-mobile* liquid-fueled missile anywhere, to be clear," tweeted Ankit Panda..., of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace." Mrs. McC: Just can't figure out why Trump didn't win the Nobel Peace Prize.