To his credit, NC Sen. Thom Tillis has joined in the criticism of Trump for proposing we postpone the election (not to mention threatening to sue Nevada for having universal mail-in voting). I’ve written to him saying I hope he sticks by that as the election approaches. Particularly given that Republicans are reluctant to vote by mail thanks to Trump, and that could hurt their voters turning out (ah, irony!). Though if you live in Florida, Trump’s decided mail-in voting is fine. Perhaps it’s no surprise right-winger Josh Bernstein literally says seniors should be willing to die to re-elect Trump.
Unfortunately both Tillis and Sen. Richard “Trump Virus Insider Trading” Barr are in favor of equipping police with military weapons. And Tillis blames Hispanics for their high rate of Trump Virus infection.
“Previous Trump chiefs of staff Reince Priebus, John Kelly and (to a lesser extent) Mick Mulvaney tried to temper the president’s wildest instincts. Under Meadows, Trump seems to have no guardrails”
“What’s more, with polls showing Trump’s popularity on the decline and widespread disapproval of his management of the viral outbreak, staffers have concocted a positive feedback loop for the boss. They present him with fawning media commentary and craft charts with statistics that back up the president’s claim that the administration has done a great — even historically excellent — job fighting the virus.” — because what do the deaths matter compared to salving President Man-Baby’s fragile fee-fees?
Let’s give some credit to Joe Biden who predicted Trump’s proposal and got wrapped by some reporters for being alarmist. And I’m already seeing speculation how despite a lack of legal authority Trump could do it, or at least use a shift to discredit the probable Biden victory. Meanwhile Trump pouts that it’s so unfair he’s so unpopular. And when Dr. Fauci threw out the New York Yankees’ opening pitch, Trump lied they invited him first.
Vanity Fair does a great job looking at how Jared Kushner’s task-force plans for massive testing failed miserably. LGM points out one aspect that should have been the headline: Kushner gave up on testing partly because he anticipated blue states getting hit worse which would work out well for Republicans.
Monica Hesse says Trump’s “understanding of women voters is based on six reruns of Happy Days plus a vacuum cleaner ad from 1957,” but it’s behind his warning to suburban women that Joe Biden will ruin the suburbs.
Homeland Security used a terrorist-watch system to monitor journalists who published critical leaks. And judges are releasing Portland protesters on the condition they give up their right to peaceful assembly and protest.
Eric Metaxas thinks he has a crushing comeback to Black Lives Matter: Jesus was white so are you saying he had white privilege? Jesus was not white.
Just how messed up is America?
Schools can specify how long a student’s dress must be, but they can’t make you wear a mask?
“In a country that has the virus under control, fewer than 5 percent of tests come back positive, according to World Health Organization guidelines. Many countries have reached that benchmark. The United States, even with the large recent volume of tests, has not.” — the NYT looks at how massively we’ve failed.
Here’s some good news: the Democratic Party mainstream says if Republicans fill a vacant Supreme Court seat this year, they’ll consider adding seats to the court under a Biden administration. If Republicans want to play hardball, this is a fair tactic to play back at them. Malevolent Sheriff Joe Arpaio failed his political comeback. And New York’s attorney general wants to dissolve the NRA, leading to Alexandra Petri’s funny column.
