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Thursday Open Thread

There's Covid, Covid and Covid news, never-ending, always spreading. California has not outpaced New York as the state with the largest number of infections.

Michael Cohen will be going home to be placed on home confinement again. The judge in his ruled the book restriction was retaliation.

Hellerstein in ordering Cohen’s release, said that he found that “the purpose of transferring Mr. Cohen from furlough and home confinement to jail is retaliatory, and it’s retaliatory because of his desire to exercise his First Amendment rights to publish a book and discuss anything about the book or anything else he wants on social media and others.”

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

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    More (5.00 / 1) (#3)
    by FlJoe on Thu Jul 23, 2020 at 06:00:22 PM EST
    on the great fracturing
    On Thursday, in an interview on Bloomberg TV, Gov. Larry Hogan (R-MD) discussed the claim in his upcoming book that "a couple" of President Donald Trump's Cabinet secretaries privately urged him to mount a primary campaign to deny Trump re-nomination in 2020.
    if nothing else it's going to give Trump a sleepless night trying to figure out who it is.

    Need some good news? (5.00 / 4) (#25)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri Jul 24, 2020 at 10:56:49 AM EST
    My cousin just texted that my 94 yo Aunt Jessie has improved enough they are talking about letting her go home.

    Probably an example of how much better they have gotten at treating this stuff.  94.

    Awesome... (5.00 / 2) (#26)
    by kdog on Fri Jul 24, 2020 at 11:07:04 AM EST
    My 97 year old uncle in the vets home is still kicking while they wheeled out the corona cases and corpses around him.  But the dementia has arrived in full...I think the inability to visit for 5 months has exacerbated that situation. Was hoping they'd start offering live social distanced visits outside the facility in the garden or something but no dice. He must think we abandoned him, weighs heavy on the heart. They try the facetime thing but he thinks he's watching tv, he don't even know it's me. He might if I could sit across from him, but who knows.

    Oh life...what a trip.

    Parent

    The nursing (none / 0) (#27)
    by Ga6thDem on Fri Jul 24, 2020 at 01:26:52 PM EST
    home asked my father in law if he wanted to skype with the family and he said no, I know what they look like.

    Parent
    Fantastic (5.00 / 1) (#34)
    by MO Blue on Fri Jul 24, 2020 at 02:49:59 PM EST
    So glad she is doing better.

    Parent
    Morons gather in Harrisburg. (5.00 / 1) (#38)
    by Chuck0 on Fri Jul 24, 2020 at 03:47:17 PM EST
    Reopen PA they demand. But don't make us wear a mask. I agree with reopening. But masks go hand in hand with that. I am tired of being of prisoner at home because a third of the people in this state thing public health is the equivalent of their guns confiscated.

    The most laughable quote in the article is the claim that this is about "choice." These same orange cultists I am sure are in lockstep with the GOP anti-abortion plank.

    In-person School reopening should, (5.00 / 4) (#65)
    by KeysDan on Sat Jul 25, 2020 at 12:06:52 PM EST
    in my view, be postponed until after January 1, 2021. Distance learning is an alternative, if plans and resources for implementation can be achieved in time for fall 2020.

    While presently available research suggests that children infected by the virus are at lower risk of becoming severely ill and questions exist as to how efficiently they spread the virus, the science is far from settled. As, is the incidence of severe side effects in younger children.  Moreover, children over the age of 10 may be at, or near, the same risk as for adults. Infected children seem to be the result of spreading by adults. Which children, in turn, can contribute to this communicable disease.

     Children having been at home have had less contact with the virus, and, hence, lower infection rates and spreading capabilities.  Or, there may be some biochemical protection at early ages. And, less spreading may be an anatomical factor--smaller lungs.  The point being that the issue is not definitely known at this time.

    The postponement of reopening permits the collection and evaluation of additional data that may lead to a more informed decision. The mitigation measures that are coupled with reopening advocacy are beyond the resources of many school districts.  As it is, teachers often purchase needed supplies out of their own pocket. By way of example, it is difficult to see how some Districts can afford revamped heating/ventilation systems, or how schools, say, in North Dakota can conduct classes outside in the fresh air. Or, how children can stay in one class with one teacher all day, with no breaks and wearing masks.

    With outbreaks, and, likely, renewed "shelter in place" or other restrictions for many communities, yet reopening schools, is foolhardy.

    Much is at risk--teachers, teacher aides, cafeteria, maintenance/security workers, bus drivers. And the children.  And, of course, parents, older siblings, grandparents.

    Teachers can't teach from the grave, and parents can't parent from there either.

    This is, after all, a public health emergency and there are hardships way too many all the way around.  Delay should be the policy, with exceptions only when all virus mitigation steps are in place, with community positivity rates substantially less than five percent.

    If a delay in reopening is in error, it would be error on the side of safety. And, the nation needs safety foremost. Everything else, reopening of the  country, follows.

    Exactly; put school off until January... (5.00 / 1) (#66)
    by desertswine on Sat Jul 25, 2020 at 01:13:56 PM EST
    in the meantime, put money into making it safe.

    Parent
    There are no good options (none / 0) (#68)
    by Ga6thDem on Sat Jul 25, 2020 at 01:41:35 PM EST
    We have had a lot of problems with distance learning as many children do not learn well in that environment. Then you have parents that have to go back to work. A friend of mine told me that some parents are doing clusters with children gathering at one house supervised by an adult. The age is a bigger issue too. Middle school and older it is less of a problem than for elementary school kids who require so much time and attention.

    Our schools are opening. I think it's mostly because the parents would have a meltdown if they didn't. Parents can choose distance learning if they want. I have no idea what percentage is staying home and which is going to classes. I expect that there will be an outbreak at some point and the schools will be forced to close again.

    Parent

    Gotta love this (5.00 / 1) (#90)
    by MO Blue on Sun Jul 26, 2020 at 07:04:38 PM EST
    About 30 demonstrators  protested the tactics federal authorities are using in Portland, Ore., outside the Virginia home of the acting Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary, Chad Wolf, on Sunday.

    One of Wolf's neighbors Rebecca Loesberg told the Post that she ordered snacks and water when she learned of the protest to hand out.

    The Hill

    Might be a strong indication of where Suburban Woman stand on this issue.

    Rick Wilson (none / 0) (#91)
    by Ga6thDem on Sun Jul 26, 2020 at 07:26:36 PM EST
    said all of these people will be forever remembered for what they have done. Any political future they might think about in the future is gone. They all have targets on their back from now on.

    Parent
    Veterans (none / 0) (#92)
    by MO Blue on Sun Jul 26, 2020 at 07:41:40 PM EST
    are now being labeled anarchists and the Moms are a scam.

    "The `protesters' are actually anarchists who hate our Country (sic)," Trump tweeted Sunday. "The line of innocent `mothers' were a scam that Lamestream refuses to acknowledge, just like they don't report the violence of these demonstrations!"

    Raw Story

    This from a weak, pathetic cretin who paid to get out of serving and is A-Ok with the Russians offering bounties on our troops.

    Parent

    This is the same error that President Hoover made (5.00 / 1) (#93)
    by Peter G on Sun Jul 26, 2020 at 09:30:59 PM EST
    in dealing with the Bonus Army of WWI vets in 1932, the last year of Hoover's one-term presidency. He unleashed military force (led by Douglas MacArthur) and D.C. police against thousands of peaceful veteran marchers, along with their families, demanding an acceleration of their promised benefits in light of the Great Depression. The ensuing brutality and adverse publicity contributed to Roosevelt's landslide victory that fall.

    Parent
    Good historical parallel (5.00 / 1) (#118)
    by Towanda on Wed Jul 29, 2020 at 12:14:41 AM EST
    and I also have been thinking about the first march on Washington, in 1894, by Coxey's Army of veterans.

    That did not win the 1896 election for the populist candidate, but the march did make its contribution to popular culture by inspiring a journalist who witnessed it to pen The Wizard of Oz . . . which also provides incredible parallels to today's politics.

    Parent

    If you have HDNET-MOVIES (5.00 / 1) (#104)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue Jul 28, 2020 at 10:49:29 AM EST
    Right now you can switch back and forth between the live Barr testimony and HITLER - the last 10 days

    It's a little like watching the Wizard of Oz and listening to Dark Side of the Moon

    During the (5.00 / 1) (#127)
    by KeysDan on Wed Jul 29, 2020 at 10:56:51 AM EST
    first years of the Trump Administration, references to its authoritarianism or fascist proclivities were admonished.  Hyperbole.  Dramatic. Alarmist.   And, invoking Nazism or, God forbid, Hitler, was off the rails and over the top.  

    Now, we are observing kidnapping of peaceful protestors off the streets by federal troops, commonly called stormtroopers and having serious national discussions about Trump possibly interfering with the election by abusing power and calling for martial law, and an AG who refuses to answer, under oath to our elected representatives, if he will support election results, unless they are clear to him. Or, claiming he has not looked into the legality of the president changing the date of the election.

    Those early noises heard were, in reality, history ringing alarm bells.

    Parent

    "Hitler: The Last Ten Days"? (none / 0) (#120)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Wed Jul 29, 2020 at 04:43:24 AM EST
    I thought they changed the film's title to "What Was Alec Guinness Thinking?" That bit of miscasting would've been a career-ender for any lesser actor.

    I'm probably being too harsh on Sir Alec. I don't what it is about Der Fuhrer, but he's managed to defy most all attempts to make him the central character of a compelling drama or biopic. The sheer magnitude of his infamy likely precedes him, I guess.

    Personally, I think the only Hitler film that's even remotely watchable is director Oliver_Hirschbiegel's "Downfall," because this story's actually much better told in the original German.

    ;-D

    Parent

    Louie Gomert has Corona Virus (5.00 / 3) (#124)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed Jul 29, 2020 at 09:45:31 AM EST
    And (5.00 / 1) (#125)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed Jul 29, 2020 at 09:58:13 AM EST
    Gohmert attended Tuesday's blockbuster House Judiciary Committee hearing with Attorney General William Barr in person, where lawmakers were seated at some distance from one another.



    Parent
    Also (5.00 / 1) (#128)
    by MO Blue on Wed Jul 29, 2020 at 11:12:41 AM EST
    A test today, inspired by potential exposure (none / 0) (#129)
    by Peter G on Wed Jul 29, 2020 at 11:26:08 AM EST
    yesterday, is 100% likely to generate a false negative, according to the linked story. Which is statistically clearly wrong, but I understand what they mean:  that any negative result just one day after exposure is entirely unreliable and uninformative.

    Parent
    Yes, there (none / 0) (#151)
    by KeysDan on Wed Jul 29, 2020 at 05:40:26 PM EST
    Is about a 48 to 72 hour period from exposure needed to detect the coronavirus with current tests. And, a period of approximately 3 to 14 days from exposure to signs of symptoms (the incubation period).

    Parent
    Someone (none / 0) (#131)
    by KeysDan on Wed Jul 29, 2020 at 11:54:23 AM EST
    cast  unmasked aspersions on his asparagus?

    Parent
    Politico (none / 0) (#133)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed Jul 29, 2020 at 12:43:35 PM EST
    Just after reports that Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) had tested positive for coronavirus, Politico got an email from one of his aides:

    "Thank you for letting our office know Louie tested positive for the Coronavirus. When you write your story, can you include the fact that Louie requires full staff to be in the office, including three interns, so that `we could be an example to America on how to open up safely.' When probing the office, you might want to ask how often were people berated for wearing masks."



    Parent
    Why in the heck (none / 0) (#142)
    by Zorba on Wed Jul 29, 2020 at 02:46:03 PM EST
    Is that aide still working for Louie???

    Parent
    He or she (none / 0) (#143)
    by Ga6thDem on Wed Jul 29, 2020 at 02:55:15 PM EST
    probably is not now. Probably got fired for that statement.

    Parent
    Thoughts and Prayers (none / 0) (#144)
    by KeysDan on Wed Jul 29, 2020 at 03:42:02 PM EST
    for Louie---dumba$$ is a serious co-morbidity.

    Parent
    GO FOR IT LOUIE (none / 0) (#159)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Jul 30, 2020 at 09:04:32 AM EST

    Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) said he will take an anti-malaria drug that experts have warned doesn't treat the coronavirus after he tested positive for the virus, Newsweek reports.

    Said Gohmert: "My doctor and I are all-in."



    Parent
    While I wish him well (none / 0) (#160)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Jul 30, 2020 at 09:06:27 AM EST
    he could actually do the country a great service by dying.

    Jus sayin

    Parent

    I wouldn't go so far as to say (5.00 / 2) (#162)
    by Peter G on Thu Jul 30, 2020 at 10:04:49 AM EST
    I wish him well. I am working on being a better person by not wishing him ill.

    Parent
    What a performance tho right? (none / 0) (#164)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Jul 30, 2020 at 10:21:05 AM EST
    Reminds me of Bugs bunny and the really great trick you can only do once.

    Don't mean to be glib.  It's very serious stuff.   But it does have a Wyle E. Coyote feel to it.

    Parent

    Those with weak constitutions ... (5.00 / 1) (#168)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Jul 30, 2020 at 11:31:31 AM EST
    Herman Cain has died (none / 0) (#161)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Jul 30, 2020 at 09:21:48 AM EST
    RIP

    Parent
    you reap what you sow. (none / 0) (#171)
    by Chuck0 on Thu Jul 30, 2020 at 01:12:23 PM EST
    Maybe going to Tulsa and hanging out without a mask wasn't such a good idea.

    Parent
    They must have contact traced him... (none / 0) (#172)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Thu Jul 30, 2020 at 01:23:54 PM EST
    right?

    Parent
    Traced to a specific demon? (none / 0) (#174)
    by Jack E Lope on Fri Jul 31, 2020 at 03:57:26 PM EST
    Or did Cain miss getting on-board with the demonic copulation theory?

    See, if demons are actually spreading Covfefe-19 rather than person-to-person, contact tracing becomes as big a waste of time as mask-wearing.  

    Maybe dream-tracing is the next tactic.

    Parent

    Why would you ... (none / 0) (#175)
    by Yman on Sat Aug 01, 2020 at 09:27:54 AM EST
    ... say they must have contact traced him?

    Parent
    I Wonder (none / 0) (#166)
    by MO Blue on Thu Jul 30, 2020 at 11:01:18 AM EST
    Was Herman Cain treated with Hydroxychloroquine?

    Going to a Trump rally during a pandemic can definitely kill you  as well as taking his medical advise.

    Parent

    I just this minute learned (5.00 / 1) (#146)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed Jul 29, 2020 at 04:17:37 PM EST
    My town is getting a brand new dispensary

    No more hour drive or waiting for delivery

    happy happy joy joy

    BTW (none / 0) (#152)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed Jul 29, 2020 at 07:11:09 PM EST
    This is funny (5.00 / 1) (#167)
    by MO Blue on Thu Jul 30, 2020 at 11:19:42 AM EST
    "When he started doing them again, my thought was, `Oh, great, this fucking shit again.' And now we're all talking about demon ejaculation."

    -- A senior Trump administration official, quoted by the Daily Beast, on President Trump's restarted coronavirus briefings.

    Quote of the day

    I might be upset about the impact on the dignity of the Office of the President, but that went out the window the moment that Trump was sworn in.

    DC Circuit Court of Appeals (5.00 / 1) (#169)
    by Yman on Thu Jul 30, 2020 at 12:23:48 PM EST
    ... grants en banc review in the Michael Flynn case.

    which means that the recent decision (5.00 / 1) (#173)
    by Peter G on Thu Jul 30, 2020 at 02:23:29 PM EST
    of the ultra-conservative 3-judge panel is vacated. All ten or eleven D.C. Circuit judges will rehear the case on August 11. The court as a whole is a lot more "liberal" (i.e., sane) than the judges who ruled against Judge Sullivan last month.

    Parent
    Obama is on fire (5.00 / 1) (#170)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Jul 30, 2020 at 01:04:14 PM EST
    He just endorsed dumping the filibuster

    13 points (none / 0) (#1)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Jul 23, 2020 at 03:12:57 PM EST
    Polls are just a snapshot but this new Q poll is a bad snapshot.

    Poll: Biden widens lead over Trump in Florida to 13 points

    This is why my I think we might not have such a late night Nov 3rd.

    If Trump is even half this far behind we could know pretty early.  And if Trump loses FL it's over.

    If he loses NC (none / 0) (#2)
    by Ga6thDem on Thu Jul 23, 2020 at 03:38:17 PM EST
    it's over. He cannot really afford to lose much of his base from 2016. But yeah, I know FL is delegate rich. I don't expect FL to be called early though with DeSantis.

    Parent
    GOP Cancel Convention but will open Schools (none / 0) (#9)
    by john horse on Thu Jul 23, 2020 at 10:41:15 PM EST
    Trump just announced that he was cancelling the GOP convention in Jacksonville.   According to Trump, "there's nothing more important in our country than keeping our people safe"  Yet, he and DiSantis still insist on opening schools as scheduled in the Fall.  Can someone explain this to me.  If its too unsafe due to the Covid-19 virus to hold a party convention, then isn't it also too unsafe to open schools?

    Parent
    There are lots of kids in this country (none / 0) (#10)
    by Peter G on Thu Jul 23, 2020 at 10:59:50 PM EST
    Plenty to spare. But very few Republicans; certainly none to spare. I think that's it.

    Parent
    Of all the untethered (5.00 / 1) (#13)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri Jul 24, 2020 at 07:24:12 AM EST
    politically suicidal things republicans are doing pushing so hard to open schools including the threat to strip money from schools that don't fully open just seems the most insane.

    For one thing there is plenty of time for whatever bad things to play out before Nov 3rd.

    I do not think I would send children to school.   If I had children.  But then I have not been locked in the house with them since March.

    Parent

    I'm torn on school... (none / 0) (#15)
    by kdog on Fri Jul 24, 2020 at 08:34:28 AM EST
    I think half days with half the class in the morning and half in the afternoon with masks and supplemental online stuff might be the way to go.

    After slogging through online only since March with a 1st grader, I know me and her mom ain't up to snuff while also trying to hold down jobs. The kids need some kind of brick and mortar face to face learning with a skilled professional teacher. It's important enough to assume some Covid risks.

    If schools can't open, they need to shut down parents employers too so they can try and teach fulltime, with a UBI implemented to pay the bills. You can't have most businesses open and schools closed, ain't gonna work. At least for K-6th grade...online only might work for 7th-12th.

    Parent

    The tri State area (none / 0) (#16)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri Jul 24, 2020 at 08:46:22 AM EST
    Is the only place in the country where the virus is under some kind of control.

    I guess it could work there.  The rest of the country is a viral inferno.  Several places in the same place you were months ago.  Refrigerated trucks and waiting list for cremation.

    I think it's a different story in those places.

    Parent

    Watch this (none / 0) (#17)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri Jul 24, 2020 at 08:59:30 AM EST
    I don't know what to think anymore Cap... (none / 0) (#18)
    by kdog on Fri Jul 24, 2020 at 09:18:58 AM EST
    If I ever did lol.

    On a macro heartless mother nature level, part of me thinks let the herd be thinned as nature requires. Our house can't handle almost 8 billion people recklessly and savagely consuming and polluting...which is why this virus came to be, and the next one, and the next one. Such is life.

    Or I'm just really miserable with no live music or joyous tribal gatherings for f*ckin' 5 months. I'd gladly sign away some life expectancy for the opportunity to smoke joints with strangers again at a music festival. But there's still hope for Lockn in October!

    One thing for sure...I'm glad I don't have to make these hard decisions.

    Parent

    But you do n get to sign away (5.00 / 4) (#30)
    by Towanda on Fri Jul 24, 2020 at 02:02:04 PM EST
    life expectancy for my daughter, a third-grade teacher, or my grandchildren.

    We have been going through agonizing decisions with them., while the school district dithers. And there are many anti-maskers among the parents, so there will be no mask mandate for students. The plan appears to be that my daughter will be in a room, all day -- including lunch, recess, everything -- with dozens in a germ swarm.

    And she and my son-in-law have arranged legal guardianship of my grandchildren and are doing their wills.

    Parent

    Teachers in a tough spot... (none / 0) (#41)
    by kdog on Fri Jul 24, 2020 at 04:39:12 PM EST
    to be sure. The poor schmuck working the register at Ralph's even moreso.

    I think it would be good policy to consider quitting over covid health concerns a just cause for unemployment benefit purposes...and extend the fed bump to those paltry benefits past next week. And give a weekly stimulus to all essential workers making less than those on umemployment. CARES Part II where are you?

    Parent

    Regarding working the register at Ralphs (none / 0) (#43)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Fri Jul 24, 2020 at 05:47:16 PM EST
    what has been frustrating to me is there does not seem to be much data that's been publicly released from the contact tracing.

    iow, just the contact tracing basic data: what is the data on how/where people are getting it now. Is it cashiers/work? Office workers/work? Bus drivers/work? Home? etc. My county, LA County, releases no such info that I have found.

    If we knew, then we would make specific plans for those specific situations.

    Now and then I can find a summation of some random county's findings, which is OK, but it would be great to see the actual data.

    Anyway, regarding how it's being spread, I found this today:

    They point to contact tracing results, which show that the people who are getting sick are not becoming infected through recently reopened businesses. Rather, it is essential front-line employees like electricians, municipal employees and farmworkers, who have been working all along,  pushing the statistics higher, as well as residents who gather at homes without wearing masks.

    "A majority of people we are seeing infected now are front-line workers, live in crowded multigenerational conditions, live with lack of trust in, and in fact have downright fear of, government," Morrow said in a statement posted to the county's website Monday.

    It would be great to know if these findings are broadly applicable, but we'd need more counties/states releasing data or at least summations...

    Parent

    Can I git a witness! (none / 0) (#20)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri Jul 24, 2020 at 09:29:42 AM EST
    Yes.

    I thank my lucky stars almost every day that I no longer live in a city.   Even a small one.  As many years as I spent in them I can't imagine what this would be like.

    Hang in.  And smoke joints on zoom.

    And be thankful for where you live and how effectively  your local governments have worked.

    Seems like all it would take is a glimps of the rest of the country for even you to give them a little credit.

    Parent

    No beef really with how... (none / 0) (#24)
    by kdog on Fri Jul 24, 2020 at 10:15:05 AM EST
    Cuomo and the city and my county has handled things. I do give them credit...aside from no music or large events things are opening up again which is some comfort for the weary. I got a haircut after 4 months of Wolfman if not a proper barber shave and beard trim (the things we took for granted lol). The family is getting together for BBQs again, my niece got to have a semblance of a high school graduation ceremony. Softball season was cancelled but a 4 week mini summer football seaon is starting tomorrow and that will be nice. Not sure how they scored those park permits or if it's on the sly but my arse is playing. I gots to...at some point mental and emotional health must be considered along with the physical.

    But I'm sure it will blow up again and shut down again, rinse and repeat. Unless you bubble-boy it totally I think everybody gonna get it at some point, all we can do is try to keep the hospitals from crashing and the tri-state has accomplished that so far.


    Parent

    Barron will be kept safe (none / 0) (#29)
    by MO Blue on Fri Jul 24, 2020 at 01:59:35 PM EST
    President Donald Trump wants US schools closed by the coronavirus pandemic to reopen fully, but the private school attended by his son Barron won't be one of them, its principal said Friday.

    St. Andrew's Episcopal School, just outside Washington in the state of Maryland, said it is still deciding whether to teach fully online in the new school year or to adopt a "hybrid" model in which limited numbers of children can attend in person.

    Barron Trump's school will not fully reopen amid the coronavirus pandemic

    Parent

    Kushner kids may not either (none / 0) (#31)
    by MO Blue on Fri Jul 24, 2020 at 02:09:53 PM EST
    The Milton Gottesman Jewish Day School of the Nation's Capital, where Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner send their kids, has also not decided if they will reopen.

    Daily Beast

    Parent

    Person Woman Man Camera TV (none / 0) (#4)
    by john horse on Thu Jul 23, 2020 at 06:21:35 PM EST
    Which is the greater accomplishment?
    Obama winning the Nobel Prize or Trump passing a test for dementia?

    Denial is deadly... (none / 0) (#5)
    by desertswine on Thu Jul 23, 2020 at 06:29:15 PM EST
    White House adviser Stephen Miller's grandmother dies from the coronavirus and his uncle tells Mother Jones that the Trump administration is partly to blame for her death.

    A statement from Miller denied his grandmother died from the virus even though the death certificate lists her cause of death as "respiratory arrest" resulting from "COVID-19."

    -- Political Wire

    Unsealed (none / 0) (#6)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Jul 23, 2020 at 06:46:34 PM EST
    A judge has ordered the unsealing of testimony given by Jeffrey Esptein victim Virginia Guiffre that implicates Trump-defending attorney Alan Dershowitz.

    According to Miami Herald reporter Julie Brown, Judge Loretta Preska, the Senior United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, has begun the process of "unsealing documents in the defamation case of Ghislaine Maxwell" that will include "the deposition of Virginia Guiffre that includes allegations against Alan Dershowitz."



    Should be (5.00 / 1) (#8)
    by MO Blue on Thu Jul 23, 2020 at 07:33:55 PM EST
    Interesting reading.

    Parent
    a lot of these documents (5.00 / 1) (#11)
    by Jeralyn on Fri Jul 24, 2020 at 02:30:02 AM EST
    were previously unsealed. Roberts/Guiffre has been pedaling her version since she provided them to journalist Sharon Churcher of the Daily Mail in 2011. (One link here, but I no longer read the Daily Mail due to their insistence you disable your ad-blocker.)

    I have analyzed her and her counsels' and Dershowitz' war since  her lawyers first published the allegations against Dershowitz by including them in a publicly filed pleading in January, 2015, causing a huge New Years weekend media storm.

    See:

    * Dershowitz Goes to War Against Jane Doe 3here

    *Assessing Virginia Roberts' Credibilitye

    *Jane Doe's Lawyers File Defamation Suit Against Dershowitz

    * Dershowitz, Prince Andrew and Jane Doe 3

    for a few. The civil case between Roberts and Guiffre settled.

    Parent

    Cook political report (none / 0) (#7)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Jul 23, 2020 at 06:49:12 PM EST
    It's batten down the hatches time. (none / 0) (#12)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Fri Jul 24, 2020 at 02:49:37 AM EST
    Hurricane Douglas has intensified to a Category 4 storm tonight, 300 miles wide with sustained winds of 160 mph. It's now 1,000 miles southeast of us in Hilo and presently tracking in a west-northwesterly direction and headed straight for us. It's expected over the Big Island by 6:00 p.m. HST (12:00 mid EDT) Saturday night and then roll through the island chain over the rest of the weekend.

    Que será, será. The way this year's gone so far, why not a hurricane?

    Good luck over there Donald. (none / 0) (#14)
    by fishcamp on Fri Jul 24, 2020 at 08:30:56 AM EST
    We have at least two hurricanes swirling around us over here too, but I hope they are far enough away to not bother us.  The drama of an approaching hurricane is terrifying.

    Parent
    We had Hurricane Lane two years ago. (none / 0) (#35)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Fri Jul 24, 2020 at 03:02:12 PM EST
    Its winds were negligible. But the rain overwhelmed us. We received over 50 inches here in Hilo in a 60 hour period, entering the record books with one of the biggest recorded deluges in U.S. history.

    As of this writing, Douglas is weakening and the winds will likely be in the 50-70 mph range when it arrives tomorrow night. It's the potential rainfall that worries me. Were we to lose a major bridge across one of the many deep ravines along the Hamakua Coast, transportation to and from Waimea and the island's north side would quickly become problematic.

    Aloha.

    Parent

    UPDATE: Looks like Douglas will dodge Hilo. (none / 0) (#57)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Sat Jul 25, 2020 at 01:23:37 AM EST
    Instead, the western Hawaiian islands of Oahu and Kauai are now in its crosshairs, as it's expected to make landfall as a likely Category 1 storm  with sustained winds of 75-90 mph. The common thread of concern out here is, as I mentioned earlier, potentially catastrophic levels of rainfall. Hurricane chasing aircraft flying into the storm are reporting that it appears to be an unusually wet one, and nobody wants a repeat of Hurricane Lane. Personally, I hope I never see another rain event like Lane in 2018. That was scary.

    Parent
    Several (none / 0) (#81)
    by FlJoe on Sun Jul 26, 2020 at 01:57:05 PM EST
    are showing the next system coming up through the Bahamas next weekend. Looks to be 100-200 miles to the east of us...for now.

    Parent
    Correcto Joe, and (none / 0) (#86)
    by fishcamp on Sun Jul 26, 2020 at 03:53:08 PM EST
    there are two more disturbances rolling off the Sahara onto the Atlantic after that.  It looks to be an exciting year.  

    Parent
    The (none / 0) (#101)
    by FlJoe on Tue Jul 28, 2020 at 06:28:58 AM EST
    models are coming closer, most of them keeping  it at tropical storm strength.

    Parent
    Straighten me out on this, please (none / 0) (#19)
    by Peter G on Fri Jul 24, 2020 at 09:24:24 AM EST
    I thought "hurricanes" were a category of Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico storm, and the equivalent storms in the Pacific were called "cyclones." Apparently I am mixed up on this. Help?

    Parent
    They (5.00 / 2) (#22)
    by FlJoe on Fri Jul 24, 2020 at 10:03:53 AM EST
    are called hurricanes in the eastern and central Pacific and typhoons in the western Pacific, they are called cyclones in the Indian Ocean.

    Parent
    I always wanted to go to (none / 0) (#28)
    by Jeralyn on Fri Jul 24, 2020 at 01:27:21 PM EST
    the Indian Ocean-- Seychelles and Mauritius. I first started checking airfares and routes in about 1985. The closest I've gotten is watching Andrew Zimmern do food shows from there. I had no problem flying to China twice and Thailand a few times but somehow the Indian Ocean seems like the other side of the world.

    Now the only places I'd still like to go are Vietnam and Medellin, Colombia and maybe Norway, Sweden or Finland. Or St Petersburg Russia, Odessa and the Black Sea.

    Parent

    Vietnam was wonderful, Jeralyn. (5.00 / 1) (#58)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Sat Jul 25, 2020 at 02:11:51 AM EST
    That was a great trip. I fell in love with the capital city of Hanoi. There's a beauty and elegance to it that I really wasn't expecting, and the people were friendly and gracious without ever being ingratiating and solicitous. Its tone was 180 degrees from the rowdy, boisterous and eclectic Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon. And if you go, be sure to add a side trip to see Cambodia's Angkor Wat temple complex.

    Parent
    What FIJoe said. (none / 0) (#32)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Fri Jul 24, 2020 at 02:27:26 PM EST
    Were Hurricane Douglas to continue due west after leaving Hawaii and cross the International Dateline while still maintaining sustained winds of at least 75 mph, it would then become Typhoon Douglas. Personally, I'm unsure of the exact reason for the differences in nomenclature by geography. Perhaps it's a means to identify the region of the world where the storm was / is located and occurring.

    Parent
    When I lived on Guam (none / 0) (#37)
    by Chuck0 on Fri Jul 24, 2020 at 03:14:03 PM EST
    in the mid 1960s, we called all storms that blew through, typhoons.

    Parent
    Douglas may be the dagger ... (none / 0) (#59)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Sat Jul 25, 2020 at 05:14:13 AM EST
    ... in the City and County of Honolulu's effort to contain the coronavirus. For a densely populated island of 990,000 residents, holding the viral numbers to 1,280 (and only 19 deaths) as of this date was a pretty amazing accomplishment.

    However, 113 of them were diagnosed yesterday and today, a 10 percent increase which indicates that the virus may have finally breached the Dept. of Health's defenses and is commencing its community spread stage.

    And now, with the hurricane 40 hours away, Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell has declared a state of emergency, opened up the civil defense shelters and signed an executive order waiving the social distancing requirement for immediate gatherings of 50 people or less.

    You know, we had a real chance to contain the COVID outbreak in this country. We really did. Instead, the pathological decision by Trump - with a big assist by McConnell - to politicize the belated federal response to the COVID-19 pandemic after first dawdling for nearly two months, which effectively paralyzed that effort, will likely live in infamy as the most conscious, consequential and costly act of presidential malpractice in American history.

    Joe Biden and the Democrats not only need to win, they need to win big. Because otherwise, absent a whole lot of white people across so-called Red America suddenly wising up and getting a lot less dumber in the next 100 days, we as a country may finally sober up after a four-year political bender to discover that we just screwed ourselves royally.

    Aloha.

    Parent

    No, it isn't, at least probably not (5.00 / 1) (#23)
    by Peter G on Fri Jul 24, 2020 at 10:09:14 AM EST
    First, it depends on Missouri law whether the operability of the gun at the time it was pointed (with her finger seemingly on the trigger) at people who, as far as I could see, were not threatening either her or her home is even relevant to the particular charges in the case. Then, a forensic firearms expert will have to say whether the gun appears to have been rendered inoperable during the period between when it was brandished and when it was seized (which was many days), since the time of the offense, not the time of arrest, is what matters. It may also be relevant under Missouri firearms law whether an inoperable firearm is permanently damaged, or whether it can be readily restored to operability; if the latter makes the misuse of it just as unlawful as if it were operable all along, then demonstrating in the police forensics lab that it can be easily rendered operable is key to the prosecutor's case and clearly not improper. It also matters whether whatever was done with the gun in the lab was properly documented, and properly and timely disclosed.

    Parent
    Readily restored (none / 0) (#44)
    by Abdul Abulbul Amir on Fri Jul 24, 2020 at 05:48:32 PM EST
    Readily is a fairly vague term. If disassembly and reassembly in a different order are required for operability, that does not sound like readily available for use.  

    Parent
    I do not have time (5.00 / 2) (#55)
    by Peter G on Fri Jul 24, 2020 at 09:03:55 PM EST
    to research Missouri firearms law for you. Just trying to highlight what the issues likely would be, assuming you asked your question out of genuine curiosity, to show that it likely is not a simple question nor a patently suspicious circumstance, as I took your question to imply.

    Parent
    Nick Sandmann settles lawsuit with Washington Post (none / 0) (#33)
    by McBain on Fri Jul 24, 2020 at 02:45:27 PM EST
    Link
    "We are pleased that we have been able to reach a mutually agreeable resolution of the remaining claims in this lawsuit," Kris Coratti, a spokesperson for The Post, said in a short statement.

    Sounds like there will be more.  From Sandmann's tweet linked in the same article...
    We have settled with WAPO and CNN.

    The fight isn't over. 2 down. 6 to go.

    Don't hold your breath @jack.



    Watched the Laurel Canyon documentary (none / 0) (#36)
    by McBain on Fri Jul 24, 2020 at 03:06:22 PM EST
    on Epix about the LA music scene of the late 60s and early 70s..  There's also one on Netflix, Echo in the Canyon.

    The two part Epix series goes into a little more detail about these music legends who all lived in the same area.  

    One interesting story was David Crosby auditioning for the Monkees. Crosby had bad teeth so he didn't get the part but then he sent in his roommate, Peter Tork, who had the winning look smile.

    Another story was the band Love wanting to get out of their contract with Elektra Records.  They thought if they could convince Elektra to sign the Doors they would be set free but the plan backfired.  Elektra kept Love but made the Doors their #1 priority. There's also a creepy Love/Manson family story.

    Did not know that about Crosby/Tork. (none / 0) (#39)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Fri Jul 24, 2020 at 04:27:28 PM EST
    I have used Laurel Canyon many times over the years as a quicker way of getting over the hill from the Valley to Hollywood, or vice versa, when the 101 was jacked up with traffic. Very upscale, at least since the early 90's when I moved here.

    Parent
    Apparently it was a cheap place to live (none / 0) (#48)
    by McBain on Fri Jul 24, 2020 at 07:11:03 PM EST
    back then. Any idea if it's near where the movie Mulholland Drive took place?

    And kind of cool that pop music people could hang out with folk singer/songwriters and everyone encouraged each other.  

    Parent

    but any setting in the hills or canyons of LA are in the same general area.

    Parent
    and are generally very upscale (none / 0) (#50)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Fri Jul 24, 2020 at 07:22:10 PM EST
    I lived in Topanga Canyon (none / 0) (#53)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri Jul 24, 2020 at 07:57:59 PM EST
    It has nice places but I would not call it upscale

    My pot dealer literally lived in a mud hut.  Because I believe building codes are either nonexistent or ignored.

    Side story.  I lived in several different places in Topanga.  One I really loved that I called the Tree House hand three levels.  Built on a cliff.  With a fire pole to get from the top to the bottom.  But I moved because one day exploring my hill I found that the sewage from my house just came out of a pipe and ran down the hill.

    Btw
    That house was owned by Elvis's  drummer.  Or one of them.  He was in Jail House Rock.

    Parent

    I live very close to Topanga (none / 0) (#56)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Fri Jul 24, 2020 at 11:07:19 PM EST
    several good friends live there. I travel the canyon fairly frequently.

    Last month ave sales price $1.43 million. Down 23% over last year. Yep. Those hand-built "hippy shacks" of 20 - 30, maybe 40, years ago are worth some serious money today. Laural Cyn ave sales price $1.9 million last month.

    Parent

    Hippie shacks (none / 0) (#60)
    by CaptHowdy on Sat Jul 25, 2020 at 08:35:58 AM EST
    Exactly.  That was my treehouse.
    The guy had built three structures.  Mine, another that was a little more conventional and a geodesic done, sounds way cooler than it was, for himself.

    Mine was like something the two of us would build out f stuff we found.  But it was amazing.  Although the roof leaked like crazy.  To this day I have dreams about that house and specifically it's leaky roof.

    And it was next door to what was probably a 2 million property

    Had other housing adventures in Topanga

    Story for another time.

    One bit about Elvis's drummer.  I siced the feds on him because after I moved he stole a tax return check forged my signature and cashed it.  No idea what happened.  I hope he went to jail.  He was a total lowlife.

    Parent

    Ps (none / 0) (#61)
    by CaptHowdy on Sat Jul 25, 2020 at 08:38:32 AM EST
    The rent was 1700 a month.

    Parent
    Why 1700 a mo for a leaky roof? (5.00 / 1) (#62)
    by CaptHowdy on Sat Jul 25, 2020 at 09:21:24 AM EST
    the view

    It's Grandview Dr if you know the area.

    detail of the house that you can see in the left of the panorama

    If you look close you can see there is another area below the deck.  

    It was almost impossible to take a picture of the house.  That is as good as I could do.  It's completely covered in brush, forget surviving a wildfire, and there is literally no place to stand where the house was visible.

    And unlike most of LA.  no houses in the view.


    Parent

    That's very cool. (none / 0) (#63)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Sat Jul 25, 2020 at 11:24:28 AM EST
    One of my friends lives around the corner on Valley View.

    Parent
    yeeeks! (none / 0) (#64)
    by leap on Sat Jul 25, 2020 at 12:02:45 PM EST
    I would be so terrified of wildfire in a place like that. No way to escape.

    Parent
    be careful what you wish for (none / 0) (#40)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri Jul 24, 2020 at 04:34:36 PM EST
    "The best day in my life in terms of business and life and everything was the day before I announced I'm running for president. Everything was good."

    -- President Trump, in an interview with Barstool Sports.



    Yep (none / 0) (#42)
    by Ga6thDem on Fri Jul 24, 2020 at 04:57:55 PM EST
    if he had lost the election he would be back grifting NYC and nobody paying him attention.

    Parent
    That's sounds like (none / 0) (#45)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri Jul 24, 2020 at 06:28:46 PM EST
    He is pining for the old days when all he had to do was lie and sue people.

    Maybe he will decide to just walk away.  It's no more crazy than a half dozen other things I can think of that he might do.

    He's beginning to understand it's over.

    Parent

    If you have (none / 0) (#46)
    by Ga6thDem on Fri Jul 24, 2020 at 06:32:47 PM EST
    watched an interview with Mary Trump she says don't expect him to walk away until after he loses. She said he probably will see no reason to hang around if Biden wins and he won't go to the inaugural. As long as he is president and can fleece the rubes by having a campaign he is going to stay. Once the opportunity to grift is gone, he's gone.

    Parent
    All due respect to Mary (5.00 / 1) (#47)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri Jul 24, 2020 at 06:36:17 PM EST
    I doubt very much she has any more of an idea what he will do than you or me.

    Parent
    Objection, lacks foundation. (5.00 / 2) (#67)
    by oculus on Sat Jul 25, 2020 at 01:23:15 PM EST
    The Apollo 11 Disaster speech (none / 0) (#51)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri Jul 24, 2020 at 07:31:44 PM EST
    Check out Michael Beschloss (5.00 / 1) (#54)
    by oculus on Fri Jul 24, 2020 at 08:28:18 PM EST
    on Twitter. Lots of historical photos of the moon landing plus a travel claim!

    Parent
    On the subject of AI created characters (none / 0) (#52)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri Jul 24, 2020 at 07:48:02 PM EST
    BREAK IN! (none / 0) (#69)
    by CaptHowdy on Sat Jul 25, 2020 at 05:03:35 PM EST
    Look at the comments under the video: (none / 0) (#70)
    by Ga6thDem on Sat Jul 25, 2020 at 05:41:34 PM EST
    This one made me crack up laughing:

    Plot twist: this old lady controls state-wide narcotics distribution and has a drug-lab in her basement.


    Parent
    It is almost comically desperate (none / 0) (#71)
    by CaptHowdy on Sat Jul 25, 2020 at 06:12:19 PM EST
    Almost

    Parent
    Don't know if (none / 0) (#72)
    by KeysDan on Sun Jul 26, 2020 at 09:10:33 AM EST
    this fear-mongering of suburbanites will be as effective as it was during the Mad Men era, as Trump remembers it..  The demographics of the suburbs have changed, they are more diverse and, also, they have similar issues, e.g., drugs--everything is everywhere.  

    Parent
    Yes (none / 0) (#73)
    by CaptHowdy on Sun Jul 26, 2020 at 09:52:14 AM EST
    that commercial will get him about as many votes as tweeting this

    "The Suburban Housewives of America must read this article," Trump tweeted. "Biden will destroy your neighborhood and your American Dream. I will preserve it, and make it even better!"

    Their stupidity might be all that saves us.

    Still, plenty to worry about

    "On the second Friday in June, a group of political operatives, former government and military officials, and academics quietly convened online for what became a disturbing exercise in the fragility of American democracy," the Boston Globe reports.

    "The group, which included Democrats and Republicans, gathered to game out possible results of the November election, grappling with questions that seem less far-fetched by the day: What if President Trump refuses to concede a loss, as he publicly hinted recently he might do? How far could he go to preserve his power? And what if Democrats refuse to give in?"

    Said Georgetown law professor Rosa Brooks: "All of our scenarios ended in both street-level violence and political impasse... The law is essentially ... it's almost helpless against a president who's willing to ignore it."

    link


    Parent

    Yes, plenty to worry about. (none / 0) (#78)
    by KeysDan on Sun Jul 26, 2020 at 11:43:29 AM EST
    In a NYTimes op.ed (July 23, 2020) former Senator Gary Hart (D.CO)and former presidential candidate, brings to attention that there are at least a hundred documents authorizing extraordinary presidential powers in the case of a national emergency, virtually dictatorial powers without congressional or judicial checks.

    Trump alluded to these authorities in March when he said, "I have the right to do a lot of things that people don't even know about."

    Hart claims that these secret powers began accumulating during the Eisenhower years and have grown ever since (supposedly, in case of nuclear war). There is even an obscure provision in the Communications Act of 1934 empowering the president to suspend broadcast stations and other communications following a "proclamation by the president declaring a national emergency."

    Apparently what little is known about these secret powers comes from the Brennan Center for Justice at NY University Law School. Hart believes they may include suspension of habeas corpus, surveillance, home intrusion, arrest without warrant.

     Hart calls for an immediate Congressional investigation. Among questions: Where did these secret powers come from? Who has access to them? What qualifies as a national emergency sufficient to suspend constitutional protection? And, why must these powers be secret--from Congress and the American people? And, why are they necessary at all?

    With a president faced with defeat, particularly, a president like Trump who is enabled and supported by a deplorable cult, such secret powers need to be in check with oversight, pronto.

    (Note: no link, NYT paywall, but if you try, the article is entitled: "The President's Secret Powers Shouldn't Be Secrets." by Gary Hart.

    Parent

    I am puzzled as to what Constitutional power (none / 0) (#82)
    by Peter G on Sun Jul 26, 2020 at 02:20:39 PM EST
    underlies any such "declarations." Neither the rights guaranteed to citizens and other persons under the U.S. Constitution, nor the limits that the Constitution places on presidential power relative to that of Congress and the courts, nor the Constitution's limit on federal power relative to that of the states is subject to "suspension" (or anything of the kind) in the event of a so-called "national emergency." Certainly not any "emergency" remotely comparable to the present situation. (Tr*mp's ignorance of the American constitutional system is once again revealed by his use of the term "rights" (that he says he has) to describe a president's powers or authority. The essence of the political philosophy that informs the entire American system of government is that "rights" are what the people have, relative to government power, not anything that any government official or agency possesses.)

    Parent
    Section 9 of Article 1? (none / 0) (#84)
    by RickyJim on Sun Jul 26, 2020 at 03:43:49 PM EST
     "The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it."

    A New York Judge suspended habeas corpus in June.

    Parent

    Your linked opinion piece says that (5.00 / 1) (#87)
    by Peter G on Sun Jul 26, 2020 at 04:08:27 PM EST
    a trial level NY judge "in effect" suspended the writ of habeas corpus, when he refused to enforce a local court rule requiring release of any arrestee not given a bail hearing within 24 hours, as applied to hundreds of arrested protesters. (The decision is on appeal, it says, but will probably wind up being held moot.) Not that an executive official can do so. If anything, the specific language of Article I, sec. 9 (which by virtue of its appearance in Article I is a limitation on the power of Congress, btw, as the Supreme Court held in ruling against Lincoln's proclamation), shows there is no such "implied" power with respect to, say, the Fourth Amendment (an arrest by federal authorities requires probable cause to believe that a crime has been committed) or the Tenth (the federal government lacks any general police power).

    Parent
    thank you Peter (5.00 / 1) (#107)
    by Jeralyn on Tue Jul 28, 2020 at 06:00:04 PM EST
    for so expertly explaining that.

    Readers should know by now that if they are citing an opinion piece rather than news they should make that clear in their comment or risk comment deletion.

    Parent

    More guns, more gun homicides (none / 0) (#74)
    by Yman on Sun Jul 26, 2020 at 10:08:05 AM EST
    ... and more mass shootings.

    New research puts the 'good guy with a gun' idea to rest: Loose concealed-carry laws are linked to more firearm homicides

    Emma Fridel, an assistant professor at Florida State University who authored the study, measured the affects of gun ownership rates and concealed-carry laws in all 50 states from 1991 to 2016. She controlled for other factors that might influence mass shooting and homicide rates, like unemployment rates, poverty levels and states' mental health expenditures.
    Her findings show that looser concealed-carry laws had little impact on mass shootings and increased a state's gun homicide rate by 11%. Higher rates of firearm ownership overall, meanwhile, was associated with a 53.5% increase in the likelihood of a mass shooting.

    But, ... ya know, ...

    ... 'Muricuh.

    Republicans overruled MO voters (5.00 / 1) (#75)
    by MO Blue on Sun Jul 26, 2020 at 10:25:16 AM EST
    Proposition B in Missouri was a failed 1999 ballot measure that would have required local police authorities to issue concealed weapons permits to eligible citizens. It was a contentious issue and was narrowly rejected at the time by the electorate, but the legislature later approved similar legislation in 2003.

    Regardless of Republicans' disregard of voters wishes on this and other issues, idiot MO voters continue elect Republicans and have pretty much changed the state from purple to red.

    Parent

    There is speculation (5.00 / 1) (#76)
    by CaptHowdy on Sun Jul 26, 2020 at 10:28:27 AM EST
    One of the issues Trump plans to address with his new super powers given to him by the recent DACA court decision is this very thing.

    They apparently  are planning to issue an executive order that will allow open carry anywhere, especially cities, and try to link it to the "lawlessness" they have been selling.

    This is a random person advocating.

    Former Police Chief: Trump should pass executive order allowing concealed carry for all during crisis
    |March 21, 2020



    Parent

    And it's not a new idea (none / 0) (#77)
    by CaptHowdy on Sun Jul 26, 2020 at 10:32:23 AM EST
    Wouldn't surprise me ... (none / 0) (#79)
    by Yman on Sun Jul 26, 2020 at 11:46:02 AM EST
    ... in the least.  It fits with his faux "law and order" messaging and his attempts to make himself look strong by issuing lots of executive orders.  He'll probably issue them at a record pace for the next 3 months.  Plus, he's trying to change the focus to anything but Covid.

    Parent
    That might do it (5.00 / 1) (#80)
    by CaptHowdy on Sun Jul 26, 2020 at 12:00:20 PM EST
    At least for a while.  The legal bobble heads seem to think even it it was stopped somehow legally the chaos could be severe.  Which is of course the point.

    Parent
    This is such a great idea. (none / 0) (#83)
    by Chuck0 on Sun Jul 26, 2020 at 03:03:12 PM EST
    Cause pulling a gun on someone who asks you to wear a mask is the answer to all this public health "lawlessness."

    Parent
    FOXNEWS (none / 0) (#85)
    by CaptHowdy on Sun Jul 26, 2020 at 03:52:14 PM EST
    This is what the Trumpists want... (none / 0) (#89)
    by desertswine on Sun Jul 26, 2020 at 06:07:18 PM EST
    it's the excuse they will use. - Riots and Lawlessness.  

    Parent
    Tallahassee principal calls for closing schools (none / 0) (#88)
    by john horse on Sun Jul 26, 2020 at 04:28:42 PM EST
    After the second Covid related death (a janitor and the after school director), the principal of the Fort Braden School in Tallahassee has asked that schools not reopen.  Here is a portion of his email.

    As a school leader, I cannot continue to see my school family mourn our friends and then tell them that "I can keep you safe when you come to school. " That would certainly be a lie and a slap in the face to the Byrd and Bradwell families as they grieve and plan memorial services for angels gone too soon.

    With what the Fort Braden School community has already endured, I cannot support a return to brick and mortar school and respectfully call on our state leaders to postpone the return of students to school buildings until such time as it is reasonably safe for all members of our school communities. Our students, staff, and personnel are not a gamble I am willing to take when lives hang in the balance.



    This is close to home for me. (none / 0) (#94)
    by ragebot on Sun Jul 26, 2020 at 11:32:39 PM EST
    In addition to functioning as a school Fort Braden is also where I voted in the last several elections since it is never crowded and there is no waiting in lines.

    As to opening schools there is a serious debate about this.  Not just at public schools but the big universities in Tallahassee (FSU, FAMU, TCC, and the for profit schools).  To a large extent this is driven by how much money FSU would lose if it did not open and the football team's revenue stream stopped.

    Truth be told I have been banned from Tomahawk Nation, the online site for FSU football fanboys.  My crime was posting that realistically FSU in particular and college football in general should not be playing in the 2020 season.

    Another consideration is that lots of parents can't work if they have to take care of their kids instead of sending them to school.  Not to mention lots of parents are paying lots of taxes to support schools and think they should be getting something for their money.

    It makes me sad to see so many folks not taking COVID-19 seriously.  I am convinced things will get worse before they get better; not to mention lots of predictions are there will be a second wave which may be as bad as the first.

    Bottom line is I don't really see any reasonable solution.  FSU is almost sure to see a huge hit in the revenue stream with fewer students and even if football is played it will be to more than half empty stadiums.  There is already something of a tax payers revolt over paying for primary and secondary education and getting nothing in return.  Thing is this is not just limited to Leon County, it is happening all over the country.  We are in for a long hard slog for the rest of 2020 and like for at least a couple of years after that.

    Parent

    A Reset is the only Solution (5.00 / 2) (#95)
    by john horse on Mon Jul 27, 2020 at 06:23:44 AM EST
    The only solution I see to Covid is to do what some health experts have called for, a reset.  

    You can't open schools (other than virtual) if Covid isn't under control.

    You can't reopen businesses or go back to business as usual if Covid isn't under control.

    You can't play football if Covid isn't under control.  (For those of you who may not understand this last point, as a FSU alumni, football is not just a sport, its a religion)

    I figure we have a month to get this virus under control.  We need to do a reset starting right now and do it right this time.  And by doing it right, I mean we need to start emulating those countries that have been successful in containing the virus. If only we had real leaders.  Instead (to quote the Rolling Stones) "we need leaders but get gamblers instead."

    Parent

    I dreamed Susan Rice was the VP pick (none / 0) (#96)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon Jul 27, 2020 at 08:21:12 AM EST
    It is not because of any particular conscious bias I have for picking her and I hate that I am dreaming about politics

    But she would be a good pick IMO.

    weird.

    She is in the (none / 0) (#97)
    by Ga6thDem on Mon Jul 27, 2020 at 08:55:30 AM EST
    running but whether she ends up as VP who knows?

    Parent
    You wonder how much of the stuff (none / 0) (#98)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon Jul 27, 2020 at 10:12:35 AM EST
    you read is planted.

    Recently Kamala is out because she is not sorry about whacking Biden in that debate and Karen Bass is in because she is the anti Kamala.

    I do think it might be the most important vp choice in a very long time.

    Parent

    But (none / 0) (#99)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon Jul 27, 2020 at 10:14:38 AM EST
    I resent dreaming about it.

    Parent
    I understand (5.00 / 1) (#100)
    by Ga6thDem on Mon Jul 27, 2020 at 10:56:00 AM EST
    Everybody needs a break from this kind of thing.

    Parent
    Finally (none / 0) (#102)
    by FlJoe on Tue Jul 28, 2020 at 06:59:13 AM EST
    Barr to testify before the HJC today.

    From PLAYBOOK (none / 0) (#103)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue Jul 28, 2020 at 09:51:08 AM EST
    HIGH-STAKES LEGISLATIVE DEBATES aren't always battles of ideas. They don't necessarily test the power of persuasion. They're staring contests between powerful political leaders who are trying to humiliate their opponents, and squeeze as much out of them as possible while seeking to achieve a political and policy victory that's palatable to the majority of their internal constituency -- their colleagues -- and their external constituency, the voters.

    NO ONE EXCELS at these affairs like Senate Majority Leader MITCH MCCONNELL and Speaker NANCY PELOSI -- the respective party leaders. And no one has watched from the sidelines and admired the negotiating game -- and longed to get in it -- like MARK MEADOWS, the former House Republican from North Carolina and current White House chief of staff.

    WASHINGTON IS NOW KICKING OFF what's shaping up to be a real cliffhanger over another round of coronavirus relief 98 DAYS before Election Day.

    A FEW IMPORTANT THINGS HAPPENED MONDAY, and they set the stage for what's to come. After much haggling over the weekend between the White House and Senate Republicans -- and plenty of bruised feelings -- MCCONNELL released his negotiation marker Monday.

    THE DETAILS matter less at this point because the real talks began Monday evening between PELOSI, MEADOWS, Treasury Secretary STEVEN MNUCHIN and Senate Minority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER. (MCCONNELL didn't join in, but in order for a bill to become a law, it has to go through him.) MEADOWS is seen by Republicans as a counterbalance to MNUCHIN, who has earned a reputation of working well with Democrats and backchanneling with SCHUMER.

    THE GENERAL CONSENSUS of aides in both parties, on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, is that Democrats have a healthy negotiating edge.

    Caps not mine

    can be a good source of daily rundown

    This (5.00 / 1) (#105)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue Jul 28, 2020 at 11:03:08 AM EST
    There was an amazing moment on Capitol Hill yesterday afternoon, when Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) unveiled his party's $1 trillion economic aid package. Asked why the bill, which McConnell's office ostensibly helped write, includes $1.75 billion for the FBI's headquarters, the Republican leader replied, "I'm not sure that it is" in the proposal.

    When an aide reminded McConnell that the money is, in fact, included in the package, the GOP senator said it was Donald Trump's White House that demanded the funding for the building. McConnell, apparently eager to pass the buck, added that it will be up to administration officials "to answer the question as to why they insisted on that."

    link

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    Watched another Michael Jackson documentary (none / 0) (#106)
    by McBain on Tue Jul 28, 2020 at 11:07:35 AM EST
    last night... Square One on Amazon Prime.  I think you can see it for free here on YouTube. This is a pro Jackson film that makes at least some of the accusations against him look questionable at best.

    After seeing this one and HBO's Leaving Neverland, I'm not sure what to think.  

    I have always been in the (none / 0) (#119)
    by Jeralyn on Wed Jul 29, 2020 at 04:18:33 AM EST
    Jackson support camp. But don't take my word for it, here's the opinion of a terrific legal analyst who attended the whole trial.

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    The Square One documentary (none / 0) (#126)
    by McBain on Wed Jul 29, 2020 at 10:42:25 AM EST
    make it seem that Jackson was more or less forced into settling his civil case because it was going to take place before the criminal trial and he didn't want to preview his defense to prosecutors.

    It also explains why Jackson's skin turned a lighter color over the years.... he had the skin condition vitiligo.  It looks like he was unfairly portrayed as a freak by many in the media because of his appearance and the early molestation accusations.

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    I have a friend with vitiligo. (none / 0) (#134)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Wed Jul 29, 2020 at 12:51:08 PM EST
    He is from Sri Lanka and the disease is visually striking. He, naturally, is very self-conscious of it.

    MJ's autopsy report indicated that he had "vitiligio." (sic)

    I like his music. I also believe his accusers.

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    autopsy. My eyes are a little blurry today!

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    OK, now I'm reading that cosmetic (none / 0) (#137)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Wed Jul 29, 2020 at 01:16:25 PM EST
    skin trauma, including skin bleaching, can cause vitiligo.

    Embarrassed that I wasted my time on this.

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    Perfect summer dinner tonight. (none / 0) (#108)
    by Peter G on Tue Jul 28, 2020 at 07:04:10 PM EST
    After yet another day of temps in the mid-90s, with the "chance of showers" not panning out. Gyros made from Trader Joe's thin-sliced gyro meat (defrosts and heats in microwave in under a minute), and chopped lettuce, cucumbers and tomatoes from the garden, slathered with (TJ's, sorry Zorba) tzatziki sauce, folded into nan rather than pita. With fresh corn on the cob on the side. And an Argentine torrontes (super refreshing, inexpensive white wine).

    Horrors! (5.00 / 1) (#132)
    by Zorba on Wed Jul 29, 2020 at 12:05:17 PM EST
    Store bought tzatziki sauce? Blasphemy!  It's not that hard to make, Peter.  Fishcamp has been making my recipe for a few years now.

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    Eating with others (none / 0) (#109)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue Jul 28, 2020 at 07:30:19 PM EST
    Is what I miss most
    When I retired from working lunch with coworkers was the only thing I missed.    Now this.

    That sounds delicious.  My deck tomatoes have not been super productive

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    Don't ever think it can't get weirder (none / 0) (#110)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue Jul 28, 2020 at 07:39:00 PM EST
    Or that there might be a bottom

    Trumps new favorite doctor says the government has been infiltrated by Reptilian Aliens

    And other things.

    I do love it when the subject turns to dreams


    Immanuel has claimed in the past that some gynecological ailments are caused by people having s€x in a dream-world with demons, with the demonic sem€n as the origins of the afflictions.



    Don't knock sex in a dream-world with demons. (none / 0) (#111)
    by desertswine on Tue Jul 28, 2020 at 07:55:10 PM EST
    I know it doesn't sound too appetizing but it's better than you think.

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    The doc is a pediatrician (none / 0) (#112)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue Jul 28, 2020 at 08:09:30 PM EST
    And the subject there is gynecology

    It reminded me of one of my favorite lines in any movie.  It's is the movie called The Game.  Very good movie with Michael Douglas and Sean Penn.

    Douglas plays a lost rich a-hole who finds himself as a result of a high stakes high priced game for very rich people.

    I know.  Anyway, at some point Douglas character is dismissively talking about someone and says

    "He's a pedestrian.  Or a gynecologist.  Or a pediatric gynecologist"

    It just stuck  in my head but I never expected to see a real one.

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    Thoughts about the Barr testimony (none / 0) (#113)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue Jul 28, 2020 at 08:19:39 PM EST
    1.  It did not go well for Barr.  Or for republicans in general.

    2.  I don't think Barr cares about that or thinks it matters very much.

    3.  I'm really worried he might be right.


    Barr (5.00 / 1) (#121)
    by FlJoe on Wed Jul 29, 2020 at 07:27:35 AM EST
    had three objectives
    1. cover his own sorry ass(stay just below the level of perjury).

    2. cover tRump's ass(deflect and lie just up to the level of perjury).

    3. promote  the narrative that he is just an honest law man protecting America against the antifa hordes.

    I think he probably succeeded in number one by being extremely weaselly and wormy.

    Only partly successful at number two because he kept bumping up against number one.

    Number three is the Republican narrative and they are sticking to it no matter what but he wasn't as good at it as Jordan and the rest of the screamers.

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    At least (4.00 / 1) (#114)
    by KeysDan on Tue Jul 28, 2020 at 08:53:44 PM EST
    the felon John Mitchell resigned as Attorney General in the criminal Nixon Administration before he became Nixon's campaign manager.  Barr seems to be double-tasking as well as weaponizing the US Department of Justice as a part of his job as Trump fixer.  Don't know if Roy Cohn could do any better.

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    At least (none / 0) (#115)
    by KeysDan on Tue Jul 28, 2020 at 08:54:49 PM EST
    the felon John Mitchell resigned as Attorney General in the criminal Nixon Administration before he became Nixon's campaign manager.  Barr seems to be double-tasking as well as weaponizing the US Department of Justice as a part of his job as Trump fixer.  Don't know if Roy Cohn could do any better.

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    Who would have guessed (none / 0) (#116)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue Jul 28, 2020 at 09:14:14 PM EST
    We would come to miss dog whistles and sub text.

    They are not even trying anymore.

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    I tried to watch the Barr show. I really did. (none / 0) (#117)
    by desertswine on Tue Jul 28, 2020 at 09:38:51 PM EST
    I listened to Nadler's opening.  He was good, sharp, if not a bit boring.  And then Jordan came on.  The minute I heard that whiney, good-ol boy know it all voice, my blood pressure must have risen a hundred points.  Just when I felt that blood was going to start pouring out of my ears, I saved myself and turned it off.

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    I did not watch the whole thing (none / 0) (#122)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed Jul 29, 2020 at 07:47:41 AM EST
    And I also turned Jordon off.

    I tuned in on and off the whole day.  I did not think democrats were that great.  I thought the grandstanding was less effective than actually making Barr talk.   Some of them seemed to be trying to keep Barr from talking.  Which seemed really stupid to me.  You wait for ever to get this guy under oath and all you do is rant and grandstand.

    But the republicans I saw were way way worse.  

    My impression of Barr's message was yeah, I did it.  And I'll go it again.  So what.

    I thought his comments about the election were the scariest.

    I heard him say I will do whatever I can do with the thinnest veneer of legality to get what we want.

    I'm sure he will.

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    Watched (none / 0) (#123)
    by FlJoe on Wed Jul 29, 2020 at 08:35:22 AM EST
    most of it, and actually thought the Democrats did a decent job. Everybody in the world knew they were never going to get a straight answer from him so they mostly cut him off at the first weasel word, asked him a direct yes or no,or just lectured him on his transgressions without even letting him defend himself(straight out of the Repug playbook, Jordan was outraged!).

    I think they kept him off his by not allowing him to "dominate" the session with his accomplished BS skills and when they forced him to actually telling the truth or giving a sound bite answer that at the very least put his weasel ways on full display.

    Even Nadler did better than usual  

    Jerry Nadler: (04:00)
    Now, yes or no, have you discussed the president's reelection campaign with the president, or with any White House official, or any surrogate of the president?

    William Barr: (04:10)
    Well I'm not going to get into my discussions with the president.

    Jerry Nadler: (04:12)
    Have you discussed that topic with him, yes or no?

    William Barr: (04:15)
    Not in relation to this program.

    Jerry Nadler: (04:17)
    I didn't ask that. I asked if you discussed that-

    William Barr: (04:20)
    I'm a member of the Cabinet and there's an election going on. Obviously the topic comes up.

    Jerry Nadler: (04:24)
    So the answer's yes. The answer's yes.

    William Barr: (04:24)
    Well, the topic comes up in Cabinet meetings and other things.

    That "other things" says a whole lot.

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    The Toady General (none / 0) (#139)
    by desertswine on Wed Jul 29, 2020 at 01:30:39 PM EST
    is certainly an arrogant man.

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    Looks like Kamala for VP (none / 0) (#130)
    by MKS on Wed Jul 29, 2020 at 11:34:15 AM EST
    Maybe Rice for State.

    That's OK with me. (none / 0) (#136)
    by KeysDan on Wed Jul 29, 2020 at 01:03:16 PM EST
    That is the selection I would advise, if asked (which I will not be). In addition to committing to a woman, Joe Biden did say, at one point, that all things being equal, he would look to one of the primary contenders.

    Susan Rice is experienced in national security and foreign affairs. A good pairing, to restore our international standing,  would be Pete Buttigieg as UN Ambassador.

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    Kamala would be good (none / 0) (#138)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed Jul 29, 2020 at 01:25:56 PM EST
    I sort of hope it's not Rice.  Not because I think she would not be totally up to the job but because I'm not crazy about living in a world where my dreams come true.

    I've seen that movie

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    IMO (none / 0) (#141)
    by Ga6thDem on Wed Jul 29, 2020 at 02:40:31 PM EST
    Rice would be okay but her experience has basically been outside of running for office. Really need someone who understands the political situation and a prosecutor is a plus these days IMO.

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    Wait, that's a bad thing? (5.00 / 2) (#145)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed Jul 29, 2020 at 03:56:20 PM EST
    "Some of Joe Biden's allies are waging a campaign behind the scenes to stop Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) from becoming his vice president," CNBC reports.

    "The concerns focus on her attacks on Biden during a primary debate last year, bringing into question her loyalty to the former vice president. Some also argue that she's too ambitious and that she will be solely focused on eventually becoming president."



    Parent
    There (5.00 / 1) (#150)
    by FlJoe on Wed Jul 29, 2020 at 05:28:20 PM EST
    well be reasons not to pick her but that "attack", no matter fair or foul, might as well happened eons ago in a far away land, on the time scale of modern politics at least.

    These "allies" are just bringing this out now? BS.

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    Grr (none / 0) (#147)
    by Ga6thDem on Wed Jul 29, 2020 at 04:38:56 PM EST
    Biden is at the age where a lot of men keel over and die. He needs to realize that. Yes, only men are allowed to be ambitious apparently. Women being ambitious is apparently very bad.

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    That's not Biden (none / 0) (#148)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed Jul 29, 2020 at 04:45:00 PM EST
    It's Biden supporters

    I do not think Biden had much to do with that.  The "accidentally viewed notes" seems convenient also.

    IMO if some one is trying to stop her, it's probably her.

    Parent

    Chris Dodd (none / 0) (#149)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed Jul 29, 2020 at 04:47:25 PM EST
    Rumored to be behind it.

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    Chris Dodd (5.00 / 2) (#153)
    by MO Blue on Wed Jul 29, 2020 at 07:45:31 PM EST
    IMO Biden made a mistake in bringing Dodd into his campaign.

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    Seriously (none / 0) (#140)
    by Ga6thDem on Wed Jul 29, 2020 at 02:38:19 PM EST
    all I'm hearing now is Rice for VP though I think Kamala would be a much better pick.

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    Great little video (none / 0) (#154)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Jul 30, 2020 at 06:57:02 AM EST
    Why does he act like (none / 0) (#155)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Jul 30, 2020 at 06:58:59 AM EST
    He doesn't care about winning?  

    why Trump might quit

    Hadn't thought of that (none / 0) (#156)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Jul 30, 2020 at 07:52:17 AM EST

    Donald J. Trump
    @realDonaldTrump
    ·
    13m
    With Universal Mail-In Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good), 2020 will be the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history. It will be a great embarrassment to the USA. Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???
    8.9K
    8.2K
    15K

    3 question marks!!!

    HEH!!! (none / 0) (#157)
    by jmacWA on Thu Jul 30, 2020 at 08:04:46 AM EST
    If they are going to suggest this, why not delay the election until the Republicans are assured to take the House, Senate, and Presidency.  You know that's what they want.

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    This is of course (5.00 / 1) (#158)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Jul 30, 2020 at 08:27:58 AM EST
    Something to keep the bobble heads busy while the senate allows the country to slide into economic catastrophe as millions are evicted and hungry.

    That said it should be talked about

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    Constituional Daily: (none / 0) (#163)
    by KeysDan on Thu Jul 30, 2020 at 10:17:26 AM EST
    Does the Constitution allow for a delayed presidential election?  Presents Constitutional requirements and election law analysis.  

    No election has been delayed, including the presidential election of 1864 during the Civil War.

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    At least one Republican says NO (none / 0) (#165)
    by MO Blue on Thu Jul 30, 2020 at 10:52:45 AM EST
    A Republican lawmaker broke with President Trump on Thursday and said he would oppose any attempts to delay the November election after Trump floated the idea.

    "Reminder: Election dates are set by Congress," Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) tweeted in response to the president. "And I will oppose any attempts to delay the #2020Election."

    The Hill



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