Some Very Bad Ish

While our eyes are focused on the Supreme Court, Donald Trump is rolling out other aspects of an authoritarian agenda, and quickly. Today the DOJ labeled Seattle, Portland, and New York as "anarchist jurisdictions," whateverthefuck that means, as a pretext for withdrawing federal funds. 

In response to FBI Director Christopher Wray saying the Russians at it again, and the CDC saying a vaccine will take a long time, we got this from Trump.

It goes on and on. This week the CDC posted, then pulled down, guidance that said the coronavirus passes not just in droplets but in aerosols--in other words, it spreads way farther than 6 feet, especially in indoor venues. This is bizarre because the WHO was on the case about this months ago. But apparently the CDC can't release scary news.

And it's still about Russia. Asked who he thinks poisoned Alexey Navalny with Russia's nerve agent of choice, Trump just couldn't say Putin. Not even in a whisper. "Uh... we'll talk about that at another time."

Russia, you say? Lawyers for WikiLinks founder Julian Assange told a British court that Trump offered Assange a pardon for clearing up the 2016 Russian interference story. Right? 

This one is probably silly, but Trump's latest campaign is to accuse Joe Biden of taking performance enhancing drugs. I mean, if he can drive a sports car and ride a bicycle, there must be some nefarious explanation, right? He trotted out that line at a Minnesota rally, where he also offered this gem straight from the Nazi Handbook of Modern Nephrology. This one's not so silly. It's damn terrifying.

You have good genes, you know that, right? You have good genes. A lot of it is about the genes, isn't it, don't you believe? The racehorse theory. You think we're so different? You have good genes in Minnesota.

You might say none of these is as big a deal as the Supreme Court. Maybe you're right. But remember, they take advantage of spotlights to do skeevy little things in the dark.

The Things You Said: A Rough Week for Trump

Donald Trump got to do his favorite thing this week, holding a mask-free rally in North Carolina. He tried to announce an election day vaccine, but the drug companies shockingly displayed some integrity and advised caution.

But two things came out this week that deeply hurt Trump. 

First, the Atlantic reported that during his messy trip to France in 2018, Trump refused to visit the graves of Americans who lost their lives in battle, partly because he didn't want the weather to muss his hair and partly because he doesn't respect soldiers who die or suffer serious injury in battle. He referred to American war dead as "losers" and "suckers." Moreover, he asked that military parades exclude wounded veterans because "Nobody wants to see that."

Ouch. For a guy who counts on the military--who won military votes in 2016, this struck a nerve. Trump and his allies lashed out immediately to deny the report.

But Fox News reporter Jennifer Griffin confirmed the Atlantic story, along with just about every other major news outlet. Trump called on Fox to fire Griffin, but he also took a very strange line with the military. In a Labor Day press conference Trump trotted out this line:

It's one of the reasons the military  — I'm not saying the military is in love with me; the soldiers are. The top people in the Pentagon probably aren’t because they want to do nothing but fight wars so that all of those wonderful companies that make the bombs and make the planes and make everything else stay happy.

All this when Trump's support among the military, commissioned and enlisted, is crumbling. A New Military Times poll has Joe Biden leading Trump by six points among the troops, 43-37. (In October 2016, Trump led Hillary by 20 points in the same poll.) Trump's favorability among the troops is now at -12, the worst of his presidency.

Trump went after the officers because the poll shows that 59 percent of them view Trump unfavorably, as opposed to "only" 47 percent of enlisted personnel. 

The second disaster for Trump involves reporting by Bob Woodward, who has Trump on tape from back in February admitting that he knew how bad the pandemic could get, he knew how deadly Covid-19 was, and yet he played down the threat. With 200,000 Americans dead, this quote won't play well.

I wanted to always play it down. I still like playing it down, because I don’t want to create a panic.

And a new study from the Institute of Labor Economics estimates that the Sturgis, SD, motorcycle rally has led to 250,000 coronavirus infections with estimated public health costs of over $12 billion. Dr. Evil would be impressed.

The corruption continues, of course. We've learned that Postmaster General Louis DeJoy illegally paid employees to donate to Republican candidates when he was still in the business world. And Attorney General William Barr plans to use DOJ resources to defend Trump in a civil case against a woman who claims he sexually assaulted her. You and I are paying Trump's personal legal defenses. And we're getting reports that Trump has discussed holding aid to California during its worst wildfire season ever because it's a blue state.

With Joe Biden over 50% in most national polls--territory Hillary Clinton never visited--it's gonna be very, very hard for Trump to redeem his chances. Largely because of things he's said himself.

Just Makin Ish Up Now

Donald Trump has always been a liar. He's always made stuff up. We knew that before he ran for president, before he was a birther even. Sports journalist Rick O'Reilly named it for what it was back in 2004.

But we're in a new moment with this race thing. Trump wants you to believe that entire cities are convulsed with violence when that simply isn't the case. Last week I was in a conversation with someone I truly love. Some of it went something like this.

He: I was talking with a friend from Portland last night, and he said everything's pretty much normal. The rioting is just about three blocks.

I: I know that. It's being reported all over the place, and I have friends in Portland too. 

He: Yeah, but nobody really cares how many Blacks are killing each other in Chicago. There are all these riots, but nobody's doing anything about Chicago.

It's chilling, the effect Fox News has on people. And Trump is counting on it. 

In an interview with Laura Ingraham last night, Trump went into full-on Nazi/Stalinist/Trumpist fabrication mode. Here are samples, provided by CNN.

Portland has been burning for many years. For decades, it's been burning, but now it's gotten to a point they don't want to do -- I watched the mayor try and get in with these people.

 Having said you'd be surprised who controls Joe Biden, Trump followed up: People that you've never heard of, people that are in the dark shadows.

We had somebody get on a plane from a certain city this weekend. And in the plane, it was almost completely loaded with thugs wearing these dark uniforms, black uniforms with gear and this and that. They're on a plane.... I'll tell you sometime, but it's under investigation right now. But they came from a certain city, and this person was coming to the Republican National Convention. And there were like seven people on the plane like this person and then a lot of people were on the plane to do big damage. 

It's not just Trump, it's administration policy. In Kenosha today Attorney General William Barr said that "prior to the rioting in the city last week, federal agents stationed in Chicago picked up information that 'violent instigators' from California, Washington state and Chicago were traveling to Kenosha to carry out attacks against law enforcement." (Quotation not from Barr himself but a paraphrase by ABC's Alex Mallin.)

Clearly we're at the "They'll make up anything" stage when it comes to stirring up racial animosity. And people believe it. Two months to go, and it's getting nothing but uglier. 

By the way, in Kenosha today Trump asked where Rance Priebus was. You know, Trump's FIRST chief of staff? "Where's my Rance?"