The Conversation -- October 3, 2024

Mead Gruver of the AP: ?A judge ripped into a Colorado county clerk for her crimes and lies before sentencing her Thursday to nine years behind bars for a data-breach scheme spawned from the rampant false claims about voting machine fraud in the 2020 presidential race. District Judge Matthew Barrett told former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters -- after earlier sparring with her for continuing to press discredited claims about rigged voting machines -- that she never took her job seriously. 'I am convinced you would do it all over again if you could. You're as defiant as any defendant this court has ever seen,' Barrett told her in handing down the sentence. 'You are no hero. You abused your position and you're a charlatan.' Jurors found Peters guilty in August for allowing a man to misuse a security card to access to the Mesa County election system and for being deceptive about that person's identity. The man was affiliated with My Pillow chief executive Mike Lindell, a prominent promoter of false claims that voting machines were manipulated to steal the election from ... Donald Trump. The discredited claims trace back to Trump himself...."

Sickly Old Man Running for Prez* Again. Emily Baumgaertner & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "As a presidential candidate in 2015, Donald J. Trump declined to release his medical records, instead offering a four-paragraph letter from his personal doctor proclaiming that he would be 'the healthiest person ever elected to the presidency.' In 2020, when he was hospitalized with Covid and running for re-election, Mr. Trump's doctors gave minimal information about his condition, which, it emerged later, was far more dire than their public descriptions let on. In 2024, days before becoming the official Republican presidential nominee for the third time, he was grazed by a would-be assassin's bullet, yet his campaign did not hold a briefing on his condition, release hospital records or make the emergency physicians who treated him available for interview. Now, just over a month from an election that could make Mr. Trump, 78, the oldest person ever to serve as president (82 years, 7 months and 6 days when his term would end in January 2029), he is refusing to release even the most basic information about his health."

Maggie Astor of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump said on Wednesday that, if elected again, he would revoke the legal status of tens of thousands of Haitian immigrants who have been the target of false accusations by the former president and his running mate, Senator JD Vance of Ohio, over the past month. Mr. Trump's administration tried to do that during his first term, too, but courts temporarily blocked it, and President Biden's administration renewed the immigrants' status after he took office in 2021. The immigrants in question are living and working in the United States legally through the Temporary Protected Status program, which Congress created in 1990 for people from countries experiencing war, natural disasters or other crises. The Department of Homeland Security designates countries for up to 18 months at a time based on the current conditions, and the designation can be renewed indefinitely. Haiti was initially added in 2010, under President Barack Obama, after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake devastated the country. It has since experienced a major hurricane and a cholera epidemic." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Let us hope Trump's cruel announcement helps those dithering "undecideds" understand that nobody is safe when the Nastiest Turdblossom in the USA is president*, so they'd better vote for Harris.

Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "Melania Trump, the former first lady, said in a video on Thursday that there was 'no room for compromise' on a woman's right to 'individual freedom,' a day after a reported excerpt from her coming memoir said she supported abortion rights. Mrs. Trump's comments landed as ... Donald J. Trump and his party are trying to soften their opposition to abortion, a key issue threatening his support with female voters and his attempt to return to the White House. They were released in a promotional video for a new memoir scheduled for release on Tuesday. Her husband, who opposes federal abortion rights and has taken credit for helping overturn Roe v. Wade, did not immediately comment." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Oh, super-duper. The first lady has no role in government, Trump & elected Republican men think of women as child-producing chattel & Melanie is hardly ever home except maybe when designing blood-red decor for the Christmas party. So I hope all you young women are feeling safe and protected now that the future First Lady in Absentia might have said she supports abortion rights. Think she's gonna rush in to the Oval & tear up the national abortion ban bill while Donald is still in the residence fixing his hair? I don't. ~~~

     ~~~ Steve M.: "Some people might think Melania Trump is going rogue, but this looks like strategy to me[.]... I don't think it's a coincidence that this was timed for just after the vice presidential debate -- J.D. Vance has been much more of an anti-abortion zealot than Donald Trump...." ~~~

     ~~~ Oh, Look, More Strategery. Martin Pengelly of the Guardian: "Melania Trump describes in her new memoir how she made her husband ... Donald Trump drop a signature hardline immigration policy under which migrant children were separated from their parents, stoking domestic and international uproar. 'This has to stop,' the former first lady says she told her husband, 'emphasizing the trauma it was causing these families' and seeing him swiftly comply, ending the policy on 20 June 2018." ~~~

~~~ Hadas Gold & Pamela Brown of CNN: "Nearly two months ago, CNN reached out to Melania Trump's book publisher to request an interview with the former first lady ahead of her upcoming memoir. After several exchanges about a possible interview..., Skyhouse Publishing laid out strict terms for an interview and use of material from the book.... On top of that, the agreement stipulated that 'CNN shall pay a licensing fee of two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000).' CNN did not sign the agreement. Days later, after a separate CNN journalist asked Skyhorse Publishing about the exorbitant interview fee, the publisher said it had sent the payment demand by mistake.... Paying a public figure for an interview, especially the spouse of a political candidate, is highly frowned upon in most newsrooms...."

Marcy Wheeler: "John Roberts not only rewrote the Constitution to protect Donald Trump. He forced prosecutors to spend 14 pages arguing that it is not among the job duties of the President of the United States to attack Republicans who've crossed him on Twitter.... This is the all-powerful President John Roberts wants to have. Someone who can sit in his dining room siccing mobs on fellow Republicans.... The 14 pages analyzing mean Tweets follows the analysis of two rally speeches, in which prosecutors first show the January 4 Georgia speech was a campaign event, and then (among other things) lay out the similarity between that speech and Trump's January 6 one. Among the things Trump included in both speeches was an attack on the Supreme Court: '... [Georgia...]: 'I'm not happy with the Supreme Court. They are not stepping up to the plate. They're not stepping up.' Ellipse...: 'I'm not happy with the Supreme Court. They love to rule against me.'... The inclusion of Trump's attacks on them also might get these partisan hacks to think more seriously about the nearly identical exhortations Trump made on Truth Social before they decided to rewrite the Constitution in his favor." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I am convinced that John Roberts' Immunity Ruling for the Ages was his attempt to regain his "relevance." Clarence, Sam & the Three Trump Stooges were going to rule for Trump anyway, so Roberts just wanted to get back in the majority club. He did it with a splash, didn't he? (Maybe a splash of Eau de Roger Taney, but oh well.)

Danielle Douglas-Gabriel of the Washington Post: "A federal judge will allow a temporary restraining order that prevented President Joe Biden from discharging student loan debt for more than 25 million Americans to expire Thursday, clearing the way for the administration to move forward with the plan. The decision delivers a small victory in the Biden administration's ongoing fight to alleviate federal student loan debt..." MB: The reasoning behind the order is complicated, as is what may happen next; you'll just have to read these article. Here's the NBC News story, which may be a tad clearer than the WashPo report, but the underlying facts are still complicated.

~~~~~~~~~~

Presidential Race

We are here for the long haul. -- Kamala Harris, in Augusta, Georgia, Wednesday ~~~

Erica Green of the New York Times: "Vice President Kamala Harris surveyed damage from Hurricane Helene on Wednesday in Georgia, promising residents that the federal government was rushing to help with the recovery.... Standing in front of a house covered in fallen trees in the Meadowbrook neighborhood of Augusta, Ga., Ms. Harris announced that the federal government would cover 100 percent of the costs of debris removal and other emergency protective measures for three months to help the state recover. She described how much of the community did not have power, with many lacking access to water, and how she had met one woman who lost her husband. She called the damage 'extraordinary' and the loss of life 'particularly devastating.' Ms. Harris also met with local officials and received a briefing on recovery efforts, during which she praised emergency responders who were working even amid their own personal struggles...." ~~~

~~~ Chris Megerian, et al., of the AP: "Vice President Kamala Harris handed out meals, embraced a shaken family and surveyed Hurricane Helene's 'extraordinary' path of destruction through Georgia on Wednesday as she left the campaign trail to pledge federal help and personally take in scenes of toppled trees, damaged homes and lives upended. She visited Augusta, where power lines stretched along the sidewalk and utility poles lay cracked and broken.... Harris and President Joe Biden, who visited the Carolinas on Wednesday, were seeking to demonstrate commitment and competence in helping devastated communities after Republican ... Donald Trump's false claims about their administration's response.... Harris also toured a Red Cross relief center and received a briefing from local officials, praising those working to 'meet the needs of people who must be seen and must be heard.'"

Shane Goldmacher & Reid Epstein of the New York Times: "Vice President Kamala Harris has cast herself as a candidate of the future, but she has been yanked back by the problems of the present as the Middle East lurches toward a wider war, a longshoremen's strike threatens to undermine the country's economy and Americans across the Southeast struggle to recover from a deadly hurricane.... The rare moment of turbulence for Ms. Harris interrupts what has been mostly smooth sailing in her two months as the Democratic presidential nominee. It also captures a conundrum of the vice presidency, a prestigious if mostly ceremonial posting.... The overlapping developments just as the calendar turned to October were a reminder that while Ms. Harris has framed her candidacy as a fresh start for the nation, she very much is part of the administration still in charge."

Marin Scotten of Salon ties Trump's cancelling a traditional "60 Minutes" interview to "an especially scattered and hard to follow" press conference Trump gave in Milwaukee Tuesday. "Several of his remarks were unintelligible, including a claim that Democrats want to 'keep Black and Hispanic children trapped in family government.'"

Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "Half an hour into Tuesday night's vice-presidential debate, JD Vance lodged a whiny protest. 'Margaret,' he said to moderator Margaret Brennan of CBS News, 'the rules were that you guys weren't going to fact-check!' It was a lie on top of another lie, supplemented by a pair of other lies, in support of an even bigger lie. There was no 'rule' against fact-checking. And Vance had just told a whopper. He had alleged that, in Springfield, Ohio, 'you've got schools that are overwhelmed, you've got hospitals that are overwhelmed, you have got housing that is totally unaffordable because we brought in millions of illegal immigrants.'... The senator said Harris 'became the appointed border czar.' She received no such appointment.... There is no 'open border.'..., and the thousands of Haitian migrants ... have legal status.... He said 'over $100 billion' of Iranian assets were unfrozen 'thanks to the Kamala Harris administration.'... Kamala Harris isn't the president.... On health care, he served up the howler of the night when he said that Trump 'saved' the 'collapsing' Affordable Care Act.... In reality, of course, Trump tried his best to kill Obamacare.... Vance capped the night by saying that Trump 'peacefully' surrendered power four years ago." (Also linked yesterday.)

JayDee, Junior Scapegoater. Rachel Siegel of the Washington Post: "Throughout Tuesday's vice-presidential debate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) blamed soaring housing costs on a spike in immigration over the past few years -- promising that a crackdown on illegal immigration and 'kicking out illegal immigrants who are competing for those homes' would help affordability.... That claim has been debunked by economists and housing experts, who say that other forces have played a much bigger role in driving up prices and that illegal immigration is not a top reason prices are high. Immigration may be helping to keep rents elevated in some areas, though. Foreign-born workers also make up roughly a third of the construction workforce, a crucial part of the push to build millions of new homes and fix years-long shortages. That means the strict immigration crackdown Vance and ... Donald Trump are proposing could send prices even higher." ~~~

     ~~~ Junior Scapegoater, Ctd. Jasmine Garsd of NPR highlights some more ills that during the debate JayDee blamed on immigrants, such as claiming they lowered U.S. citizens' wages. "Most labor economists disagree with the claim that immigrants depress native-born worker wages.... He falsely claimed guns are smuggled into the U.S. over the border with Mexico (in fact, it's the other way around).... Both candidates spoke about fentanyl as related to immigration, which remains a pervasive myth: Fentanyl is overwhelmingly brought into the U.S. by people crossing legally, through ports of entry. The street supply of fentanyl is also drying up."

Philip Bump of the Washington Post elaborates on a point both Zack Beauchamp of Vox & Will Saletan of the Bulwark made in posts linked here yesterday: that Trump & "his allies are making it clear, repeatedly, that the only outcome they will accept without hesitation is one where he is the victor." Marie: And I am here to remind you that none of this would be an issue if we had direct election of presidents because the difference between the number of votes cast for Harris & for Trump is likely to be in the millions.

⭐ Alan Feuer & Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "In a sprawling legal brief partly unseale on Wednesday, the special counsel, Jack Smith, laid out his case for why ... Donald J. Trump is not immune from prosecution on federal charges of plotting to overturn the 2020 election. The redacted brief, made public by Judge Tanya S. Chutkan of the Federal District Court in Washington, adds new details to the already extensive public record of how Mr. Trump lost the race but attempted nonetheless to cling to power." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ "So What?" Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "The much-anticipated 165-page filing from special counsel Jack Smith offers a searing portrayal of Trump just a month before the 2024 election. It describes in more extensive detail than before how many people -- including Vice President Mike Pence, party and state leaders, his own campaign officials, his own campaign lawyers, and others -- told Trump there was no proof the election was stolen, and how Trump nonetheless waged a campaign to overturn the result. Prosecutors reconstructed behind-the-scenes interactions, including one in which an aide rushed to the dining room to share with Trump, who had been watching the events on TV and tweeting, that action was being taken to ensure the safety of Pence, who was in the Capitol building. 'The defendant looked at him and said only, the filing alleges." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Katelyn Polantz, et al., of CNN: "The 165-page document comes from Smith"s office and is the fullest accounting yet of evidence in the election subversion case against Trump. Throughout the document, Smith argues that the actions Trump took to overturn the election were in his private capacity -- as a candidate -- rather than in his official capacity, as a president.... The filing weaves together what prominent witnesses told a federal grand jury and the FBI about Trump, along with other never-before-disclosed evidence investigators gathered about the former president's actions leading up to and on January 6, 2021." (Also linked yesterday.)

When the defendant lost the 2020 presidential election, he resorted to crimes to try to stay in office. -- Motion for Immunity Determinations, p. 3

Under the Constitution, the Executive Branch has no constitutionally assigned role in the state-electoral process. To the contrary, the constitutional framework excludes the President from that process to protect against electoral abuses. -- Motion, p. 111 ~~~

     ⭐ ~~~ The motion is here. (Via CNN.) (Also linked yesterday.) MB: I found this CBS News copy of the motion to be more easily searchable. ~~~

     ~~~ Melissa Quinn & Robert Legare of CBS News have a "key takeaways" report here. It summarizes a good deal of detail that appears in the motion. ~~~

     ~~~ "So What," "Make Them Riot," "It Doesn't Matter if You Won or Lost the Election." Aaron Blake of the Washington Post analyzes the impact of some of the evidence which the motion newly makes public. Dan Friedman of Mother Jones also has a good summary of the new evidence in the motion and its significance. ~~~

     ~~~ Rachel Maddow said on-air that even though she knew much of the detail laid out in the motion, Smith's narrative put it together for her in a way that others had not. (Without citing chapter & verse), she gave as an example of this passage on p. 81: "The defendant issued the incendiary Tweet about Pence despite knowing -- as he would later admit in an interview in 2023 -- that his supporters 'listen to [him] like no one else.' One minute later, at 2:25 p.m., the Secret Service was forced to evacuate Pence to a secure location." You don't need to be a genius to suspect cause-and-effect here. ~~~

     ~~~ "Accessories After the Fact." Scott Lemieux in LG&$: "It's infuriating to be reminded in such detail about the behavior that the Republicans on the Supreme Court sought to immunize, particularly since any 'opinion for the ages' horseshit notwithstanding the opinion was clearly tailored to provide the broadest possible immunity for specifically for Trump's attempt to violently steal the election. John Roberts, Clarence Thomas, Sam Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett are all full in knowing accessories after the fact to the Plot Against America." Lemieux republishes a portion of Rick Hasen's firewalled Slate essay, noting that "Hasen observes that Jack Smith's brief is as much an indictment of John Roberts and the Dred Scott of the 21st century as it is of Trump."

Marie: Speaking of "searing portraits" of Trump, RAS shares this one. It is not a portrait that will come as a surprise to you, but it is a second-hand account that puts meat on the bones of many an article we've linked about Trump's stiffing contractors.

Marie: Two days ago, I linked to a New York Times story that reported, "In his remarks, the former president repeatedly said that he had come bearing gifts to help the disaster response: semitrailer trucks filled with relief supplies and a tanker of gas, distributed by the evangelical Christian humanitarian aid group Samaritan's Purse. Still, as he underlined his contributions to the storm response...." So just maybe that left you with the impression that Trump had at least dug into his campaign coffers, if not his personal piggy bank, to bring along rolls of paper towels to lob at desperate residents. In fact, Trump, his campaign and some right-wing media outfits also left that impression, if they didn't say so unequivocally. BUT NO. According to J.D. Wolf of MeidasTouch Network (a partisan liberal site), it appears that Franklin Graham's outfit Samaritan's Purse was wholly responsible for buying, packing, delivering & distributing the truckloads of relief supplies.

digby -- with help from Chris Hayes (I got a virus-warning message on the link to Hayes' article); Rick Perlstein, writing in the American Prospect, & psychologist Julie Hotard, writing on X -- examines the mindset of the "undecided voter." They are not, as journalists repeatedly tell us, dithering over whether they like Trump's healthcare plan (oops! he doesn't have one quite yet) or Harris's reproductive rights policies. Nope, the "undecided voter" is trying to decide between falling into the fascist fantasy that Trump will protect them and ... reality. ~~~

     ~~~ And Paul Campos, in LG&$, highlights this coda to Perlstein's essay: "I certainly don't disagree that Trump is becoming more cognitively impaired and out of touch with reality. But might not these impairments render him a better fascist seducer, as his invitations to infantile regression become ever more primal, ever more basic, ever more pure?" Campos: "This is disturbingly plausible. In other words, Trump's decompensation is allowing him, either consciously or semi-consciously or even unconsciously, to deliver the uncut version of the ideological meth he;s been selling for nine and a half years now." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I disagree with the original premise though I go along with the idea that Trump's own infantalism may be exceptionally appealing to the infantile undecided voters. Still, I think every voter -- including the vast majority of us "decided voters" -- is looking for a protector. Most of us are realistic, many to the point of cynacism, about just how much protection we'll actually get. But what divvies us into right and left camps is the question of just what the dangers are -- that is, what we need protection from. As JayDee amply demonstrated, people on the right seem to think they need protection from immigrants, for instance. Or from overreaching government that would take away their guns and make them wear protective gear in certain situations. Or from taxes. Those of us on the left want protection from overreaching government, too, but the difference is where the government is doing its overreach: into the doctor's office? Into our bedrooms? Onto the streets where we're peacefully protesting? Into our libraries? We also want protection from the natural & periodic vicissitudes: hunger, unaffordable shelter, illness, old age. We want protection from bad actors -- like gunslingers and crooks -- as well as from physical dangers -- and inhospitable surroundings -- like crappy bridges & roads, not to mention climate-change-induced catastrophic weather events.

Zach Montague & Jacey Fortin of the New York Times: "President Biden on Wednesday took an aerial tour of the devastation from Hurricane Helene and ordered the Pentagon to deploy up to 1,000 active-duty troops to assist with aid efforts as rescue workers continued dangerous rescue missions in remote mountain communities. Mr. Biden's visit to the Carolinas came as the death toll from the storm rose to more than 17 people on Wednesday, making Helene the deadliest hurricane to strike the mainland United States since Katrina, which caused nearly 1,400 deaths in 2005, according to statistics from the National Hurricane Center." (Also linked yesterday.)

~~~~~~~~~~

Israel/Palestine, et al.

The Washington Post's live updates of developments Thursday in Israel's wars are here: "An Israeli airstrike in Beirut's Bachoura neighborhood killed six people and injured seven others, Lebanon's Health Ministry said. It was the second and deadliest airstrike inside the capital since Israel's conflict with Hezbollah began. The late-night strike hit the office of the Islamic Health Authority, a health services institution run by Hezbollah, and paramedics were among the casualties, an IHA spokesperson said. The Israel Defense Forces said it conducted a 'precise strike' in Beirut. In southern Lebanon, Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants engaged in what appeared to be their first direct ground confrontations." ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times' live updates for Thursday are here.

Yasmeen Abutaleb, et al., of the Washington Post: "The White House is working to limit the Israeli response to the barrage of ballistic missiles that Iran fired into the country Tuesday, as some U.S. officials worry the Middle East could be edging closer to the all-out war that President Joe Biden has sought to prevent for nearly a year.

The Conversation -- October 2, 2024

⭐ Alan Feuer & Charlie Savage of the New York Times: :In a sprawling legal brief partly unsealed on Wednesday, the special counsel, Jack Smith, laid out his case for why ... Donald J. Trump is not immune from prosecution on federal charges of plotting to overturn the 2020 election. The redacted brief, made public by Judge Tanya S. Chutkan of the Federal District Court in Washington, adds new details to the already extensive public record of how Mr. Trump lost the race but attempted nonetheless to cling to power." ~~~

     ~~~ Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "The filing described what the then-president told key figures in his orbit, including vice president Mike Pence, attorney Rudy Giuliani and senior White House and Republican Party officials, though it shielded some of their names, and how some in his orbit told him his claims of having won the election were false. It also detailed what Trump was doing on Jan. 6, as his supporters stormed the Capitol.... This is a developing story...." ~~~

     ~~~ Katelyn Polantz, et al., of CNN: "The 165-page document comes from Smith's office and is the fullest accounting yet of evidence in the election subversion case against Trump. Throughout the document, Smith argues that the actions Trump took to overturn the election were in his private capacity - as a candidate -- rather than in his official capacity, as a president.... The filing weaves together what prominent witnesses told a federal grand jury and the FBI about Trump, along with other never-before-disclosed evidence investigators gathered about the former president's actions leading up to and on January 6, 2021."

When the defendant lost the 2020 presidential election, he resorted to crimes to try to stay in office. -- Motion for Immunity Determinations, p. 3 ~~~

     ⭐~~~ The motion is here. (Via CNN.)

Zach Montague & Jacey Fortin of the New York Times: "President Biden on Wednesday took an aerial tour of the devastation from Hurricane Helene and ordered the Pentagon to deploy up to 1,000 active-duty troops to assist with aid efforts as rescue workers continued dangerous rescue missions in remote mountain communities. Mr. Biden's visit to the Carolinas came as the death toll from the storm rose to more than 175 people on Wednesday, making Helene the deadliest hurricane to strike the mainland United States since Katrina, which caused nearly 1,400 deaths in 2005, according to statistics from the National Hurricane Center."

Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "Half an hour into Tuesday night's vice-presidential debate, JD Vance lodged a whiny protest. 'Margaret,' he said to moderator Margaret Brennan of CBS News, 'the rules were that you guys weren't going to fact-check!' It was a lie on top of another lie, supplemented by a pair of other lies, in support of an even bigger lie. There was no 'rule' against fact-checking. And Vance had just told a whopper. He had alleged that, in Springfield, Ohio, 'you've got schools that are overwhelmed, you've got hospitals that are overwhelmed, you have got housing that is totally unaffordable because we brought in millions of illegal immigrants.'... The senator said Harris 'became the appointed border czar.' She received no such appointment.... There is no 'open border.'..., and the thousands of Haitian migrants ... have legal status.... He said 'over $100 billion' of Iranian assets were unfrozen 'thanks to the Kamala Harris administration.'... Kamala Harris isn't the president.... On health care, he served up the howler of the night when he said that Trump 'saved' the 'collapsing' Affordable Care Act.... In reality, of course, Trump tried his best to kill Obamacare.... Vance capped the night by saying that Trump 'peacefully' surrendered power four years ago."

~~~~~~~~~~

Presidential Race

Monica Alba of NBC News: "Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign is launching a new digital ad Tuesday slamming the Republican vice presidential nominee, Sen. JD Vance, as 'extremist' and a 'danger to our democracy.' The spot argues Vance, R-Ohio, 'could be a heartbeat away' from the presidency if Donald Trump wins in November, the first time the Democratic ticket has gone after the former president's age in paid media since she became the Democratic nominee, according to a Harris official." ~~~

New York Times reporters liveblogged the vice-presidential debate, which aired on CBS & elsewhere, beginning at 9:00 pm ET Tuesday. The pinned entry: ~~~

Senator JD Vance of Ohio and Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota spent most of their only debate aiming not at each other but at their running mates, relitigating the last two administrations and eight years as each promised his ticket would deliver a new direction for the nation. It was a substantive and mostly civil debate between two Midwestern men that laid bare the policy chasm between the two parties on immigration, abortion and foreign policy. But no issue made clearer the size and stakes of the country's current political divide than the final topic of the night, when Mr. Vance refused to concede that ... Donald J. Trump had lost the 2020 election.... Mr. Vance looked polished throughout. Mr. Walz spoke haltingly, especially at the start, taking a series of verbal stutter-steps before getting to his point.... Here are seven takeaways from the debate[.]"

Slick JayDee. Ashley Parker & Caroline Kitchener of the Washington Post: "... [JD] Vance ... used Tuesday night's vice-presidential debate ... to try to reintroduce a smoother, more affable version of himself to the nation.... He also used the prime-time slot to repackage MAGA for the political middle -- offering a softer, more moderate, and often misleading version of Trump's polarizing vision and policy prescriptions. In fact, Vance spewed falsehoods and exaggerations on a host of Trump's core policy positions, ranging from immigration to health care to the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.... Trump has repeatedly taken credit for the fall of Roe v. Wade. And Vance ran for Senate in 2022 on a platform that promised to 'end abortion,' saying he would like the procedure to be 'illegal nationally.'... But on Tuesday night, Vance referenced an anonymous friend in an abusive relationship who told him how grateful she was that she had been able to have an abortion, seeming to imply -- but not quite saying -- that he supported her decision to terminate her pregnancy. 'I know she's watching tonight and I love you,' he said, staring directly into the camera, before acknowledging that most Americans feel differently than he does about the issue -- and pledging to earn their trust.... During the debate, [Trump] pledged on Truth Social to veto a national abortion ban 00 after refusing to make that same promise in his own debate with Vice President Kamala Harris last month. Abortion was hardly the only issue on which Vance offered a gauzy -- and at times distorted -- portrait of the Trump-Vance platform."

Video of the debate, via NBC News, is here. The full transcript of the debate, via CBS News, is here.

Matt Flegenheimer of the New York Times: "For some 90 minutes, [JD] Vance ... had largely tailored his debate-night message to a mass audience, avoiding most detours into conservative fever swamps, as if determined to deliver a rolling rebuttal to Democrats' longstanding suggestion that he was 'weird' and out of step. But when the debate turned, near its final frames, to the subject of the 2020 election, Mr. Vance ... said of Mr. Trump, 'he said that on January the 6th, the protesters ought to protest peacefully. And on January the 20th, what happened? Joe Biden became the president. Donald Trump left the White House.'... Mr. Vance pivoted jarringly to the subject of censorship. Mr. Walz glanced up at the camera, silent, like a television character breaking the fourth wall. 'Well, I've enjoyed tonight's debate,' Mr. Walz began when it was his turn again, assessing an evening that was sometimes wobbly for him. He was about to enjoy it more." Here's the exchange:

     ~~~ The Last Should Be First. Zack Beauchamp of Vox: "Ultimately, every issue discussed earlier [Tuesday] night comes in second to the fundamental question of whether America's democratic institutions deserve to endure. On that question, Vance truly is radical, and his exposure as such was the only truly important moment of the night.... Vance has been enthusiastic [in support of Trump's lies about the 2020 election]. He has, among other things, fundraised for January 6 rioters and said he would have illegally thrown the 2020 election result to Congress had he been in Mike Pence's position at the time. But what's most distinctive about Vance is the degree to which he has paired 2020 conspiracy theories with a coterie of other anti-democratic positions and ideologies.... Anti-democratic radicalism has been central to Vance's political identity since he began running for Senate in Ohio.... Despite democracy being at the core of the difference between the two candidates onstage..., it was treated as an afterthought. In doing so, the moderators created an illusion of normalcy: allowing the two candidates to civilly discuss issues like housing and the deficit in a basically standard-politician manner, when in fact they disagree on an existential question about the nature of American government itself." ~~~

     ~~~ Will Saletan of the Bulwark: "... there was only one question on which the vice presidency -- the job for which these two men are competing -- really matters. That question was whether they would certify the results of the next presidential election. And on that subject, Vance gave a non-answer that instantly disqualifies him: He refused to acknowledge that Donald Trump lost the 2020 election. Certification of elections was a central factor in Vance's audition to become Trump's running mate.... As Thomas Joscelyn has pointed out in The Bulwark, Vance stood out [among the contenders] in one respect: He was the one who signaled most clearly that he was willing to push constitutional boundaries to do Trump's bidding.... Vance was given an opportunity to dispel concerns that he would use the vice presidency to overturn another election. He declined that opportunity.... When democracy is in peril, he will bow to Trump, not to the people or the Constitution."

Jimmy Kimmel analyzes the debate & adds some color: ~~~

Melanie Mason of Politico: "... There was no decisive winner in the first-and-only vice presidential debate of the 2024 election. Asked who won Tuesday's debate, voters were split 50-50 over whether it was JD Vance or Tim Walz, according to a Politico/Focaldata snap poll of likely voters conducted just after the two faced off in a studio in New York City."

Aaron Pellish, et al., of CNN: "Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said on Tuesday he 'misspoke' when he previously said he'd visited Hong Kong in the spring of 1989 during protests in China's Tiananmen Square but insisted he 'was in Hong Kong and China' during the pro-democracy protests. His comments during Tuesday night's vice presidential debate followed the unearthing of reports that contradict previous claims he made about his travel to China, including a claim that the Democratic vice presidential nominee was in Hong Kong preparing for a teaching position in 1989 during the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests that ended in hundreds of protesters killed by the Chinese government.... Walz regularly organized and chaperoned trips to China during his time as a teacher prior to entering politics." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Walz's nonresponse-response to the moderator's question was just awful, IMO. He had to know this question was coming, so why he wouldn't directly answer, until pressed, is beyond me. ~~~

     ~~~ Here is a transcript of the Minnesota Public Radio Broadcast that raised the issue if Walz's misstatements about his experiences in China.

Aaron Rupar & Noah Berlatsky of Public Notice: "Across two campaign events in Wisconsin on Tuesday..., [Donald Trump] reiterated a truth that is much more important than who won the debate: namely, that he's morally and intellectually unfit for office. Both Trump events were packed with outrageous defamations and lies.... Vance's slick lying and election denialism is even more ominous given the possibility that he may end up as the country's leader in a second, nightmarish, Trump term." The writers run down a litany of weird. shocking Trump rants. In one, he accused Kamala Harris of murder.

Michael Gold of the New York Times: "In unfocused remarks that frequently veered into tangents..., Donald J. Trump responded on Tuesday to Iran's launching a missile attack against Israel by insisting that the world was nearing global devastation, criticizing President Biden's leadership and falling back on his frequent hypothetical that he would have prevented the crisis in the Middle East had he won in 2020.... Mr. Trump..., during a speech in Waunakee, Wis..., did not provide any details of how he might quell the war in Gaza or otherwise address the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran that has heightened tensions throughout the region. He falsely claimed Iran went broke under sanctions that were imposed while he was president....

"But Mr. Trump's remarks about Iran's attack against Israel were characterized more by his digressions than by his response to world events. As he insisted that he would restore global stability and criticized 'a nonexistent president and a nonexistent vice president,' Mr. Trump departed from his prepared remarks in order to criticize San Francisco, attack Vice President Kamala Harris's response to Hurricane Helene, stoke fears around immigration, blast the prisoner swap deal with Russia that freed Brittney Griner, repeat his false claims of widespread election fraud and relitigate whether the 1987 film 'Full Metal Jacket' should have won Academy Awards." ~~~

~~~ Marie: Hmm. Unless Kamala Harris weighs in with a specific, detailed analysis of the artistic merits & cultural impact of "Full Metal Jacket," I don't think she has my vote.

So earlier Tuesday we learned this: ~~~

Libby Cathey of CBS News: "In a move intended to troll ... Donald Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, ahead of the first and only vice presidential debate of 2024, the Democratic National Committee on Monday night is digitally projecting various phrases... onto Trump Tower in New York City. [Some of] the DNC's projections are ... aimed at the former president for saying he won't again debate Vice President Kamala Harris.... 'Trump is a chicken!' says [a] message...." ~~~

~~~ Now we hear this: ~~~

     ~~~ Michael Grynbaum of the New York Times: "CBS News said on Tuesday that ... Donald J. Trump had declined to participate in an interview with '60 Minutes' that would have been broadcast during a prime-time election special next week. The election special, a quadrennial tradition for the program, will move ahead on Monday at 8 p.m. Eastern, and feature interviews with Vice President Kamala Harris and ... Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota. In a statement, the network said Mr. Trump had initially accepted an invitation to be interviewed by one of the show's correspondents, Scott Pelley. But on Tuesday, CBS was told that Mr. Trump's campaign 'has decided not to participate.'" Emphasis added. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Apparently the campaign has been paying attention to the sort of nonresponsive responses Trump gave in the interviews Jon Stewart highlighted in the clips embedded here yesterday afternoon. Trump's staff knows he's out of it, and they're trying to hide him away.

Michael Gold of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump swings wildly from topic to topic at his rallies, veering from tariffs to immigration policy to the problems with electric vehicles. But he tends to return to the same apocalyptic message. 'You won't have a country anymore,' Mr. Trump said at a rally in Las Vegas last month.... It is a forecast Mr. Trump has made repeatedly over the last year in speeches and interviews and on social media.... Although he has long used fear as a tool to stir up his conservative base and sway undecided voters, Mr. Trump has taken his doomsday prophesying to a new extreme, increasing both its frequency and scope. He regularly predicts that if he loses to Vice President Kamala Harris in November, America will be ruined. World War III will break out, most likely prompting a global nuclear catastrophe. There will no longer be an America. Israel will cease to exist. Murderous immigrant gangs will overrun cities, small towns, the state of Colorado and the entire country. Factories will shutter. Farmers will lose their farms. The United States will face an economic 'blood bath.'"

Steve Benen of MSNBC: "When it comes to hurricanes, Donald Trump's record is an embarrassment. Indeed, some of the low points of the Republican's failed presidency were directly related to his bizarre reactions to brutal storms: From 'Sharpiegate' to 'big water,' from his odd unfamiliarity with Category 5 hurricanes to lobbing paper towels as if he were having fun shooting free throws, the GOP candidate's background is tough to defend.... But that doesn't mean his record can't get worse... [After make numerous false accusations against President Biden's & Vice President Harris's responses to Hurricane Helene,] when NBC News asked the Republican to substantiate his aid-related conspiracy theories, he walked away.... What kind of would-be leader lies about a deadly natural disaster?"

Katie Robertson of the New York Times: "Olivia Nuzzi, the star political writer for New York magazine who was placed on leave after she disclosed her personal relationship with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has accused her former fiancé of a campaign of harassment and blackmail, according to court filings. In a complaint filed in Superior Court of the District of Columbia, Ms. Nuzzi accused the former fiancé, Ryan Lizza, a top political reporter at Politico, of hacking her devices and stealing a device to surveil her and collect materials to pressure her back into a relationship with him. She accused Mr. Lizza of bringing 'damaging information' to the attention of her employer and of distributing materials to the media that she said she believed to be doctored. She also claimed in the complaint that Mr. Lizza had threatened her with violence to coerce her into assuming his financial responsibility in a joint book contract, and 'explicitly threatened to make public personal information about me to destroy my life, career and reputation -- a threat he has since carried out.'... Mr. Lizza said the allegations ... were not true."~~~

     ~~~ Katelyn Polantz of CNN: "On Tuesday night, Politico said Lizza was taking a leave of absence from the publication while it conducts an investigation into the matter." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This is not the first time Ryan Lizza has found himself in trouble because of a relationship with a woman gone awry. In 2017, the New Yorker fired him because of allegations he had sexually harassed a woman. According to Lizza's Wikipedia entry, the New Yorker said "he engaged in 'improper sexual conduct.' Lizza called The New Yorker's characterization a 'terrible mistake' that had been 'made hastily and without a full investigation of the relevant facts.' His alleged victim['s] ... attorney ... said, '[I]n no way did Mr. Lizza's misconduct constitute a "respectful relationship" as he has now tried to characterize it.'"

Anne Branigin & Herb Scribner of the Washington Post: "A team of lawyers announced Tuesday that it would be filing more than 100 sexual assault lawsuits against Sean Combs, a massive legal action that appears to have few if any precedents in the #MeToo era. The lawsuits would exponentially increase the number of sexual abuse accusations against the embattled music producer, commonly known by his stage name Diddy."

~~~~~~~~~~

Florida. Jiselle Lee of the Washington Post: "A former congressional candidate in Florida has been charged after allegedly threatening to send 'the Russian mafia' after his opponent. William Robert Braddock III, 41, was charged Thursday in federal court with threatening now-Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R). Braddock and Luna were rivals during the 2021 Republican primary election for Florida's 13th Congressional District, which includes the Tampa area." During a phone call with a friend of Luna's, Erin Olszewski, Braddock also threatened to have Olszewski killed if she support Luna's candidacy.

Georgia. Ruth Marcus of the Washington Post: "... the opinion [striking down Georgia's six-week abortion ban] by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney, is worth paying attention to even if it is destined to be overturned. It offers one of the most compelling and straightforward defenses of the right to abortion that I have encountered in decades of writing about this issue.... As a legal matter, 'Women are not some piece of collectively owned community property the disposition of which is decided by majority vote,' McBurney wrote. 'Forcing a woman to carry an unwanted, not-yet-viable fetus to term violates her constitutional rights to liberty and privacy, even taking into consideration whatever bundle of rights the not-yet-viable fetus may have.' As a practical matter, McBurney was even clearer about the implications of requiring women to 'serve as human incubators for the five months leading up to viability.'" McBurney wrote,

It is not for a legislator, a judge, or a Commander from The Handmaid's Tale to tell these women what to do with their bodies during this period when the fetus cannot survive outside the womb any more so than society could -- or should.... When someone other than the pregnant woman is able to sustain the fetus, then -- and only then -- should those other voices have a say in the discussion about the decisions the pregnant woman makes concerning her body and what is growing within it. (Also linked yesterday.)

See also the New York Times report on McBurney's ruling linked under "Georgia" yesterday as well as Akhilleus's commentary in yesterday's thread. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Now compare McBurney's reasoned opinion with that of Donald Trump, who after repeatedly bragging about overturning Roe, realized the Alito-led decision was extremely unpopular. Trump then considered a 16-week national abortion ban because, "It's even. It's four months." (It isn't. On average, 16 weeks is 3.68 months. Sixteen weeks is four months only if you count only Februarys that are not in leap years.)

Georgia. Travis Gettys of the Raw Story: "Tens of thousands of Georgia voters updated their registration after Kamala Harris took over the Democratic campaign from president Joe Biden. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger had removed thousands of voter registrations for a variety of reasons, but 40,000 voters have already updated their registration ahead of the Oct. 7 deadline -- and about a fourth of those did so on the day Harris rallied in Atlanta, according to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution analysis of the voter roll." (Also linked yesterday.)

Kentucky. David Chen & Kendra Sanchez of the New York Times: "Video of the fatal shooting of a judge in Kentucky was played in court on Tuesday, as prosecutors presented evidence of their case against the ex-sheriff charged with carrying out the killing on Sept. 19. In the footage, a man is seen opening fire on the judge, Kevin Mullins, who is pictured in his robes, sitting in his chambers in the Letcher County Courthouse in Whitesburg. When the judge tumbles out of his chair, the gunman walks around the desk and fires additional shots.... Prosecutors say that Shawn Stines, who had been the Letcher County sheriff for several years, was the shooter.... He pleaded not guilty last week during a virtual arraignment.... After his arrest, Mr. Stines, who is known as Mickey, announced through his lawyers that he was retiring, at age 43, 'to allow for a successor to continue to protect his beloved constituents while he addresses the legal process ahead of him.'"

~~~~~~~~~~

Israel/Palestine, et al. The New York Times' live updates of developments Wednesday in Israel's wars are here: "Israel has vowed to retaliate after Iran fired waves of ballistic missiles at it on Tuesday evening, putting the region on edge for fear of an all-out war between the longtime adversaries. Israeli officials said the missiles had mostly been intercepted by air defenses and with the help of Western allies. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that Iran had 'made a big mistake tonight -- and it will pay for it,' leaving neighboring countries and international observers on alert for Israel's potential response." ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for Wednesday are here.

Vatican. They Don't Need to Discuss Much. Elisabetta Povoledo of the New York Times: "... when bishops and lay people convene Wednesday at the Vatican to talk about its future, one of the most contentious -- whether women can be ordained as deacons -- has already been taken off the agenda.... For many Catholics who are demanding a more egalitarian church, the synod -- as meetings of bishops are known -- was seen as an opening to address major issues considered taboo until recently, including the question of female deacons, the requirement that priests be celibate and the place of L.G.B.T.Q. people in the church."

The Conversation -- October 1, 2024

Georgia. Travis Gettys of the Raw Story: "Tens of thousands of Georgia voters updated their registration after Kamala Harris took over the Democratic campaign from president Joe Biden. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger had removed thousands of voter registrations for a variety of reasons, but 40,000 voters have already updated their registration ahead of the Oct. 7 deadline -- and about a fourth of those did so on the day Harris rallied in Atlanta, according to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution analysis of the voter roll."

Ruth Marcus of the Washington Post: "... the opinion [striking down Georgia's six-week abortion ban] by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney, is worth paying attention to even if it is destined to be overturned. It offers one of the most compelling and straightforward defenses of the right to abortion that I have encountered in decades of writing about this issue.... As a legal matter, 'Women are not some piece of collectively owned community property the disposition of which is decided by majority vote,' McBurney wrote. 'Forcing a woman to carry an unwanted, not-yet-viable fetus to term violates her constitutional rights to liberty and privacy, even taking into consideration whatever bundle of rights the not-yet-viable fetus may have.' As a practical matter, McBurney was even clearer about the implications of requiring women to 'serve as human incubators for the five months leading up to viability.'" McBurney wrote,

It is not for a legislator, a judge, or a Commander from The Handmaid's Tale to tell these women what to do with their bodies during this period when the fetus cannot survive outside the womb any more so than society could -- or should.... When someone other than the pregnant woman is able to sustain the fetus, then -- and only then -- should those other voices have a say in the discussion about the decisions the pregnant woman makes concerning her body and what is growing within it.

See also the New York Times report linked under "Georgia" below as well as Akhilleus's commentary in today's thread. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Now compare McBurney's reasoned opinion with that of Donald Trump, who after repeatedly bragging about overturning Roe, realized the Alito-led decision was extremely unpopular. Trump then considered a 16-week national abortion ban because, "It's even. It's four months." (It isn't. On average, 16 weeks is 3.68 months. Sixteen weeks is four months only if you count only Februarys that are not in leap years.)

No, there is no greater nincompoop than Donald Trump. (Although, in fairness, the GOP has produced very, very close contenders.) Thanks to RAS for the link:

~~~~~~~~~~

Ian Philbrick of the New York Times: "... Jimmy Carter ... is set to celebrate his 100th birthday on Tuesday, the first president in American history to hit the centennial mark. The last chapter of Mr. Carter's already remarkable life story is turning out to be one of astonishing resilience. The peanut farmer turned global statesman has over the years beaten brain cancer, bounced back from a broken hip and outlived his political adversaries. And now he is setting a record for presidential durability that may be hard to break. Though frail and generally confined to his modest ranch house in Plains, Ga., Mr. Carter has not only refused to surrender to the inevitability of time, he has perked up in recent months, according to family members. He has become a little more engaged again, telling his children and grandchildren that he has a new milestone he wants to reach -- not his birthday, which he professes not to care that much about, but Election Day, so that he can vote for Vice President Kamala Harris." ~~~

~~~ Tim Craig & Casey Parks of the Washington Post: "Jimmy Carter turns 100 Tuesday, and his hometown [of Plains, Georgia,] is pulling out all the stops to celebrate the milestone -- even if the former president himself isn't expected to be attending. The birthday bash for the first U.S. president to reach 100 will include a military jet flyover, a naturalization ceremony and a concert. Carter, who is in hospice care, has not attended a major event since his wifes memorial in November 2023. Throughout Plains, locals are excited to honor the man they know simply as 'Mr. Jimmy.' Many residents here have stories about running into Carter at the pharmacy or the peanut shop that sells the flavor of ice cream he enjoys. And even though Plains leans Republican, some houses with yard signs supporting ... Donald Trump also have signs commemorating Carter."

Presidential Race

Nicholas Nehamas of the New York Times: "Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday tried to taunt ... Donald J. Trump into participating in another debate as she rallied supporters in Nevada.... 'The American people have a right to hear us discuss the issues. And as you say here in Las Vegas, I'm all in. I'm all in. Even if my opponent is ready to fold.'... [Mr. Trump] has said he will not participate in another debate...." (Also linked yesterday.)

New York Times Editors declare Kamala Harris "The Only Patriotic Choice for President." (Also linked yesterday.)

Tonight is Veep Debate Night.

Katie Glueck, et al., of the New York Times assess Tim Walz's past debate performances: "Mr. Walz and his allies have tried to set expectations high for Mr. Vance, emphasizing his Yale Law School credentials. And Mr. Vance is a practiced verbal pugilist who seems to delight in combative exchanges on cable news and Sunday morning shows. But a review of a half-dozen recorded debates over Mr. Walz's career makes clear that while the camo-wearing, car-tinkering man from Mankato may not be his party's most stirring speaker, he is in fact a seasoned debater himself. He is capable of both delivering punchy criticisms and exuding the Everyman appeal that helped propel him to the Democratic ticket.... At times, though, Mr. Walz has been knocked off-kilter, too." ~~~

Michael Bender, et al., of the New York Times assess JD Vance's past debate performances: "JD Vance loves debates.... Mr. Vance, a best-selling author with a rebellious streak, brings a similarly distinct style to his debates. He is aggressive and bold in his assertions. His pugnacity often leads to over-the-top claims, but he is also careful to present as more polite and thoughtful than the caricature of him portrayed by opponents.... He is quick on his feet.... He has some Trumpy moves."

Marie: Man, am I glad I have Jim Comer (R-Ky.) protecting me from Commie Tim Walz. If not for Jim, the next thing you know, all the kidz would be speaking Mandarin. ~~~

     ~~~ Emily Brooks of the Hill: "House Oversight ... Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) subpoenaed Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Monday for information relating to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), the Democratic nominee for vice president, and a vague alleged connection to the Chinese Communist Party. Comer said in a letter accompanying the subpoena -- issued on the day before the vice presidential debate between Walz and Republican Sen. J.D. Vance -- that his committee received whistleblower disclosures about 'serious concern among Department of Homeland Security (DHS) personnel regarding a longstanding connection between' Walz and China." (Also linked yesterday.)

Lisa Rein & Devlin Barrett of the Washington Post: "At least a dozen employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs improperly accessed the medical records of vice-presidential nominees JD Vance and Tim Walz this summer, VA investigators found, in a violation of federal health privacy laws that is under criminal investigation. VA officials notified the Vance and Walz campaigns about the breaches after discovering the unauthorized viewing by employees at the agency's massive health-care arm, the Veterans Health Administration, according to people familiar with the investigation.... VA Inspector General Michael Missal's office has shared evidence with federal prosecutors on the actions of several employees in the health system, includinga physician and a contractor...." (Also linked yesterday.)

Open Mouth, Spout Lies. Maya King, et al., of the New York Times: Minutes after" touching down in storm-ravaged Valdosta, Ga..., Donald J. Trump made an elaborate false claim about the Biden administration's response to Hurricane Helene. 'The governor's doing a very good job,' Mr. Trump said of the state's Republican governor, Brian Kemp. The problem, the former president insisted, was that Mr. Kemp was 'having a hard time getting the president on the phone.' Mr. Trump ... added: 'I guess, uh, they're not, they're not being responsive. The federal government is not being responsive. 'But earlier on Monday, Mr. Kemp himself told a different story. He said that he and [President] Biden had spoken the night before, and made clear he appreciated the president's responsiveness. 'He just said, Hey, what do you need?' Mr. Kemp said. 'And I told him, you know, we got what we need. We'll work through the federal process.' Mr. Kemp said that Mr. Biden offered 'that if there's other things we need, just to call him directly -- which, I appreciate that.'...

"[Mr. Trump] repeatedly said that he had come bearing gifts to help the disaster response: semitrailer trucks filled with relief supplies and a tanker of gas, distributed by the evangelical Christian humanitarian aid group Samaritan's Purse.... Shortly before he repeated his false claim that Mr. Biden had been unreachable by phone, the former president said he would refrain from talking about the politics arching over his visit....

"As president, [Mr. Trump] viewed federal aid through the prism of his personal politics, threatening to withhold money from governors of blue states whom he saw as enemies, and promising 'A-plus' treatment for his allies. The Trump administration proposed cutting the budget of the agency responsible for disaster relief, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and his top officials diverted money away from FEMA to deal with immigration enforcement. FEMA was understaffed throughout Mr. Trump's presidency and, until the coronavirus pandemic, he ... viewed the Homeland Security Department, which oversees FEMA, solely as an immigration enforcement agency." The article also reprises a few specific Trump relief-fund stunts. ~~~

     ~~~ OR, as the Associated Pressed put it in its lede: ~~~

     ~~~ Adriana Licon, et al., of the AP: "Donald Trump repeatedly spread falsehoods Monday about the federal response to Hurricane Helene despite claiming not to be politicizing the disaster as he toured hard-hit areas in south Georgia. The former president and Republican nominee claimed upon landing in Valdosta that President Joe Biden was 'sleeping' and not responding to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, who he said was 'calling the president and hasn't been able to get him.' He repeated the claim at an event with reporters after being told Kemp said he had spoken to Biden. 'He's lying, and the governor told him he was lying,' Biden said Monday. The White House previously announced that Biden spoke by phone Sunday night with Kemp and North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, as well as Scott Matheson, mayor of Valdosta, Georgia, and Florida Emergency Management Director John Louk. Kemp confirmed Monday morning that he spoke to Biden the night before." ~~~

~~~ S.V. Date of the Huffington Post: "Just before flying to Valdosta..., [Donald Trump] posted on social media about western North Carolina: 'I'll be there shortly, but don't like the reports that I'm getting about the Federal Government, and the Democrat Governor of the State, going out of their way to not help people in Republican areas. MAGA!' He then posted an even more inflammatory claim, again with zero evidence of malfeasance: 'They have left Americans to drown in North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, and elsewhere in the South.'... Trump, as he was leaving Valdosta, was confronted by a reporter about whether he had any evidence that assistance was being withheld from Republican areas. Trump did not provide any. 'Just take a look,' he said. The accusations, which have been amplified in right-wing, pro-Trump media, appear to have been invented out of whole cloth.... Trump's accusations that [President] Biden is intentionally withholding assistance from areas where residents are largely critical of him, however, do mirror his precise behavior as president when he withheld $20 billion in congressionally approved aid to Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria in 2017 and threatened to withhold federal assistance to California to deal with wildfires." ~~~

~~~ The Idiot Know-It-All. Ellie Houghtaling of the New Republic, republished by Yahoo! News: "... it's not impossible to predict a storm's scale, timing, and general path. Somehow, that information isn't obvious to Donald Trump, who, after surveying some of the storm's devastation in Georgia, told reporters Monday that 'nobody' could have forecast Helene.... Trump said during a presser in Valdosta, Georgia. 'It's so extensive, nobody thought this would be happening, especially now it's so late in the season for the hurricanes.' It is, of course, not late in the season for hurricanes: September tends to be the most active month in the calendar year for the superstorms." As S.V. Date pointed out in the HuffPost report linked above, the National Hurricane Center & FEMA issued numerous warnings about the likelihood of inland flash-flooding while Helene was still in the Gulf of Mexico. In addition, FEMA had already deployed multiple incident teams bound for inland areas before the storm made landfall. ~~~

     ~~~ Rolling Stone's headline, BTW, is "Trump Says No One Could Have Predicted Hurricane at Peak of Hurricane Season." Perfect. ~~~

~~~ Kevin Brueninger of CNBC: "... Donald Trump traveled to hurricane-blasted Georgia to deliver remarks and help hand out supplies, one day after he leveraged the devastating storm as a political attack against Democratic nominee Kamala Harris.... [Trump's] short-notice trip to Georgia came as Harris scrapped planned campaign stops in Las Vegas to return to Washington, D.C., for a briefing with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. [President] Biden, meanwhile, said earlier Monday that he and Harris hope to travel to hurricane-damaged areas once they can be sure their presence will not disrupt emergency response efforts. He later said he expects to make a trip Wednesday o Thursday....

"'They raise a lot of money from bad people, fundraising events with their radical left lunatic donors, when big parts of our country have been devastated by that massive hurricane, and is underwater with many, many people dead,' Trump said at a campaign rally in Erie, Pennsylvania. 'She ought to be here. She ought to be down in the area where she should be. That's what she's getting paid for, right? That's what she's getting paid for,' Trump said.... Trump in Valdosta also said he had recently spoken with billionaire Elon Musk, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO, about using Starlink, SpaceX's satellite internet service, to help restore communication in the region. The Department of Homeland Security said Monday that it had already provided 40 Starlink satellite systems to aid communications and recovery in North Carolina."

     ~~~ Marie: As I'm sure you know, visits from high-profile individuals are disruptive, and thoughtful big shots like Biden and Harris routinely choose not to disrupt areas already in deep distress. Rather, they wait to survey damaged areas & console victims when local officials and personnel have more time to attend to poobah visits. Trump of course is oblivious to these standard forms of sense and sensibility.

Marshall Cohen & Daniel Dale of CNN: "... Donald Trump has escalated his long-running assault on the integrity of US elections as the 2024 presidential campaign enters its final stretch using a new series of lies about ballots, vote-counting and the election process to lay the groundwork to challenge a potential defeat in November. Nonpartisan democracy experts say they're seeing many of the same warning signs that were blinking red before Election Day four years ago, when Trump flooded the zone with election lies and conspiracy theories that he amplified after losing to Joe Biden.... Trump has made at least 12 distinct false claims over the last two months that raise baseless doubts about the validity of a potential victory by Vice President Kamala Harris." (Also linked yesterday.)

Miriam Jordan of the New York Times: A Springfield, Ohio, owner of a metals manufacturing plant & his family have to take measures, including purchasing guns, to protect themselves from credible threats after the businessman praised his company's Haitian employees in national media outlets. See Patrick's commentary in yesterday's thread. (Also linked yesterday.)

Lori Rozsa & Mark Berman of the Washington Post: "The man charged with attempting to assassinate Donald Trump pleaded not guilty Monday morning during a brief appearance in federal court. Authorities say Ryan Routh, 58, lurked near Trump's golf course here armed with a rifle while the former president -- also the Republican nominee in this year's election -- was playing on Sept. 15."

Nick Miroff of the Washington Post: "The Biden administration will expand asylum restrictions that have made it much more difficult for migrants who cross the border illegally to request protection in the United States, the Department of Homeland Security said Monday. Illegal crossings will now have to remain below a daily threshold of 1,500 for 28 days, up from seven days, before people who enter the country illegally may request asylum. The amended measures, which will take effect Tuesday, will begin counting unaccompanied minors in the daily number of crossings, the department said. Since the emergency procedures were implemented in June, they have helped reduce illegal crossings at the southern border to about 1,800 a day, the lowest level in four years, according to the latest enforcement data. The number of children and teenagers crossing without a parent has been about 200 per day in recent months."

⭐ Peter Eavis of the New York Times: "For the first time in nearly 50 years, longshoremen on the East and Gulf Coasts went on strike Tuesday, a move that will cut off most trade through some of the busiest U.S. ports and could send a chill through the economy. Members of the International Longshoremen's Association union, which represents roughly 45,000 workers, started setting up pickets after 11th-hour talks failed to avert a work stoppage.... The United States Maritime Alliance, which represents port employers, declined to comment early Tuesday. The two sides were not able to agree on wage increases, and the use of new technology in the ports was a sticking point for the union.... Before the strike, [President Biden] said he was not going to use a federal labor law to force an end to a port shutdown -- something President George W. Bush did in 2002 -- but some labor experts said he might use that power if the strike started to weigh on the economy. White House officials had pressed both sides to reach a deal before the strike."

~~~~~~~~~~

Southeastern U.S. Jeffrey Collins of the AP: "Widespread devastation left behind by Hurricane Helene came to light Monday across the South, revealing a wasteland of splintered houses, crushed cargo containers and mud-covered highways in one of the worst storms in U.S. history. The death toll topped 130. At least 133 deaths in six Southeastern states have been attributed to the storm that inflicted damage from Florida's Gulf Coast to the Appalachian Mountains in Virginia. The toll steadily rose as emergency workers reached areas isolated by collapsed roads, failing infrastructure and widespread flooding. During a briefing Monday, White House homeland security adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall suggested as many as 600 people hadn't been accounted for as of Monday afternoon, saying some might be dead.... Government officials and aid groups worked to deliver supplies by air, truck and even mule to the hard-hit tourism hub of Asheville and its surrounding mountain towns. At least 40 people died in the county that includes Asheville."

Georgia. David Chen of the New York Times: "A Georgia judge on Monday struck down a state law effectively prohibiting abortions beyond six weeks of pregnancy. The ruling, by Judge Robert C.I. McBurney of Fulton County Superior Court, is unlikely to be the final word because of the expectation that the case will ultimately be decided by the Georgia Supreme Court. Still the ruling means that women seeking abortions in Georgia will have greater access, at least temporarily, to a procedure that has become mostly inaccessible in the South since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. Judge McBurney found that the six-week abortion ban, which was passed in 2019, violated Georgia;s Constitution, and his ruling returns the state to allowing the procedure up until about 22 weeks of pregnancy.:

New York. William Rashbaum & Dana Rubinstein of the New York Times: "One of Mayor Eric Adams' closest aides and confidants resigned on Monday, less than a week after the mayor was indicted on corruption charges -- and nearly a month after federal agents seized the aide;s phones in a separate corruption inquiry, according to a resignation letter his lawyer said had been sent to the mayor. The aide, Timothy Pearson, had a broad portfolio that included dealing with contracts for migrant shelters and focusing on public safety. He is the fifth senior member of the mayor;s administration to announce his departure in the past three weeks.:

~~~~~~~~~~

Israel/Palestine, et al.

The New York Times' live updates of developments Tuesday in Israel's wars are here: "Israel said early Tuesday that its forces had crossed into southern Lebanon in an operation aimed at Hezbollah targets in the border region, as the first Israeli ground invasion of the country since 2006 heralded an uncertain new phase of its decades-long conflict with the Iranian-backed militia. The Israeli military said on Tuesday that one army division -- which typically numbers more than 10,000 soldiers -- was involved in conducting 'limited, localized and targeted raids' along the border....:

Vivian Yee of the New York Times: "Hezbollah, the Iran-funded Shiite Muslim militia that doubles as a major political party and social services organization, does not run Lebanon in any official sense. But under [Hassan] Nasrallah, it sometimes seemed as if it was the only force that mattered: a state within a state with its own military, schools, hospitals and youth programs. Now his death [during a targeted Israeli bomb attack] has come as the latest thunderbolt to jolt Lebanon, a Mediterranean country of 5.4 million people already stuck in a dejected state of nonstop emergency.... Lebanon has gone nearly two years without a president and has only a caretaker government. The state provides barely any electricity, leaving everyone dependent on generators, if they can afford the fees." Read on.

Climate Change Moves an International Border. Italy/Switzerland. Kelsey Baker & Kasha Patel of the Washington Post: "Italy and Switzerland are set to redraw part of the mountainous border separating the two countries due to melting glaciers in the Alps. The change, which impacts an approximately 330-foot-long segment of the border, is happening near one of Europe's most popular skiing destinations, Zermatt, and the iconic Matterhorn mountain. One of the biggest glaciers near Matterhorn, the Theodul Glacier, retreated almost 1,000 feet between 1990 to 2015. The melting, which has been attributed to climate change, revealed new topographical details that raised new questions about the dimensions of the border between the two countries. In 2022, the jurisdiction of a glacial Italian mountain lodge there came under question when melting ice revealed the refuge was actually straddling the border. 'Significant sections of the border are defined by the watershed or ridge lines of glaciers, firn or perpetual snow,' the Swiss government said in a statement obtained by Bloomberg. 'These formations are changing due to the melting of glaciers.'"

Mexico. Emiliano Mega of the New York Times: "Claudia Sheinbaum will take office on Tuesday, the first woman and Jewish person to lead Mexico in the country's more than 200-year history as an independent nation. A former climate scientist and Mexico City mayor, Ms. Sheinbaum won in a landslide in general elections in June, and is succeeding her mentor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, as president of the world's largest Spanish-speaking nation -- and the United States' top trading partner. Ms. Sheinbaum, a leftist, campaigned on a vow to continue the legacy of her predecessor, and her win was seen by many as a clear vote of confidence in Mr. López Obrador and the party he started, Morena.&: ~~~

     ~~~ Mary Beth Sheridan & Valentina Castillo of the Washington Post: "The incoming president, Claudia Sheinbaum, will govern with a cabinet that is half female and a Congress evenly divided between men and women. Women head the supreme court and central bank, and run top federal ministries. Mexico has become a global leader in gender parity thanks to aggressive laws establishing quotas for women in politics and government. They have had dramatic impact. Mexico's legislature ranks fourth in the world for female representation, while the United States is No. 70 -- just behind Iraq -- according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union."

⭐ U.K. William Booth of the Washington Post: "If you are looking for a signal event, a real ping, to mark humanity's journey to slow global climate change, this is a thing. On Monday, the very last coal-powered electricity plant in Britain is closing. The coal age is over in the country that sparked the industrial revolution 200 years ago.... This was a country powered by coal -- dug by a million miners, used to make cheap energy, to generate heat, then steam, then electricity. Coal heated the homes, ran the trains and made the steel and cement. The first coal-fired electric plant in the world was built in England in 1882. The term 'smog' was coined here, too. Now Britain is the first in the global club of wealthy countries to quit coal -- relying instead on natural gas, nuclear power and a combination of renewable energy sources." (Also linked yesterday.)

News Ledes

Washington Post: "John Amos, a running back turned actor who appeared in scores of TV shows -- including groundbreaking 1970s programs such as the sitcom 'Good Times' and the epic miniseries 'Roots' -- and risked his career to protest demeaning portrayals of Black characters, died Aug. 21 in Los Angeles. He was 84." Amos's New York Times obituary is here.

New York Times: "Pete Rose, one of baseball's greatest players and most confounding characters, who earned glory as the game's hit king and shame as a gambler and dissembler, died on Monday. He was 83.