The Conversation -- October 10, 2024
Douglas Martin of the New York Times: "Ethel Kennedy, the widow of Senator Robert F. Kennedy and a popular and vital force in the Kennedy political dynasty, died on Thursday. She was 96."
Re: those NYT stories linked earlier today -- the one about Kamala Harris bobbing & weaving & the one about scientist Donald Trump's intellectual "fascination" with "genetics" -- digby writes, "It's not as if they don;t know the stakes:"
NYT editor Joe Kahn says there’s no guarantee the US press would remain free in a second Trump term.
— David Folkenflik (@davidfolkenflik) October 9, 2024
From @NPRinskeep’s interview that aired this AM. (First speaker is Steve) pic.twitter.com/r6p7tu2bK3
And here's digby on Trump's "woman problem" and "worker problem." MB: The money quote for me -- and something I unsuccessfully tried to find [on a non-firewalled site] this morning -- is this, from the New Republic: "It turns out that some of the people wearing 'Auto Workers for Trump' shirts at J.D. Vance's rally in Detroit Tuesday weren't autoworkers at all."
Chris Cameron & Rebecca O'Brien of the New York Times: "Senator JD Vance of Ohio and Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota opened the first day of voting in Arizona on Wednesday with a spree of campaign events across the state.... Arizona, with its 11 Electoral College votes, has no clear favorite in the presidential race -- even as polls there show a slight lead by ... Donald Trump over Vice President Kamala Harris.... Mr. Vance first held a rally in Tucson before attending a town-hall event hosted by the Conservative Political Action Conference in Mesa, near Phoenix. Mr. Walz visited a Veterans of Foreign Wars post and met with tribal leaders on tribal land, near Phoenix, before holding a campaign rally in the evening at a high school gym in Tucson.... In Arizona on Wednesday morning, he linked up for breakfast with Doug Emhoff, Ms. Harris's husband." ~~~
~~~ Getting Out the Incel Vote??? Simon Levien of the New York Times: "Vice President Kamala Harris's campaign bridged the real world with World of Warcraft on Wednesday, livestreaming Gov. Tim Walz's rally in Arizona via Twitch, while a Twitch streamer played the role-playing game and provided commentary about his rally.... This was the first time the Harris campaign has livestreamed gameplay from its Twitch account, which was created in August, and roughly 5,000 viewers were tuned in.... Preheat, a Twitch streamer and World of Warcraft player with about 50,000 followers, hosted the stream from the Harris campaign's account and encouraged the viewers to vote for her. The screen was split, with Mr. Walz's rally in Tucson on the left and gameplay on the right."
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Presidential Race
Marie: I'm with Carville on This. David Gilmore of Mediaite: "James Carville told MSNBC host Ali [MB: s/b Ari] Melber that he was 'scared to death' about impending presidential election day and called on Democrats to get 'sharp' and 'aggressive' in the final weeks of the campaign."
Damned if She Does, Damned if She Doesn't. Michael Bender of the New York Times: "... Vice President Kamala Harris blitzed the media this week in a series of interviews to speak to voters who say they still don't know enough about her. One thing they learned: how she keeps answering the question she wants, not the one that was asked.... Her verbal acrobatics may be contributing to the impression that some voters have that they do not know her or her policy views very well. It has become a key weakness as she rushes to sway millions of undecided voters in the battleground states." MB: Even though media outlets whined that Harris wasn't sitting for interviews, now that she's on this supposed "media blitz," they're criticizing her responses -- which certainly was always their intent. Bender seems very unhappy that (a) a candidate for president is a politician, and (b) some questions require a potential president to offer pragmatic or politic responses. For instance, Bender complains that Harris doesn't directly answer a question about Netanyahu; but in most cases, a U.S. president -- or vice-president, for that matter -- would be unwise or irresponsible to publicly knock a supposed ally.
Marie: I can't access the report, but here's the lede in a Daily Beast story by Josh Fiallo: "Kamala Harris called into The Weather Channel on Wednesday to speak about Hurricane Milton ahead of its evening landfall -- an appearance the network said was also offered to Donald Trump, but he ignored it." I suppose Donald the Chickenpoop was afraid they wouldn't let him use a Sharpie to expand the path of Milton into swing-state Georgia.
Oh, another Colbert segment I missed. Thanks to Patrick for the lead: ~~~
Sahil Kapur of NBC News: At a rally in Scranton, Pa., Wednesday, Donald Trump "lashed out at his Democratic rival by calling her 'a horrible person,' 'a liar,' a 'radical left Marxist' and 'not a smart person,' often drawing jeers and boos as his supporters fed off his energy.... 'I don't want to be nice. Somebody said, "You should be nice sir, women won't like it,"' Trump said, adding: 'The women want safety.' He then described an apocalyptic America if he loses. 'Kamala will deliver a 1929-style depression,' Trump said, resurrecting a claim he made about strong> Joe Biden ahead of the 2020 election that didn;t materialize."
Colby Hall of Mediaite: "... Donald Trump is calling for an investigation into CBS News and its news magazine 60 Minutes for apparently editing Vice President Kamala Harris's answers 'to make her look "more Presidential" or, at least, better.'... In a Wednesday morning post..., Trump alleged that the producers of 60 Minutes may be guilty of a 'major Campaign Finance Violation.' The alleged crime? Editing Harris's answers for concision and time.... Trump is ... probably well aware that the same practice of editing for time occurs in nearly all the taped interviews he does for Fox News opinion hosts." (Also linked yesterday.)
Brett Samuels of the Hill: During a briefing on Hurricane Milton, "President Biden on Wednesday blasted former President Trump and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) for spreading what he called 'irresponsible' and 'beyond ridiculous' falsehoods around severe weather bearing down on Florida and other states.... Biden specifically called out Trump for leading 'the onslaught of lies.' He said claims that property is being confiscated and that those impacted by the storm are only receiving $750 in assistance are not true. And he said claims the government is diverting disaster response funds to aid migrants, which Trump has amplified repeatedly, are not true. 'Now the claims are getting even more bizarre. Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a congresswoman from Georgia, is now saying the federal government is literally controlling the weather. We're controlling the weather,' Biden said. 'It's beyond ridiculous. It's got to stop. Moments like this, there are no red or blue states.'" (Also linked yesterday.)
Brett Samuels of the Hill: "Former President Trump on Wednesday made clear there would be no second debate between him and Vice President Harris in the closing weeks of the campaign, seemingly shutting the door for good on the prospect as media outlets made final proposals.... In explaining his decision, Trump repeated his claim that he had won his debate on Sept. 10 with Harris, though polling and criticism from some Republicans indicated that was not the case.... Trump's post on Truth Social [declaring 'there will be no rematch!'] came after CNN told candidates they had until Thursday to accept an invitation for an Oct. 23 debate. Harris has already accepted the invitation." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Trump is absolutely right to turn down these media invitations. First of all, he's a lamebrain with waning cognitive abilities, so even a person as vain as he knows he isn't likely to beat a former prosecutor. Second, the media has not been especially nice to its favorite star lately: Look what happened just this week on Fox "News" & on a supposedly friendly podcast: ~~~
~~~ This Moment in History. Yes, Fox's Laura Ingraham fact-checked Donald Trump on-air. Watch the top of the video. I'd like to know why -- because certainly somebody on the top floor told her not to let him get away with lies about the hurricane response. And did they warn Trump? ~~~
~~~ David Moye of the Huffington Post: "Podcaster Andrew Schulz couldn't keep a straight face in his recent interview with Donald Trump. Although Schulz has previously said that he thinks the GOP presidential nominee seems 'enticing' when compared with Democrats, the comedian couldn't take him seriously during one moment in their 90-minute discussion, which was released Wednesday. That moment? Well, it was when Trump claimed that he's 'basically a truthful person.' Trump's no-way-it-would-survive-a-fact-check statement came while he was insisting that Democrat Kamala Harris has lied about him and about previously working at McDonald's." Includes video.
On Trump's Chats with Putin
I honestly didn't know that Bob Woodward was still alive until you just asked me that question. And that's -- what little I know about Bob Woodward is that he is -- I'm going to use I'm going to use a word here. He is a hack. The guy is a hack. So have I talked to Donald Trump about his calls with Vladimir Putin? No. I've never had that conversation with Donald Trump in my life.... But if Donald Trump -- even if it's true, look, is there something wrong with speaking to world leaders? No. Is there anything wrong with engaging in diplomacy? Kamala Harris's approach has been to hide in a basement, hide from the American people and hide from world leaders. And you know what that's gotten us? We are on the verge of World War III. It's a disgrace and it's a complete failure of a foreign policy. -- JD Vance, responding to reporters' questions, Tuesday
This would seem to be a violation of the Logan Act. Exactly what Trump falsely accused John Kerry of. Another apparent Trump crime. -- Susan Rice, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations
We only have one president at a time, JayDee, you ignorant sofa-slut. The Logan Act, passed in 1799, was designed to prevent unauthorized "diplomacy" that could undermine the current administration. Kerry did not violate the act, because he was in contact with the U.S. State Department throughout any discussions with foreign agents he may have had. -- Marie (Logan Act background via the Hill) ~~~
~~~ Ivana Sarac of Axios: "The Kremlin on Wednesday confirmed a report that former President Trump sent Russian President Vladimir Putin COVID-19 testing equipment during the height of the pandemic.... The Trump campaign categorically denied new revelations in journalist Bob Woodward's book 'War,' which renewed scrutiny of the relationship between Putin and the Republican presidential nominee." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: the "categorical denial," courtesy of Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung, went like this: "None of these made up stories b Bob Woodward are true and are the work of a truly demented and deranged man who suffers from a debilitating case of Trump Derangement Syndrome.... Woodward is an angry, little man and is clearly upset because President Trump is successfully suing him because of the unauthorized publishing of recordings he made previously." (Also linked yesterday.)
Hannah Knowles & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: Speaking of the small Pennsylvania town of Charlesroi, Donald Trump said at a recent rally, "'The town is virtually bankrupt.' (It wasn't.) 'This flood of illegal aliens is also bringing massive crime,' he said. (They weren't, and they have at least temporary authorization to live in the United States, town and factory officials said.) 'Char-le-roi, what a beautiful name. But it's not so beautiful now.' The Republican presidential nominee had sketched a misleading caricature. But he also tapped into real tensions and a powerful anger in Charleroi and far beyond -- stemming from a widespread conviction that America did too much for newcomers and not enough for citizens.... Interviews with three dozen voters show his pitch is appealing to many in the town and surrounding Washington County, Pa.... It has also angered some residents and inflamed an ugly discourse scattered with baseless claims about illegal voting and a 'great replacement' of native-born Americans."
Bringing Back Eugenics. Michael Gold of the New York Times: "For decades..., Mr. Trump has been publicly obsessed with bloodlines and his stated belief that genetics are the best predictor of a person's success. He has repeatedly commented on what he described as his, his family's and his supporters' good genes, and on others' bad genes.... Mr. Trump's remarks [Monday] about migrants' having 'bad genes' brought a flurry of headlines from news outlets, and then condemnation from Democrats.His remarks on Monday in some ways echoed his repeated assertion last year that undocumented immigrants were 'poisoning the blood of our country,' a phrase criticized by many for evoking the ideology of eugenics promulgated by Nazis in Germany and white supremacists in the United States.... Mr. Trump has defended his use of that phrase by saying he was 'not a student of Hitler,' even as a number of news articles, biographers and books about his presidency have documented his long interest in Hitler." ~~~
~~~ Marie: If Michael Bender's whining about Kamala Harris's refusal to directly answer some questions aggravated you, maybe the fact that Michael Gold, in an article that appeared on the Times' online main page, finally let on that Trump is a Nazi kinda guy. However, the original headline for the story was "In remarks about migrants, Donald Trump invoked his long-held fascination with genes and genetics." It's been changed to "Trump's Remarks on Migrants Illustrate His Obsession With Genes." David Gilmore of Mediaite rounds up some journalists' comments about the first headline. Mark Jacob, for instance, a former editor of the Chicago Tribune, wrote on X, "This New York Times headline makes it seem as if Trump has a deep intellectual curiosity about genetics instead of stating the obvious fact that he's simply a racist." (Could be the first time in history this group of words was strung together in this order: "Trump has a deep intellectual curiosity".)
How "exceptional" is a country of immigrants where a lying lardbucket may be able to win election to the presidency based on false, racist claims about immigrants?
Richard Lardner & Dake Kang of the AP: "Thousands of copies of Donald Trump's 'God Bless the USA' Bible were printed in a country that the former president has repeatedly accused of stealing American jobs and engaging in unfair trade practices -- China. Global trade records reviewed by The Associated Press show a printing company in China's eastern city of Hangzhou shipped close to 120,000 of the Bibles to the United States between early February and late March. The estimated value of the three separate shipments was $342,000, or less than $3 per Bible, according to databases that use customs data to track exports and imports. The minimum price for the Trump-backed Bible is $59.99, putting the potential sales revenue at about $7 million. The Trump Bible's connection to China, which has not been previously reported, reveals a deep divide between the former president's harsh anti-China rhetoric and his rush to cash in while campaigning." (Also linked yesterday.)
Marie: I don't much do polls, but this one's so bad, I thought I should share it: ~~~
~~~ Shane Goldmacher of the New York Times: "Control of the Senate appears likely to flip from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party this fall, as one of the nation's most endangered Democrats, Senator Jon Tester of Montana, trails his Republican challenger in his bid for re-election, according to a new poll from The New York Times and Siena College. Mr. Tester, who first won election to the Senate in 2006, is winning over moderate and independent voters and running far ahead of the Democrat at the top of the ticket, Vice President Kamala Harris. But as of now, that does not appear to be enough to survive in Montana, a conservative state where ... Donald J. Trump is ahead by 17 percentage points.... Tim Sheehy, a wealthy Republican businessman and a former Navy SEAL who has never held public office, leads Mr. Tester 52 percent to 44 percent, the poll shows." ~~~
~~~ Marie: So repeatedly lying about who shot you when doesn't matter in Montana.
Musk Seeks to Scam Hurricane Victims. Ariel Zilber of the New York Post, republished by Yahoo! News: "Elon Musk pledged to give victims of Hurricane Helene 30 days worth of free access to his satellite-based Starlink internet service -- but the billionaire failed to mention that survivors of the disastrous storm that has claimed the lives of more than 200 people will need to fork over $400 for the system's hardware.... According to the company, anyone in the disaster-hit area who signs up for free internet service will then automatically be moved to a $120-a-month residential subscription after the 30-day grace period.
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Florida. Ben Brasch of the Washington Post: "Florida's health department threatened criminal charges for television stations that run a political ad calling for the repeal of the state's six-week abortion ban, one of the nation's strictest. At least two stations [-- WCJB in Gainesville and WFLA in Tampa --] received cease-and-desist letters Thursday written by John Wilson, general counsel from the Florida Department of Health.... He ordered the stations to remove the ads within 24 hours or open themselves up to a second-degree misdemeanor charge, which in Florida carries a sentence of imprisonment up to 60 days and a fine up to $500.... The ads were still running as of Wednesday, according to Floridians Protecting Freedom, the group that purchased the ad time. The organization said they have ads running on more than 50 stations, most of which have received the cease-and-desist letter.... 'The right of broadcasters to speak freely is rooted in the First Amendment. Threats against broadcast stations for airing content that conflicts with the government's views are dangerous and undermine the fundamental principle of free speech,' [FCC Chair Jessica] Rosenworcel wrote in a statement."
Georgia Election Board Plans Election Interference. Nick Valencia & Jason Morris of CNN: "The Donald Trump-allied Georgia State Election Board is pushing to install people who deny the result of the 2020 presidential election as part of a monitoring team in Fulton County, the biggest Democratic-leaning county in the state and one that was consequential for Joe Biden's victory four years ago. The board has no legal authority to install its own recommended monitors, but that did not stop the GOP majority from voting on Tuesday to repeat its effort to include its own suggested monitoring team in Fulton County. The move, coming less than 30 days before Election Day, is the latest example of what critics say is the board acting in a way that may create chaos next month." (Also linked yesterday.)
New York. William Rashbaum, et al., of the New York Times: "As federal prosecutors scrutinize Mayor Eric Adams and his top aides, the Manhattan district attorney's office has opened yet another corruption investigation into City Hall, this one involving the city's leasing of commercial properties, people with knowledge of the matter said. As part of the inquiry, investigators have seized the phones of at least five people -- including Mr. Adams's chief adviser, a top New York City real estate official and a broker involved in city leases, the people said. The investigation has focused at least in part on possible bribery, money laundering and other crimes, one of the people said."
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Israel/Palestine, et al.
The Washington Post's live updates of developments Thursday in the Israeli wars are here: "Israel's security cabinet will meet Thursday night to vote on Israel's response to Iran's Oct. 1 missile attack, said an Israeli official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.... Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned Wednesday that Israel would inflict a 'powerful, precise and above all -- surprising' attack on Iran."
David Sanger & Eric Schmitt of the New York Times: "For the first time in two months, President Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on Wednesday in a phone conversation that focused on Israel's plans to retaliate against Iran for a missile attack. When the meeting ended, American officials said nothing about Israel's plans, or whether Mr. Netanyahu indicated he would heed Mr. Biden's warnings not to hit nuclear or energy sites, which the White House fears could lead to an escalating cycle of Iranian missile strikes and Israeli responses. Instead, a terse account of the conversation issued by the White House hours later said Mr. Biden 'condemned unequivocally Iran's ballistic missile attack against Israel on Oct. 1,' but made no reference to discussions on how to respond -- which was the purpose of the call." ~~~
~~~ Here's the White House readout.
Steve Hendrix & Shira Rubin of the Washington Post: "... divisions inside the Israeli government and across the Atlantic are converging, with Netanyahu apparently incensed over his lack of direct contact with President Joe Biden and a cabinet rivalry [between Netanyahu & his defense minister Yoav Gallant] overshadowing Israel's security deliberations.... The two have publicly split on numerous key strategic decisions, including the timing of a cease-fire and hostage deal with Hamas as well as a potential role for the Palestinian Authority in the future governance of Gaza. But Gallant is also seen as a future rival for party leadership, which political observers said is likely to have played a role in the last-minute grounding of his flight to Washington.... 'Netanyahu is clearly trying to assert control and weaken Gallant to the point where it could weaken the relationship with the United States,' said Chuck Freilich, former deputy head of Israel's National Security Council...."
News Ledes
CNBC: "The pace of price increases over the past year was higher than forecast in September while jobless claims posted an unexpected jump following Hurricane Helene and the Boeing strike, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The consumer price index, a broad gauge measuring the costs of goods and services across the U.S. economy, increased a seasonally adjusted 0.2% for the month, putting the annual inflation rate at 2.4%. Both readings were 0.1 percentage point above the Dow Jones consensus. The annual inflation rate was 0.1 percentage point lower than August and is the lowest since February 2021."
The New York Times' live updates of Hurrucane Milton consequences Thursday are here: "Milton was still producing damaging hurricane-force winds and heavy rainfall to parts of East and Central Florida, forecasters said early Thursday, even as the powerful storm roared away from the Atlantic coast and left deaths and widespread damage across the state. Cities along Florida's east coast are now facing flash flooding, damaging winds and storm surges. Some had already been battered by powerful tornadoes spun out by the storm before it made landfall on the Gulf Coast on Wednesday as a Category 3 hurricane. In [St. Lucie] county [Fort Pierce], several people in a retirement community were killed by a tornado, the police said.... More than three million customers were without power in Florida as of early Thursday." ~~~
~~~ Here are the Weather Channel's live updates.
CNN: "The 2024 Nobel Prize in literature has been awarded to Han Kang, a South Korean author, for her 'intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life.' Han, 53, began her career with a group of poems in a South Korean magazine, before making her prose debut in 1995 with a short story collection. She later began writing longer prose works, most notably 'The Vegetarian,' one of her first books to be translated into English The novel, which won the Man Booker International Prize in 2016, charts a young woman's attempt to live a more 'plant-like' existence after suffering macabre nightmares about human cruelty. Han is the first South Korean author to win the literature prize, and just the 18th woman out of the 117 prizes awarded since 1901.' The New York Times story is here.
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Reader Comments (7)
So the NYT is complaining about how Kamala answers questions.
Have they listened to the lying vindictive sociopath that she's running against? Do they believe that he will not go after them if he wins? Or are they just looking forward to the upcoming book deals.
Noah Berlatsky
"Why Trump Lies About Natural Disasters
He hates solidarity.
Trump, and his MAGA dittoheads, do not want a society in which people pull together, in which hierarchies are flattened, in which police are irrelevant. Trump sows chaos and lies in the face of disaster in part because he hopes to gain political advantage. But even when he might do better to push unity and show swing voters that he cares about everyone—he just can’t do it.
The reason he can’t do it is that he loathes the very idea of solidarity and neighborliness. The real disaster, for Trump, is the possibility that we might respond to disaster with love and care, rather than with fear, rage, and hate. Fear, rage, and hate are his only tools, and his only faith. He puts them above party, and even above winning. He has demonstrated, over and over, that he puts them above the lives of his constituents."
Jeff Jarvis on the media
"How they have failed us
You have refused to recognize fascism at the door. You insist on covering authoritarianism as just another side in still-symmetrical American politics.
You do not read history. For God’s sake, reread or read Hannah Arendt’s The Origins of Totalitarianism (or at least listen to the podcast). You fail to cite history for your readers, explaining the context of what is occurring, because you insist on thinking you are writing your “first draft of history.” What hubris.
You quote their noxious words, taking them at face value — as beliefs, as “alternative facts” — unable to see how they are instead saying these things to signal their belonging to the cult and cause.
You thus lie to yourselves and the public you serve by refusing to call lies lies, racism racism, misogyny misogyny, authoritarianism authoritarianism, fascism fascism.
You hide behind your impotent fact-checking, never seeing — though frequently warned — that in the ways you debunk their lies, you spread them, and by pedantically nitpicking the other side in your misguided search for balance you create false equivalence."
@RAS: Thanks. Both insightful takes, IMO.
I would take Berlatsky's thesis a step further and argue that Trump hates people, especially the hoi polloi. If people work together (like communists!), then he would either have to join the common man or be left out altogether. There is no place for him if there is no hierarchy because he has to be better, smarter, richer, more handsome, more popular, etc., than everyone else.
This distaste for others is evident in other ways. For instance, he is often described as a "germaphobe." But I don't think it's really the "germs" that keep him from shaking hands with fans or embracing them as most politicians do; I think it's the people carrying the germs.
And of course the insults. He admits he hates political rivals, but he insults people who aren't even rivals, like John McCain and Mark Zuckerberg or April Ryan. Sure, Trump is a racist, but he "otherizes" everybody, not only people of different races.
Get on board the GOP Misogyny Train!
Toxic misogyny isn’t just the purview of cat lady Shady and his rapist boss, the Orange Monster. In Ohio, used car salesman Bernie Moreno, running to unseat Senator Sherrod Brown, has been yapping about how older women should shut up about abortion, because it’s not an issue for them.
Some of these women have some news for Bernie.
Oh yeah, he’s also been caught lying about his education qualifications and his business dealings. He’s also been lying about immigrants in Ohio, like every other PoT hack, despite being an immigrant himself.
So let’s see: liar, fraud, bigot, misogynist.
The perfect Party of Traitors candidate in the Age of Trump.
Very discouraging poll and column. Not faulting anyone at RC, but I am also so tired of the smugness of the idiot columnists. Oh, poor guy, he just wanted some "policy" and she did not answer adequately. NYT is no longer worth the paper it is printed on. This Bender sounds like a fool. Yeah, she isn't answering your specific loaded question, and yet you are silent on the psycho fascist loose in the country. This morning I saw at least two more sets of R yard signs that I had not seen. And what's with their obsession with big ugly flags? Honestly, I was feeling rather hopeful, but seeing how many people are useless for the country, I am back to being terrified. I do know that regardless of the outcome of the election, it will be ugly and I will be judging those people in the neighborhood differently. No more smalltalk about how pretty their flowers are. The absolutely fantastical lies on fox were revealed in the late night, when this ugly-faced woman sneered that whatever we recommend, do the opposite. We are the liars. I despair.
Joe Kahn sounds like he is asking all of us to protect the New York Times reporters from themselves. Based on their coverage they are clearly are not going to cover Trump honestly or fairly. Even knowing the stakes of the race for themselves and their profession here in the United States is not enough motivation to accurately cover Trump and his fellow current day Republicans or to cover Kamala Harris's campaign fairly for the things she has actually said and done. If it wouldn't hurt so many innocent people caught in the crossfire I would love to let all these assholes at the Times and in the Red States have their Republican governments so I could watch them suffer under their wished for regimes. But it is up to the decent folks to come to the rescue of the unrepentant jackasses and protect them from the consequences of their own actions, again.