From the man who suggested injecting Lysol for Covid-19

As part of his scare propaganda about the mess that would result from extensive mail-in voting, Bozo urged the election be put off until we can do it in person in safety.

But the constitution says the time of choosing electors and the day of their voting is up to Congress and election day, when electors are chosen, has been the same since before the Civil War.

The date when the electors meet and vote is also governed by longstanding law.

Congressional leaders of both parties have already poured scorn on the idea of delay.

But what if the elections are held and there is enough mess that, though house and senate seats are decided in time for the new Congress on January 3rd, the presidency and, perforce, the vice presidency are still contested?

Apparently, if no new president and Veep are chosen by January 20 then the person next in the line of presidential succession per the Presidential Succession Act, the Speaker of the House, becomes president on January 21 and stays in office until the elected president and Veep are chosen.

The relevant constitutional text authorizes congress to settle who shall be president in a number of cases which notably do not include that of an absurdly unsettled election, but all the same . . . .

In all probability that will be Nancy Pelosi.

Enough to give a Republican pause, eh?

Trump's tweet on delaying election

Earlier on Thursday, Trump tweeted, 

"With Universal Mail-In Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good), 2020 will be the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history. It will be a great embarrassment to the USA. Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???"

Wow. What an incredible load of crap.

Judge Andrew Napolitano: Portland protests are about dissent, and without dissent we'd have little freedom

Nobody thinks the First Amendment confers a right to reduce court proceedings to uninterrupted days of chaos, or to shout "Fire!" in a theater, or to torch somebody's house.

So who but a fool would think it confers a right to interrupt the life of a city for two full months, even if only and exclusively with sweetness and light?

Much less then with two months of violence, destruction, and anarchy.

Judge Andrew Napolitano: Portland protests are about dissent, and without dissent we'd have little freedom

Destruction for the hell of it, for the sheer delight in chaos

This is what humans are like.

Minneapolis 'Umbrella Man' who sparked AutoZone fire is Hells Angels member: police

A man captured on surveillance video smashing windows at a Minneapolis AutoZone in the wake of George Floyd’s death is a Hells Angels member bent on stirring up social unrest, police said.

Nicknamed “Umbrella Man” for his all-black getup that included a hood, gas mask and black umbrella, police said the man’s actions led to arson -- the first of several that sent peaceful protests into chaos.

Man who helped ignite George Floyd riots identified as white supremacist: Police

A masked, umbrella-wielding man accused of helping incite riots and looting in the aftermath of George Floyd's police-involved death has been identified as a member of a white supremacist group that aimed to stir racial tensions amid largely peaceful Black Lives Matter protests, according to police.

The 32-year-old, dubbed "Umbrella Man," was captured in a viral video back in May wearing a black hooded outfit and a black gas mask as he smashed store windows with a sledgehammer and encouraged people to steal, according to a search warrant affidavit filed in court this week.

His actions quickly led to the first of several arson fires that police say transformed peaceful protests into local danger zones, the affidavit said. 

He's also accused of spray painting the words "free s--- for everyone zone" on the doors of an AutoZone before he allegedly smashed in the windows. 

The store was broken into and set on fire shortly after, the affidavit said.

. . . .

Investigators said the suspect is associated with the Aryan Cowboys, which the warrant describes as a "known prison gang out of Minnesota and Kentucky." 

The Anti-Defamation League lists the Aryan Cowboys as a white supremacist prison and street gang, although the group's Facebook page claims it doesn't care "about a person's color."

Tucker Carlson deplores tech censors of Stella Immanuel video

Tucker Carlson: Big Tech censors COVID-19 video featuring doctors

Does he have any idea she's the demon sperm, alien DNA nut?

If it's a fake virus this must be fake news, right?

Rep. Louie Gohmert tests positive for coronavirus before planning to fly with Trump to Texas

Rep. Louie Gohmert tested positive for coronavirus in advance of his planned travel with President Trump to Texas Wednesday and had to be removed from the trip, according to sources familiar with the situation.

. . . .

Spokespeople for Gohmert, 66, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The news was first reported by Politico.

Gohmert, who has been prone not to wear a mask around Capitol Hill, attended the high-profile Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday where Attorney General William Barr testified for hours.

A video posted by a Hill reporter shows Gohmert and Barr, both unmasked on Tuesday walking together at the Capitol.

[If I were Barr I would be very nervous. And he is.]

National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien tested positive for coronavirus this week, becoming the highest-ranking administration member to contract the disease.

Other reps who have contracted the virus include Reps. Mario Diaz Balart, R-Fla., Morgan Griffith, R-Va., Ben McAdams, D-Utah, and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky.

Is Joe B being bullied and shoved to the left?

This ad is all over my TV screen

How is "shifting funds" from the police budget to mental health expenses not defunding the police?

If Trump wanted to shift funds from the Social Security Trust Fund to FEMA hurricane relief wouldn't Democrats be howling about Bozo defunding Social Security?

Ad Watch: Super PAC attacks Biden in misleading ‘defund the police’ ad

Oh?

Is it misleading?

Yes, Joe Biden Said He Wants to Defund the Police

Black Woman Destroys BLM Mural. Here's What Her Motivation Was.

The pander party is committed to spreading absurd lies about the virus that will get people killed

Well, they need to get voters on their side somehow.

Defunding Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, and repeal of Obamacare will only get you so far.

The appeal to stupidity is a big part of how they do it.

Trump’s New Favorite COVID Doctor Believes in Alien DNA, Demon Sperm, and Hydroxychloroquine

The president is pushing the coronavirus theories of a Houston doctor who also says sexual visitations by demons and alien DNA are at the root of Americans’ common health concerns.

How do doctors like this not lose their licenses?

Immanuel, a pediatrician and a religious minister, has a history of making bizarre claims about medical topics and other issues. 

She has often claimed that gynecological problems like cysts and endometriosis are in fact caused by people having sex in their dreams with demons and witches. 

She alleges alien DNA is currently used in medical treatments, and that scientists are cooking up a vaccine to prevent people from being religious. And, despite appearing in Washington, D.C. to lobby Congress on Monday, she has said that the government is run in part not by humans but by “reptilians” and other aliens.

Immanuel gave her viral speech on the steps of the Supreme Court at the “White Coat Summit,” a gathering of a handful of doctors who call themselves America’s Frontline Doctors and dispute the medical consensus on the novel coronavirus. 

The event was organized by the right-wing group Tea Party Patriots, which is backed by wealthy Republican donors.

Mainstream coverup, yes. Right wing exaggeration? Hard to say.

What’s Really Happening In America?

A gang of armed racist terrorists running Louisville, and it isn't the Klan.

As to the vast coverup of months of violence by the Democrat media, it pays the right to explain that by saying the Dems have gone hyper radical or need the votes of the rioters and their supporters.

Another possibility is that if the Dems came out to end the violence they would have to validate Trump's leadership in a national effort to quash the violence and restore order.

That would make him the hero and validate much of the GOP narrative right ahead of the election.

Of course, that supposes Trump could be a heroic leader in this, despite his repeated failures to rise to challenges to the country and exercise actual leadership.

Why would he be any better at restoring national order and unity than he has been at dealing with the virus?

Trump still making shit up

The discretion to which he appeals is fake news.

The constitution specifies who is to be counted.

It requires all persons be counted and taken into account for purposes of apportionment - really the only purpose for which the constitution requires the census in the first place.

Trump signs order to prevent illegal immigrants from being counted in redrawing of voting districts

An amendment to do this or to base apportionment only on citizens might well be ratified.

But Bozo doesn't get to do this by decree.

Fine version of Moby Dick on Amazon video

Really very good, last night.

The return of Fun City.

She could be talking about my grad school years.

Oh, wait. She is talking about my grad school years. And she's got it right.

Freedom to Deface

Attitudes toward graffiti are one of the biggest divides between the conservative and progressive (or anarchist) mindset. 

To a conservative, graffiti is self-evidently abhorrent, a spirit-crushing blight on the public realm, and a theft of property by feckless individuals who avenge their mediocrity by destroying what others have built. 

It is a round-the-clock reminder that vandals (most often fatherless young men) recently broke the law with impunity and may still be in the neighborhood, ready to commit crime again.

To a progressive, by contrast, graffiti is a “political statement,” as the New York Times recently put it, a courageous strike against stultifying bourgeois values. 

It represents urban grit and resistance to corporate hegemony. 

The property owner whose building has been unwillingly appropriated is a nonentity; the “tagger” is the city’s vibrant, anti-capitalist soul.

Why does it have to cost taxpayers $ 2 trillion?

Biden plots $2tn green revolution but faces wind and solar backlash

His big spending plans - too big, anyway - predate the virus.

And if he had his way the virus alone would cost us another $ 2 or 3 trillion, for sure.

And these "environmentalists" want to lean on the dirtiest and most dangerous source of energy, nuclear power?

If humans are too stupid to be allowed anything pointy or edgy they are for damned sure too stupid for nuclear power.

The left of and beyond the Democratic Party see this as their chance to steal the tiller and ride roughshod over the center left types who make up the core of the party and by far most of its voters.

Trump is so wildly unpopular the Dems could adopt planks from Trotsky, Pol Pot, and Louis Farrakhan and get away with it.

They think.

And they might be right.

And I think they have.

(Kidding)

The devil is finding work for many idle hands this summer of love

Gunshots Fired as Rival Militias Face Off in Louisville

Americans are far too stupid and far too angry for the 2nd Amendment.

There Are No Peaceful Protesters In Portland

We are approaching day 60 of the violent riots in Portland, Oregon. 

The media would have you believe that these are peaceful protests highjacked by a handful of violent agitators. 

That is a lie.

At this point none of the 2,000 or so people out of 650,000 who live in Portland who are gathering each night are peaceful protesters, all of them, every single one, are aiding and abetting the destruction and violence knowingly and willingly.

. . . .

Let’s be perfectly clear about this. 

Any single person on the streets giving cover to this violent mayhem is themselves a participant in the rioting and destruction. 

This is not tens of thousands of Americans coming together to have their voices heard and petition the government for better police practices. 

These people don’t even have any discernible demands; there is literally nothing that authorities could do or concede that would make them stop their wanton destruction.

Are Americans lying to pollsters?

Fox finds a minute to say that, every few minutes, it seems.

Racist PC antifa crazies have terrified white Americans into taking knees and lying to pollsters.

Biden's big lead is an illusion and they are neck and neck or Trump is ahead.

A measure of their success

Major League Baseball took the knee, sort of, and didn't even play the national anthem.

A right wing attacker seems the most likely hypothesis

But it's not impossible this was some antifa or BLM arsonist.

Arson suspected in overnight fire at Arizona Democratic Party headquarters in Phoenix

Arizona Democratic Headquarters Torched By Arsonist

Roberts swings his vote, again

Supreme Court again rejects church challenge to virus restriction

The Supreme Court in a split decision Friday rejected a Nevada church’s request that it block the state government from enforcing a cap on attendance at religious services. 

The decision was a 5-4 ruling, with Chief Justice John Roberts joining the liberal wing.

The court’s order was unsigned and did not provide any reasoning, common practice when the high court acts on emergency applications. 

The court’s conservative justices filed three dissents.

So Roberts isn't a "conservative justice", Tal Axelrod?

The decision comes in response to a suit from Calvary chapel Dayton Valley arguing that it was being treated unfairly compared to casinos, restaurants and amusement parks. 

Churches in the state have a firm 50-person limit, while other businesses have been told to cut their availability to half of their fire-code capacities.

Alito:

“The Constitution guarantees the free exercise of religion,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote in dissent. 

“It says nothing about the freedom to play craps or blackjack, to feed tokens into a slot machine, or to engage in any other game of chance. But the Governor of Nevada apparently has different priorities."

Phooey.

Only Thomas even pretends to take the actual, absolutist and ludicrous language of the First Amendment seriously.

Everybody drills holes in it, allowing regulation and weighing of competing considerations and exceptions.

And Roberts merely insisted that the facts just didn't bear out the claims of discrimination against religion, refusing Alito's invitation to compare apples and oranges (churches and casinos), instead comparing apples and apples (churches and theaters).

Roberts:

The Friday ruling marks the second time the high court has blocked an effort from a church to invalidate state restrictions on attendance. 

The court ruled 5-4 in a similar case in May to reject a challenge from a California church.

“Although California’s guidelines place restrictions on places of worship, those restrictions appear consistent with the free exercise clause of the First Amendment,” Roberts wrote in May. 

“Similar or more severe restrictions apply to comparable secular gatherings, including lectures, concerns, movie showings, spectator sports and theatrical performances, where large groups of people gather in close proximity for extended periods of time.”

Conservatives blast Supreme Court ruling: Roberts has 'abandoned his oath'

Conservative lawmakers blasted Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts after he sided with the court's liberal justices in a 5-4 decision Friday that rejected a Nevada church’s request to block the state government from enforcing a cap on attendance at religious services.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) tweeted early Saturday morning that Roberts had "abandoned his oath."

"What happened to that judge?" tweeted Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.).

"Freedom of religion is our first freedom. Yet SCOTUS has ruled that casinos can host hundreds of gamblers, while churches cannot welcome their full congregations. Justice Roberts once again got it wrong, shamefully closing church doors to their flocks," Cotton added in a statement.

Defending its imposed restrictions, Nevada stated that its regulations didn't target places of worship unfairly, saying that other large gatherings — like concerts and movie theaters — were treated “the same as or worse than houses of worship.” 

The complaint made its way to the highest court in the land after being rejected by a district court and a circuit court.

Three of the conservative justices wrote dissenting opinions on the emergency order.

"Battle of Seattle"?

How many towns are actually affected by the rioting, and how serious is the mess in those towns?

The Democratic media are siding with Democratic local authorities and changing the subject, attacking the Duce (Trump is Mussolini!) and the federales (Jackbooted thugs! Unconstitutional incursions! Unmarked cars!).

The GOP media (meaning Fox and a bunch of websites) are attacking the Democratic local authorities as so many red (Commie) foxes policing henhouses (The cities are on fire! They're coming to your city! The rioters want to destroy America and the Democrats want the same thing!).

A much worse and more prolonged Battle of Seattle x 50 or a light breeze in a few teacups?

Coverup by the one side and wild exaggeration by the other?

The Lincoln Project's newest ads.

How it starts. The Nazi president.

Trumpfeld. The Alzheimer's president.

(By the way, count back by sevens = count back by ten and add three, each time.)

(Or, count back by sevens = [100 - (7 x n)], starting with n = 1. But that seems harder rather than easier.)

Ask yourself what is the agenda so many Democrats seem to agree rioting, weeks of rioting, can be legitimately used to advance?

Because while lots of Democrats are defending it, some officials are actually enabling and even to a degree participating in the rioting.

To advance that agenda.

Probably most Democrats are not on board for all that radical racial stuff, and independents certainly aren't.

In a very real sense, the party has been hijacked by lots of people, including loads way more radical than the Bernie Bros.

And the Bros, starting with Bernie, have been pretty clear all along what they think of Democrats.

Mayor of Atlanta to be Joe B's VP?

Fox floats her as his "shadow president".

Not ready to play in the big leagues any more than Mayor Pete.

Are we tired of Amateur Hour?

Trump caves

Florida convention events canceled because of the virus.

Lightfoot caves

Fox says she caved overnight and ordered the statue of Columbus taken down "temporarily" and "for the sake of public safety".

Can this be true? "The media pitch the Lesbian Motorcycle Collective as "Portland Moms.""

Dems: The Antifa Party

If you can make Ann Coulter plausible for an instant you are doing something very wrong.

Faubus v. Eisenhower, a fight of the (last) century.

When reporting on the "protests," MSNBC and CNN invariably feature some area of Portland far from the carnage, showing people strolling, the sun shining, and not a single building on fire!

You'll never see the part of the city -- a little area called "downtown Portland" -- where thousands of black-clad antifa have been laying waste to everything in sight.

You won't see the miles of charming graffiti spray-painted on every vertical surface: "F--k Cops," "F--k ICE," "Abolish America," "No Good Cops," "Kill Cops," "Cops = Bastards," "Pigs!," "Yes All Cops," "Oink, Oink," "F--ck Trump," "Kill the Police," "Dead Cops," "Pigs," "Slaughterhouse Die Piggie Die," "Burn Pigs," and of course, the antifa slogan, "ACAB," or "All Cops Are Bastards."

Trump should say nothing about Portland except: "Look at the videos." I recommend you start with journalist Andy Ngo's Twitter feed: @MrAndyNgo.

After hiding the truth for 50 days, this week, Democrats and the media have been gasping in horror at the sight of federal law enforcement agents appearing in such a bucolic little burg.

Here's some of what's being hidden from you:

Night after night, the "peaceful protesters" have thrown bombs, bricks, frozen water bottles and cement blocks at the Portland police, whom they vastly outnumber. They've fired mortars, marbles, ball bearings and commercial-grade fireworks at officers, sending dozens to the hospital.

They have blinded police with laser guns, slashed their tires, assaulted journalists, and set fire to buildings, statues and homeless people's belongings.

So far, the rioters have done millions of dollars in property damage. In the first few days of July, shootings were up 240% compared to the same period in 2019.

Portland police precincts and the federal courthouse have been under constant siege -- windows smashed and people barricaded inside as the buildings are set ablaze.

Or, as summarized by Ali Velshi on the Antifa Channel: "While most protesters are peaceful, small groups have clashed with authorities."

Well, OK, so he's not the first.

I mean, really, is that your response to Biden's charge?

And, uh, what about your stand in the monuments controversy?

A triumph of inadvertent humor.

And now for something completely different

Lawsuit Claims Ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick Ran Beach House Sex Ring

Rolling Stone Editor on Why ‘White Fragility’ May Be the ‘Dumbest Book Ever Written’

America First? Just another big issue the virus has completely obscured.

Will we hear again of Big Stick isolationism from Trump before the election?

Or will he just surprise us and walk away from NATO, the WTO, the UN, and some or all of our Pacific alliances, all after the election?

And then shock us all by again urging a formal US-Israel mutual defense pact, extending our nuclear umbrella to Jerusalem and Tel Aviv?

His muddled neo-isolationist nationalism played pretty well in his 2016 campaign, and might again.

And though I haven't seen much on that point I'd expect Biden to continue to be what he has been for all his career, a standard-issue adherent of liberal globalism, firmly defending its post WW2 institutional creations and affirming, if asked, our Article 5 commitment to putting Riga under our nuclear umbrella.

On the other hand, it has been the custom of Democrats to run on peace and then give us war, once in the White House.

Wilson, FDR, and even Kennedy/Johnson all did that.

The Duce could pull a Republican reversal, running as a foreign policy tough guy and then actually going through with major pieces of his 2016 America First agenda.

China and the virus

Discussing the Houston consulate closure, a talking head on Fox today repeated without contradiction or check the unfounded claim that China deliberately released the virus upon the world.

Did that claim originate with Bozo, Alex Jones, or QAnon?

China threatens retaliation after US orders closure of Houston consulate

Rubio: Chinese consulate in Houston was 'massive spy center'

The opposite of cancel culture

Apparently, broadly speaking, authorities can refuse to allow messages on public property, but if they do they can't discriminate on the basis of viewpoint.

California city washes away BLM mural after Trump supporter requests ‘MAGA 2020’ display

Anybody suing de Blasio, I wonder?

The majority view on the right, just now?

Andrew McCarthy: Portland riots – it is Trump's constitutional duty to enforce federal law and he should

Not a bad piece, but he misses the chance to cite Eisenhower in Little Rock, as other Republicans have done, in defense of Trump's right to intervene to enforce law and order even in flat defiance of local or state authorities.

QAnon and Bozo

Hat tip to Courrier International.

Satanism and sex rings: How the QAnon conspiracy theory has taken political root

A fringe theory that President Trump is at war with a global cabal of powerful, Satan-worshiping elites who control the world and run a child sex ring has shifted over the last three years from anonymous message boards to Trump rallies to the 2020 ballot.

More than 60 current and former congressional candidates have promoted or embraced the unfounded QAnon theory, according to a count by Media Matters, a left-leaning research site that tracks conservative media.

. . . .

The QAnon conspiracy theory is founded on the belief that the world is run by a powerful group of evil politicians and celebrities including the Clintons, the Obamas, the Bushes, George Soros and Hollywood celebrities including Oprah Winfrey and Tom Hanks.

QAnon followers believe President Trump is aware of this and is fighting against an entrenched “deep state” of bureaucrats within the government to bring them to justice. 

They call the moment when the Clintons and other members of the cabal will be arrested “The Storm,” a term inspired by an offhand comment Trump made during an October 2017 photo-op with high-ranking military officials and their spouses. 

“You guys know what this represents?” Trump asked the news media. 

“Maybe it’s the calm before the storm.”

The conspiracy theory has been laid out by an anonymous figure known as Q — likely a group of people — who leaves cryptic messages for his followers to decipher on the website 8kun (Q previously posted on 4chan and 8chan).

Q’s followers believe that, once they convince others, there will be a “Great Awakening.”

. . . .

QAnon followers believe Q is a group of high-level military officials who support Trump

. . . .

In a sense, the basic tenets of the QAnon theory aren’t novel.

“As wacky as a pedophile deep state working against the president sounds, that’s the plot of Oliver Stone’s JFK movie from 30 years ago,” said Joseph Uscinski, an associate professor of political science at the University of Miami, where he studies why people believe in conspiracy theories. “There’s nothing new here.”

Less than a year before Q started posting, the unfounded Pizzagate theory took off. On Dec. 4, 2016, Edgar Maddison Welch drove from his home in North Carolina to the Comet Ping Pong pizzeria in Washington, D.C., where he was convinced children were being held captive as part of a sex trafficking ring organized by Democrats and Hillary Clinton.

Welch fired shots from an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle into a locked door. 

When he realized there was no evidence of a trafficking ring, he left his weapons in the store, walked out and was arrested. 

No one was harmed, and Welch was sentenced to four years in prison in June 2017.

Fox does not seem to be supporting fully opening the schools for full classroom work this fall

They are seriously reporting issues and concerns and news from across the country about delays, use of online stuff, etc.

DHS Secretary Chad Wolf: Rioters in Portland have attacked federal officers for 54 nights in a row.

Federal crimes are committed every night from midnight to about five am, he says.

Just now, on Fox.

At a press conference today he explained their uniforms and use of unmarked cars, etc.

The officers are of various types, some Marshals, some Border Patrol, and others as well.

DHS chief promises ‘we will not retreat’ from Portland despite criticism, tells rioters ‘find another line of work’

Portland has been hit by riots and protests for 52 days in the wake of George Floyd in Minneapolis. 

This month, in response to ongoing violence against federal property and monuments, DHS deployed federal law enforcement to the city.

Federal officers have reportedly been attacked, doxxed and injured by rioters, with DHS officials saying weapons including hammers, fireworks and fecal matter have been used against law enforcement. 

Meanwhile, there have been multiple attempts to damage the Hatfield Courthouse.

. . . .

But they pushed back on the widely reported claim that officers were unidentified, posting images that showed that officers had the appropriate police and agency insignia. 

Federal Protective Service Deputy Director of Operations Richard Cline told reporters that, to avoid the risk of doxxing, officers’ names had been replaced with badge numbers as about 38 officers had had their personal information put online.

Not entirely a non-story at BBC. More photos than text, with captions made questionable by the images themselves

The captions describe them as "peaceful demonstrators", but the images don't all quite fit that description.

Portland protests: Fresh violence as demonstrators clash with federal officers

The US city of Portland has seen another night of clashes between demonstrators and federal law enforcement officers sent by President Donald Trump to end almost two months of anti-racism protests there.

Police in Portland, Oregon, said federal officers fired tear gas to disperse a large crowd of protesters - some armed with hammers - who had gathered outside a courthouse and were throwing projectiles.

There have been nightly rallies in the city since the death of George Floyd in police custody in May, but clashes have escalated in recent days.

Mr Trump's decision to send federal law enforcement agents to protect government buildings in Portland has been deeply controversial. 

The Democratic governor of Oregon, Kate Brown, has demanded their withdrawal.

A CDC employee disguised as Trump spoke mostly true and responsible things about the pandemic, just now

Which Trump says he now wants to call "the plague", though of course it is not that and is nowhere near as bad as that, emphasizing the virus' horrors and sounding like Fauci on the value and necessity of masks.

Until the end when he was asked about his administration's performance from the start and told the usual lies about what a swell job he's done all along.

CNN is pointing out that's part of the difference between the factual, scripted Trump and the unscripted, normal, full of shit Trump.

CNN's Gupta is saying right now that we've seen progress on vaccines in six months that normally takes three or four years, backing up the scripted president's claim of unprecedented speed in developing a vaccine.

Still, Trump did emphasize accurately that deaths are down and the virus' kill rate is way down and the danger of hospitalization and death falls almost entirely on the old and those with comorbidities.

The virus is much less tough on just about everybody else.

Trump says coronavirus crisis will ‘get worse before it gets better,’ pleads with Americans to wear masks

Noting the concerns among many of his supporters that facial coverings impinge on their personal freedoms, Trump pleaded with Americans to wear masks out in public to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

“We’re asking everybody when you’re not able to socially distance to wear a mask,” Trump said.

While his comment falls short of a national mandate, it is the strongest endorsement yet from the president who until recently had questioned the efficacy of masks.

He added: “Whether you like masks or not, wear a mask.”

. . . .

Trump also touted the strides researchers in the country are making toward a possible vaccine - noting that the process is moving along quickly and promising results soon.

"My administration will stop at nothing to save lives, shield the vulnerable," he said.  

"The vaccines are coming and they’re coming a lot faster than anyone thought possible."

MSNBC running this stuff a lot. Very funny. Excellent sendup of the vacuous moron in the White House.

https://www.youtube.com/user/sarahcooper

I can't believe she and Nicolle Wallace are turning this into an occassion for feminist bellyaching about how easy life is for totally incompetent men.

Penis envy?

"It's all political"? No kidding.

It's clear the couple meant to defend their property and very likely did, in course of doing so, fear for their lives, as they said at the time.

They showed the weapons in hopes of preventing an attack on their property and persons.

From the moment it happened the left media have very effectively attacked the couple as racist fascists criminally threatening peaceful and unthreatening, lawful demonstrators.

The demonstrators had destroyed the gate of a gated community in which all streets and walks, etc., are private property.

They destroyed property to trespass illegally on property in order to protest an action of the mayor's at her house.

The police have since seized the couple's guns, which were legally owned, and the couple have been charged with some sort of felony version of brandishing by a local Democrat prosecutor.

Missouri A.G. to Seek Dismissal of Charges against Couple Who Pointed Guns at Protesters

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt is promising to seek the dismissal of charges against the St. Louis couple who pointed guns at protesters outside their house last month in an incident that was caught on video.

Mark and Patricia McCloskey were charged Tuesday with unlawful use of a weapon by St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner.

“Enough is enough,” the attorney general said in a video message posted just hours after the charges were filed. 

“A political prosecution such as this one would have a chilling effect on Missourians exercising the right to self defense.”

Schmitt cited Missouri’s Castle Doctrine, which he said provides “broad rights to Missourians to protect and defend their personal safety and property against those who wish to do them harm.”

The attorney general added that Missouri should be focused on addressing the “crisis of violence” in the state’s cities rather than “divisive decisions not based on the law.” 

Schmitt has filed an amicus brief in the case defending the couple.

On June 28, the McCloskeys pointed guns at protesters after the crowd entered a private gated community on their way to St. Louis mayor Lyda Krewson’s residence to demand her resignation.

. . . .

Albert Watkins, an attorney for the McCloskeys, said that the couple felt threatened after “two individuals exhibited such force and violence destroying a century-plus-old wrought iron gate, ripping and twisting the wrought iron that was connected to a rock foundation, and then proceeded to charge at and toward and speak threateningly to Mr. and Mrs. McCloskey.”

“We must protect the right to peacefully protest, and any attempt to chill it through intimidation will not be tolerated,” Gardner said in filing the charges against the couple.

The governor of the state has promised an immediate pardon if the couple are actually convicted of anything.

Trump says it's an outrage.

Off in a world of his own

Rand Paul says GOP lunch was like meeting with 'Bernie Bros,' blasts party on spending

Rand Paul says there's 'no place' for federal agents 'rounding people up at will' in Portland

Lockdowns were 'big mistake,' crippled economy and haven't 'done much' to curb COVID-19: Rand Paul

GOP says one trillion, Dems say three. White House opposes both on sticking it to Social Security and Medicare financing.

White House doubles down on payroll-tax cut opposed by GOP senators

White House chief of staff Mark Meadows told reporters Tuesday that President Trump is committed to including a payroll-tax cut in the next coronavirus relief bill despite firm opposition from Senate Republicans.

This is the tax that pays for Social Security and Medicare that Trump tried unsuccessfully to gut in an earlier round of virus relief.

The GOP is refusing money to help states and municipalities pay for virus related expenses, money crucial to New York, New Jersey, and others.

The GOP says the deficits faced by those states are not caused by virus expenses but by public employee pensions and other worker friendly things blue states provide and red states don't.

The solution is to dump all that worker friendly blue state crap, in their view.

Meanwhile, Rand Paul is opposed to any additional federal bailout money.

Fox: Day 54 of violence in Portland

Fox on the Daily Briefing is giving the Democratic criticism - via Mary Anne Marsh, a former Kerry advisor - that the deployment is a foolish and ineffective effort to help the Duce's campaign equal time with a defense of the move by some other guy, who insists the continued chaos will be laid at the feet of Biden and the Democrats by voters who will reject him in November.

Ms. Marsh also insisted what people want to see is the president working to deal with the pandemic and stop it killing them - which is not happening.

All the same, when you add in Hannity and others to the focus on nearly two months of chaos and continuing destruction of property and violence and cities held hostage to demonstrators by Democrats, it's support for the president.

Not a great move when the narrative is almost entirely favorable to the mayors and the 50 odd days of street theater they have allowed

CNN, MSNBC, pretty much all the media are against him, giving Tammy Duckworth and others an open mike to attack the Duce.

He has some defenders in conservative media whose public reach is virtually negligible.

The Duce is apparently planning to send federales to a slew of major cities with Democratic mayors, still ongoing demonstrations breaking down apparently every day into rioting, and a marked uptick in violent crime.

Trump administration preparing to send federal agents to Chicago

The tenor of the reaction in Democratic media such as CNN and MSNBC is not far from that of Steve M's post on the deployments to Portland and Chicago.

Meanwhile, on Fox News cable, this is very nearly a non-story.

(It looks like Hannity - "Unrest in America Out of Control" - and a few others with talk shows are supporting him.)

Not much to be found at the Fox website, either.

But talking heads at Fox cable have talked some about this apparently unconstitutional and unprecedented absurdity.

Trump signs order to prevent illegal immigrants from being counted in redrawing of voting districts

A White House official said it clarifies that those in the country illegally would not be included for the redrawing process -- known as apportionment -- of congressional districts after the census. 

Census counts are used to determine the allocation of seats in the House of Representatives, the number of electors in the Electoral College and hundreds of billion dollars of federal spending.

“Excluding illegal aliens for the purpose of apportionment reflects a better understanding of our Constitution and democratic principles,” the official said.

The order says that the Constitution "does not specifically define which persons must be included in the apportionment base."

"Although the Constitution requires the 'persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed,' to be enumerated in the census, that requirement has never been understood to include in the apportionment base every individual physically present within a State's boundaries at the time of the census," the order says.

"Instead, the term 'persons in each State' has been interpreted to mean that only the 'inhabitants' of each State should be included," it says. 

"Determining which persons should be considered 'inhabitants' for the purpose of apportionment requires the exercise of judgment."

It then says that that discretion "delegated to the executive branch to determine who qualifies as an 'inhabitant includes authority to exclude from the apportionment base aliens who are not in a lawful immigration status."

Nothing like left wing crazies in the streets or in mayors' offices to make the right, even the Trumpist right, seem responsible and reasonable

Ordered Liberty and Federal Might.

Outrage, at least from the usual suspects, has greeted the use of federal personnel in Portland to enforce laws that the mayor of Portland and the governor of Oregon have refused to enforce. 

Despite the pearl-clutching, the precedent and the constitutional principles are clear: 

If the states and cities will not protect their citizens’ lives, property and civil rights, the Constitution does not permit federal military intervention.

It requires it.

. . . .

What claimed the mantle of popular rage could not thwart the steel helmets and heavy armor sent by the Republican Commander in Chief.  

And, over their objections, President Dwight David Eisenhower made sure that nine black students were escorted safely into Little Rock Central High School. 

The visceral certainty of the angry white mob that it was wrong for Washington to use force to protect the rights of people threatened by violence did not matter—nor should it have.

Americans are guaranteed a great number of civil rights, besides the right to equal opportunity in education. 

Citizens are also entitled to speak freely, to assemble freely, to worship freely and, under the Fifth Amendment, to travel. 

In fact, under 18 U.S. Code § 241, it is a federal offense to conspire “to injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate any person … in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or because of his having so exercised the same.” 

This statute also makes it illegal for “two or more persons [to] go in disguise on the highway, or on the premises of another, with intent to prevent or hinder his free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege so secured…”

For 49 days now, violent anarchists have acted in defiance of protocols outlined by the Portland Police Bureau—which has hardly shown itself to be a bastion of strict “law and order” policing—for safe and peaceable assembly. 

Instead, they have systematically undertaken to destroy private, state, and federal property and have not hesitated to assault either law enforcement personnel or civilians. 

Unruly crowds used commercial grade lasers to blind police, and made weapons from paving stones and fireworks—even attempted to assault an officer with a hammer. 

A little over a week ago, Portland Police made multiple arrests and found a loaded weapon on one subject, as a hostile crowd of about 250 violent anarchists failed to comply with dispersal order and surrounded Hatfield Courthouse. 

A few days later, someone fired shots into the air from the rear seat of a passing SUV. 

Whether we blame Antifa, Black Lives Matter, or spontaneously enraged “peaceful protesters,” the mayhem being imposed on America’s cities now constitute a host of civil rights violations.

. . . .

In the name of civil rights, justice and peace, seven weeks of anarchy is enough.

The ideological commitments of the leaders of the movement for law enforcement reform are way left of those of its sympathizers and supporters

Think about Mitt Romney marching for BLM.

Does anyone seriously think Mitt Romney has gone all Red Guard on us?

It’s Political Power That Really Matters To Black Lives Matter.

But maybe not that far to the left of some nickel and dime Democratic office holders across the country.

Maybe it's not just the mayor of New York who is out there.

BTW, the Human Events site seems to have come a long way from the days when it was Ann Coulter's personal archive.

Hate speech, hate propaganda, and projection of their own racist bigotries

Kaepernick's New Producer: Let's Face It, Every Single Trump Voter is a Straight-Up Racist

She is absolutely not the only person on the racial left to say or think this.

It's a reflection of their own racism, and of the increasing influence and respectability of black racism on the left and in the Democratic Party.

Within recent years, the best evidence for the Republican claim that reverse racism is stronger and more dangerous in American politics than white racism has been the fury of the racist propaganda in the months just before scheduled congressional or presidential elections.

Still not happy with the Bozo in the White House

A Study in Self-Pity

Chris Wallace’s interview of President Trump, which aired on Sunday, is well worth watching if you’ve got a strong stomach.

The parts about the pandemic are as terrifying as you’ve heard—a veritable catalog of unfitness, incompetence, and willful ignorance that will leave you grateful for America’s system of federalism.

But I actually thought the most interesting and telling bit of the interview was at the very end, and wasn’t about the virus. Here’s the final question and answer:

WALLACE: Whether it’s in 2021 or 2025, how will you regard your years as President of the United States?

TRUMP: I think I was very unfairly treated.

And he drones on about that for a good while, his complaints liberally salted with absurd lies and conspiracy theories.

Asked to reflect on his term so far as he seeks re-election, the president’s answer is that he was treated unfairly. 

Even when he is literally invited by his interviewer to say good things about himself, all he can reach for is resentment.

Forcing people to do what their religion forbids

Nobody wants to be an absolutist about it, but such coercion can certainly be overdone.

Forcing medical professionals or institutions to perform procedures that violate conscience is overdoing it.

And in that regard abortion is not the only issue.

Another Catholic Hospital Sued for Refusing Transgender Hysterectomy

How much worse would things get in this regard if we had outright socialized medicine like the NHS of the Brits?

A lot worse.

Even handing over the entire health insurance market to a single federal government run insurer would significantly diminish this liberty.

And would subject provision of medical services to rationing on the basis of invidious comparisons of the worth of individual lives, and subject R&D to state-sponsored judgments of value, morality, and justice.

I am a Democrat and a progressive, but not an anti-capitalist and not at all a PC authoritarian.

"Our city is under siege by rioters."

There is some truth to the conservative claim that Democratic office holders and party leaders are being shoved further to the left on race and other issues than the party as a whole, than registered Democrats, and than independents who lean Democratic.

It is a nice question how far the Democrats have become the captives of their own extremists, and another which party is more its own extremists' captive.

But fifty days of chaos are pretty good evidence of local officials' criminal unwillingness or pitiful inability to restore peace and order to their cities.

The Republicans have been pushed by the stupidity of their extremists, the worst of whom is in the White House, to pour gasoline on the Coronavirus wild fire.

The Democrats have allowed chaos, destruction, and violence in the cities.

The country is a mess largely thanks to the horrific polarization of our politics.

I have generally favored closed primaries and opposed open primaries.

But maybe those who argue closed primaries help put both parties too much at the mercy of their own extremists have a point.

Portland Police Union Head Slams City Officials: They ‘Have Condoned the Destruction and Chaos’

Fifty days of increasing insanity.

Portland Police Association president Daryl Turner slammed elected officials at a press conference on Sunday, a day after the union’s offices were set on fire amid continuing riots in the city.

Since the death of George Floyd, an African American man killed during his arrest by Minneapolis police officers, Portland has seen 50 days of protests and riots. 

Federal law enforcement officers have deployed to the city over the past several weeks, clashing with protesters.

Turner alleged that Oregon officials have allowed the violence to continue unabated.

“The elected officials have condoned the destruction and chaos,” Turner said on Sunday, standing with 20 faith and business leaders from Portland. 

“They have placed their political agenda ahead [of the] safety and welfare of the community. This must stop.”

Turner continued, “This is no longer about George Floyd, racial equity, social justice reform or the evolution of policing,” Turner said. 

“This is about violence, rioting and destruction. Our city is under siege by rioters.”

Why are Indian geographic names OK but sports team names not?

Rivers and mountains and islands have Indian names.

Political units and geographic features are named after tribes or individuals.

The name of Pontiac, for example, is used as a place name and an auto brand.

Not one white person has ever been offended by the Sarah Lee or Betty Crocker brands or images.

The Irish don't riot once a year or take a knee to protest the nickname of Notre Dame's football team.

Debating the hypothetical, Grassley sticks with the rule the Dems at the time insisted was grossly un-American BS.

What to do if RBG dies in 2020, or a seat otherwise opens up.

With all this talk of dates it helps to recall that while the president holds office until January 20 the congress is done January 3.

The lame duck session begins after the November 3 election and extends to January 3, though the congress would usually go home for the holidays.

Joni Ernst: If Trump has a Supreme Court nominee, Senate should hold hearings

U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst said Friday that the Senate should hold hearings on any Supreme Court nomination President Donald Trump might make this year, even if he loses November's election. 

"(If) it is a lame-duck session, I would support going ahead with any hearings that we might have," Ernst, a Republican, said during a taping of the Iowa Press show on Iowa PBS. 

"And if it comes to an appointment prior to the end of the year, I would be supportive of that."

. . . .

U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, a Republican, drew Democrats' condemnation in 2016 when, as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, he blocked confirmation hearings for President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland.

That seat became vacant when Justice Antonin Scalia died unexpectedly in February 2016. Obama made his appointment shortly after, but Grassley led the effort to block Garland's confirmation. 

At the time, Grassley cited "the Biden Rule" — a guideline stemming from a speech given by then-Senator Joe Biden in 1992 — in holding up the process. 

Grassley said the decision to fill the vacancy should be made by whomever was elected president in November 2016 — nine months after the seat became vacant.

Biden's claim of 1992 was completely ignored by everyone until Grassley decided it was a "rule" absolutely binding on the senate in 2016, just in time to rob Obama and the Democrats of the seat.

Democrats were not amused, Biden likely least of all.

Ernst publicly agreed with Grassley's decision. 

Grassley: Supreme Court seat should be left open until after election if vacant in 2020

U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley said Friday that he would personally oppose Senate consideration of Supreme Court nominees in 2020 despite potential opposition from President Donald Trump and Republican leaders. 

. . . .

Grassley cited the "Biden Rule" — a guideline stemming from a speech given by then-Senator Joe Biden in 1992 — which contends that a vacancy on the Supreme Court in a presidential election year should be left open so the American people can have a say in who makes the decision. 

. . . .

"Well, I don't know what history will do and I don't care what history will do," Grassley said. "I'm just following what was established by the Biden Rule in 1986 and then emphasized by him in 1992.

"They set the pattern. I didn't set the pattern. But it was very legitimate that you can't have one rule for Democratic presidents and another rule for Republican presidents."

. . . .

Henderson also questioned Grassley on his comments that Supreme Court justices planning on retiring should announce it immediately, amid rumors that Justice Anthony Kennedy plans to retire, as reported by USA Today. 

Given a chance, Trump would push court pick before election

President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have tried to make it clear: Given the chance, they would push through a Supreme Court nominee should a vacancy occur before Election Day

. . . .

Trump administration officials have underscored that Trump would not hesitate to fill an opening before voters have their say Nov. 3, less than four months away, on whether to give him a second term.

Four years ago, also in a presidential election year, the GOP-controlled Senate refused to hold a hearing or vote when President Barack Obama, a Democrat, nominated federal judge Merrick Garland to succeed Justice Antonin Scalia after his death in February. 

Nine months before that year's election, McConnell said voters should determine who would nominate the person to fill that seat.

Fast forward to this past week. 

Trump's chief of staff, Mark Meadows, told reporters: “I can’t imagine that if he had a vacancy on the Supreme Court that he would not very quickly make the appointment and look for the Senate to take quick action."

. . . .

Leading Republicans, including the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, Republican Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, now say it’s OK to consider an election-year appointment when the Senate and the White House are held by the same party.

“Merrick Garland was a different situation,” Graham said in May.

“You had the president of one party nominating, and you had the Senate in the hands of the other party. A situation where you’ve got them both would be different.”

McConnell was even more blunt.

“Yeah, we’d fill it,” he said in a February interview.

This is only too believable.

Trump reportedly seeks to block testing funds as Covid-19 surges across south and west

Covid-19 cases are surging across much of the American south and west, as familiar scenes of weary doctors and nurses in packed hospitals replay across a whole new region.

In Washington, Congress is gearing up to pass another economic stimulus package. 

Optimistic economists once thought such a package could be unnecessary, but Covid-19 is now expected to continue to hurt the economy.

The White House is reportedly trying to hurt any resultant bill. 

According to the Washington Post, the Trump administration is pushing to block billions of dollars for state-run testing and tracing, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and attempts to combat the pandemic at the Pentagon and state department.

Perhaps a little over the top

The panic is excessive and likely more than a little faux.

From the same folks who assured us O was a Marxist and a Communist (or anyway a communist) in 2008 and again in 2012.

And said the same of his agenda.

And, really, this should remind us all of Sarah Palin attacking O for "palling around with terrorists".

Radical Marxist and communist Obama gave us Ocare and TARP and, with a nudge from Joe Biden, today's rabid revolutionary, support for gay marriage.

And encomia on the joys and glories of "democratic capitalism", as I recall.

He did occasionally nod toward the further left, as he did when he spoke (wrote?) of Ho Chi Minh's alleged admiration for the American Revolution showing how not a red he was.

And his links with Rev. Wright and the racial/racist left were certainly problematic.

But he also personally ridiculed the extremists as "the professional left".

Anyway, these guys always say stuff like that about Democrats and even their most tamely progressive agenda commitments.

And leaders of massive political demonstrations are always way further out ideologically than the folks who follow them into the street in support of specific causes or demands.

Hey, ask Bill Ayers how the revolution went after Nixon stopped using draftees in Vietnam.

The Revolution Is Winning

Apples and oranges both having their way.

Leftist rioters still raising hell after 47 days and violent criminals seizing an opportunity offered by police irresponsibility actually sometimes excused by right wing opinionators at Fox are nevertheless two very different things, willfully conflated in some right wing news coverage.

As city violence surges, liberal mayors engage in social media feuds with Trump officials

As violence and unrest surge in major cities across the U.S., liberal mayors are taking a combative stance toward the Trump administration and offers of federal help -- engaging in sometimes-feisty social media feuds with officials.

And the vitriol is flowing in both directions.

“Hey Karen. Watch your mouth,” Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot tweeted Thursday in response to White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, who described her as the “derelict mayor” of the city because of the surge in violence there.

At a guess, McEnany was thinking "dereliction of duty" while Lightfoot was thinking "dumpster diving wino".

But maybe not.

That tweet came the same evening as three people, including a 5-month-old baby boy, were shot in Chicago. 

CBS Chicago reported that the Windy City has seen a 34 percent increase in murders and a 45 percent increase in shootings through the end of June compared with the same time last year.

But on Friday, Lightfoot was doubling down on her clapback after receiving praise for it online.

"This won't be the last time that his flacks try to take me on. But good luck," Lightfoot said. 

"I'm still here. I'm going to lead this city the best I can.”

Meanwhile, in New York City, violence has skyrocketed. 

The New York Post this week reported that on Monday alone, 17 people were shot in the city, while last month was the most violent June in the city since 1996.

Trump v de Blasio

But Mayor Bill de Blasio had made as one of his priorities the painting of a large yellow “Black Lives Matter” mural down Fifth Avenue -- right outside Trump Tower, in a clear knock at the current occupant of the White House.

Trump, another politician who is fond of a social media battle with his political foes, criticized de Blasio for the move and noted the mayor's efforts to cut police budgets as it tries to get to grips with a new crime wave.

“NYC is cutting Police $’s by ONE BILLION DOLLARS, and yet the @NYCMayor is going to paint a big, expensive, yellow Black Lives Matter sign on Fifth Avenue, denigrating this luxury Avenue,” Trump tweeted this month.

“Here’s what you don’t understand: Black people BUILT 5th Ave and so much of this nation,” de Blasio shot back. 

“Your ‘luxury’ came from THEIR labor, for which they have never been justly compensated. We are honoring them. The fact that you see it as denigrating your street is the definition of racism.”

We are all familiar with and tired of the lies of the Great Fat Orange Klansman, but I at any rate am tiring of the ludicrous liberal lie, apparently to be endlessly repeated, that the black people of America "built this country".

While everyone else lazed around sipping Mint Juleps, no doubt.

And I confess I oppose the demand for reparations.

I deny most of the claims offered to defend that demand and accept those offered against it, as well as many other things that could be offered against it but generally aren't.

This poll is nearly a year old. Couldn't find one more recent.

Nearly 75% of African Americans support reparations for slavery. Only 15% of white Americans do, a poll says

I would guess more blacks and more whites favor the idea, today.

And again I am guessing that it's an idea whose time will eventually come.

Unconstitutional federal interference?

Short story.

Trump and his Homeland Security Secretary rightly opine some mayors for political reasons are being too soft on the mobs trashing their cities.

Reportedly, the Duce has ordered the secretary to "dominate the streets" with federal forces.

Result so far:

‘The tactics of a dictator’: Portland leaders demand removal of masked federal agents sent by Trump admin following spate of arbitrary arrests

Elected officials in Portland have called on the Trump administration to remove militarised federal agents from the city following reports of protesters being arbitrarily detained, likening their actions to the “tactics of a government led by a dictator”.

Federal law enforcement officers driving unmarked vehicles and wearing camouflage have been seizing people from the street in recent days in Portland, Oregon, which has seen nightly protests for racial justice since the police killing of George Floyd.

Agents from the US Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Protective Service have deployed in the city ostensibly to protect federal property. 

But video and witness testimony show they have far exceeded that mandate and have detained people without cause far from the buildings they are supposed to be protecting.

“The message crafted by the Trump administration to justify this escalation of force and intimidation in Portland borders on propaganda, apparently to serve the president’s perceived political interests. This is unacceptable under our Constitution,” said a letter signed by Oregon Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, together with House Representatives Earl Blumenauer and Suzanne Bonamici.

Don't be too sure the Supremes wouldn't find Trump's intervention constitutional.

They might uphold him even if the feds abandoned the fig leaf they are there to defend federal property or federal officers - a bit circular, that last, eh?

Border chief fires back at Portland mayor, defends 'absolutely necessary' policing tactics

"What's happening right now are absolute criminals. They are willfully organizing, planning and coordinating, and preparing themselves and bringing weapons to these areas with the intent to destroy federal property and harm federal agents and officers. That is criminal and that cannot be justified," he added.

. . . .

When Fox News host Neil Cavuto asked about officers not identifying themselves, Morgan called the allegation a "lie." 

He also dismissed the concerns over unmarked vehicles, arguing that it's a "standard tactic" for law enforcement.

"Right now, in situations like this, it's standard procedure -- it's a standard tactic for law enforcement officers to use unmarked cars. ... Neil, it's been on your show, where marked vehicles have actually been attacked by criminals, so it just makes sense for the safety of the officers and agents as well as the protesters," he said.

What's up with Cavuto's voice?

DHS pushes back against claim federal agents detaining Portland protesters aren't identifying themselves

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) pushed back Friday against a claim being amplified by liberal politicians and activists that federal agents who deployed to Portland to disperse protesters this week aren’t identifying themselves.

In a statement, DHS insisted that agents are identifying themselves as Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents. 

But they admitted agents are not wearing name tags -- citing recent doxing incidents against law enforcement.

"The CBP agents identified themselves and were wearing CBP insignia during the encounter," the DHS said in a statement. 

"The names of the agents were not displayed due to recent doxing incidents against law enforcement personnel who serve and protect our country."

. . . .

Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf on Thursday accused Portland politicians of enabling the “mob” of protesters who have besieged the city for more than six weeks -- and posted a lengthy timeline of the damage caused by “violent anarchists.”

“The city of Portland has been under siege for 47 straight days by a violent mob while local political leaders refuse to restore order to protect their city,” Wolf said in a statement. 

“Each night, lawless anarchists destroy and desecrate property, including the federal courthouse, and attack the brave law enforcement officers protecting it.”

CBP said they arrested Pettibone because they “had information indicating the person in the video was suspected of assaults against federal agents or destruction of federal property.”

CBP said that a “violent mob” descended upon them as they were arresting Pettibone so they took him to a safer location for questioning. 

Pettibone was then quickly released, and told The Post he does not know if he is being charged with a crime.

“While the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) respects every American’s right to protest peacefully, violence and civil unrest will not be tolerated,” DHS said in the statement. 

“Violent anarchists have organized events in Portland over the last several weeks with willful intent to damage and destroy federal property, as well as injure federal officers and agents. These criminal actions will not be tolerated.”

Yes, it's political theater on all sides.

And nobody has a constitutional right to hold a city hostage for forty seven days.

Not going well here, either.

Pennsylvania COVID-19 cases top 100,000; Allegheny County registers 135 new cases, one death

Gov. Tom Wolf announces new restrictions on bars, restaurants

Watching BBC News

It's all about the pandemic.

Months ago, Putin said that time of pandemic called for a relaxation of tensions, global cooperation, and specifically for dropping or lessening of trade barriers, tariffs, and sanctions.

He was right.

Trump refused to step up.

A little weird, but yes, that happened.

But Putin was speaking primary of sanctions on Iran.

And the Duce is an even more rabid Zionist than Bibi.

Well, perhaps I exaggerate.

Why is this wrong?

This story supposes that, because more Democrats view Biden as moderate than liberal while more Republicans view Trump as conservative than moderate, that means Trump's Republican base likes him better or is more enthused about him than Biden's Democratic base does him.

This ignores that GOP voters are more likely to describe themselves as conservative than are Democratic voters to call themselves liberal.

Poll: Voters see Biden as more moderate than Trump

The poll released Thursday finds that 33 percent of registered voters view the former vice president as moderate, compared to 20 percent who say the same of Trump.

Meanwhile, the survey found that more voters view Trump as conservative than view Biden as liberal, suggesting stronger support for Trump than Biden among their respective bases.

Sixty-nine percent of Republicans view Trump as "somewhat" or "very" conservative, compared to 41 percent of Democrats who view Biden as "somewhat" or "very" liberal, a 28-point gap. 

Among Democrats, 43 percent view Biden as moderate and 16 percent view him as conservative, while 17 percent of Republicans said they view Trump as moderate and 14 percent view him as liberal. 

Independent voters are 10 percentage points more likely to say that Biden is the more moderate candidate, which could give the former vice president an edge come November. 

Thirty-eight percent of independents view Biden as moderate while 28 percent view Trump as moderate.