Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Let there be snark.

This blog will pay for itself.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

The revolution will be supervised.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

Infrastructure week. at last.

This really is a full service blog.

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

This fight is for everything.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the GOP

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

Roe isn’t about choice, it’s about freedom.

After roe, women are no longer free.

The words do not have to be perfect.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

Battle won, war still ongoing.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

Eh, that’s media spin. biden’s health is fine and he’s doing a good job.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

You are here: Home / Past Elections / 2020 Elections / Biden-Harris 2020 / Friday Morning Open Thread: Happy Leif Erikson Day

Friday Morning Open Thread: Happy Leif Erikson Day

by | 228 Comments

This post is in: , ,

Readership capture — one week from today:

MSNBC to air ‘The Way I See It’ documentary about Pete Souza, October 16 at 10pm ET


Or then again…

Reader Interactions

228Comments

  2. 2.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    Weigel needs to be dope slapped.  He makes it sound like Biden is a gaffe machine.

    The old gaffe-prone Uncle Joe Villager meme is about as tiresome and any of the labels Emperor Tang’s court tries to get to stick on Biden.

    The fact that Biden is up the way he is and a blue tidal wave is in the offing is a testament to how pissed off the electorate is, how effective the Biden campaign has been and how utterly and transparently incompetent (and criminal) this (mal)administration is.  Because it sure as shit ain’t because the media playing field is level.

  5. 5.

    mrmoshpotato

    marred by frequent interruptions and name-calling

    Chris Wallace really needed to shut up.  Why did he spend the whole time heckling these two fine public servants?

    Oh! Wait!

  6. 6.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Portland: officers targeted medics with teargas and projectiles, report finds

    Law enforcement officers in Portland, Oregon, specifically targeted medics with teargas and projectiles during summer protests in “indiscriminate attacks”, according to a new report by Physicians for Human Rights (PHR).

    The study is based on interviews and medical examinations involving health professionals, volunteer medics and emergency services personnel. It also found Portland police and fire personnel did not provide on-site medical care for injured protesters, and prevented ambulances from accessing the area of protests.

    The PHR described an overall pattern that constituted “cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment” from Portland police and federal agents, violating several international compacts on the use of force.
    ……………………………..
    The document includes testimony from in-person observers, including a deputy fire chief, who say that “the number and severity of injuries” increased markedly after the arrival of federal agents, who were more likely to shoot “less lethal” ordnance like teargas canisters directly at protesters and medics.

    I know everybody here is just as shocked, shocked I tell you, as I am.

  8. 8.

    JPL

    Trump’s “first on-camera interview” since falling ill with covid “will take place on ‘Tucker Carlson Tonight’ at 8 p.m. ET. Dr. Marc Siegel will conduct a medical evaluation and interview during the program.”  from Brian Stelter

  9. 9.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @Baud:

    I know this, you know this.  I still bitch about it.

    Plus, Weigel is generally a *little* bit better than this.  I’d expect it from the usual Villager suspects (Mrs Greenspan, Chris Fucking Cilizza, et al).

  10. 10.

    MJS

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage: I made the mistake of looking at Weigel’s twitter feed. He was trying to make an issue of Biden saying everyone would know his position on court-packing after the election. As if anyone is waiting to hear Joe’s answer on that before making up their mind. Weigel did get twitter slapped for that, but I learned I don’t need to see what he has to say on anything.

  12. 12.

    Lapassionara

    Good morning, everyone. Breaking news, Trump did not win the Nobel Peace Prize this year. An organization trying to eradicate hunger did.

  13. 13.

    Mary G

    Patty LuPone also did a song with Randy Rainbow called “If Donald Got Fired” as a fundraiser for the ACLU. Link goes to YouTube with the usual five second ad in front. I originally saw it on the LA Times, but it’s probably paywalled. The lyrics are great.

    Curses. @Bruuuuce: beat me to it while I was fiddling with links.

  14. 14.

    Mai Naem mobile

    Don’t know if anybody has mentioned this yet. Sounds like Steve Scully the 2nd debate moderator was trying to DM Anthony Scaramucci on twitter and but tweeted instead. He was wondering if he should ‘respond to trump’  uh oh. He didn’t ‘gasp’ say ‘President Trump’ and, also, he was a 6 month intern for Biden in ’78 so RW Twitter thinks he biased. I used to watch Washington Journal semi regularly and always assumed Steve Scully was slightly right of center.  This poor guy is going to be crucified by Tuesday and I think he’s pretty much a straight arrow.

  18. 18.

    mrmoshpotato

    @JPL:

    Dr. Marc Siegel will conduct a medical evaluation and interview during the program. 

    In person or will Siegel just look at the obese orange shitstain over the TV?

    “Doc, I’m luxurious and very fit!  I’m tremendous!  Many Peoples says so!”

  24. 24.

    debbie

    I hope the Lincoln Project has time to do an ad on these militias which neither Trump nor the GOP will condemn. These MI clowns had all kinds of plans, including establishing a territory where they would “govern by the Bill of Rights” and other nonsense.

    If only that energy could have been redirected into finding fulfilling jobs!

  26. 26.

    John S.

    @MJS: As opposed to Trump who tells you his position. And then changes his position. And then changes it again. And then changes the subject. All within the span of 3 hours.

    Fuck Dave Weigel.

  30. 30.

    debbie

    @Baud:

    We need to call bullshit. Who are they to complain? The GOP has been packing the court since Merrick Garland.

  32. 32.

    Mary G

    Tweeting today will be batshit insane:

    SCOOP: Attorney General Bill Barr has begun telling top Republicans that the Justice Department’s sweeping review into the origins of the Russia investigation will not be released before the election. https://t.co/31fAjqVjsC
    — Axios (@axios) October 9, 2020

    “This is the nightmare scenario. Essentially, the year and a half of arguably the number one issue for the Republican base is virtually meaningless if this doesn’t happen before the election,” a GOP congressional aide told Axios. https://t.co/31fAjqVjsC
    — Axios (@axios) October 9, 2020

    Been some inklings this was coming. I think Nora Dannehy’s resignation was a big deal, and we will find out later it led Durham to resist. She did the right thing when it was hard and it mattered. https://t.co/ocrPUNw9Yw
    — Matthew Miller (@matthewamiller) October 9, 2020

    So many women have stood up to this administration, told the truth, and shamed the devil. Sally Yates, Marie Yovanovich, Fiona Hill; it’s a long list.

  34. 34.

    Mary G

    @debbie: They packed the federal judiciary the entirety of Obama’s administration by blocking judges right and left for bullshit reasons. Then they had the gall to say he left Twitler so many openings because he’s lazy and shiftless.

  39. 39.

    JPL

    @Mai Naem mobile:  Scaramucci  told him to ignore it, because he’s been having a hard time and some bad stuff is suppose to drop soon.     hmm

    Instead of soon, how about just letting everyone know now.

  40. 40.

    John S.

    @Baud: That’s a great way to keep the topic on how Republicans are trying to ram through a nomination WEEKS before an election, and in the middle of people already voting, after claiming in 2016 that doing so was sacrilege (10 months before the election).

    Only the most fervent Trump humpers can accept the cognitive dissonance required to be okay with that premise.

  43. 43.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @Mary G:

    “This is the nightmare scenario. Essentially, the year and a half of arguably the number one issue for the Republican base is virtually meaningless if this doesn’t happen before the election,” a GOP congressional aide told Axios.

    Maybe they shouldn’t have whipped up the goobers with a bunch of fantasist bullshit.

  48. 48.

    SFAW

    @Baud:

    He said “abide by the constitution.”

    As in “The Baud abides”?

    ETA: Do we also get to refer to you as “Your Baudness”?

  49. 49.

    TS (the original)

    @Mary G:

    Attorney General Bill Barr has begun telling top Republicans that the Justice Department’s sweeping review into the origins of the Russia investigation will not be released before the election

    This reads to me that it will not be good news for the president* & the report may get lost after the election.

  50. 50.

    SFAW

    @Baud:

    Hopefully that changes this year and it becomes a habit.

    Yeah, and hopefully all my hair will grow back this week. I mean, this is the ‘Murican electorate we’re talking about.

  51. 51.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    Thought experiment: Trump says he “is” the cure, meaning he has antibodies that could presumably be used to create antibody therapy for someone else. (Be merciful with me on the science here. I’m an English major.) If you knew the antibodies you were about to be given were Trump’s, how sick would you be at the idea of letting them be injected into your body?

  53. 53.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    I just thought about a great attack line:

    ”We at the Biden-Harris campaign are thrilled that the President is apparently feeling better using an experimental treatment. Sadly, though, he is benefitting from a treatment that was developed in a way which his Supreme Court choice would deny to you.”

  56. 56.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    Although I would wholeheartedly encourage the pharmaceutical industry to take as much of his blood as they need to work on this problem.

    Oh, and since I believe in healthy market competition, they should all have access to his body for that blood.

  61. 61.

    Gin & Tonic

    I don’t know about the rest of you, but I was crushed when I woke up and saw the news that “your favorite President” was not awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Again.

  62. 62.

    SFAW

    @Baud:

    Hopefully that will help.

    Well, it’s nice to see you more hopeful these days. A refreshing change from your persistent Eeyore-ism.

    Yes, I’m kidding.  [About the Eeyore-ism, that is.]

  65. 65.

    SFAW

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:

    Although I would wholeheartedly encourage the pharmaceutical industry to take as much of his blood as they need to work on this problem.

    You do know that his mother originally wanted to name him “Renfield” because it sounded classier, right?

    [Although I guess Renfield wasn’t actually one of Dracula’s victims, but just a nutcase who ate bugs.]

  67. 67.

    Baud

    The debate commission grabbed for too much power. Its time is up.

    Washington Post: Breaking News, World, U… / by Opinion by Hugh Hewitt / 21min

    Ok by me, Hugh.

  68. 68.

    Punchy

    Is Nate’s poll an aggregate of nationwide ones, or his own independent poll?  Because if the former, what polls are so close such that his average is <10 pt spread?  All the ones Ive seen are 12-15 pt spread.  How can that produce an average less than 10 unless a bunch more are much, much closer?

  69. 69.

    SFAW

    @Baud:

    That works. Just remember to cast your eyes toward the ground when speaking to or about me.

    Does “speak” encompass writing/typing as well? Because if it does mu rtpyinig wil; suffr.

  70. 70.

    Amir Khalid

    @satby:

    It is awesome that Patti Lupone herself did the vocal. But Trump is toxic, in more ways than one, and he’s talking about what a big fan of hers he is. If it were me, I too would want to put some distance between myself and a fan like that.

    And there is a precedent. Bruce Springsteen did the same thing to Chris Christie, in the wake of Bridgegate: he went on Jimmy Fallon and they did that parody of Born To Run.

  71. 71.

    Steeplejack

    Okay, I’ve got Morning Joe cued up to watch the rerun of the 6:00 a.m. opening. Let’s see what they say about Trump’s unhinged Hannity call last night.

  73. 73.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @SiubhanDuinne:
    @Bruuuuce:
    Oops, sorry. I started at the bottom and saw Bruuuuce’s comment just as my edit window closed. (And I had just assumed that was PLP on the Covita video, too, so glad to have that correction.)

    ETA: @Mary G, also too

  75. 75.

    Betty Cracker

    What’s the latest on the debates — happening or no? I hope Biden tells Trump to go pound sand. I don’t think Biden would get the blowback since Trump already publicly refused to debate. There’s no reason to throw that fucker a lifeline. Ditto Pelosi on the stimulus bill. If Republicans want to send out checks to everyone with Trump’s signature, pass the Dems’ entire bill and stop trying to ram through an extremist judge. Otherwise, fuck off.

  78. 78.

    satby

    @debbie:  If only that energy could have been redirected into finding fulfilling jobs!

    Oh sweetie, after having lived in the red part of MI I can tell you that most of them barely qualify for any jobs. This is not a demographic that embraces education, or diversity, or anything Rush Limpballs disapproves of.

  81. 81.

    SFAW

    @Betty Cracker:

    What’s the latest on the debates — happening or no? I hope Biden tells Trump to go pound sand. I don’t think Biden would get the blowback since Trump already publicly refused to debate. There’s no reason to throw that fucker a lifeline. Ditto Pelosi on the stimulus bill. If Republicans want to send out checks to everyone with Trump’s signature, pass the Dems’ entire bill and stop trying to ram through an extremist judge. Otherwise, fuck off.

    You needed an editor for this one.

    [Kidding, I love reading you.]

  82. 82.

    Immanentize

    @Punchy: Nate aggregates almost all polls (there are a few he has kicked out of his field of data).  Go to 538 and you can see each and every poll.  He also has a larger algorithm based on other factors (economy, historical precedent, etc.). All very interesting if you care to dig into it.

  84. 84.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Steeplejack (phone):

    Also, anyone seem Jared or Ivanka in public lately?

    Wow. Trying to remember. I don’t think I’ve seen any photos/videos or even press mentions of them* since the night of the Biden-Trump debate 11 days ago. One does wonder.

    *Except for showing up in one of those compilation pieces of how which WH staffers and close Trump associates have tested, and they’re always both on the Covid-negative list.

  86. 86.

    Bruuuuce

    @SFAW: I was stoked to see her duet with Randy. And then I imagined how he must have felt, and wow, was it a rush.

  91. 91.

    Kay

    @Immanentize:

    The first-term Democratic governor was viewed favorably by 51% of respondents while 41% said they viewed her unfavorably. It was a slight drop from her 52% favorability rating in early September but a decrease that remains within the poll’s margin of error of plus-minus 4 percentage points.

    It’s funny because flip that and you have Trump’s polling in Michigan.

  93. 93.

    Steeplejack

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    “Where’s Waldo?” has become my little corner of the current Kremlinology studies. Also MIA: Bill Barr. Rudy Giuliani did appear on Fox a few days ago, but he was coughing on and off through the whole thing. ?

    Steven Mnuchin is on my “futures” list. And of course Lindsey Graham is bending himself into a pretzel to avoid a test before his debate with Jaime Harrison, because a positive result would scuttle the Barrett hearing.

  94. 94.

    Baud

    The vice presidential debate between Mike Pence and Kamala Harris was a much bigger audience draw than the VP debate in 2016, according to Nielsen.

    More than 57 million people watched Wednesday’s VP debate across eighteen channels on television. About 37 million people watched the 2016 debate between Pence and Tim Kaine.
    ….
    Last week’s presidential debate between Biden and President Trump netted more than 73 million viewers.

  97. 97.

    Amir Khalid

    @SFAW:

    I have a feeling that one reason Trump is flip-flopping on debate Round 2 is that he’s in a dilemma. He looks really ill right now; if he shows up looking like that, he’s finished. But if he doesn’t show up, The Lincoln Project (among others) will feel free to call him a name that rhymes with “Howard”.

  98. 98.

    Steeplejack

    @A Ghost to Most:

    I think around 8:30 or so they switch back to “new” but less “breaking” stuff. That’s my experience from times when I have watched the whole three hours.

  99. 99.

    Kay

    @zhena gogolia:

    I think he does a good job. It’s just shorthand to mean “nothing quotable”.

    IMO he’s the best out there for covering actual Democrats instead of some caricature of Democrats. He’s been right a lot this cycle too- he knew the law n order theme was a loser when every other pundit and reporter was saying it was political death for Biden. Most people here like the Lincoln Project- no one did more handwringing over law n order than the Lincoln Project people.

  100. 100.

    Betty Cracker

    @Baud: Agreed. It’s clear at this point Trump broke the COVID-19 test rules for the first debate. There’s no other plausible explanation for the refusal to say when he last tested negative. I think the Biden people would be justified in saying no more debates period since Trump lied and endangered everyone.

  102. 102.

    Soprano2

    If I were Biden I’d tell the debate commission that I’m ready to show up and answer questions from the American people, and the virtual format works fine because all of us have had to get used to a new reality because of the pandemic. I hope they hold out against Trump on the decision to go virtual. I agree with Kay, one thing Trump suffers from is that no one will stand up and tell him “no” and make it stick.

  103. 103.

    Bruuuuce

    @Amir Khalid: That may be one reason, but I heard about the reversal, combined with many prior instances of his about-faces (especially the recent one on stimulus), and it seems to me to be his basic self-identity as a marketer coming to the fore. Take your choice of cliche: he’s either running it up the flagpole to see who salutes, or throwing it against the wall to see what sticks, and, since he has no integrity, he moves with the breeze.

  104. 104.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    I know I keep saying this but in my experience people are genuinely interested in Kamala Harris. She’s the single person in this that they aren’t familiar with – they want to see her.

  105. 105.

    Kathleen

    @MJS: Appears that “court packing” is the new Butter Emails. I guess they got bored with “We’re not gonna be IGNORED Joe”?

  107. 107.

    SFAW

    @Betty Cracker:

    I think the Biden people would be justified in saying no more debates period since Trump lied and endangered everyone.

    I would expect the Biden team to say “Negative test, or no in-person debate,” to which Trumpers would reply “here’s the results nyah nyah” to which Biden et al would/should reply “No, you liars — WE will do the tests,” at which point the Vector-in-Chief will whine “no fair,” and duck out.

  108. 108.

    Kay

    @Soprano2:

    Biden isn’t afraid of Trump. Biden treats Trump like an individual- a bad individual but an individual. He doesn’t ascribe magic powers to him- doesn’t make him bigger than he is. He treats Trump like Trump is small and petty, which he is of course. I wonder if it’s because Biden has been in an administration and worked with so many Presidents.

  110. 110.

    NickM

    @Baud: Great article. Thanks. The Dems would be smart to finally reward unions in a major way. It’s smart because supporting unions is good economics and helps so many people remain in or become middle class. But it’s also smart politically- if they support and grow unions in a way members can see, the Dems never have to worry about losing Michigan, PA, WI, MN again, and Ohio once more becomes a battleground.

  112. 112.

    Shalimar

    @MJS: Weigel is a good observer.  He frequently notices things others do not.  He usually keeps his actual politics out of his reporting, which is good, becuase he’s a libertarian twat.

  113. 113.

    Feathers

    I have been told by reliable sources that the Leif Erikson statue on the Commonwealth Avenue Mall in Boston is going commando and fully anatomically accurate under his tunic. This cannot be confirmed from the ground. I no longer have the strength or agility  to find out on my own. Boston Jackals? Jackals with college student acquaintances in the area?

  114. 114.

    JPL

    @Immanentize:  What a guy.   Yesterday morning he attacked the unlikable, communist, monster Harris, and he ended the day attacking the Michigan Governor whose life was threatened by white supremacists.

    I’m leaving in a few minutes to get my flu shot and run some errands.   I wonder who he’ll attack while I’m gone.    Probably Hillary.

  116. 116.

    hueyplong

    In a sane world Trump would be sedated and under 24/7 care in an undisclosed location after last night’s freak show on Hannity. Even in our current context, that was frightening, barking madness. For the good of everyone, you have to hope he was Dexed to the gills, because if that wasn’t chemically fueled…

    We really, really need for him to enter the crash mode soon. Is it possible that someone thinks giving him Dex daily through the election is a good idea? Because it’s pretty clearly not.

  117. 117.

    Immanentize

    @germy: This is one of those classic debate squabbles.  But this one is landing blows on Graham.  Why won’t he take a test?  People want to take tests but can’t get one.  But everyone knows he can just waive his hand and get whatever test he likes.  Graham’s big come back is –“I’ll be there, nyah!”

    I think Harrison might not win, but he is making it possible to win

  119. 119.

    germy

    Russia orchestrated an attack against my husband’s unit in Syria in early 2018.

    Russia lost. Badly.

    As payback Russia placed bounties on the heads of US soldiers.

    The Commander in Chief aids the enemy, but abandons our allies.

    Here’s our story.

    ? pic.twitter.com/PUsrFE90Ui

    — Lindsey Simmons (@LynzforCongress) June 27, 2020

  120. 120.

    Jeffro

    @Baud: YES!  This column is just excellent.  Bouie points out that a landslide loss of the WH isn’t enough of a price for Republicans to pay for their corrupt support of trumpov

    If the past four years have been a smash and grab, where Trump smashes our institutions and the Republican Party grabs as much political loot as it can carry, then an additional seat on the Supreme Court is too valuable a trophy to give up. But there is no rule that says you get to keep stolen goods, and the Barrett seat — like the Gorsuch seat — represents a theft.
    If Democrats make Republicans pay a political price in November for their rank and ruinous opportunism, then in January they should use their power to restore to the people what was taken from them.

  121. 121.

    Ken

    @Gin & Tonic: “your favorite President” was not awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Again.

    It’s very rare that any individual gets a second Nobel, and no one has doubled up on the Peace prize.  Giving a second one to Obama would be fantastic but, sorry to say, just isn’t going to happen.

  122. 122.

    Jeffro

    @Kathleen: the Bouie column Baud linked to up above is really excellent…except for the title.

    It’s “court EXPANDING”, NYT!  It’s also the only just thing to do, since Republicans only stood by trumpov in order to gain judge seats…make them (effectively) lose those seats, not just the WH

  123. 123.

    Ken

    @JPL: I wonder who he’ll attack while I’m gone.

    In related news, the World Food Programme won the Peace prize this year.

  124. 124.

    Barbara

    @Amir Khalid: A few thoughts.  First, it’s just a continuation of the BS we have been subjected to since the pandemic began, which is utter failure to take it seriously combined with aggressive belittling of those who do.  Second, he cannot or will not conceive that the only thing that matters is what he wants.  He cannot imagine that the organizers, hotel staff, and so on genuinely object to the idea that they and their families might be at risk from the debate.  Even if Trump seroconverts, what about the people around him?  And last, their refusal to be transparent and play by the rules in the first debate means that no one trusts them any longer, and that’s the kind of thing that just does not compute in Trump’s mind:  accountability, what’s that?

    In other words, he’s just being who he is, trying to get maximum tactical advantage without an inkling of understanding that when a contagious dread disease is in the mix, at least a few people who might have capitulated have now found their spines.

  125. 125.

    Betty Cracker

    I understand why people are pissed off about the media’s court-packing questions. It’s annoying that Trump and Republicans evade accountability for their countless scandals and hypocrisy by flooding the zone with outrageous bullshit. It’s unfair that they’re graded on a curve.

    That said, it’s a legit question that is in the public interest, whether a Biden-Harris admin would expand the judiciary and the size of the SCOTUS. Excoriating reporters for asking it is probably the wrong response (from Biden supporters and surrogates, I mean).

    It’s probably better to point out that the population has grown significantly since the last time the federal judiciary was expanded and that the SCOTUS is out of balance thanks to political shenanigans in the senate, which have undermined public confidence in the impartiality of the court. I think most reasonable people would agree this is true.

    So, IF Biden and Harris win AND the Dems get a senate majority, say the admin will work with congressional leaders in a bipartisan way to study a number of possible reforms and move forward from there. That answer won’t satisfy any partisan constituency, but if you’re already doing the bipartisan dance, now is the time to use it.

  126. 126.

    A Ghost to Most

    @Steeplejack: Yeah, especially on big news days, which is everyday now.

    Ps. 9news.com poll for CO show Biden and Hick up double digits here. Cory is toast.

  127. 127.

    germy

    Ken Bone, rugged individualist.

    Fun fact: Ken Bone works at Prairie State Energy in Belleville IL, a nationwide showcase for “clean coal” that has been a total boondoggle, public funds sinkhole, and the largest new source of CO2 emissions built in the US this century? Very libertarian! https://t.co/LvTnmyQ8iD
    — Mass for Shut-ins (is a podcast) (@edburmila) October 8, 2020

  129. 129.

    TS (the original)

    @Punchy:

    Nate has his magic formula that values every poll differently. It takes into account the value of the pollster (from A(best) to D and lots in between). He also looks at the age of the poll, whether it is RV LV or all adults etc etc.  I don’t think he has ever released all the formula he uses.

    All the more recent polls are rate B or less. His average is at  10.2 this morning.

  130. 130.

    Jeffro

    Stopped clocks and all that: Brooksie does have some actual, truthful insights in today’s column!

    … Joe Biden and Kamala Harris decided to run a professional campaign. Instead of trying to please those of us who consume large amounts of media, they have ruthlessly and effectively focused their campaign on the Exhausted Majority…Kamala Harris’s debate performance was the perfect implementation of the strategy and the perfect illustration of why it is succeeding. A lot of the conversation about who “won” the debate misses the crucial question of who effectively implemented her or his campaign’s strategy. Harris did.  The Republicans don’t have a strategy, so Mike Pence’s performance was beside the point.

  131. 131.

    Barbara

    @Betty Cracker: I think the messaging should be as follows:

    1.  First, and foremost, the Court should be independent and free of political meddling, but instead, it has become overtly politicized.
    2. Court size has varied over the life of the Republic. We are at least twice the size we were when we decided on 9 justices, and the justices actually take a shockingly low number of cases.
    3. So: a few more justices, to reflect size and changing demographics of nation, and instituting senior status for justices turning 70 so that successor is less likely to be the result of political manipulation.
  132. 132.

    TS (the original)

    @Soprano2:  Biden’s already booked to do a town hall on ABC with questions from a studio audience (Biden won’t be in the studio) or some such thing. He will get millions of viewers.

    Trump meanwhile will have his live rally in Florida (if he can book a venue) and those who are keen to catch covid will be there to listen. Don’t know how much of the media will show Trump (unless he collapses).

  133. 133.

    Kathleen

    @Jeffro: I agree that column is very good and I’m glad to see those sentiments in NYT. I was directing my ire towards Weigel. Since 2016 I’ve become even more skittish about media than I was before 2016.

  135. 135.

    Leto

    @Betty Cracker:  have to disagree with this. You’re correct that the judiciary needs expanding to keep up with cases/population, but this is a discussion to be had among sane adults. That’s not the media nor Republicans. This discussion requires nuance and detailed explanation. It can be had/given after Jan 20th.

    Also no reason to give the media a free talking point to try to help their Republican masters in the last thirty days. They didn’t question Republican court packing for four years, and still won’t talk about/report that, so fuck’em.

  136. 136.

    Steeplejack

    A belated thought on that Trump video that we were discussing yesterday as to whether it was green-screened. (MSNBC just used a snippet of it as Kelly O’Donnell was blabbing about something.)

    I’m not an expert on the White House and environs, but I question whether the grounds are big enough for Trump to be as far from the White House itself as he appears to be in the video. It’s a long way. Also, I question whether the Secret Service would want/​allow the president to be that exposed. Standing alone in a huge expanse of lawn far from shelter? Doesn’t seem likely.

  137. 137.

    PST

    @Kay:

    I know I keep saying this but in my experience people are genuinely interested in Kamala Harris. She’s the single person in this that they aren’t familiar with – they want to see her.

    I couldn’t agree more. People sure weren’t watching because of curiosity about Mike Pence. It is so easy to forget how many people don’t follow politics and election news closely. As utterly familiar as Harris seems to us, she is still a novelty to many. Some are suspicious about her background, others merely curious, but they were all finally getting around to seeking a better impression of what she is really like. No one needed to do that for Tim Kaine. He was clearly a potential vice president of the most familiar kind, a middle-aged white male senator that they may have vaguely heard of. Harris’s real job was to lead a broad swath of uninformed America conclude, “She seem okay to me.”

  138. 138.

    Sab

    @zhena gogolia: Lots of his gaffes aren’t even gaffes. I remember the late Cokie Roberts chortling when he called people from Bosnia “Bosniaks” instead of Bosnians. Then it turned out Bosniaks is indeed what they are called.

  139. 139.

    TS (the original)

    @germy:

    Half the senate is going to have covid by this weekend & they are so scared about not confirming their SCOTUS lady they refuse to be tested.

    Like trump they don’t care who they infect with a deadly disease, as long as they get through their agenda. Is it any wonder the sycophants are out there refusing to wear masks when this is the example set by the leaders of the nation.

  140. 140.

    Gin & Tonic

    @hueyplong:

    Is it possible that someone thinks giving him Dex daily through the election is a good idea?

    Someone may think that, but any licensed professional who prescribed that should forfeit his/her license immediately. It’s a 10-day course of treatment, and has to be tapered off. Anything else is malpractice.

  141. 141.

    Kay

    @PST:

    I don’t think it was deliberate on the Biden campaign’s part- a combination of covid and media’s absolute obsession with covering every word out of Donald Trump’s mouth- but I DO think that interest in her benefits her. They get way, way too much Trump. They get hardly any Harris.

  143. 143.

    Steeplejack

    @hueyplong:

    Last weekend I put tomorrow as the day when Trump crashes, relapses or has some sort of COVID-related “event.” It would be approximately on the timeline from when he probably really got the virus (not when reported).

  144. 144.

    Leto

    @PST: I want more Mindy Kaling cooking with Kamala YouTube videos, talking about their Indian heritage. That was still one of the best things I’d seen in years. Her laugh alone was so uplifting and a direct rejection of Trumpov/Dense.

  147. 147.

    Barbara

    @PST: I read the NYT article on Harris’ time in Canada and I was not surprised to learn that she was part of a competitive dance team in high school.  She is serious and smart, but there is also a bit of a cheerleader in her — that is, a strikingly positive demeanor — and I think many find that to be very appealing.

  148. 148.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Sab: Sort of true. “Bosniak” refers to the Muslim residents/citizens of Bosnia. “Bosnian” would refer to a citizen of Bosnia of any ethnicity/faith. I don’t know the context in which Biden used the term, so can’t say if he was right or wrong, but I’ll assume he knew more about it than Cokie.

  149. 149.

    zhena gogolia

    @Jeffro:

    I keep going back in my mind to her flash of rhetorical brilliance when she referred to people in March wondering where they would get their next roll of toilet paper. Pence looked puzzled. They are so fucking out of touch they probably weren’t even aware that people were ready to sell their grandmothers for toilet paper last spring.

  151. 151.

    MJS

    @Leto: Agreed. The focus should be on what the Republicans are currently trying to do (hypocritically jam through a Supreme Court appointment), not what the Democrats may or may not do. Don’t let the media change the focus.

  152. 152.

    Gin & Tonic

    OT, but the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has confirmed that Alexei Navalny was poisoned with Novichok.

    Russia is silent. So is the US.

  153. 153.

    zhena gogolia

    @Gin & Tonic:

    He was using it correctly, as I recall. He was using it in a sentence that referred to what segment of the population Bosniaks are. They mocked him by spelling it “Bosniac,” as if he thought they were from the planet Melmac.

  156. 156.

    Kay

    @Shalimar:

    It’s knowledge versus bullshit narrative building. He knows a lot. So when the rest of them are like “The Left says…” or “rustbelt voters think….” he puts actual events and people in there. Useful, real context.

    This is an extreme example but when Trump sneered to Biden “you just lost the Left” at the debate that’s the kind of political analysis I hate, and there’s a LOT of it, by professionals. Joe Biden has been an elected Democrat for 40 years. Donald Trump can’t tell him anything about Democrats he doesn’t know.

    Jared Kushner believed that rank and file Democrats would reward Trump for firing Comey. He doesn’t know the first thing about this subject.

  157. 157.

    Betty Cracker

    @Leto: The media already have a talking point: “Biden-Harris won’t answer questions about their plans for the judiciary.” I think Team Biden’s impulse is sound — don’t give the media a hypothetical to obsess over — but the execution of that strategy (basically stonewalling) might create its own blowback. I think we’d be better off giving a non-committal response that acknowledges that it’s a legit question and that there are many contingencies and parties involved with any action.

  158. 158.

    Leto

    @MJS: It’s just so predictable. Tide goes in, tide goes out. Republicans commit serious political/governing/moral malfeasance, Dems are expected to compromise/govern in a bipartisan manner. Every serious Dem presidential nominee had a webpage with tons of policy solutions to most of our problems, whereas Trumpov/Republicans basically have, “you’ll see it in two weeks!” For the past four years. We’re not here to provide material for your horse race coverage. We’re also not here to help absolve your sins for your shit coverage from four years ago. Fuck’em.

  160. 160.

    hueyplong

    I guess what worries me is that everything we see, hear and read leads you to believe that whether something is a very bad idea or whether it would be malpractice to permit it are not STOP signs for Trump.  Presumably Dex is a lot more difficult for him to obtain on the down low than is Adderall.  He has gone on TV and talked about Dex like he’s in those Frank Thomas ads, playing the part of Frank Thomas [pauses for brief, partial vomiting].  I’m surprised that they don’t cut to an attractive young woman who comments favorably on his physique.

  161. 161.

    Leto

    @Betty Cracker: I think it’s along the same line as Trumpov/the media demanding to know Biden’s Supreme Court picks. Like you said, giving a non-committal answer is probably best but as others have observed this is something most “normies” aren’t even paying attention to. It’s insider baseball stuff. But I’ll trust his team to come up with that messaging, if needed, because they’ve been really good about all of this so far.

  163. 163.

    Kay

    None of these voters are mentioning “court packing”, or incredibly, The Durham Report:

    New polls show Mr. Trump’s support is collapsing nationally, as he alienates women, seniors and suburbanites. He is trailing not just in must-win battlegrounds but according to private G.O.P. surveys, he is repelling independents to the point where Mr. Biden has drawn closer in solidly red states, including Montana, Kansas and Missouri, people briefed on the data said.

    Court packing may well be their number one concern but they seem to be quite shy about it if it is. I’m just grateful they’re not relitigating the emails.

  164. 164.

    SFAW

    @Immanentize:

    Ok, forty pounds.

    Well, I got a spare 40 (at least) that I can loan give you. You’re in MA, right? Let’s figure out where we can meet to make the transfer.

  165. 165.

    Kattails

    @germy: that’s great, very well done ad. Thanks for posting it, would never have found it on my own.  Maybe I can scrape  up a few bucks for her.  wish I could get my Trump mother to listen to anything, I’d send it.

  166. 166.

    Feathers

    @Leto: The problem is that giving any indication that the court will be expanded provides extra justification for rushing the Barrett nomination. Not that they need it, but it makes her an extra martyr and gives endless talking points to the right.

  167. 167.

    artem1s

    @Mary G:

    Attorney General Bill Barr has begun telling top Republicans that the Justice Department’s sweeping review into the origins of the Russia investigation will not be released before the election.

    sry Donnie, not exonerated.  Barr obviously doesn’t trust Pence to save his bacon or he’d be pushing for 25 to be invoked.  this report is a ticking time bomb and could give the GOP a way out of their Orange Mess and still be able to blame Hillery and Pelosi. These guys keep looking a gift horse in the mouth and it makes no sense unless they are hip deep in the collusion too.

  168. 168.

    StringOnAStick

    James Corden is such a talented guy, that version off Maybe I’m Amazed is brilliant.

    If you need some lighter fun with a bit of cloak and dagger, he and another young British actor wrote and starred in a two season series on Hulu called “The Wrong Mans” that we enjoyed so much that we watched it twice.  It’s been a couple if years but hopefully it can still be summoned on streaming.  Totally worth it!

  169. 169.

    Ken

    @Kay: I’m just grateful they’re not relitigating the emails.

    Trump wants to skip the litigation step and go straight to the imprisonment of Clinton for treason (or lèse-majesté).  Also everyone else who’s ever offended him.

  170. 170.

    Kay

    Instead of court packing they could cover the Supreme Court nominee. She has a very thin record and no one has asked her anything. I’m a tad suspicious of people who launch a campaign to portray any questions about their work as an attack on their religion, and most ridiculously, an attack on their family. She’s an academic. She preemptively forbids questions? We all know they’re going to jam her on the court. Perhaps she could indulge us by allowing us the same questions anyone would get in a fucking job interview.

  171. 171.

    Kay

    @Ken:

    My husband is weirdly fascinated with Trump’s prosecution theories. He listened to clips of the Hannity interview last night and was replaying them, like you would a transcript. No idea what’s going on there. He’s more alarmed than I am about Trump’s efforts to interfere with the election, perhaps because he’s a former prosecutor – he sees Trump as a threat to individuals who will be politically prosecuted.

    Ugh, I hate Trump’s voice. I hate that broad, braggy sound and all those bullshit filler words.

  176. 176.

    Baud

    @Betty Cracker:

    My guess is that Biden doesn’t want court packing to become an issue in Senate races in purple and red states.  That’s a greater risk than the issue is to the Biden ticket at this point.

  177. 177.

    Betty Cracker

    @Kay: There’s an ad in heavy rotation here in Florida alleging that “Democrats” are attacking Barrett because she’s Catholic. It stars quasi-libertarian Bill Maher saying the word “Catholic” in a mocking tone. So stupid.

    Also, there’s a Barrett bus tour. It’s a political campaign, and if judicial confirmations are political campaigns, maybe we should just straight-up elect the justices. If we did, I’m pretty sure an extremist like Barrett wouldn’t get within 100 miles of the SCOTUS.

  179. 179.

    Immanentize

    @Leto: idea — when a reporter asks Harris or Biden a question about a policy — “Do you favor ACA expansion?” — one could answer -. “Could you please remind me what the Trump administration position is on that?”

  180. 180.

    Kay

    Hanna Trudo
    @HCTrudo
    ·17h
    Whoa- this seems notable.
    @JoeBiden
    on court packing says: “You will know my opinion on court-packing when the election is over.”
    The Supreme Court is on the minds of many and people are voting now. He needs to answer

    So let’s ignore the actual justice they’re jamming onto the court and focus on Joe Biden’s theoretical justices.
    The Right cowed them again. They worked the refs and scared them out of asking any questions because they know any questions about this justice will be met with howls or outrage about how it’s an attack on religion. This justice has the thinnest record of any justice I can remember and they have successfully silenced any inquiry into her work at all.

  184. 184.

    Kay

    @Betty Cracker:

    I wouldn’t mind that she’s coordinating on a political campaign if I also wasn’t being scolded into treating her like the lady justice statue. I am sick of being lectured by the far Right on ethics. They have no fucking standing to lecture me. Unlike the new justice, when I’m in a city that requires certain public health restrictions for covid I COMPLY with them. NY is more stringent than OH. When I travel to NY I obey the state rules. DC is a majority AA city. AA have died of this virus at a disproportiate rate. WTF sashaying in there and sending their covid rate thru the roof?

    She has a very thin written record because she has a very thin RECORD, period. She should be asked more questions than an experienced candidate, not fewer. I think that’s the reason they launched the silencing campaign- they don’t want us to know what she thinks.

  185. 185.

    Baud

    I wonder if, at the next town hall, the media will find an 8 year old girl to pen a letter expressing deep concerning about court packing.

  188. 188.

    Immanentize

    I actually think the rush to get the nomination pushed through before the election was so McConnell could keep Republican Senators in line.  After the election, there will be not reason for three or four of them to continue showing up.

  190. 190.

    germy

    @Kay:

    NEW to @NBCNews

    Barrett disclosure did not include work for troubled hospital group

    Dems say it underscores a rushed process, as it involves among largest nonprofit bankruptcies in U.S. history.

    Barrett didn't consider her role "significant."https://t.co/CJ012V9I6A

    — Heidi Przybyla (@HeidiNBC) October 9, 2020

    Maybe her record looks thin because she’s not disclosing much?

  191. 191.

    Kay

    Oops. She forgot another one:

    Hamza Shaban
    @hshaban
    ·2h
    “Amy Coney Barrett did not include on her Senate Judiciary disclosure forms a notable case in which she was one of two lead attorneys: defending a Pittsburgh steel magnate accused of helping drive a major Pennsylvania Hospital System into bankruptcy.”

    A really thin record and she left a quarter of it off the resume. I don’t think lawyers should be conflated with the people they represent but we know next to nothing about this person, and we’re being subjected to a deliberate campaign to suppress any inquiry. I object.

  193. 193.

    Baud

    @Immanentize: The only one likely to switch is Kavanaugh (joining Roberts).  The other GOP justices are conservative ideologues and/or haters of liberals.

  195. 195.

    Leto

    @Immanentize: I feel like Biden/Harris are basically doing that now, which I like. Point out the fact that the Emperor hasn’t had any clothes on for four years now. It’s a simple compare and contrast exercise. It won’t penetrate the wingnutosphere but for anyone outside of that it, it works.

  197. 197.

    Kay

    @germy:

    Oh, it’s fine. Her colleagues at the law schools and 15 ass-kissing lawyers who will practice in front of her rave about her. That’s good enough for me!

    I read that she discussed her family with one of the D senators. They wouldn’t have jack shit other to talk about so that makes sense. I mean, what are we supposed to do? Examine her civil procedure lecture at Notre Dame?

  198. 198.

    Kay

    @Immanentize:

    She is not putting together her own record

    Well, despite her incredibly narrow experience, surely she knows the rule for lawyers is if you submit it it’s YOURS. Hers. No one elses. She is 100% responsible for anything she submits with her name on it.
    I insist we use the same rules for the far Right elite legal society that any storefront lawyer has to live with.

  199. 199.

    Amir Khalid

    @Leto:

    I saw the video where they made dhosas with store-bought, pre-mixed batter. There were shrieks of outrage in the comments.

  200. 200.

    brantl

    @debbie:  THey have been packing courts since they stopped allowing district court appointments 2 years into Obama’s last term……

  202. 202.

    brantl

    @Leto: Probably the only thing that would cure you from anything of his being put in you would be a Chlorox intervenous feed.

  205. 205.

    Kay

    Dave Weigel, Re-Animator
    @daveweigel
    ·50m
    By this point in the 2016 campaign, WikiLeaks had been releasing tranches of John Podesta’s hacked email for seven days.

    This is what I mean by honest, accurate context. They all mention the Access Hollywood tape and some of them mention Comey. No one mentions the emails. You were all there watching it unfold. Where’d the wikileaks email go?

  206. 206.

    scav

    @Kay: And I keep hearing this blahblah about her family. As though to underline, isn’t that the most important qualification of a woman?Her real achievement? Spare me.

  207. 207.

    Leto

    @Amir Khalid: I have this master Italian cookbook with about a million old school recipes. At the intro of the polenta section she talks about how to make polenta, but at the end of the intro acknowledges that you can use premade stuff but basically poo poo’s it. I’ll take those comments with the same grain of salt ;)

  208. 208.

    Just One More Canuck

    @Kay: It’s okay to leave stuff off your resume if it you were a part time driver for Uncle Fred’s Chicken on the Run while in university, but not if it’s relevant to the job you’re applying for. I know people who have been fired for lying on their resume.  How is this any different?

  209. 209.

    germy

    “If conservatives become convinced that they cannot win democratically, they will not abandon conservatism, they will abandon democracy.”
    (David Frum)

  210. 210.

    Kay

    @scav:

    It’s meant to put people off asking questions about her work. The truth is there isn’t enough of her work to tell anything  but we aren’t permitted to mention that either, or we’re attacking her adopted children.

    I don’t object to what is a coordinated, hardball campaign to jam a far Right justice on the court. I object to being scolded for pointing out that that’s what it is.

  212. 212.

    Mai Naem mobile

    Nobody gives a crap about court packing because guess what, most people don’t even understand what court packing means. Walk up to the average person on the street and ask them about court packing and you are going to get the human reaction version of the thinking/wondering emoji.

  213. 213.

    Kay

    @Just One More Canuck:

    Well, we’ll never find out because all questions are off limits under the doctrine of “hiding behind your religion”. Give me a break. They as much as ANNOUNCED that any questions about her work would be portrayed as “anti-Catholic” and we’re less than 30 days out from an election where Catholic voters play a crucial role. They are USING the fact that they’re jamming her in immediately prior to an election to jam her in!

    That the people who spend all day moaning about “cancel culture” are now shutting down all inquiry and debate based upon portraying any questions as attacks on this person’s religious and personal identity is just the icing on the bullshit cake.

  214. 214.

    scav

    @Kay: I was in no way complaining about your bringing it up, more that it keeps being reported on so you (and others) could mention it!  The whole family as human shield game is such a specific game of conservative calvinball (see also family as acceptable dynasty goalpost switching). But I have noted that family keeps being shoehorned into the qualifications paragraph with this supposed handmaid of justice.

  215. 215.

    PST

    @Barbara: I loved that NYT article on Harris’s Canadian girlhood too. The dance troupe part made me think back to the conservatives who tried to make a big deal of a doctored version of AOL’s exuberant dancing from her BU days. I never heard any but favorable reactions from real people. It may be that we should only elect officials who can dance like they think no one is watching. Can you imagine Trump or Pence? I certainly contrast Harris’s joyful youth with Trump’s tortured home situation as described by his niece. Horrible people are horrible people no matter how they got that way, but it is helpful in understanding what they are and what they might be capable of.

  217. 217.

    Miss Bianca

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: For some reason, that reminds me of the ending of “True Blood”, where the evangelical anti-vampire bimbo ends up chained in a basement, feeding the very vampires she’s been trying to eradicate, because her blood contains the antidote to “Hep C”, the disease that’s killing them.

    Trump’s bloated ass chained in a basement, being bled to provide antibodies to COVID-19 infected folks? That’s a scenario I wouldn’t mind seeing. Or, you know, I would – but merely because of aesthetic, not moral, objections.

  218. 218.

    Steeplejack

    @PST:

    Yes! Even in the debate with Pence, her demeanor was cheery a lot of the time, except when he was at his most dickish. I would have been 100% ?.

  219. 219.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @debbie: …a territory where they would “govern by the Bill of Rights”…

    You meant “by the Bile of Whites,” dincha?

    (Disclaimer: Despite being entirely of Italian ancestry, yerstruly is a couple of shades whiter than Ivory Flakes. #NotAllHonkies)

  220. 220.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @Baud:

    “I am an 8 year old 3rd grade student at the highest rated Elementary School in suburban Nashville. If you can get over your clear dementia, why are you ruining America by threatening to pack the court with your corrupt cronies, probably paying them off with money that Hunter got from Burisma?”

  221. 221.

    Calouste

    @scav: Of course in a normal job interview, the interviewer shouldn’t ask any questions about the candidate’s family, in case they are perceived as discriminatory. At least that’s what my training at Very Big Corp taught me.

  222. 222.

    Kathleen

    @hueyplong: I have a sneaky feeling that a “friend” or donor has a stake in the company that manufactures that drug he’s taking.  Surprised a reporter hasn’t checked out that angle.

  224. 224.

    rjnerd

    Its been noticed that most favored daughter hasn’t been in front of a camera all week.  This was my first thought

    One of those upcoming show spots that get run:

    Tune in for our post-election mini series – HGTV’s Celebrity House Hunters International – No Extradition Special

  226. 226.

    Kathleen

    @Immanentize: The Perfect Aryan Specimens called. They’re demanding that white nationalist groups pay franchise fees and submit photos prior to espousing white supremacist beliefs.

  227. 227.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Kay: Concur. IMO the more the electorate sees of Kamala the more they’ll like her (equivalently, the less chance Agolf Twitler and the MSM have to paint her as a scary evil dark monster). Plus 7 in favorability after the debate is a good start – especially when the sub-50 number for the Pen(ce)is Flytrap didn’t move.

Comments are closed.