newyorker--2020-08-29--Trump’s Scare Tactics Haven’t Worked Against Biden So Far. Could That Change?

Campaigning in New Hampshire on Friday , Donald Trump escalated his attacks on Joe Biden , the Democratic Party , and the protesters demonstrating against police brutality and racism .
“ Today ’ s Democrat Party is filled with hate , ” he said .
“ Just look at Joe Biden supporters on the street screaming and shouting at bystanders with unhinged , manic rage.
” Referring to protests that took place in New York and Chicago earlier in the summer , he said , “ They are not protesters .
Those are anarchists , they are agitators , they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In the wake of this past week ’ s Republican National Convention , Trump ’ s strategy couldn ’ t be more clear .
With the death toll from the coronavirus pandemic topping a hundred and eighty thousand in the U.S. , and opinion polls showing him running well behind Biden , the President is trying to transform the election from a referendum on his own abject performance to a contest centered on Biden , radical Democrats , and unrest in the streets .
That was the central thrust of the four nights @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the speeches that Trump and Vice- President Mike Pence gave .
It ’ s no mystery why the Trump campaign has adopted this strategy : desperation .
So far , the central fact about the 2020 campaign has been its stability , at least according to the polls .
In mid-March , after Joe Biden effectively wrapped up the Democratic nomination , he was leading Trump by 6.4 percentage points in the Real Clear Politics national poll average .
Today , the R.C.P .
poll average shows Biden ahead by 7.1 percentage points @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and down quite a bit , the over-all pattern has been remarkably steady .
It ’ s been so steady , in fact , that The Economist ’ s Presidential forecasting model , which combines polling results with fundamental factors , such as the state of the economy , now puts the probability of a Biden victory at eighty-eight per cent .
FiveThirtyEights ’ s forecasting model , which is constructed differently and factors in more uncertainty , puts the probability of Biden winning at sixty-nine per cent .
Both models indicate that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ most likely outcome .
Still , many Democrats are nervous , and for understandable reasons , including skepticism about the polls ; concerns about the Republicans ’ built-in advantage in the Electoral College ; and fears that Trump ’ s scaremongering could strengthen his position among some key voting groups , particularly seniors and suburban women .
In 2016 , the polls underestimated Trump ’ s support , especially in key battleground states .
Even though pollsters insist they have made adjustments to avoid another error , there are some grounds for interpreting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that the average response rate for telephone polls—which are still considered the most reliable ones—is now well under ten per cent .
That doesn ’ t mean the polls are wrong again this year .
As the Pew Research Center noted in a piece from 2019 , it does “ signal that the risk of error is higher than it would be with higher participation.
” Trump ’ s biggest advantage remains the inherent bias in the Electoral College toward smaller , red states .
In 2016 , narrow victories in Michigan , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ defeat Hillary Clinton , by three hundred and four votes to two hundred and twenty-seven , despite losing the popular vote by nearly three million votes .
( If you include two Republican electors who voted against Trump , his Electoral College total was three hundred and six . )
Only two hundred and seventy votes are needed for victory .
“ I ’ m asked all the time , how are you going to run the table in the Upper Midwest again ?
” Bill Stepien , Trump ’ s campaign manager @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ He just has to win one of three .
He won with three hundred and six electoral votes , not two hundred and seventy , not on the button .
We have some cushion there.
” Stepien ’ s argument rests on the assumption that Trump wins all of the other states he carried in 2016 .
But the latest local polls show him trailing Biden in a number of them , including Arizona , Florida , and Ohio , which together have fifty-eight votes in the Electoral College .
Polls also @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and Wisconsin .
If all these leads hold up , Biden will win in a landslide .
The Trump campaign is basing its hopes on the national and state polls closing substantially over the next two months , which could flip a number of key battleground states to Trump .
( They will take encouragement from a CNBC-Change Research poll , this week , that showed Biden ’ s lead already narrowing in some swing states . )
To try to bring about a turnaround , the Trump campaign will continue to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Biden is a vote for anarchy .
“ We are all that stand between the American people and the left-wing mob , ” Trump said in New Hampshire .
Going forward , the President and his surrogates , Pence included , will repeat this message ad infinitum .
So will a barrage of television advertisements .
( For the period between Labor Day and November 3rd , both campaigns have booked about a hundred and fifty million dollars in television ads . )
The big question is whether these scare tactics will be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ so far .
Don ’ t forget , Trump has been trying to exploit the Black Lives Matter protests for months already .
And it ’ s been six weeks since Pence first described Biden as a “ Trojan horse ” for the radical left .
Despite continued unrest in Portland , Oregon , and occasional flareups of violence in other cities , including the awful scenes witnessed in Kenosha , Wisconsin , this past week , when a seventeen-year-old white youth armed with an AR-15-style rifle shot and killed two people protesting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and injured a third , the polls haven ’ t moved much .
There “ could be a bloc of voters who support the protests and currently back Biden but who will shift to Trump because of the riots , ” Perry Bacon , Jr. , of FiveThirtyEight , noted earlier this week .
“ We can ’ t rule out that group emerging .
But , crucially , that group has not emerged yet , despite plenty of opportunity.
” One likely explanation is that most voters have been supportive of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Polls also indicate that the majority of Americans believe that major reforms are needed in policing .
Another important factor is that , in the minds of voters , and despite Trump ’ s efforts to whip things up , crime and civic unrest rank well below some other issues in terms of importance , particularly the pandemic and the economy .
For example , in a poll of registered voters in Pennsylvania by Franklin & Marshall College , thirty-one per cent of respondents cited the coronavirus as the most important problem @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cent mentioned the economy and personal finances .
“ The only other issue listed as a problem by more than one in ten registered voters is concern about government and politicians , ” the pollsters noted .
Trump ’ s challenge is clear .
He ’ s been in the White House for more than three and a half years , and many voters will judge him on his record and how they think the country is doing .
Right now , his approval rating is stuck in the low forties , which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the time since he entered office .
And more than two-thirds of Americans believe that the country is on the wrong track .
These would be challenging figures for any incumbent to overcome , let alone one as polarizing as Trump .
In fanning fears of violence and mayhem , without any commitment to truth or any scruples about ripping the country apart , he seems to think he ’ s found a way to shake up the race .
It will be a week or two before we know if the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ any signs of working .

Campaigning in New Hampshire on Friday, Donald Trump escalated his attacks on Joe Biden, the Democratic Party, and the protesters demonstrating against police brutality and racism. “Today’s Democrat Party is filled with hate,” he said. “Just look at Joe Biden supporters on the street screaming and shouting at bystanders with unhinged, manic rage.” Referring to protests that took place in New York and Chicago earlier in the summer, he said, “They are not protesters. Those are anarchists, they are agitators, they are rioters, they are looters.”
In the wake of this past week’s Republican National Convention, Trump’s strategy couldn’t be more clear. With the death toll from the coronavirus pandemic topping a hundred and eighty thousand in the U.S., and opinion polls showing him running well behind Biden, the President is trying to transform the election from a referendum on his own abject performance to a contest centered on Biden, radical Democrats, and unrest in the streets. That was the central thrust of the four nights of programming at the R.N.C., including the speeches that Trump and Vice-President Mike Pence gave.
It’s no mystery why the Trump campaign has adopted this strategy: desperation. So far, the central fact about the 2020 campaign has been its stability, at least according to the polls. In mid-March, after Joe Biden effectively wrapped up the Democratic nomination, he was leading Trump by 6.4 percentage points in the Real Clear Politics national poll average. Today, the R.C.P. poll average shows Biden ahead by 7.1 percentage points. Although individual polls have zigged up and down quite a bit, the over-all pattern has been remarkably steady.
It’s been so steady, in fact, that The Economist’s Presidential forecasting model, which combines polling results with fundamental factors, such as the state of the economy, now puts the probability of a Biden victory at eighty-eight per cent. FiveThirtyEights’s forecasting model, which is constructed differently and factors in more uncertainty, puts the probability of Biden winning at sixty-nine per cent. Both models indicate that a Trump defeat is by far the most likely outcome. Still, many Democrats are nervous, and for understandable reasons, including skepticism about the polls; concerns about the Republicans’ built-in advantage in the Electoral College; and fears that Trump’s scaremongering could strengthen his position among some key voting groups, particularly seniors and suburban women.
In 2016, the polls underestimated Trump’s support, especially in key battleground states. Even though pollsters insist they have made adjustments to avoid another error, there are some grounds for interpreting their findings cautiously, including the fact that the average response rate for telephone polls—which are still considered the most reliable ones—is now well under ten per cent. That doesn’t mean the polls are wrong again this year. As the Pew Research Center noted in a piece from 2019, it does “signal that the risk of error is higher than it would be with higher participation.”
Trump’s biggest advantage remains the inherent bias in the Electoral College toward smaller, red states. In 2016, narrow victories in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin enabled him to defeat Hillary Clinton by three hundred and four votes to two hundred and twenty-seven, despite losing the popular vote by nearly three million votes. (If you include two Republican electors who voted against Trump, his Electoral College total was three hundred and six.) Only two hundred and seventy votes are needed for victory. “I’m asked all the time, how are you going to run the table in the Upper Midwest again?” Bill Stepien, Trump’s campaign manager, told Politico earlier this week. “He just has to win one of three. He won with three hundred and six electoral votes, not two hundred and seventy, not on the button. We have some cushion there.”
Stepien’s argument rests on the assumption that Trump wins all of the other states he carried in 2016. But the latest local polls show him trailing Biden in a number of them, including Arizona, Florida, and Ohio, which together have fifty-eight votes in the Electoral College. Polls also show Biden leading in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. If all these leads hold up, Biden will win in a landslide. The Trump campaign is basing its hopes on the national and state polls closing substantially over the next two months, which could flip a number of key battleground states to Trump. (The campaign will take encouragement from a CNBC-Change Research poll, this week, that showed Biden’s lead already narrowing in some swing states.)
To try to bring about a turnaround, the Trump campaign will continue to press the line that a vote for Biden is a vote for anarchy. “We are all that stand between the American people and the left-wing mob,” Trump said in New Hampshire. Going forward, the President and his surrogates, Pence included, will repeat this message ad infinitum. So will a barrage of television advertisements. (For the period between Labor Day and November 3rd, both campaigns have booked about a hundred and fifty million dollars in television ads.) The big question is whether these scare tactics will be any more effective than they have been so far.
Don’t forget, Trump has been trying to exploit the Black Lives Matter protests for months already. And it’s been six weeks since Pence first described Biden as a “Trojan horse” for the radical left. Despite continued unrest in Portland, Oregon, and occasional flareups of violence in other cities, including the awful scenes witnessed in Kenosha, Wisconsin, this past week, when a seventeen-year-old white youth armed with an AR-15-style rifle shot and killed two people protesting the police shooting of Jacob Blake, and injured a third, the polls haven’t moved much. There “could be a bloc of voters who support the protests and currently back Biden but who will shift to Trump because of the riots,” Perry Bacon, Jr., of FiveThirtyEight, noted earlier this week. “We can’t rule out that group emerging. But, crucially, that group has not emerged yet, despite plenty of opportunity.”
One likely explanation is that most voters have been supportive of the protests following the killing of George Floyd. Polls also indicate that the majority of Americans believe that major reforms are needed in policing. Another important factor is that, in the minds of voters, and despite Trump’s efforts to whip things up, crime and civic unrest rank well below some other issues in terms of importance, particularly the pandemic and the economy. For example, in a poll of registered voters in Pennsylvania by Franklin & Marshall College, thirty-one per cent of respondents cited the coronavirus as the most important problem facing the state, and twenty-two per cent mentioned the economy and personal finances. “The only other issue listed as a problem by more than one in ten registered voters is concern about government and politicians,” the pollsters noted.
Trump’s challenge is clear. He’s been in the White House for more than three and a half years, and many voters will judge him on his record and how they think the country is doing. Right now, his approval rating is stuck in the low forties, which is where it has been for most of the time since he entered office. And more than two-thirds of Americans believe that the country is on the wrong track.
These would be challenging figures for any incumbent to overcome, let alone one as polarizing as Trump. In fanning fears of violence and mayhem, without any commitment to truth or any scruples about ripping the country apart, he seems to think he’s found a way to shake up the race. It will be a week or two before we know if the latest iteration of this strategy is showing any signs of working.
Read More About the 2020 Election


newyorker--2020-08-29--How Charlie Parker Defined the Sound and Substance of Bebop Jazz

The roots of bebop were formed in the nineteen-thirties , when Thelonious Monk was playing largely in private in New York , Dizzy Gillespie was shaking up the Cab Calloway trumpet section , Kenny Clarke reconfigured his drum kit in Teddy Hill ’ s band , and Charlie Parker fell through a music warp while playing “ Cherokee ” in a jam session .
But it found its form and flourished in the nineteen-forties , and it ’ s Parker , whose centenary falls on Saturday , who lends the music its definitive sound , tone , legend , influence @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , bop is the harmonic and rhythmic complexification of jazz , based on the substitution of a new and more elaborate framework of chords for the ones originally anchoring pop songs .
Organizationally , it ’ s the shift away from big bands ( with their emphasis on compositions , arrangements , and unison playing ) and toward individual soloists playing in small groups centered on extended improvisations .
Aesthetically , it ’ s musicians ’ self-aware transformation of jazz into an exemplary element of artistic modernism .
And in tone , it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the world as the musicians experienced it at the time of its flowering—a musical representation of anguish , irony , derision , and idealistic yearning .
Bebop ( the term wasn ’ t the musicians ’ own ; Clarke said , “ We called ourselves modern ” ) arose on the brink of the Second World War , and came to fruition while the war was being waged .
It ’ s one of the triumvirate of modernisms that was born from a generation of noncombatants , of 4-Fs .
Like Jackson Pollock @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and Gillespie were deemed ineligible for service ; what Welles did for film direction and Pollock did for painting , Parker , in particular , did for jazz , by representing the unrepresentable .
Parker ’ s art is one of sonic images that give form to ideas that were hiding in plain sight or off the map of American mainstream culture ; his tone embodies the very urgency of these representations .
The abstractions of his art expressed the violence , the horror , the existential danger of wartime ; furthermore @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the blare of total mobilization in pursuit of victory in the war—and the injustices and indignities borne by Black Americans at home , which mocked the ideals of that national effort .
People could and did dance to Parker ’ s music , but it was essentially concert music ; it wouldn ’ t have served to back a floor show ( as many big bands did , despite the epochal inventiveness of their music ) .
With its intricate harmonies , Parker—nicknamed Bird , which was in turn short for Yardbird—turned soloing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of chord changes that made his melodic inventiveness , his depth of feeling , his supersonic virtuosity , and his mercurial imagination all the more astounding .
Parker ’ s music had an effect akin to that of Welles ’ s deep-focus complexities in “ Citizen Kane , ” uniting the foreground and the background , rendering the complex musical framework conspicuous .
Like Abstract Expressionism , it rendered the surfaces of music turbulent and cosmically intricate .
Among the local horrors of racism at the time was the drafting of Black men @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , at home , their rights were denied .
A leading Harlem nightspot , the Savoy Ballroom , was closed because of racist paranoia and policies .
A white police officer ’ s shooting of a Black soldier named Robert Bandy resulted in a riot , in Harlem , in August , 1943 .
When the war ended and Black servicemen returned home , the agonizing contradiction between that outcome and the ongoing racism and segregation ( as cited in Leo Hurwitz ’ s documentary “ Strange Victory , ” from 1948 ) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was amped up by the spread of heroin through Harlem , and the psychological dislocations and unaddressed traumas of postwar life .
( As James Baldwin wrote , in “ The New Lost Generation , ” about the postwar years , “ If one gave a party , it was virtually certain that someone , quite possibly oneself , would have a crying jag or have to be restrained from murder or suicide.
” ) Parker was born and raised in Kansas City , where he began his career as a teen-ager .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ of his life , he was a consummate , authoritative , bone-shivering blues artist , even as his musical passions ran toward Bartók , Stravinsky , and other European modernists .
To those accustomed to swing , let alone New Orleans styles , Parker ’ s music sounds hectic , disjointed , and scribble-scrabulous , but it quickly became a vital inspiration to a younger generation of musicians .
( Miles Davis was still a teen-ager when he first performed and recorded with Parker , in 1945 ) .
Parker ’ s music @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the breaking point , recklessly exposed—and , although he was joined by other musicians of similar inspiration ( such as the pianist Bud Powell ) , Parker was the most self-revealing , the most vulnerable of them all .
The sense of thrilling and terrifying existential adventure in his playing is reflected in the consuming furies of his life—and in the glorious yet burdensome mythology that turned him into a legend even while he lived and performed .
The stories ( both true and false ) that accreted around Parker included those of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ adolescence ) who nodded out on the bandstand only to wake up in a flash and take wondrous solos ; the unreliable friend who borrowed money casually and pawned borrowed saxophones ; the figure of immense appetites , who drank whiskey by the quart , was seen taking eight double shots before going onstage , and consumed Benzedrine pills by the literal handful .
Even as his addictions deepened , his fame rose , culminating in the opening , in 1949 , of the New York jazz club Birdland .
( He had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ borrowed his name and fame without paying him for it , though he played there often—until he was banned , on the grounds of his erratic behavior . )
The fans and revellers who surrounded Parker included unofficial musical amanuenses , who followed him from gig to gig , recording his every note .
As a result , Parker ’ s studio recordings , treasures though they are , take second place to the flood of bootlegs that preserve his musical legacy at its most inspired and uninhibited .
( There 's a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of records under Parker ’ s leadership is from 1945 .
By 1949 , he was reportedly seeking a new musical pathway out of the style that he already exemplified , and that was already widely emulated by the best of younger musicians ( many of whom , of course , would enter musical history in their own right ) .
The early nineteen-fifties sped by—with the loss of Parker ’ s cabaret card ( thus rendering him ineligible to perform in New York night clubs ) and the death of his infant @ @ @ @ @ @ @ depression , attempted suicide , and was again hospitalized .
His alcoholism worsened , his health deteriorated , and he had premonitions of his death—even as he was forging advances on his style , with ever wider harmonic extremes , ever more fragmentary phrases , ever more daring effacements of the regularly pulsating beat .
When Parker died , in 1955 , at the age of thirty-four , jazz was undergoing another revolution—with Davis at its forefront and other musicians , such as John Coltrane and Cecil Taylor , emerging .
Above all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of historic progress , owing to the devotion and the sacrifice of Black people demanding civil rights and an end to segregation .
Parker didn ’ t live to see either transformation .
Parker ’ s drive toward perpetual revolution in ideas and styles , and in personal bearing , foreshadowed the history of jazz to come .
And his martyrdom to an art of self-revelation , demonstration , defiance , and revolt foreshadowed the tragic heroism of a generation of civil-rights leaders to come .

Parker rendered the surfaces of music turbulent and cosmically intricate. Photograph by Eliot Elisofon / The LIFE Picture Collection / Getty
The roots of bebop were formed in the nineteen-thirties, when Thelonious Monk was playing largely in private in New York, Dizzy Gillespie was shaking up the Cab Calloway trumpet section, Kenny Clarke reconfigured his drum kit in Teddy Hill’s band, and Charlie Parker fell through a music warp while playing “Cherokee” in a jam session. But it found its form and flourished in the nineteen-forties, and it’s Parker, whose centenary falls on Saturday, who lends the music its definitive sound, tone, legend, influence, and curse.
In the abstract, bop is the harmonic and rhythmic complexification of jazz, based on the substitution of a new and more elaborate framework of chords for the ones originally anchoring pop songs. Organizationally, it’s the shift away from big bands (with their emphasis on compositions, arrangements, and unison playing) and toward individual soloists playing in small groups centered on extended improvisations. Aesthetically, it’s musicians’ self-aware transformation of jazz into an exemplary element of artistic modernism. And in tone, it’s a virtual sonic documentary of the world as the musicians experienced it at the time of its flowering—a musical representation of anguish, irony, derision, and idealistic yearning.
Bebop (the term wasn’t the musicians’ own; Clarke said, “We called ourselves modern”) arose on the brink of the Second World War, and came to fruition while the war was being waged. It’s one of the triumvirate of modernisms that was born from a generation of noncombatants, of 4-Fs. Like Jackson Pollock and Orson Welles, Parker, Monk, and Gillespie were deemed ineligible for service; what Welles did for film direction and Pollock did for painting, Parker, in particular, did for jazz, by representing the unrepresentable. Parker’s art is one of sonic images that give form to ideas that were hiding in plain sight or off the map of American mainstream culture; his tone embodies the very urgency of these representations. The abstractions of his art expressed the violence, the horror, the existential danger of wartime; furthermore, his art also gave voice to the blare of total mobilization in pursuit of victory in the war—and the injustices and indignities borne by Black Americans at home, which mocked the ideals of that national effort.
People could and did dance to Parker’s music, but it was essentially concert music; it wouldn’t have served to back a floor show (as many big bands did, despite the epochal inventiveness of their music). With its intricate harmonies, Parker—nicknamed Bird, which was in turn short for Yardbird—turned soloing into a jittery and skittering rope dance of chord changes that made his melodic inventiveness, his depth of feeling, his supersonic virtuosity, and his mercurial imagination all the more astounding. Parker’s music had an effect akin to that of Welles’s deep-focus complexities in “Citizen Kane,” uniting the foreground and the background, rendering the complex musical framework conspicuous. Like Abstract Expressionism, it rendered the surfaces of music turbulent and cosmically intricate.
Among the local horrors of racism at the time was the drafting of Black men to fight in the war—in segregated outfits—when, at home, their rights were denied. A leading Harlem nightspot, the Savoy Ballroom, was closed because of racist paranoia and policies. A white police officer’s shooting of a Black soldier named Robert Bandy resulted in a riot, in Harlem, in August, 1943. When the war ended and Black servicemen returned home, the agonizing contradiction between that outcome and the ongoing racism and segregation (as cited in Leo Hurwitz’s documentary “Strange Victory,” from 1948), poverty and police violence, which was amped up by the spread of heroin through Harlem, and the psychological dislocations and unaddressed traumas of postwar life. (As James Baldwin wrote, in “The New Lost Generation,” about the postwar years, “If one gave a party, it was virtually certain that someone, quite possibly oneself, would have a crying jag or have to be restrained from murder or suicide.”)
Parker was born and raised in Kansas City, where he began his career as a teen-ager. From his earliest successes to the end of his life, he was a consummate, authoritative, bone-shivering blues artist, even as his musical passions ran toward Bartók, Stravinsky, and other European modernists. To those accustomed to swing, let alone New Orleans styles, Parker’s music sounds hectic, disjointed, and scribble-scrabulous, but it quickly became a vital inspiration to a younger generation of musicians. (Miles Davis was still a teen-ager when he first performed and recorded with Parker, in 1945). Parker’s music is jumpy, crowded, energized to the breaking point, recklessly exposed—and, although he was joined by other musicians of similar inspiration (such as the pianist Bud Powell), Parker was the most self-revealing, the most vulnerable of them all. The sense of thrilling and terrifying existential adventure in his playing is reflected in the consuming furies of his life—and in the glorious yet burdensome mythology that turned him into a legend even while he lived and performed.
The stories (both true and false) that accreted around Parker included those of the heroin addict (seemingly, since adolescence) who nodded out on the bandstand only to wake up in a flash and take wondrous solos; the unreliable friend who borrowed money casually and pawned borrowed saxophones; the figure of immense appetites, who drank whiskey by the quart, was seen taking eight double shots before going onstage, and consumed Benzedrine pills by the literal handful. Even as his addictions deepened, his fame rose, culminating in the opening, in 1949, of the New York jazz club Birdland. (He had no financial stake in it; it borrowed his name and fame without paying him for it, though he played there often—until he was banned, on the grounds of his erratic behavior.) The fans and revellers who surrounded Parker included unofficial musical amanuenses, who followed him from gig to gig, recording his every note. As a result, Parker’s studio recordings, treasures though they are, take second place to the flood of bootlegs that preserve his musical legacy at its most inspired and uninhibited. (There's a playlist below.)
The first batch of records under Parker’s leadership is from 1945. By 1949, he was reportedly seeking a new musical pathway out of the style that he already exemplified, and that was already widely emulated by the best of younger musicians (many of whom, of course, would enter musical history in their own right). The early nineteen-fifties sped by—with the loss of Parker’s cabaret card (thus rendering him ineligible to perform in New York night clubs) and the death of his infant daughter, Pree. He suffered from depression, attempted suicide, and was again hospitalized. His alcoholism worsened, his health deteriorated, and he had premonitions of his death—even as he was forging advances on his style, with ever wider harmonic extremes, ever more fragmentary phrases, ever more daring effacements of the regularly pulsating beat.
When Parker died, in 1955, at the age of thirty-four, jazz was undergoing another revolution—with Davis at its forefront and other musicians, such as John Coltrane and Cecil Taylor, emerging. Above all, American society was on the verge of historic progress, owing to the devotion and the sacrifice of Black people demanding civil rights and an end to segregation. Parker didn’t live to see either transformation. Parker’s drive toward perpetual revolution in ideas and styles, and in personal bearing, foreshadowed the history of jazz to come. And his martyrdom to an art of self-revelation, demonstration, defiance, and revolt foreshadowed the tragic heroism of a generation of civil-rights leaders to come.


newyorker--2020-08-29--Trump Says He Could Beat LeBron James in a Dunk Contest If Not for Bone Spurs

WASHINGTON ( The Borowitz Report ) —Donald Trump escalated his war of words with LeBron James on Saturday by saying that he could defeat the N.B.A .
star in a dunk contest were it not for bone spurs .
“ I ’ ve seen LeBron James on TV , and , quite frankly , I don ’ t think he ’ s very good at basketball , ” Trump said .
“ The media is very unfairly biased in favor of him because he ’ s a Democrat , and I think it ’ s a disgrace.
” “ You @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shoots the ball , it doesn ’ t go into the basket , ” he said .
“ If I try to drink a glass of water and miss my mouth , it ’ s all CNN talks about.
” Trump said that it was “ very sad ” that his bone spurs would keep him from showing off his slam-dunk form , which he called “ poetry in motion.
” “ A lot of people are saying that I ’ m better at dunking than that beauty LeBron , ” he said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people.
” At the N.B.A .
bubble , in Orlando , James responded that he understood that the President ’ s foot woes would prevent him from participating in a dunk contest , but said that he would be happy to face Trump in a spelling contest .

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—Donald Trump escalated his war of words with LeBron James on Saturday by saying that he could defeat the N.B.A. star in a dunk contest were it not for bone spurs.
“I’ve seen LeBron James on TV, and, quite frankly, I don’t think he’s very good at basketball,” Trump said. “The media is very unfairly biased in favor of him because he’s a Democrat, and I think it’s a disgrace.”
“You look at LeBron and sometimes when he shoots the ball, it doesn’t go into the basket,” he said. “If I try to drink a glass of water and miss my mouth, it’s all CNN talks about.”
Trump said that it was “very sad” that his bone spurs would keep him from showing off his slam-dunk form, which he called “poetry in motion.”
“A lot of people are saying that I’m better at dunking than that beauty LeBron,” he said. “A lot of very smart people.”
At the N.B.A. bubble, in Orlando, James responded that he understood that the President’s foot woes would prevent him from participating in a dunk contest, but said that he would be happy to face Trump in a spelling contest.


newyorker--2020-08-29--Investigations Provide a Window Into How Trump Does Business

On February 27 , 2019 , Donald Trump ’ s former personal lawyer , Michael Cohen , testified before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform , where he was questioned by the New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez .
She spent much of her time pressing him on potential financial malfeasance by the Trump Organization .
“ To your knowledge , did the President ever provide inflated assets to an insurance company ?
” she asked .
Ocasio-Cortez mentioned a Trump-branded golf course , Trump Golf Links , that is located in her district in the Bronx , noting that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ twenty-seven million dollars in taxpayer funds but that Trump ’ s company has received all the profits .
She then quoted a news article that reported that Trump had said in financial-disclosure forms that his golf course in Jupiter , Florida , was worth more than fifty million dollars , but reported to local tax authorities that it was worth no more than five million dollars .
Did the President ever tinker with the numbers to reduce his tax bills , Ocasio-Cortez asked Cohen .
Cohen answered that he believed he did .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Cohen elaborated .
“ It was my experience that Mr. Trump inflated his total assets when it served his purposes , such as trying to be listed amongst the wealthiest people in Forbes , ” he said .
“ And deflated his assets to reduce his real-estate taxes.
” Disclosures such as Cohen ’ s often catch the attention of regulators and prosecutors , and this case followed the pattern .
A year and a half later , on August 24th , the New York attorney general , Letitia James , revealed that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ over precisely the issues Cohen raised .
The investigation , which began in March , 2019 , aims to determine whether the Trump Organization inflated the value of Trump ’ s assets on financial statements in order to obtain more favorable loan terms or understated them to reduce tax treatment .
The state attorney general issued subpoenas for financial statements , communications , and other documents which she says she needs in order to decide whether an actual case should be filed .
“ They have stalled , withheld documents , and instructed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ refuse to answer questions under oath , ” James said in a recent statement .
She has now filed a court motion arguing that Eric Trump and others should be compelled to provide what she is asking for .
Paul Shechtman , a partner at the Bracewell law firm who previously served as a federal prosecutor and as counsel to the Manhattan District Attorney , told me that the kind of conduct James ’ s office is investigating , if proved , would clearly be considered fraud , which is both a federal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s looking at , for lack of a better word , whether he ’ s been fucking around with his assets and liabilities to suit his needs , ” Shechtman said .
In his time as a prosecutor , Shechtman supervised cases that involved misstatements of financial records .
“ There are all sorts of times in life where you borrow money and people want to know , are there assets behind it , is the collateral good ?
” he said .
“ And people want financial statements .
And either deflating @ @ @ @ @ @ @ money in any sizable amount , is a felony.
” The attorney general ’ s inquiry is focussed on a handful of Trump properties , including a two-hundred-and-twelve-acre parcel of land in Westchester County called Seven Springs Estate , which once belonged to Agnes and Eugene Meyer .
( Eugene was at one point the publisher of the Washington Post . )
Investigators issued subpoenas in December , 2019 , to the Trump Organization and to Eric Trump , the company ’ s executive vice-president ; to Charles Martabano , a land-use lawyer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the Trump Organization ’ s tax counsel Sheri Dillon , as well as her law firm , Morgan , Lewis & Bockius .
After an initial period of coöperation , the two sides reached an impasse over documents and witnesses that the attorney general requested .
Eric Trump had an interview scheduled with the office but refused to appear .
James ’ s account of her investigation provides a window into how the Trump Organization has traditionally done business , and the lengths to which it will go to minimize its tax @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Springs property in 1995 , for $ 7.5 million .
Trump tried multiple times , between 1996 and 2014 , to develop the land into a golf course or into residences , but eventually dropped the idea after opposition by local residents and concerns about pollution of an adjacent lake that provides drinking water to the village of Mount Kisco .
He tried to mitigate his losses by granting a conservation easement on some of the land—promising not to develop it and to conserve it instead—for which he was permitted to take an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the property .
Trump obtained an appraisal of the property in 2016 , which placed its value at $ 56.5 million as of December 1 , 2015 , and the easement at $ 21.1 million , which allowed Trump to take a tax deduction of $ 21.1 million .
The inquiry is seeking to understand how the valuations were determined , and whether the former was inflated and the latter minimized in order to increase the tax deduction .
The Trump Organization did something similar with an 11.5-acre parcel of land at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Angeles .
The parcel was granted a conservation easement in 2015 ; Trump obtained an appraisal that valued the property at a hundred and seven million dollars prior to the placement of the easement , and valued the easement at twenty-five million , which would have granted the company a twenty-five-million-dollar tax break .
The court filing raised questions about other properties as well , including 40 Wall Street , an office tower in lower Manhattan that the Trump Organization refinanced in 2015 , and the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago @ @ @ @ @ @ @ says , investigators learned that “ large portions ” of the debt the company owed on the property were forgiven , but they were unable to determine whether these amounts had been recognized by the company as taxable income—a possible violation of tax laws .
According to Shechtman , these are all potentially serious crimes ( although he noted that he wasn ’ t certain whether they fall within the jurisdiction of the attorney general ) .
“ Cohen said in his book and said in his testimony , ‘ We had a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the week , for each purpose.
’ ” Shechtman said .
“ And that ’ s a worthy subject for investigation.
” ( In a statement , the Trump Organization ’ s lawyer said that it had done nothing wrong and had “ tried to cooperate in good faith with the investigation at every turn.
” He described the New York attorney general ’ s actions as “ continued harassment of the company as we approach the election.
” He also made note of the fact that the motion was filed on the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ . )
Shechtman added that such cases are tricky to prove .
Prosecutors must establish that the valuations of the properties—which are , to some extent , subjective—were false .
If the company kept two sets of accounting books , for example , one for the tax authorities and another for investors , that would clearly show that its executives knew that at least one of the books wasn ’ t accurate .
Prosecutors also have to establish intent , showing that the organization engaged in a willful effort to misrepresent the valuations @ @ @ @ @ @ @ To prove intent , they would need , say , a witness who would testify that Trump or someone else had instructed him or her to fudge the numbers ; Shechtman acknowledged that it would be difficult to find such a person .
The other possibility would be to assemble a paper trail of communications—e-mail and correspondence with outside lenders showing that there were explicit instructions given to lower or raise the numbers .
These are exactly the kinds of documents that James is fighting to get .
Ultimately , the Trump Organization @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is likely to fail in court , legal experts told me .
As with the fight over Trump ’ s tax returns , the company could probably drag out the process for a long time but would eventually lose .

On February 27, 2019, Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen testified before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, where he was questioned by the New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She spent much of her time pressing him on potential financial malfeasance by the Trump Organization. “To your knowledge, did the President ever provide inflated assets to an insurance company?” she asked.
“Yes,” Cohen replied.
Ocasio-Cortez mentioned a Trump-branded golf course, Trump Golf Links, that is located in her district in the Bronx, noting that it was built using a hundred and twenty-seven million dollars in taxpayer funds but that Trump’s company has received all the profits. She then quoted a news article that reported that Trump had said in financial-disclosure forms that his golf course in Jupiter, Florida, was worth more than fifty million dollars, but reported to local tax authorities that it was worth no more than five million dollars. Did the President ever tinker with the numbers to reduce his tax bills, Ocasio-Cortez asked Cohen. Cohen answered that he believed he did. At another point during his testimony, Cohen elaborated. “It was my experience that Mr. Trump inflated his total assets when it served his purposes, such as trying to be listed amongst the wealthiest people in Forbes,” he said. “And deflated his assets to reduce his real-estate taxes.”
Disclosures such as Cohen’s often catch the attention of regulators and prosecutors, and this case followed the pattern. A year and a half later, on August 24th, the New York attorney general, Letitia James, revealed that her office is investigating the Trump Organization over precisely the issues Cohen raised. The investigation, which began in March, 2019, aims to determine whether the Trump Organization inflated the value of Trump’s assets on financial statements in order to obtain more favorable loan terms or understated them to reduce tax treatment. The state attorney general issued subpoenas for financial statements, communications, and other documents which she says she needs in order to decide whether an actual case should be filed. “They have stalled, withheld documents, and instructed witnesses, including Eric Trump, to refuse to answer questions under oath,” James said in a recent statement. She has now filed a court motion arguing that Eric Trump and others should be compelled to provide what she is asking for.
Paul Shechtman, a partner at the Bracewell law firm who previously served as a federal prosecutor and as counsel to the Manhattan District Attorney, told me that the kind of conduct James’s office is investigating, if proved, would clearly be considered fraud, which is both a federal and state-level crime. “She’s looking at, for lack of a better word, whether he’s been fucking around with his assets and liabilities to suit his needs,” Shechtman said. In his time as a prosecutor, Shechtman supervised cases that involved misstatements of financial records. “There are all sorts of times in life where you borrow money and people want to know, are there assets behind it, is the collateral good?” he said. “And people want financial statements. And either deflating or inflating, in order to obtain money in any sizable amount, is a felony.”
The attorney general’s inquiry is focussed on a handful of Trump properties, including a two-hundred-and-twelve-acre parcel of land in Westchester County called Seven Springs Estate, which once belonged to Agnes and Eugene Meyer. (Eugene was at one point the publisher of the Washington Post.) Investigators issued subpoenas in December, 2019, to the Trump Organization and to Eric Trump, the company’s executive vice-president; to Charles Martabano, a land-use lawyer who worked with the company; and to the Trump Organization’s tax counsel Sheri Dillon, as well as her law firm, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius. After an initial period of coöperation, the two sides reached an impasse over documents and witnesses that the attorney general requested. Eric Trump had an interview scheduled with the office but refused to appear.
James’s account of her investigation provides a window into how the Trump Organization has traditionally done business, and the lengths to which it will go to minimize its tax bills. The company purchased the Seven Springs property in 1995, for $7.5 million. Trump tried multiple times, between 1996 and 2014, to develop the land into a golf course or into residences, but eventually dropped the idea after opposition by local residents and concerns about pollution of an adjacent lake that provides drinking water to the village of Mount Kisco. He tried to mitigate his losses by granting a conservation easement on some of the land—promising not to develop it and to conserve it instead—for which he was permitted to take an income-tax deduction for the lost development value of the property. Trump obtained an appraisal of the property in 2016, which placed its value at $56.5 million as of December 1, 2015, and the easement at $21.1 million, which allowed Trump to take a tax deduction of $21.1 million. The inquiry is seeking to understand how the valuations were determined, and whether the former was inflated and the latter minimized in order to increase the tax deduction. The Trump Organization did something similar with an 11.5-acre parcel of land at the Trump National Golf Club in Los Angeles. The parcel was granted a conservation easement in 2015; Trump obtained an appraisal that valued the property at a hundred and seven million dollars prior to the placement of the easement, and valued the easement at twenty-five million, which would have granted the company a twenty-five-million-dollar tax break.
The court filing raised questions about other properties as well, including 40 Wall Street, an office tower in lower Manhattan that the Trump Organization refinanced in 2015, and the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago. In the Chicago case, James says, investigators learned that “large portions” of the debt the company owed on the property were forgiven, but they were unable to determine whether these amounts had been recognized by the company as taxable income—a possible violation of tax laws. According to Shechtman, these are all potentially serious crimes (although he noted that he wasn’t certain whether they fall within the jurisdiction of the attorney general). “Cohen said in his book and said in his testimony, ‘We had a different balance sheet for each day of the week, for each purpose.’ ” Shechtman said. “And that’s a worthy subject for investigation.” (In a statement, the Trump Organization’s lawyer said that it had done nothing wrong and had “tried to cooperate in good faith with the investigation at every turn.” He described the New York attorney general’s actions as “continued harassment of the company as we approach the election.” He also made note of the fact that the motion was filed on the first day of the Republican National Convention.)


newyorker--2020-08-30--The Cryptic Crossword: No. 38

The Cryptic Crossword: No. 38

Some clues have been edited for clarity .
Subscribers can find explanations of the original puzzle ’ s answers in @ @ @

Some clues have been edited for clarity. Subscribers can find explanations of the original puzzle’s answers in our archive.


newyorker--2020-08-30--Sunday Reading: Summer Fiction

Sunday Reading: Summer Fiction

The nominating Conventions are over .
But , before the memories of the Democratic roll call and Kimberly Guilfoyle ’ s dulcet shouts from the lectern fade from memory , we ’ re bringing you a selection of pieces about the role of political Conventions in America .
In “ How to Steal an Election , ” Jill Lepore explores the complex , chaotic history of party Conventions and describes the turbulent nature of earlier political assemblies .
In “ Hot and Heated , ” A. J. Liebling writes about the Conventions of 1948 and contemplates the nomination of Harry @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Wisdom , ” Steve Coll examines the purpose of Conventions in the modern era .
In “ Verbage , ” from 2008 , James Wood chronicles the evolution of political rhetoric and its role in that year ’ s Presidential campaign .
Finally , in “ Joe Biden , America ’ s Un-Trump , ” Susan B. Glasser describes the optimistic tone of this year ’ s Democratic Convention and considers the unvarnished nature of Joe Biden ’ s acceptance speech .
Read and enjoy , sort of .
The homestretch to November @ @ @ @ @ @ @ quite anxious enough .
Predicting the Dewey vs. Truman Conventions—and their press coverage .
Do our Presidential Conventions retain any authenticity ?
For the Democratic nominee , the 2020 election has always been all about the President .

The nominating Conventions are over. But, before the memories of the Democratic roll call and Kimberly Guilfoyle’s dulcet shouts from the lectern fade from memory, we’re bringing you a selection of pieces about the role of political Conventions in America. In “How to Steal an Election,” Jill Lepore explores the complex, chaotic history of party Conventions and describes the turbulent nature of earlier political assemblies. In “Hot and Heated,” A. J. Liebling writes about the Conventions of 1948 and contemplates the nomination of Harry Truman for President. In “Conventional Wisdom,” Steve Coll examines the purpose of Conventions in the modern era. In “Verbage,” from 2008, James Wood chronicles the evolution of political rhetoric and its role in that year’s Presidential campaign. Finally, in “Joe Biden, America’s Un-Trump,” Susan B. Glasser describes the optimistic tone of this year’s Democratic Convention and considers the unvarnished nature of Joe Biden’s acceptance speech. Read and enjoy, sort of. The homestretch to November begins. As if you were not quite anxious enough.
—David Remnick
Courtesy Library of Congress
The crazy history of nominating Conventions.
Photograph by Irving Haberman / Getty
Predicting the Dewey vs. Truman Conventions—and their press coverage.
Illustration by Tom Bachtell
Do our Presidential Conventions retain any authenticity?
The Republican war on words.
For the Democratic nominee, the 2020 election has always been all about the President.


newyorker--2020-08-30--The Republicans’ Conspiratorial Convention

Tiffany Trump is not the most prominent or politically adept of the President ’ s children , but her speech at the Republican National Convention last week served as a succinct summation of the event ’ s key messages .
Donald Trump is a giant among Presidents , protecting the country and keeping his promises .
His reëlection is a contest between freedom and oppression .
Yet he ’ s subject to hatred , Tiffany said , because so many people have been “ manipulated and visibly coerced ” by the media and tech companies that present a “ biased @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Ask yourselves , why are we prevented from seeing certain information ?
” she urged viewers .
The answer is “ control.
” She was far from the only speaker to have discerned a connection between attempts to deceive the American people and efforts to subdue them .
On Thursday night , when her father accepted his party ’ s nomination , he did the same , saying , “ They are coming after me , because I am fighting for you !
” Kimberly Guilfoyle , a former Fox News journalist @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s partner , loudly warned about “ cosmopolitan élites ” who “ want to control what you see and think and believe so that they can control how you live.
” Richard Grenell , the former acting director of National Intelligence , said that Trump ’ s opponents “ never want the American people to know who ’ s actually calling the shots.
” Claims that the media act in bad faith are a commonplace of electoral politics .
Senator Mitch McConnell , in his address on Thursday , said that , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t be bullied by a liberal media intent on destroying America ’ s institutions.
” But the thesis of the Republican Convention was more extreme .
Forces larger than the media , variously identified as socialists , anarchists , “ wild-eyed Marxists , ” “ woketopians , ” and “ globalization fanatics , ” are gathering to bring down the country .
Journalists may not even know who manages the levers .
“ Nobody really knows who ’ s controlling who , ” Trump said on Monday , musing on what he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ conspiratorial Convention .
Speaker after speaker said that Trump is definitely not a racist , that he is a defender of people with preëxisting health conditions , and that he has single-handedly defeated the coronavirus .
Accepting such statements almost requires believing that his opponents are masterly practitioners of deception , with a hidden agenda , and that their grievances are a sham .
Thus Black Lives Matter marchers and Democratic mayors were said to want protests to descend into violence .
“ It isn ’ t an unintended side effect—it ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the head of New York City ’ s Police Benevolent Association , said .
Representative Matt Gaetz , of Florida , claimed that “ the dangerous left needs America to be weaker in order to accomplish their goal of replacing her.
” ( The notion that white Americans are in danger of being “ replaced ” is a trope of the far right . )
Gaetz , who grew up in the house where “ The Truman Show ” was filmed , promoted the idea that almost nothing is as it seems @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a “ horror movie ” directed by unnamed figures on the left .
Like all good conspiracy theories , the plot is as capacious as it is fearsome .
An R.N.C.-produced video claims that Biden has been bought by Beijing ; it shows the Statue of Liberty fracturing .
Vice-President Mike Pence said that the election will decide “ whether America remains America.
” Public-health imperatives were suspect , too .
Senator Marsha Blackburn , of Tennessee , said that , “ if the Democrats had their way , they would keep you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dependent on the government for everything .
That sounds a lot like Communist China to me !
” Social-distancing measures weren ’ t just misguided ; the coronavirus was a convenient excuse to promote socialism .
( Similarly , Rebecca Friedrichs , a school-choice advocate , noted that “ unsuspecting teachers ” are being played by radical unions , whose true aim is “ subverting our republic.
” ) And there are few clearer measures of how Trumpism , with its promise of an alternate reality , has captivated the G.O.P .
than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of fifteen hundred mostly maskless people sitting close together for hours on the South Lawn of the White House to hear the President ’ s acceptance speech .
Meanwhile , COVID-19 is killing a thousand Americans a day .
In a video shown during the Convention , a self-proclaimed former Democratic Socialist who converted to Trumpism advises that , to understand what is happening , “ you have to look deeper.
” To illustrate what this means , she is shown scrolling intensely on her mobile phone .
The image is appropriate ; @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s supporters are spending time in online forums reading up on QAnon , a family of conspiracy theories centered on Trump ’ s supposed struggle against the deep state .
It has different , often contradictory strands , at times involving tales of a secret military cabal , the Protocols of the Elders of Zion , and a coming apocalypse .
Recently , in a press conference , Trump claimed not to know much about QAnon , other than that “ they do , supposedly , like me.
” Told that the crux @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is “ secretly saving the world from this satanic cult of pedophiles and cannibals , ” he asked , “ Is that supposed to be a bad thing or a good thing ?
” He added that he ’ d be glad to save the world .
According to Media Matters for America , about twenty candidates on the ballot for the Senate or the House this fall have expressed an affinity for QAnon .
One of them , Marjorie Taylor Greene , the Republican candidate for a House seat in Georgia , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Las Vegas was a false-flag operation .
( She now says that she is moving on . )
After her primary win , Trump tweeted that she is “ strong on everything.
” She was invited to attend his acceptance speech .
This is a dangerous path .
The country is facing challenges that demand a modicum of trust , from the counting of ballots to the equitable distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine .
“ Nobody will be safe in a Biden America , ” Trump said .
He and his party @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he loses the election , everything will be gone—the country , the borders , the suburbs , their guns .
A St. Louis couple who pointed firearms at Black Lives Matter marchers were rewarded with a speaking spot at the Convention .
Another supporter of the President , in Kenosha , was allegedly all too ready to bring out his gun , with fatal results .
But fear and suspicion can not be the means by which this country is controlled .
That isn ’ t how America remains America .
♦

Illustration by João Fazenda
Tiffany Trump is not the most prominent or politically adept of the President’s children, but her speech at the Republican National Convention last week served as a succinct summation of the event’s key messages. Donald Trump is a giant among Presidents, protecting the country and keeping his promises. His reëlection is a contest between freedom and oppression. Yet he’s subject to hatred, Tiffany said, because so many people have been “manipulated and visibly coerced” by the media and tech companies that present a “biased and fabricated” version of reality. “Ask yourselves, why are we prevented from seeing certain information?” she urged viewers. The answer is “control.”
She was far from the only speaker to have discerned a connection between attempts to deceive the American people and efforts to subdue them. On Thursday night, when her father accepted his party’s nomination, he did the same, saying, “They are coming after me, because I am fighting for you!” Kimberly Guilfoyle, a former Fox News journalist who is Donald Trump, Jr.,’s partner, loudly warned about “cosmopolitan élites” who “want to control what you see and think and believe so that they can control how you live.” Richard Grenell, the former acting director of National Intelligence, said that Trump’s opponents “never want the American people to know who’s actually calling the shots.”
Claims that the media act in bad faith are a commonplace of electoral politics. Senator Mitch McConnell, in his address on Thursday, said that, “like President Trump, we won’t be bullied by a liberal media intent on destroying America’s institutions.” But the thesis of the Republican Convention was more extreme. Forces larger than the media, variously identified as socialists, anarchists, “wild-eyed Marxists,” “woketopians,” and “globalization fanatics,” are gathering to bring down the country. Journalists may not even know who manages the levers. “Nobody really knows who’s controlling who,” Trump said on Monday, musing on what he calls “MSDNC.”
This was the conspiratorial Convention. Speaker after speaker said that Trump is definitely not a racist, that he is a defender of people with preëxisting health conditions, and that he has single-handedly defeated the coronavirus. Accepting such statements almost requires believing that his opponents are masterly practitioners of deception, with a hidden agenda, and that their grievances are a sham. Thus Black Lives Matter marchers and Democratic mayors were said to want protests to descend into violence. “It isn’t an unintended side effect—it’s actually the goal,” Patrick Lynch, the head of New York City’s Police Benevolent Association, said.
Representative Matt Gaetz, of Florida, claimed that “the dangerous left needs America to be weaker in order to accomplish their goal of replacing her.” (The notion that white Americans are in danger of being “replaced” is a trope of the far right.) Gaetz, who grew up in the house where “The Truman Show” was filmed, promoted the idea that almost nothing is as it seems, calling Joe Biden an extra in a “horror movie” directed by unnamed figures on the left. Like all good conspiracy theories, the plot is as capacious as it is fearsome. An R.N.C.-produced video claims that Biden has been bought by Beijing; it shows the Statue of Liberty fracturing. Vice-President Mike Pence said that the election will decide “whether America remains America.”
Public-health imperatives were suspect, too. Senator Marsha Blackburn, of Tennessee, said that, “if the Democrats had their way, they would keep you locked in your house until you became dependent on the government for everything. That sounds a lot like Communist China to me!” Social-distancing measures weren’t just misguided; the coronavirus was a convenient excuse to promote socialism. (Similarly, Rebecca Friedrichs, a school-choice advocate, noted that “unsuspecting teachers” are being played by radical unions, whose true aim is “subverting our republic.”) And there are few clearer measures of how Trumpism, with its promise of an alternate reality, has captivated the G.O.P. than the sight, on Thursday night, of fifteen hundred mostly maskless people sitting close together for hours on the South Lawn of the White House to hear the President’s acceptance speech. Meanwhile, COVID-19 is killing a thousand Americans a day.
In a video shown during the Convention, a self-proclaimed former Democratic Socialist who converted to Trumpism advises that, to understand what is happening, “you have to look deeper.” To illustrate what this means, she is shown scrolling intensely on her mobile phone. The image is appropriate; an increasing number of the President’s supporters are spending time in online forums reading up on QAnon, a family of conspiracy theories centered on Trump’s supposed struggle against the deep state. It has different, often contradictory strands, at times involving tales of a secret military cabal, the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, and a coming apocalypse. Recently, in a press conference, Trump claimed not to know much about QAnon, other than that “they do, supposedly, like me.” Told that the crux of QAnon is the belief that he is “secretly saving the world from this satanic cult of pedophiles and cannibals,” he asked, “Is that supposed to be a bad thing or a good thing?” He added that he’d be glad to save the world.
According to Media Matters for America, about twenty candidates on the ballot for the Senate or the House this fall have expressed an affinity for QAnon. One of them, Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Republican candidate for a House seat in Georgia, has speculated that the 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas was a false-flag operation. (She now says that she is moving on.) After her primary win, Trump tweeted that she is “strong on everything.” She was invited to attend his acceptance speech.
This is a dangerous path. The country is facing challenges that demand a modicum of trust, from the counting of ballots to the equitable distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine. “Nobody will be safe in a Biden America,” Trump said. He and his party are telling their supporters that, if he loses the election, everything will be gone—the country, the borders, the suburbs, their guns. A St. Louis couple who pointed firearms at Black Lives Matter marchers were rewarded with a speaking spot at the Convention. Another supporter of the President, in Kenosha, was allegedly all too ready to bring out his gun, with fatal results. But fear and suspicion cannot be the means by which this country is controlled. That isn’t how America remains America. ♦
Read More About the 2020 Election


newyorker--2020-08-30--A House Is Not a Home

A House Is Not a Home

What does it say about capitalism , John asks , that we have money and want to spend it but can ’ t find anything worth buying ?
We ’ re on our way home from a furniture store , again .
We almost bought something called a credenza , but then John opened the drawers and discovered that it wasn ’ t made to last .
I think there are limits , I say , to what mass production can produce .
We just bought a house but we don ’ t have furniture yet .
We ’ ve @ @ @ @ @ @ @ three months .
Last week a Mexican woman with four children rang our doorbell and asked if our front room was for rent .
I ’ m sorry , I said awkwardly , we live here .
She was confused .
But , she said , it ’ s empty .
It is empty .
I hang curtains to hide the emptiness , but it remains empty .
There wasn ’ t any furniture in the house where I grew up until a German cabinetmaker moved in with us .
He arrived in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a dent in the driveway .
He filled our dining room with his furniture and then he made tiny replicas of that furniture with the machines he brought in the truck .
I still have the tiny corner cabinet with lattice doors , the tiny hutch with brass knobs , and the tiny dining-room table with expertly turned legs .
They ’ re in the basement , wrapped in newspaper .
The tiny dresser sits atop my dresser , which is from IKEA .
The apartment we just left was furnished with shelves @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
They ’ re in the basement now , reduced to lumber .
The ammunition box that I found on the curb and made into a coffee table is in the back yard , planted full of marigolds .
I hate furniture , my father once murmured .
He had just visited a warehouse full of furniture made out of unfinished pine .
This was after the cabinetmaker went to a nursing home and his furniture went away , too .
As a child , I burned a hole in the dining-room table @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pipe , supplied me with matches .
I loved to burn things , but I felt remorse over the table , which I also loved .
I burned a hole in the dining-room table .
The lyric is tethered , in my mind , to the liner notes of a Billie Holiday album that I borrowed from the library in college .
She was singing songs written by someone else , the notes explained , but she rewrote them with the way she sang .
Her delivery transformed a banal portrait of moneyed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ moneyed life .
In the furniture stores we visit , I ’ m filled with a strange unspecific desire .
I want everything and nothing .
The soft colors of the rugs , the warm wood grains , the brass and glass of the lamps all seem to suggest that the stores are filled with beautiful things , but when I look at any one thing I don ’ t find it beautiful .
“ The desire to consume is a kind of lust , ” Lewis Hyde writes .
“ But consumer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ do not satisfy it .
The consumer of commodities is invited to a meal without passion , a consumption that leads to neither satiation nor fire.
” In the end , all the furniture we buy will feel like lyrics written for someone else ’ s song , except the dining-room table made by the Amish .
This table will be solid cherry , a beautiful wood .
It will be well made , but not quite as well made as the table I grew up with , the table I burned .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ we would need to spend much more money .
Or we would need a German cabinetmaker to move in with us .
Our house is a brick bungalow , nearly identical to the house next door .
These houses were built by brothers , both dead now .
I learn this from my neighbor , who lives in the other brother ’ s house .
He ’ s a retired postal worker and a saxophone player who still practices every day , though his health is too poor now for him to perform @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the same , he tells me , except for my attic , which the former owners of our house renovated .
He would like to renovate his attic , too , but he doesn ’ t have the money .
Some relatives of his are in prison and all his extra money goes to supporting their families .
I guess God , he says , doesn ’ t want me to have money .
I ’ m not sure , but I think he ’ s joking about God .
He has told @ @ @ @ @ @ @ same elementary school my son attends , and of being beaten on the playground .
He has told me that he couldn ’ t , in those days , risk a conversation with a woman like me .
He had to keep his head down when he passed a white woman on the sidewalk , he said , and just respond Yes , ma ’ am if she spoke to him .
He has told me , also , of refusing a holiday turkey offered to him by the owner of a mansion @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who demanded that he wade through deep snow to deliver packages to the service entrance at the back of the house .
The former owners of our house , who were white , made extra money by allowing the house to be used as a set for commercials .
John discovers this when he gets a call from a casting agent who wants to know if the house is available .
It ’ s not available—we live here .
But then we learn how much we will be paid .
All we have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ three days and two nights and we will earn eight thousand dollars .
The commercial is going to be for Walmart , the corporation that produced the fortunes of three of the twenty richest people in this country .
Walmart couldn ’ t build stores in Chicago for years , but they ’ re here now , despite ongoing protests over low wages , and they want their commercial set in a classic Chicago bungalow .
We don ’ t own anything from Walmart , but this doesn ’ t matter because Walmart @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Walmart curtains are put up , and some Walmart prints are hung on the walls in Walmart frames .
A white set designer and a white director work to create an authentic African-American interior .
The commercial , they tell us , is going to feature an African-American grandmother serving a holiday turkey .
Bill and I are reading the same book and we ’ ve both marked the same passage : “ Modernization was supposed to fill the world—both communist and capitalist—with jobs , and not just any jobs but ‘ standard @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Such jobs are now quite rare ; most people depend on much more irregular livelihoods .
The irony of our times , then , is that everyone depends on capitalism but almost no one has what we used to call a ‘ regular job.
’ ” I never had a regular job until now .
In my twenties , I left job after job , working until I had enough money to write and then writing until I needed money again .
I didn ’ t know of any other way to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ job I have now , my regular job , was temporary at first .
I was an “ artist in residence , ” and the contract required that I leave after four years .
My residence was not permanent .
But then the contract was revised , and revised again .
When I could pass as permanent I bought a house .

What does it say about capitalism, John asks, that we have money and want to spend it but can’t find anything worth buying? We’re on our way home from a furniture store, again. We almost bought something called a credenza, but then John opened the drawers and discovered that it wasn’t made to last.
I think there are limits, I say, to what mass production can produce.
We just bought a house but we don’t have furniture yet. We’ve been eating on our back stoop for three months. Last week a Mexican woman with four children rang our doorbell and asked if our front room was for rent. I’m sorry, I said awkwardly, we live here. She was confused. But, she said, it’s empty.
It is empty. I hang curtains to hide the emptiness, but it remains empty. There wasn’t any furniture in the house where I grew up until a German cabinetmaker moved in with us. He arrived in a truck so heavy that it made a dent in the driveway. He filled our dining room with his furniture and then he made tiny replicas of that furniture with the machines he brought in the truck. I still have the tiny corner cabinet with lattice doors, the tiny hutch with brass knobs, and the tiny dining-room table with expertly turned legs. They’re in the basement, wrapped in newspaper. The tiny dresser sits atop my dresser, which is from IKEA.
The apartment we just left was furnished with shelves that John made out of cheap pine. They’re in the basement now, reduced to lumber. The ammunition box that I found on the curb and made into a coffee table is in the back yard, planted full of marigolds. I hate furniture, my father once murmured. He had just visited a warehouse full of furniture made out of unfinished pine. This was after the cabinetmaker went to a nursing home and his furniture went away, too. As a child, I burned a hole in the dining-room table. The cabinetmaker, who smoked a pipe, supplied me with matches. I loved to burn things, but I felt remorse over the table, which I also loved.
I burned a hole in the dining-room table. The lyric is tethered, in my mind, to the liner notes of a Billie Holiday album that I borrowed from the library in college. She was singing songs written by someone else, the notes explained, but she rewrote them with the way she sang. Her delivery transformed a banal portrait of moneyed life into a wry critique of that moneyed life.
In the furniture stores we visit, I’m filled with a strange unspecific desire. I want everything and nothing. The soft colors of the rugs, the warm wood grains, the brass and glass of the lamps all seem to suggest that the stores are filled with beautiful things, but when I look at any one thing I don’t find it beautiful. “The desire to consume is a kind of lust,” Lewis Hyde writes. “But consumer goods merely bait this lust, they do not satisfy it. The consumer of commodities is invited to a meal without passion, a consumption that leads to neither satiation nor fire.”
In the end, all the furniture we buy will feel like lyrics written for someone else’s song, except the dining-room table made by the Amish. This table will be solid cherry, a beautiful wood. It will be well made, but not quite as well made as the table I grew up with, the table I burned. To get a table like that, we would need to spend much more money. Or we would need a German cabinetmaker to move in with us.
Our house is a brick bungalow, nearly identical to the house next door. These houses were built by brothers, both dead now. I learn this from my neighbor, who lives in the other brother’s house. He’s a retired postal worker and a saxophone player who still practices every day, though his health is too poor now for him to perform. The interiors of our houses are the same, he tells me, except for my attic, which the former owners of our house renovated. He would like to renovate his attic, too, but he doesn’t have the money. Some relatives of his are in prison and all his extra money goes to supporting their families. I guess God, he says, doesn’t want me to have money. I’m not sure, but I think he’s joking about God.
He has told me, already, about attending the same elementary school my son attends, and of being beaten on the playground. He has told me that he couldn’t, in those days, risk a conversation with a woman like me. He had to keep his head down when he passed a white woman on the sidewalk, he said, and just respond Yes, ma’am if she spoke to him. He has told me, also, of refusing a holiday turkey offered to him by the owner of a mansion by the lake, a rich man who demanded that he wade through deep snow to deliver packages to the service entrance at the back of the house.
The former owners of our house, who were white, made extra money by allowing the house to be used as a set for commercials. John discovers this when he gets a call from a casting agent who wants to know if the house is available. It’s not available—we live here. But then we learn how much we will be paid. All we have to do is leave the house for three days and two nights and we will earn eight thousand dollars.
The commercial is going to be for Walmart, the corporation that produced the fortunes of three of the twenty richest people in this country. Walmart couldn’t build stores in Chicago for years, but they’re here now, despite ongoing protests over low wages, and they want their commercial set in a classic Chicago bungalow. We don’t own anything from Walmart, but this doesn’t matter because Walmart furniture is moved into the house, Walmart curtains are put up, and some Walmart prints are hung on the walls in Walmart frames. A white set designer and a white director work to create an authentic African-American interior. The commercial, they tell us, is going to feature an African-American grandmother serving a holiday turkey.
Bill and I are reading the same book and we’ve both marked the same passage: “Modernization was supposed to fill the world—both communist and capitalist—with jobs, and not just any jobs but ‘standard employment’ with stable wages and benefits. Such jobs are now quite rare; most people depend on much more irregular livelihoods. The irony of our times, then, is that everyone depends on capitalism but almost no one has what we used to call a ‘regular job.’ ”
I never had a regular job until now. In my twenties, I left job after job, working until I had enough money to write and then writing until I needed money again. I didn’t know of any other way to live as an artist. Even the job I have now, my regular job, was temporary at first. I was an “artist in residence,” and the contract required that I leave after four years. My residence was not permanent. But then the contract was revised, and revised again. When I could pass as permanent I bought a house.
Bill and I were temp workers, years ago, at the same publishing company in New York. I worked for the editor of “Stock Market Wizards,” which was the sequel to “The New Market Wizards,” which was the sequel to “Market Wizards.” The purpose of this third book, the editor explained to me, was mainly to capitalize on the success of the first two books. “Stock Market Wizards” featured interviews with traders who made millions during “the glory days of the internet boom,” and nearly all of them told stories about losing everything before they made it big. They lost houses, they lost life savings lent to them by relatives, and they lost marriages. They weren’t wizards, just gamblers who could tolerate major losses.
The book Bill and I are reading now is “The Mushroom at the End of the World: On the Possibility of Life in Capitalist Ruins.” I’ve marked every passage about precarity. “What if, as I’m suggesting, precarity is the condition of our time—or, to put it another way, what if our time is ripe for sensing precarity?” And, “Precarity is the condition of being vulnerable to others.”
I think of my time in New York, when I was so often lost. I was at the end of the line in Far Rockaway, looking for an address that didn’t exist. I was walking sixty blocks down Madison Avenue, stopping at every store and restaurant to ask for a job. Not having money is time-consuming. There are hours spent at laundromats, hours at bus stops, hours at free clinics, hours at thrift stores, hours on the phone with the bank or the credit-card company or the phone company over some fee, some little charge, some mistake.
One of my first jobs in New York was visiting empty lots for the parks department. The city wanted to sell these lots, which had increased in value over the decades since they were abandoned. But the lots had been registered with the parks department as gardens. I took Polaroids through chain-link fences to make a record for the city that there were gardens there, and gardeners who would chain themselves to concrete blocks in the ground when the bulldozers came. The gardeners had cleared those lots of bricks and needles, and they had planted roses. They had invested in zero-value property.
Maybe I need more precarity in my life, I tell Bill. Maybe I’ve become too comfortable. No, he reminds me, precarity has a price. And a person can be too vulnerable. After a pause, Bill admits that he doesn’t really know what capitalism is. In trying to explain it, I realize that I don’t know, either.
The catalogues keep coming. I don’t know how they find us, or how to make them stop. Sometimes two of the same catalogue arrive on the same day. They accumulate in piles, outdoing each other with heavier paper and richer colors. Then the Restoration Hardware catalogue arrives, like a parody of the whole problem, in two volumes, each the size of a telephone book. They are bigger and heavier than my grandfather’s two volumes of “Illustrated English Social History.” We put them near the fireplace and sit on them.
The IKEA catalogue has a message on the front: “Designed for people, not consumers.” In the photograph, some young people are having a fun, unfussy dinner at a crowded table. There are dishes piled on a cart and a guitar is leaning against the wall. The IKEA catalogue sits on top of a pile of catalogues with photographs of sterile rooms and furniture that has never been touched. The messier way of life, IKEA suggests, is not just less expensive. It is more human.
On my way out of New York, during the fourth or fifth move of my twenties, I left behind a bed frame that my mother had made. It was simple and spare with no headboard, Shaker almost, and designed for celibacy in that it was narrower than a single bed. My mother was upset when she learned that I had abandoned it. I tried to explain that I wasn’t leading a life that allowed for furniture.
In California, I slept on a slab of foam that could easily be rolled up and moved anywhere. My boyfriend, who kept his clothes in a large cardboard box, suggested that we make all of our furniture out of cardboard boxes. It was an idea that had already been pioneered by IKEA, who made particleboard end tables with hollow interiors. Within a year, I had rolled up my mattress and moved my boxes to Iowa, where I found my furniture on the street.