hotair--2020-10-26--"Operation GGO." The plan to spring Ghislaine Maxwell from jail

The last time we heard from Ghislaine Maxwell , Jeffrey Epstein ’ s alleged procurer of underage sex slaves , the transcript from an earlier deposition she ’ d given had been released to the public in partially redacted form .
While she may have feigned ignorance about the definition of “ sex toys , ” there aren ’ t any other real bombshells in there in terms of who may have been visiting Epstein ’ s creepy island .
For the moment , Maxwell remains behind bars and on suicide watch , but if some of her famous friends @ @ @ @ @ @ @ soon be released .
Her trial isn ’ t scheduled to start until next year and a campaign is underway to have the court allow her to go free on bail until the trial .
( NY Post ) “ Operation GGO ” is underway .
The mission : Get Ghislaine out of jail .
A friend has taken up the cause of springing Ghislaine Maxwell from her Brooklyn cellhole , claiming she is on the verge of starvation and humiliated every day by her prison-issued paper clothes .
Brian Basham is a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to grant the British socialite bail while she waits to be tried for sex trafficking next summer , the Telegraph reported .
Two weeks after Maxwell was taken into custody , a judge denied her bond offer of $ 5 million , deeming her a flight risk .
She maintains her innocence .
As much as I ’ ve been critical of Maxwell throughout this entire drama , I will admit that a couple of the requests being made by her friends aren ’ t entirely without merit .
She ’ s essentially @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a while now , though it ’ s being done for her own protection .
Her request to be moved to the general prison population was likely just a stunt to press for better conditions where she is now , but perhaps something could be done to ease her loneliness and the general monotony .
Perhaps they could find some other female prisoner to act as her roommate , particularly if it ’ s some white-collar criminal who should be less likely to stick a shiv in her .
Maxwell ’ s friends @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she has to wear every day .
But that ’ s supposed to help prevent her from killing herself .
The other complaint is that she ’ s lost a dangerous amount of weight because the prison isn ’ t providing her with a vegan diet .
That ’ s another issue where the health of the prisoner is being directly affected , so maybe some accommodation on that score is possible .
But as to allowing her to go free on bail , why would the judge even consider the request for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that Ghislaine has ( or had , actually ) three passports , one of them from France .
Had she wanted to flee the country to Europe she could have done so at any time when the authorities were searching for her .
This , in his opinion , means that she ’ s not a flight risk .
But she already took flight , even if it was to a mansion in New Hampshire .
She never turned herself in .
The FBI had to go track her down and drag her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a flight risk .
And how safe would Maxwell be on the outside ?
She ’ s looking at a very serious stretch behind bars if convicted and her entire world has collapsed around her .
To argue that she ’ s not a suicide risk doesn ’ t seem rational .
And even if she ’ s not inclined to take her own life , she still probably knows a great deal about many powerful people that they wouldn ’ t like to see in the headlines .
If the prosecutors wave @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she might decide to spill the beans .
Are we really sure that nobody would arrange for “ an accident ” to take place while she ’ s out on bail ?
It ’ s not right for Maxwell to be receiving any sort of cruel and unusual punishment , particularly since she ’ s still technically innocent until proven guilty .
It sounds like a few simple accommodations might make her time between now and the trial a bit more bearable .
But cutting her loose on her own recognizance seems like @ @ @ @ @ @ @

The last time we heard from Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged procurer of underage sex slaves, the transcript from an earlier deposition she’d given had been released to the public in partially redacted form. While she may have feigned ignorance about the definition of “sex toys,” there aren’t any other real bombshells in there in terms of who may have been visiting Epstein’s creepy island. For the moment, Maxwell remains behind bars and on suicide watch, but if some of her famous friends have their way, she’ll soon be released. Her trial isn’t scheduled to start until next year and a campaign is underway to have the court allow her to go free on bail until the trial. (NY Post)
“Operation GGO” is underway. The mission: Get Ghislaine out of jail. A friend has taken up the cause of springing Ghislaine Maxwell from her Brooklyn cellhole, claiming she is on the verge of starvation and humiliated every day by her prison-issued paper clothes. Brian Basham is a close family friend who wants federal authorities to grant the British socialite bail while she waits to be tried for sex trafficking next summer, the Telegraph reported. Two weeks after Maxwell was taken into custody, a judge denied her bond offer of $5 million, deeming her a flight risk. She maintains her innocence.
As much as I’ve been critical of Maxwell throughout this entire drama, I will admit that a couple of the requests being made by her friends aren’t entirely without merit. She’s essentially been locked up in solitary for quite a while now, though it’s being done for her own protection. Her request to be moved to the general prison population was likely just a stunt to press for better conditions where she is now, but perhaps something could be done to ease her loneliness and the general monotony. Perhaps they could find some other female prisoner to act as her roommate, particularly if it’s some white-collar criminal who should be less likely to stick a shiv in her.
Maxwell’s friends are also complaining about the paper clothes she has to wear every day. But that’s supposed to help prevent her from killing herself. The other complaint is that she’s lost a dangerous amount of weight because the prison isn’t providing her with a vegan diet. That’s another issue where the health of the prisoner is being directly affected, so maybe some accommodation on that score is possible.
But as to allowing her to go free on bail, why would the judge even consider the request for a second time? Her friend claims that Ghislaine has (or had, actually) three passports, one of them from France. Had she wanted to flee the country to Europe she could have done so at any time when the authorities were searching for her. This, in his opinion, means that she’s not a flight risk. But she already took flight, even if it was to a mansion in New Hampshire. She never turned herself in. The FBI had to go track her down and drag her in. Of course she’s a flight risk.
And how safe would Maxwell be on the outside? She’s looking at a very serious stretch behind bars if convicted and her entire world has collapsed around her. To argue that she’s not a suicide risk doesn’t seem rational. And even if she’s not inclined to take her own life, she still probably knows a great deal about many powerful people that they wouldn’t like to see in the headlines. If the prosecutors wave enough jail time in her face, she might decide to spill the beans. Are we really sure that nobody would arrange for “an accident” to take place while she’s out on bail?
It’s not right for Maxwell to be receiving any sort of cruel and unusual punishment, particularly since she’s still technically innocent until proven guilty. It sounds like a few simple accommodations might make her time between now and the trial a bit more bearable. But cutting her loose on her own recognizance seems like a foolish and potentially catastrophic move.


hotair--2020-10-26--Uh oh: GOP's Senate contender in MN rushed into surgery for severe hernia; <span class='red'>Update:

Uh oh: GOP's Senate contender in MN rushed into surgery for severe hernia; Update: "Good news"

Talk about bad timing .
Jason Lewis , former talk-radio host and congressman , looked like he had built up momentum for a late charge at incumbent Senator Tina Smith .
Despite getting swamped out in advertising over the past month , Lewis had closed a double-digit polling gap into a virtual tie last week , and threatened to be the first Republican to win a statewide office in Minnesota in fourteen years .
Instead of riding that momentum on the campaign trail , though , Lewis rode a gurney into surgery this morning .
The diagnosis — a “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the campaign : The former congressman was experiencing abdominal pain and was hurried into the emergency room Monday morning for tests .
Doctors determined he had a hernia , which could be life-threatening if it ’ s not treated fast , the campaign said in a statement .
… Lewis was optimistic as he headed into surgery , the campaign said in an announcement released at 11 a.m. “ True to form , he was speculating about when he could resume campaigning , eager to continue fighting for his fellow Minnesotans , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will release more information as it becomes available .
KSTP reported that the surgery was a success , but so far there is little word on Lewis ’ prognosis .
Lewis ’ planned campaign event tomorrow with Donald Trump Jr will go on as planned , Tom Hauser reports , but without Lewis .
In fact , it ’ s tough to see how anyone recovers from major abdominal surgery quickly enough to do in-person events in eight days or less .
Given the Republican emphasis on this kind of politicking , it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Lewis ’ momentum didn ’ t emerge only from the KSTP-Survey USA poll , although the ten-point advance in that series was certainly eye-popping .
MinnPost , a Democrat-favorable publication , conducted a survey that only had Smith up by four points , just outside of its margin of error , with Joe Biden up only five points over Donald Trump .
Interestingly , Biden ’ s net favorability is underwater in that poll ( -4 ) and only five points better than Trump ’ s ( -9 ) .
Lewis and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Furthermore , both Republicans have more upside among undecideds in the MinnPost poll .
Twenty-two percent would choose Trump , while literally zero undecideds chose Biden , although 44 % were not leaning in either direction ( and another 20 % wouldn ’ t vote at all , with the rest split between independent candidates ) .
Lewis leads Smith 16/8 among undecideds , but 65 % of those are still on the fence , with only 8 % choosing to skip that race .
A life-threatening injury might be a problem @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up , especially if Lewis is too ill to make any kind of appearances between now and Election Day .
Hopefully , Lewis will fully recover quickly , for all sorts of reasons .
If he ’ s up to it , Lewis will need to schedule some virtual events during his recovery to allay concerns over his status among those undecideds .
If he can do that , it might even amplify the momentum Lewis was building — and might help boost Trump along the way , too .
Update : Team @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a success : That timeline likely precludes in-person appearances until Election Day .
Lewis will have to make do with some virtual campaigning and surrogates , but that might be enough .

Talk about bad timing. Jason Lewis, former talk-radio host and congressman, looked like he had built up momentum for a late charge at incumbent Senator Tina Smith. Despite getting swamped out in advertising over the past month, Lewis had closed a double-digit polling gap into a virtual tie last week, and threatened to be the first Republican to win a statewide office in Minnesota in fourteen years.
Instead of riding that momentum on the campaign trail, though, Lewis rode a gurney into surgery this morning. The diagnosis — a “severe internal hernia,” according to the campaign:
The former congressman was experiencing abdominal pain and was hurried into the emergency room Monday morning for tests. Doctors determined he had a hernia, which could be life-threatening if it’s not treated fast, the campaign said in a statement. … Lewis was optimistic as he headed into surgery, the campaign said in an announcement released at 11 a.m. “True to form, he was speculating about when he could resume campaigning, eager to continue fighting for his fellow Minnesotans,” the campaign stated, and said it will release more information as it becomes available.
Smith offered up a classy statement wishing Lewis well:
Archie and I are wishing Jason Lewis a successful surgery and a speedy recovery. — Tina Smith (@TinaSmithMN) October 26, 2020
KSTP reported that the surgery was a success, but so far there is little word on Lewis’ prognosis. Lewis’ planned campaign event tomorrow with Donald Trump Jr will go on as planned, Tom Hauser reports, but without Lewis. In fact, it’s tough to see how anyone recovers from major abdominal surgery quickly enough to do in-person events in eight days or less. Given the Republican emphasis on this kind of politicking, it’s a considerable setback for Lewis.
Lewis’ momentum didn’t emerge only from the KSTP-Survey USA poll, although the ten-point advance in that series was certainly eye-popping. MinnPost, a Democrat-favorable publication, conducted a survey that only had Smith up by four points, just outside of its margin of error, with Joe Biden up only five points over Donald Trump. Interestingly, Biden’s net favorability is underwater in that poll (-4) and only five points better than Trump’s (-9). Lewis and Smith are tied at +1 on favorability.
Furthermore, both Republicans have more upside among undecideds in the MinnPost poll. Twenty-two percent would choose Trump, while literally zero undecideds chose Biden, although 44% were not leaning in either direction (and another 20% wouldn’t vote at all, with the rest split between independent candidates). Lewis leads Smith 16/8 among undecideds, but 65% of those are still on the fence, with only 8% choosing to skip that race. A life-threatening injury might be a problem in getting those undecideds to back him up, especially if Lewis is too ill to make any kind of appearances between now and Election Day.
Hopefully, Lewis will fully recover quickly, for all sorts of reasons. If he’s up to it, Lewis will need to schedule some virtual events during his recovery to allay concerns over his status among those undecideds. If he can do that, it might even amplify the momentum Lewis was building — and might help boost Trump along the way, too.
Update: Team Lewis announced that the surgery was indeed a success:
GOOD NEWS! The dr. has said Jason's surgery was successful & he's optimistic Jason will be discharged within the next couple days. In the meantime, our campaign isn't missing a beat & the fight to restore Minnesota's economy, protect our police & defend the Constitution rolls on pic.twitter.com/UAo3n0vckS — Jason Lewis (@LewisForMN) October 26, 2020
That timeline likely precludes in-person appearances until Election Day. Lewis will have to make do with some virtual campaigning and surrogates, but that might be enough.


hotair--2020-10-26--Why is Biden spending time campaigning in Georgia tomorrow?

It ’ s arrogant to second-guess Team Joe strategically when they ’ ve run a stellar campaign that ’ s delivered their guy to the cusp of the presidency , but the logic of visiting Georgia at this point isn ’ t immediately obvious .
Why not Florida ?
Why not Pennsylvania ?
Why not Michigan or Wisconsin or Ohio or Arizona instead ?
Democratic nominee Joe Biden is headed to Georgia on Tuesday , part of a late effort by the campaign to flip a state that Republicans have carried in every White House contest since 1996 .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ afternoon in Warm Springs on “ bringing Americans together to address the crises facing our nation , ” his campaign said , before an evening drive-in rally in Atlanta to encourage Georgians to cast their ballots during the last week of early voting… The trip is scheduled days after vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris campaigned across Atlanta .
Her Friday visit included events with student leaders in Atlanta and a drive-in rally at Morehouse College , where the California senator pushed back on Trump ’ s appeals to Black men .
It can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they have 270 locked up .
They may think they ’ ve got Michigan and Wisconsin — and even Arizona — in the bag , but that ’ s still only 269 electoral votes if you include all of Hillary ’ s 2016 states .
They can likely get to 270 by picking off either Nebraska ’ s Second District or Maine ’ s Second , but a 270-268 election is the stuff of nightmares .
Not only would it lead to intense legal battles in states where the margin is close , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which one or two members of the electoral college could flip the presidency by defecting to Trump despite the outcome in their states .
In fairness , Biden does seem to stand a fair chance of winning Georgia .
A new poll today from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution has him ahead 47/46 there .
Other polls published over the past week have put him up by four points , six points , and seven ( ! )
points , while several more show the race tied .
FiveThirtyEight ’ s forecast now has Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ GA , down from 70/30 on August 31st .
Clearly there ’ s good reason to spend a little time in Georgia and try to get Democrats there excited to turn out , believing that victory is finally possible .
It ’ s just that … the reasons for spending time in Florida and Pennsylvania are better than good .
Biden currently has a 66 percent chance of winning FL , per FiveThirtyEight , and an 86 percent chance of winning PA .
But Trump was famously underestimated in both states in 2016 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fraught this year given the legal tangles over mail-in ballots .
Meanwhile , in Florida : After weeks of Democrats outvoting them by mail , [ Florida ] Republican voters stormed early voting precincts in person this week , taking large bites out of their opponents ’ historic lead in pre-Election Day ballots .
The Democratic advantage was still huge as of Saturday morning : 387,000 ballots .
But that ’ s a 21 percent reduction from Democrats ’ high water mark , set three days prior .
The election is in 10 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Black voters ages 18 to 29 have cast 15.8 percent of the total ballots so far in Florida out of all voters in that age range .
That ’ s half a percentage point down from the same period in 2016… Democrats are turning out more low-propensity voters and newly registered voters than Republicans .
But as shares of their party ’ s votes , the proportions are roughly the same as 2016 , according to an analysis by Tyson , whose most recent 1,000-sample Florida poll has Trump with a 2-point @ @ @ @ @ @ @ survey ’ s 3.1-point margin of error .
Many recent public polls have Biden marginally leading .
Time is a finite resource .
Every minute Biden spends in Georgia is a minute not spent in Pennsylvania and Florida .
And if Trump wins Florida , his odds at a second term rise considerably .
It ’ s not quite the case that everything would come down to Pennsylvania if Trump takes FL , but it ’ s substantially the case .
And yet — that may explain why Biden ’ s going to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the few states on the map that ’ s large enough ( 16 electoral votes ) *and* close enough to plausibly hand Biden the presidency even if Trump takes Florida and Pennsylvania .
Ohio could do it too , but Trump won Ohio by a bigger margin in 2016 ( eight points ) than he won Georgia ( five points ) .
And one wonders how likely Ohio would be to turn blue if Trump finds a way to hold onto Pennsylvania after all .
Georgia is potentially Biden ’ s ace @ @ @ @ @ @ @ could get him over the finish line — narrowly — in tandem with Michigan and Wisconsin even if he loses all the other battlegrounds .
Hitting that trifecta would give the Democrat 274 electoral votes .
Biden wouldn ’ t even need Arizona in that scenario .
It ’ s hard to imagine Georgia going blue if next-door Florida stays red , but it may be that shifting demographic coalitions since 2018 have made GA at least as competitive for Biden as Florida is .
Stacey Abrams fell just a point and a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ two years ago thanks to strong support from black voters , who made up 30 percent of the electorate according to exit polls .
( Just 14 percent of the Florida electorate was black that year . )
Biden will try to build on that with stronger-than-usual support for a Democrat in the south among white college grads and suburbanites .
It ’ s possible that support from Cuban-Americans drags Trump over the finish line in Florida , only for the GOP to turn around and find that the “ Biden coalition ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Georgia that ’ s made Pennsylvania largely irrelevant to the final outcome .
Simply put , there ’ s a lot of bang for the Democratic buck potentially in GA.
There ’ s more in Texas , where multiple polls lately also show Biden ahead ( !
!
! )
, but Trump won Texas by nine in 2016 and the conventional wisdom is that Republicans will come through for him there .
That sort of longshot is worth a visit from Kamala Harris but not from the nominee himself .
Georgia @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gets Biden in the flesh .
Which should make local Democrats happy : There are not one but two Senate races on the ballot in the state this year and having the nominee goose turnout in person could be decisive in at least one of them , the David Perdue versus Jon Ossoff race that ’ s also been tight lately .
I ’ ll leave you with this new ad from Team Trump , their own take on the “ Weekend at Biden ’ s ” ad from a Super PAC that @ @ @ @ @ @

It’s arrogant to second-guess Team Joe strategically when they’ve run a stellar campaign that’s delivered their guy to the cusp of the presidency, but the logic of visiting Georgia at this point isn’t immediately obvious. Why not Florida? Why not Pennsylvania? Why not Michigan or Wisconsin or Ohio or Arizona instead?
Democratic nominee Joe Biden is headed to Georgia on Tuesday, part of a late effort by the campaign to flip a state that Republicans have carried in every White House contest since 1996. The former vice president will deliver remarks Tuesday afternoon in Warm Springs on “bringing Americans together to address the crises facing our nation,” his campaign said, before an evening drive-in rally in Atlanta to encourage Georgians to cast their ballots during the last week of early voting… The trip is scheduled days after vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris campaigned across Atlanta. Her Friday visit included events with student leaders in Atlanta and a drive-in rally at Morehouse College, where the California senator pushed back on Trump’s appeals to Black men.
Hmmm:
With how by-the-book this campaign has been, this is malpractice *unless* they think they’ve got 270 locked up. https://t.co/lzwYFD3QWg — Conor Sen (@conorsen) October 24, 2020
It can’t possibly be that they think they have 270 locked up. They may think they’ve got Michigan and Wisconsin — and even Arizona — in the bag, but that’s still only 269 electoral votes if you include all of Hillary’s 2016 states. They can likely get to 270 by picking off either Nebraska’s Second District or Maine’s Second, but a 270-268 election is the stuff of nightmares. Not only would it lead to intense legal battles in states where the margin is close, it would create a chaotic scenario in which one or two members of the electoral college could flip the presidency by defecting to Trump despite the outcome in their states.
In fairness, Biden does seem to stand a fair chance of winning Georgia. A new poll today from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution has him ahead 47/46 there. Other polls published over the past week have put him up by four points, six points, and seven(!) points, while several more show the race tied. FiveThirtyEight’s forecast now has Trump a mere 53 percent favorite to win GA, down from 70/30 on August 31st. Clearly there’s good reason to spend a little time in Georgia and try to get Democrats there excited to turn out, believing that victory is finally possible.
It’s just that … the reasons for spending time in Florida and Pennsylvania are better than good. Biden currently has a 66 percent chance of winning FL, per FiveThirtyEight, and an 86 percent chance of winning PA. But Trump was famously underestimated in both states in 2016 polling, and Pennsylvania could be especially fraught this year given the legal tangles over mail-in ballots. Meanwhile, in Florida:
After weeks of Democrats outvoting them by mail, [Florida] Republican voters stormed early voting precincts in person this week, taking large bites out of their opponents’ historic lead in pre-Election Day ballots. The Democratic advantage was still huge as of Saturday morning: 387,000 ballots. But that’s a 21 percent reduction from Democrats’ high water mark, set three days prior. The election is in 10 days… According to TargetSmart’s analysis, Black voters ages 18 to 29 have cast 15.8 percent of the total ballots so far in Florida out of all voters in that age range. That’s half a percentage point down from the same period in 2016… Democrats are turning out more low-propensity voters and newly registered voters than Republicans. But as shares of their party’s votes, the proportions are roughly the same as 2016, according to an analysis by Tyson, whose most recent 1,000-sample Florida poll has Trump with a 2-point lead that’s well within the survey’s 3.1-point margin of error. Many recent public polls have Biden marginally leading.
Time is a finite resource. Every minute Biden spends in Georgia is a minute not spent in Pennsylvania and Florida. And if Trump wins Florida, his odds at a second term rise considerably. It’s not quite the case that everything would come down to Pennsylvania if Trump takes FL, but it’s substantially the case.
And yet — that may explain why Biden’s going to Georgia tomorrow. It’s one of the few states on the map that’s large enough (16 electoral votes) *and* close enough to plausibly hand Biden the presidency even if Trump takes Florida and Pennsylvania. Ohio could do it too, but Trump won Ohio by a bigger margin in 2016 (eight points) than he won Georgia (five points). And one wonders how likely Ohio would be to turn blue if Trump finds a way to hold onto Pennsylvania after all. Georgia is potentially Biden’s ace in the hole, a state that could get him over the finish line — narrowly — in tandem with Michigan and Wisconsin even if he loses all the other battlegrounds. Hitting that trifecta would give the Democrat 274 electoral votes. Biden wouldn’t even need Arizona in that scenario.
It’s hard to imagine Georgia going blue if next-door Florida stays red, but it may be that shifting demographic coalitions since 2018 have made GA at least as competitive for Biden as Florida is. Stacey Abrams fell just a point and a half short in the gubernatorial race there two years ago thanks to strong support from black voters, who made up 30 percent of the electorate according to exit polls. (Just 14 percent of the Florida electorate was black that year.) Biden will try to build on that with stronger-than-usual support for a Democrat in the south among white college grads and suburbanites. It’s possible that support from Cuban-Americans drags Trump over the finish line in Florida, only for the GOP to turn around and find that the “Biden coalition” has won a dogfight across the border in Georgia that’s made Pennsylvania largely irrelevant to the final outcome.
Simply put, there’s a lot of bang for the Democratic buck potentially in GA. There’s more in Texas, where multiple polls lately also show Biden ahead(!!!), but Trump won Texas by nine in 2016 and the conventional wisdom is that Republicans will come through for him there. That sort of longshot is worth a visit from Kamala Harris but not from the nominee himself. Georgia is a more plausible pick-up so Georgia gets Biden in the flesh. Which should make local Democrats happy: There are not one but two Senate races on the ballot in the state this year and having the nominee goose turnout in person could be decisive in at least one of them, the David Perdue versus Jon Ossoff race that’s also been tight lately.
I’ll leave you with this new ad from Team Trump, their own take on the “Weekend at Biden’s” ad from a Super PAC that made a splash last week.


hotair--2020-10-26--New Yorker: Some signs of trouble among Portland's violent Antifa groups

Yesterday the New Yorker published a lengthy piece about Antifa in Portland which feels like it was written by someone who set out to write something positive about the group but who , after spending some time with them , couldn ’ t quite manage it .
The first quarter of the piece goes over the history of Antifa groups in the city from the formation of Rose City Antifa and , more recently , the creation of a group called Popular Mobilization or PopMob .
The author doesn ’ t offer much in the way of criticism of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s just describing how they formed .
And then we come to August 29th : It was dark when I arrived downtown .
As I parked on a wide avenue in the shopping district , several people in black bloc sprinted by .
Turning a corner , I came upon a small crowd facing a police cordon .
Behind the officers , a dead body lay in a pool of light .
The victim was Aaron Danielson , a thirty-nine-year-old supporter of Patriot Prayer .
He ’ d been shot by Michael Reinoehl @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with Rose City Antifa or PopMob—once wrote on Instagram , “ I am 100 % ANTIFA all the way !
” Reinoehl later claimed that he had fired in self-defense , and a cannister of bear spray and a telescopic truncheon were found on Danielson .
At the time , however , nobody in the crowd knew what had happened or who was involved .
Is it true that Reinoehl was “ unaffiliated ” with the city ’ s established antifa groups ?
How does author Luke Mogelson know that ?
There are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of previous protests .
He was certainly well known to other people on the front lines .
It strikes me as odd that groups that welcome like-minded people can suddenly tell a reporter one particular person ( who murdered someone ) was definitely not part of their group .
After Danielson was shot , Antifa quickly spread the claim that someone had been murdered by a Proud Boy and when some in the crowd identified Patriot Prayer founder Joey Gibson on the street , a mob showed up and seemed to be escalating @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Gibson , shouting at him to leave .
When he asked , “ Why don ’ t you guys stop acting like Nazis ?
, ” a man in a Young Turks sweatshirt spit in his face .
“ Can we stop with the hate ?
” Gibson said , making no move to wipe off the saliva .
Protesters continued to arrive , and , as the volume and ferocity of their insults escalated , Gibson turned to a blond woman who ’ d been standing at his side and said , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mob of at least fifty young people pursued them .
Gibson kept up a show of equanimity until his hat and glasses were snatched away .
Soon , drinks were emptied on him , objects were hurled at him , eggs were smashed on him , and he was punched and pepper-sprayed .
With the blond woman ’ s help , he stumbled forward while someone rang a cowbell in his ears and others strobed flashlights in his eyes .
The mob grew .
As far as I could tell , all of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ At some point , several people pushed their way to Gibson and escorted him down the street , keeping at bay the most belligerent aggressors .
A short Asian man in a bicycle helmet yelled , “ Let him leave , goddammit !
Everyone back the fuck off !
” After several blocks , Gibson and the woman ducked into a gas station , and an employee locked the door behind them .
The man in the bicycle helmet blocked the entrance , but people smashed the windows and kicked open a side @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mask and pleaded , “ He ’ s a fucking Nazi , but are you going to lynch him ?
” The police eventually showed up and the Antifa mob scattered .
At this point Mogelson came across a BLM supporter named Rico De Vera who told him , “ It pisses me off .
People are going to use tonight to say that Black Lives Matter is a bunch of thugs.
” Well , yeah , and maybe there ’ s a good reason for that .
Mogelson and De Vera then @ @ @ @ @ @ @ woman with a megaphone was addressing the crowd about the murder that had taken place that night .
There ’ s no direct criticism of Antifa but the description of their behavior doesn ’ t make for good press .
And that continued two nights later when another mob showed up at the home of Portland ’ s Mayor Ted Wheeler .
As a picnic table from a restaurant was dragged into the street and set on fire , I spotted Najee Gow , a twenty-three-year-old Black nurse , leading chants of “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ d met Gow the previous week , when several young women had staged a sit-in in Wheeler ’ s lobby .
Gow , who wore a peacoat over a red-white-and-blue tank top , had been incensed that no African-Americans were included in the demonstration .
“ It ’ s what they ’ ve always done , ” he ’ d said .
“ Hijack Black people ’ s movements .
This is disgusting.
” As I spoke with Gow near the burning table , we were interrupted by shattering glass .
A young @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a baseball bat into the window of a dentist ’ s office on the ground floor of Wheeler ’ s building .
“ That makes me want to beat them up , ” Gow said .
Like Rico De Vera , he felt that such behavior benefitted only those who wanted to malign Black Lives Matter , and he also worried that it bred general animosity toward Black people : “ They ’ re putting Black lives at risk .
African-Americans are constantly out here telling them to stop , but they won @ @ @ @ @ @ @ end of the day , it ’ s , like , ‘ Are you racist ?
’ ” A white man with a hammer joined the guy with the bat , and together they breached the office .
People entered .
A loud explosion echoed from inside , followed by smoke and flames .
Gow went over to challenge them .
While they argued , a blond woman in a hoodie ran up and spray-painted an arrow on the wall , pointing to the broken window .
She then scrawled , “ This @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Again , Mogelson doesn ’ t offer any personal commentary but his writing suggests some irony .
He ’ s literally talking with a black woman about Antifa going too far when a white woman scrawls a justification for the destruction that is underway .
The piece continues like this and the author does a decent job pointing out how the commitment to “ a diversity of tactics ” effectively means that the most violent people present set the agenda each night and most of the rest of the crowd has been primed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tactics .
That came into play on September 5th : Another protesters named Jay Knight told Mogelson , “ Molotov cocktails make this side look worse than the cops .
It makes people who were on the fence dismiss all of this as criminality.
” Again , maybe there ’ s a reason for that .
Later Mogelson described a Patriot Prayer memorial for Aaron Danielson .
There he met David Machado a veteran and a member of the Proud Boys whose parents were Mexican immigrants .
Before long , there is another @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and I spoke , the other Proud Boys left and headed to a nearby bar .
Machado nervously scanned the park .
“ I don ’ t wan na be out here all by myself , ” he told me .
It was broad daylight .
A couple pushed a stroller across the grass .
But Machado ’ s concern later proved reasonable .
At the bar , a man began filming Machado and his friends with his cell phone .
“ He was trying to dox us , ” Machado said .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the man ran over a Proud Boy in the parking lot , fracturing his skull and rupturing his eardrum .
The man was eventually arrested and charged with a felony hit-and-run .
Although he wasn ’ t a member of Rose City Antifa , he had shared a social-media post advocating violence against racists .
It ’ s impossible to read this piece and come away thinking Antifa and their allies are the good guys .
There is also some criticism of the Portland Police , but you can ’ t have murder @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vehicular attacks and Molotov cocktails being used on a regular basis as part of a diversity of tactics and still maintain Antifa are victims .
The whole piece is worth reading if you have the time .

Yesterday the New Yorker published a lengthy piece about Antifa in Portland which feels like it was written by someone who set out to write something positive about the group but who, after spending some time with them, couldn’t quite manage it. The first quarter of the piece goes over the history of Antifa groups in the city from the formation of Rose City Antifa and, more recently, the creation of a group called Popular Mobilization or PopMob. The author doesn’t offer much in the way of criticism of the group or its goals. He’s just describing how they formed.
And then we come to August 29th:
It was dark when I arrived downtown. As I parked on a wide avenue in the shopping district, several people in black bloc sprinted by. Turning a corner, I came upon a small crowd facing a police cordon. Behind the officers, a dead body lay in a pool of light. The victim was Aaron Danielson, a thirty-nine-year-old supporter of Patriot Prayer. He’d been shot by Michael Reinoehl, a forty-eight-year-old white man who—though unaffiliated with Rose City Antifa or PopMob—once wrote on Instagram, “I am 100% ANTIFA all the way!” Reinoehl later claimed that he had fired in self-defense, and a cannister of bear spray and a telescopic truncheon were found on Danielson. At the time, however, nobody in the crowd knew what had happened or who was involved.
Is it true that Reinoehl was “unaffiliated” with the city’s established antifa groups? How does author Luke Mogelson know that? There are videos of Reinoehl on the front lines of previous protests. He was certainly well known to other people on the front lines. It strikes me as odd that groups that welcome like-minded people can suddenly tell a reporter one particular person (who murdered someone) was definitely not part of their group.
After Danielson was shot, Antifa quickly spread the claim that someone had been murdered by a Proud Boy and when some in the crowd identified Patriot Prayer founder Joey Gibson on the street, a mob showed up and seemed to be escalating toward more violence:
People pressed around Gibson, shouting at him to leave. When he asked, “Why don’t you guys stop acting like Nazis?,” a man in a Young Turks sweatshirt spit in his face. “Can we stop with the hate?” Gibson said, making no move to wipe off the saliva. Protesters continued to arrive, and, as the volume and ferocity of their insults escalated, Gibson turned to a blond woman who’d been standing at his side and said, “Let’s go.” A mob of at least fifty young people pursued them. Gibson kept up a show of equanimity until his hat and glasses were snatched away. Soon, drinks were emptied on him, objects were hurled at him, eggs were smashed on him, and he was punched and pepper-sprayed. With the blond woman’s help, he stumbled forward while someone rang a cowbell in his ears and others strobed flashlights in his eyes. “Kill the Nazi!” someone screamed. The mob grew. As far as I could tell, all of Gibson’s assailants were white. At some point, several people pushed their way to Gibson and escorted him down the street, keeping at bay the most belligerent aggressors. A short Asian man in a bicycle helmet yelled, “Let him leave, goddammit! Everyone back the fuck off!” After several blocks, Gibson and the woman ducked into a gas station, and an employee locked the door behind them. The man in the bicycle helmet blocked the entrance, but people smashed the windows and kicked open a side door. Another protester raised his gas mask and pleaded, “He’s a fucking Nazi, but are you going to lynch him?”
The police eventually showed up and the Antifa mob scattered. At this point Mogelson came across a BLM supporter named Rico De Vera who told him, “It pisses me off. People are going to use tonight to say that Black Lives Matter is a bunch of thugs.” Well, yeah, and maybe there’s a good reason for that. Mogelson and De Vera then walked to the Justice Center where a woman with a megaphone was addressing the crowd about the murder that had taken place that night.
Now a young woman with a megaphone told the people at the Justice Center that she had an announcement. “I just got word that the person who died was a Patriot Prayer person,” she said. “He was a fucking Nazi. Our community held its own and took out the trash. . . . I am not sad that a fucking fascist died tonight.” Everyone cheered.
There’s no direct criticism of Antifa but the description of their behavior doesn’t make for good press. And that continued two nights later when another mob showed up at the home of Portland’s Mayor Ted Wheeler.
As a picnic table from a restaurant was dragged into the street and set on fire, I spotted Najee Gow, a twenty-three-year-old Black nurse, leading chants of “Fuck Ted Wheeler!” I’d met Gow the previous week, when several young women had staged a sit-in in Wheeler’s lobby. Gow, who wore a peacoat over a red-white-and-blue tank top, had been incensed that no African-Americans were included in the demonstration. “It’s what they’ve always done,” he’d said. “Hijack Black people’s movements. This is disgusting.” As I spoke with Gow near the burning table, we were interrupted by shattering glass. A young white man in black bloc was swinging a baseball bat into the window of a dentist’s office on the ground floor of Wheeler’s building. “That makes me want to beat them up,” Gow said. Like Rico De Vera, he felt that such behavior benefitted only those who wanted to malign Black Lives Matter, and he also worried that it bred general animosity toward Black people: “They’re putting Black lives at risk. African-Americans are constantly out here telling them to stop, but they won’t. So, at the end of the day, it’s, like, ‘Are you racist?’ ” A white man with a hammer joined the guy with the bat, and together they breached the office. People entered. A loud explosion echoed from inside, followed by smoke and flames. Gow went over to challenge them. While they argued, a blond woman in a hoodie ran up and spray-painted an arrow on the wall, pointing to the broken window. She then scrawled, “This is the language of the unheard.”
Again, Mogelson doesn’t offer any personal commentary but his writing suggests some irony. He’s literally talking with a black woman about Antifa going too far when a white woman scrawls a justification for the destruction that is underway.
The piece continues like this and the author does a decent job pointing out how the commitment to “a diversity of tactics” effectively means that the most violent people present set the agenda each night and most of the rest of the crowd has been primed not to judge other people’s tactics. That came into play on September 5th:
Near the front of the march, I found Rico De Vera, the engineering student, live-streaming with his cell phone. As we greeted each other, a Molotov cocktail was hurled from the rear and exploded a few feet away, just shy of the officers. Flames splashed protesters, and a man’s leg caught on fire. While medics tended to him, two more Molotov cocktails exploded between us and the officers, who discharged tear gas, stun grenades, and impact munitions, scattering the march. A helicopter hovered overhead. People stumbled into side streets, coughing and retching.
Another protesters named Jay Knight told Mogelson, “Molotov cocktails make this side look worse than the cops. It makes people who were on the fence dismiss all of this as criminality.” Again, maybe there’s a reason for that.
Later Mogelson described a Patriot Prayer memorial for Aaron Danielson. There he met David Machado a veteran and a member of the Proud Boys whose parents were Mexican immigrants. Before long, there is another incident of serious violence:
While Machado and I spoke, the other Proud Boys left and headed to a nearby bar. Machado nervously scanned the park. “I don’t wanna be out here all by myself,” he told me. It was broad daylight. A couple pushed a stroller across the grass. But Machado’s concern later proved reasonable. At the bar, a man began filming Machado and his friends with his cell phone. “He was trying to dox us,” Machado said. After a bouncer made him leave, the man ran over a Proud Boy in the parking lot, fracturing his skull and rupturing his eardrum. The man was eventually arrested and charged with a felony hit-and-run. Although he wasn’t a member of Rose City Antifa, he had shared a social-media post advocating violence against racists.
It’s impossible to read this piece and come away thinking Antifa and their allies are the good guys. There is also some criticism of the Portland Police, but you can’t have murder, vandalism, beatings, arson, vehicular attacks and Molotov cocktails being used on a regular basis as part of a diversity of tactics and still maintain Antifa are victims. The whole piece is worth reading if you have the time.


hotair--2020-10-26--NYT: Fox News anchors, president "advised to quarantine" after COVID-19 exposure after debate

Will “ Special Report ” come from a special new location ?
The New York Times reports that several high-profile Fox News anchors , as well as the network ’ s president , got exposed to COVID-19 on a private-jet return flight from last week ’ s presidential debate .
None of them have tested positive , but all have been advised to quarantine : The infected person was on a charter flight to New York from Nashville with a group of network executives , personalities and other staff members who attended the presidential debate on Thursday , according to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ condition of anonymity to discuss internal network matters .
Everyone on board the plane has been told to get tested and quarantine .
It was unclear whether more than one person had tested positive .
Those who were exposed include Jay Wallace , the president of Fox News Media ; Bret Baier , the chief political anchor ; Martha MacCallum , the anchor of Fox ’ s 7 p.m. show , “ The Story ” ; and Dana Perino and Juan Williams , two hosts of “ The Five.
” The New York @ @ @ @ @ @ @ media empire as Fox News , doesn ’ t have much to add .
The network would not provide the NY Post with any confirmation or denial , citing privacy concerns .
When I asked for a comment , their press office also declined , citing the same privacy concerns .
The NYP does note this , however : Expect to see this emphasized in coming days , especially if any of the above turn out to get infected .
Hopefully that won ’ t be the case , and if they do @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it .
All of them are in lower-risk categories , which means they should be able to resist it with proper care , if they develop an infection at all .
A source with knowledge of internal communications tells me that Fox sent out an internal memo to all employees today about “ recent developments ” of COVID-19 at the network .
The memo isn ’ t specific about the claims in the NYT article , but still emphasizes that any positive test result requires quarantine in any circumstances .
The memo also @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at their 1211 headquarters for at least the next week .
That includes Election Night , when staffing will be “ critical ” employees only , and Fox plans to use “ enhanced testing procedures ” for that period .
Everyone else will work from home .
It ’ s these kind of eruptions that may end up having more impact on Americans , and not just those who watch Fox News .
The White House outbreak is perhaps more newsworthy , but Americans have a more personal connection to their news outlets @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the exception of Donald Trump and Mike Pence .
As COVID-19 moves into those more intimate spaces , virtual or otherwise , it will increase awareness of the spread and danger of the virus .
What impact that will have on voting behavior remains to be seen , but more important is the impact it will have on social behavior and the adoption of mitigation efforts such as mask-wearing and distancing .

Will “Special Report” come from a special new location? The New York Times reports that several high-profile Fox News anchors, as well as the network’s president, got exposed to COVID-19 on a private-jet return flight from last week’s presidential debate. None of them have tested positive, but all have been advised to quarantine:
The infected person was on a charter flight to New York from Nashville with a group of network executives, personalities and other staff members who attended the presidential debate on Thursday, according to the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal network matters. Everyone on board the plane has been told to get tested and quarantine. It was unclear whether more than one person had tested positive. Those who were exposed include Jay Wallace, the president of Fox News Media; Bret Baier, the chief political anchor; Martha MacCallum, the anchor of Fox’s 7 p.m. show, “The Story”; and Dana Perino and Juan Williams, two hosts of “The Five.”
The New York Post, part of the same Murdoch media empire as Fox News, doesn’t have much to add. The network would not provide the NY Post with any confirmation or denial, citing privacy concerns. When I asked for a comment, their press office also declined, citing the same privacy concerns. The NYP does note this, however:
Network personnel have been wearing masks and avoiding proximity to one another, both in the studios and on the road, the outlet reported, citing Fox employees.
Expect to see this emphasized in coming days, especially if any of the above turn out to get infected. Hopefully that won’t be the case, and if they do, hopefully they will recover quickly from it. All of them are in lower-risk categories, which means they should be able to resist it with proper care, if they develop an infection at all.
A source with knowledge of internal communications tells me that Fox sent out an internal memo to all employees today about “recent developments” of COVID-19 at the network. The memo isn’t specific about the claims in the NYT article, but still emphasizes that any positive test result requires quarantine in any circumstances. The memo also outlines their plan to further reduce staffing at their 1211 headquarters for at least the next week. That includes Election Night, when staffing will be “critical” employees only, and Fox plans to use “enhanced testing procedures” for that period. Everyone else will work from home.
It’s these kind of eruptions that may end up having more impact on Americans, and not just those who watch Fox News. The White House outbreak is perhaps more newsworthy, but Americans have a more personal connection to their news outlets than to White House personnel, with the exception of Donald Trump and Mike Pence. As COVID-19 moves into those more intimate spaces, virtual or otherwise, it will increase awareness of the spread and danger of the virus. What impact that will have on voting behavior remains to be seen, but more important is the impact it will have on social behavior and the adoption of mitigation efforts such as mask-wearing and distancing.


hotair--2020-10-26--Report: Trump planning to fire Chris Wray, Mark Esper, Gina Haspel if he wins

I don ’ t understand why there ’ s a caveat , “ if he wins.
” Why wouldn ’ t he also fire them if he loses ?
For a normal politician , the answer would be , “ Because he ’ ll be out of office in less than three months .
Why decapitate important agencies — law enforcement , the military , intelligence — when you won ’ t get to fill those vacancies ?
” But Trump isn ’ t a normal politician .
The moment he ’ s no longer accountable to voters , he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ petulance by punishing deputies whom he believes contributed to his defeat because they refused to weaponize their official powers against his political enemies .
Wray ’ s sin is not announcing an investigation into Joe and Hunter Biden in the closing days of the campaign .
Haspel ’ s sin was opposing declassification of Russian intelligence on Hillary Clinton for fear that it was unreliable and might reveal sources and methods .
Esper ’ s sin was regretting Trump ’ s Lafayette Park stunt and resisting his attempts to send regular troops into @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Act .
That ’ s what ’ s on tap for a Trump second term if he wins : Everyone with any sort of scruples is out , soon to be replaced by cronies who *will* use government power against Trump ’ s enemies on the president ’ s command .
Even Bill Barr might not be enough of a lackey to make the cut .
If President Trump wins re-election , he ’ ll move to immediately fire FBI Director Christopher Wray and also expects to replace CIA Director Gina Haspel and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who ’ ve discussed these officials ’ fates with the president tell Axios… While Trump has also privately vented about Attorney General Bill Barr , he hasn ’ t made any formal plans to replace him , an official said… As for Wray , whose expected firing was first reported by The Daily Beast , Trump is angry his second FBI chief didn ’ t launch a formal investigation into Hunter Biden ’ s foreign business connections — and didn ’ t purge more officials Trump believes abused power to investigate his 2016 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump also grew incensed when Wray testified in September that the FBI has not seen widespread election fraud , including with mail-in ballots .
There ’ s no mention in the report of Anthony Fauci , who ’ s a career civil servant rather than a political appointee and therefore would enjoy certain legal protections that the likes of Esper wouldn ’ t .
But lo and behold , just last week Trump issued an order weakening those protections so that they those deputies too can be fired with impunity .
Under a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I ’ d celebrate that as a step towards good government and accountability .
Why should civil servants who are bad at their jobs enjoy a special legal shield that private-sector employees don ’ t get ?
If you want government to run better , make sure the careerists know that performance matters .
But under Trump , you can see why those protections exist : In a political institution like government , the risk of partisan retaliation in employment is higher than it is in the private sector .
Trump ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a “ Democrat ” in public comments even though Fauci isn ’ t registered as a member of either party .
He ’ s going to can this guy ( or try to , at least ) for no better reason than that Fauci ’ s admissions that the pandemic forecast this winter is gloomy and that Trump shouldn ’ t be holding mass gatherings are inconvenient to the president ’ s happy-talk messaging about the virus .
And then , if he ’ s reelected , he ’ ll do the same @ @ @ @ @ @ @ done their job well but who happened to criticize him at one point or another .
In a few years the executive branch bureaucracy will be littered with Scott Atlases tweeting discouragement about masks , all the way down .
If we give Trump four more years knowing that that ’ s what we should expect , we deserve what we get .
Fauci will get his job back under Biden even if Trump ousts him .
Esper and Haspel obviously won ’ t if they ’ re canned , since new presidents @ @ @ @ @ @ @ appointees .
Wray is an interesting case , though : Under federal law , an FBI chief serves a 10-year term unless the president moves to replace him .
That law is there to add a degree of political independence to federal law enforcement , so that the head of the FBI isn ’ t a normal partisan political appointee .
If Trump doesn ’ t terminate Wray , he ’ d be on tap to serve until 2027 .
And because Biden ’ s message is all about restoring “ norms , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fire Wray and replace him with his own guy — particularly after Wray showed some spine by resisting Trump on making any Biden-related announcements under political pressure .
Wray could be the lone long-term survivor of top Trump officials in government , in other words , unless the president fires him .
So Trump ’ s going to fire him .
And since Wray knows it ’ s coming , you wonder why he doesn ’ t just quit now and speak publicly about the pressure brought on him .
Presumably he thinks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have an FBI director ( or former FBI director , in this scenario ) once again springing an election-influencing surprise in the final days of a campaign , which is a noble impulse .
But let ’ s check in with him next Wednesday evening , after a Trump victory and his immediate termination , to see if he has any regrets about that .
It ’ s not just government officials who ’ ll be ruthlessly scapegoated if Trump loses next week , by the way .
Trump campaign officials know what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ enior Republicans say a culture of paranoia has developed in the waning days of the race , with fears mounting that they will be the targets of post-election attacks if Trump loses , which could damage their careers going forward… Much of the blame is being directed at [ Brad ] Parscale , who was ousted as campaign manager in July amid mounting questions over his stewardship of the reelection effort .
Campaign aides say Parscale miscalculated by raising questions about Biden ’ s mental acuity , which hurt the president among seniors… @ @ @ @ @ @ @ [ Mark ] Meadows for how he managed Trump ’ s hospitalization .
The chief of staff undercut the White House messaging when he told reporters early on that Trump was “ still not on a clear path to a full recovery.
” … Others expressed frustration over [ Trump ’ s ] decision to skip the second debate , which would have been an opportunity for him to gain on Biden , and over his erratic behavior in the closing days of the race .
Meanwhile , reelection officials were taken by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ delivered a 30-minute expletive-filled tirade against myriad targets , including Anthony Fauci .
I ’ m curious to see what Trump does with Meadows during the lame-duck .
If he wins reelection , presumably he ’ ll move quickly to replace him as chief of staff .
It ’ s not just that he contradicted the White House ’ s cheery prognosis for Trump when he got COVID , it ’ s that he failed to stop the FDA from implementing new rules to slow down vaccine approval and just yesterday hurt Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about the pandemic .
He ’ ll get a new chief for a second term — or maybe no chief at all , since we ’ ve now had four of them and Trump can ’ t seem to work happily with any of them .
Would Trump dump Meadows if he loses , though ?
Meadows has been a political crony of his for several years ; he ’ s not a civil servant like Wray , Esper , or Haspel , with whom Trump might dispense without a second thought .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ intense and to some extent I think Trump ’ s rage over defeat will simply have to be sated in the form of scalps .
The easy thing to do would be to just let Meadows stay on until January 20 , but I think he ’ ll fire him .
Just to cheer himself up .

I don’t understand why there’s a caveat, “if he wins.” Why wouldn’t he also fire them if he loses?
For a normal politician, the answer would be, “Because he’ll be out of office in less than three months. Why decapitate important agencies — law enforcement, the military, intelligence — when you won’t get to fill those vacancies?”
But Trump isn’t a normal politician. The moment he’s no longer accountable to voters, he’ll be free to indulge his petulance by punishing deputies whom he believes contributed to his defeat because they refused to weaponize their official powers against his political enemies. Wray’s sin is not announcing an investigation into Joe and Hunter Biden in the closing days of the campaign. Haspel’s sin was opposing declassification of Russian intelligence on Hillary Clinton for fear that it was unreliable and might reveal sources and methods. Esper’s sin was regretting Trump’s Lafayette Park stunt and resisting his attempts to send regular troops into the streets against rioters under the Insurrection Act.
That’s what’s on tap for a Trump second term if he wins: Everyone with any sort of scruples is out, soon to be replaced by cronies who *will* use government power against Trump’s enemies on the president’s command. Even Bill Barr might not be enough of a lackey to make the cut.
If President Trump wins re-election, he’ll move to immediately fire FBI Director Christopher Wray and also expects to replace CIA Director Gina Haspel and Defense Secretary Mark Esper, two people who’ve discussed these officials’ fates with the president tell Axios… While Trump has also privately vented about Attorney General Bill Barr, he hasn’t made any formal plans to replace him, an official said… As for Wray, whose expected firing was first reported by The Daily Beast, Trump is angry his second FBI chief didn’t launch a formal investigation into Hunter Biden’s foreign business connections — and didn’t purge more officials Trump believes abused power to investigate his 2016 campaign’s ties to Russia. Trump also grew incensed when Wray testified in September that the FBI has not seen widespread election fraud, including with mail-in ballots.
There’s no mention in the report of Anthony Fauci, who’s a career civil servant rather than a political appointee and therefore would enjoy certain legal protections that the likes of Esper wouldn’t. But lo and behold, just last week Trump issued an order weakening those protections so that they those deputies too can be fired with impunity. Under a president whose motives could be trusted, I’d celebrate that as a step towards good government and accountability. Why should civil servants who are bad at their jobs enjoy a special legal shield that private-sector employees don’t get? If you want government to run better, make sure the careerists know that performance matters.
But under Trump, you can see why those protections exist: In a political institution like government, the risk of partisan retaliation in employment is higher than it is in the private sector. Trump’s even taken to referring to Fauci as a “Democrat” in public comments even though Fauci isn’t registered as a member of either party. He’s going to can this guy (or try to, at least) for no better reason than that Fauci’s admissions that the pandemic forecast this winter is gloomy and that Trump shouldn’t be holding mass gatherings are inconvenient to the president’s happy-talk messaging about the virus. And then, if he’s reelected, he’ll do the same for any other careerist who’s done their job well but who happened to criticize him at one point or another. In a few years the executive branch bureaucracy will be littered with Scott Atlases tweeting discouragement about masks, all the way down.
If we give Trump four more years knowing that that’s what we should expect, we deserve what we get.
Fauci will get his job back under Biden even if Trump ousts him. Esper and Haspel obviously won’t if they’re canned, since new presidents typically fill those vacancies with their own appointees. Wray is an interesting case, though: Under federal law, an FBI chief serves a 10-year term unless the president moves to replace him. That law is there to add a degree of political independence to federal law enforcement, so that the head of the FBI isn’t a normal partisan political appointee. If Trump doesn’t terminate Wray, he’d be on tap to serve until 2027. And because Biden’s message is all about restoring “norms,” he’d be reluctant to fire Wray and replace him with his own guy — particularly after Wray showed some spine by resisting Trump on making any Biden-related announcements under political pressure.
Wray could be the lone long-term survivor of top Trump officials in government, in other words, unless the president fires him. So Trump’s going to fire him. And since Wray knows it’s coming, you wonder why he doesn’t just quit now and speak publicly about the pressure brought on him. Presumably he thinks it’d be bad form to have an FBI director (or former FBI director, in this scenario) once again springing an election-influencing surprise in the final days of a campaign, which is a noble impulse. But let’s check in with him next Wednesday evening, after a Trump victory and his immediate termination, to see if he has any regrets about that.
It’s not just government officials who’ll be ruthlessly scapegoated if Trump loses next week, by the way. Trump campaign officials know what’s coming.
[S]enior Republicans say a culture of paranoia has developed in the waning days of the race, with fears mounting that they will be the targets of post-election attacks if Trump loses, which could damage their careers going forward… Much of the blame is being directed at [Brad] Parscale, who was ousted as campaign manager in July amid mounting questions over his stewardship of the reelection effort. Campaign aides say Parscale miscalculated by raising questions about Biden’s mental acuity, which hurt the president among seniors… Some Republican officials are also angry at [Mark] Meadows for how he managed Trump’s hospitalization. The chief of staff undercut the White House messaging when he told reporters early on that Trump was “still not on a clear path to a full recovery.”… Others expressed frustration over [Trump’s] decision to skip the second debate, which would have been an opportunity for him to gain on Biden, and over his erratic behavior in the closing days of the race. Meanwhile, reelection officials were taken by surprise when on the Monday call he delivered a 30-minute expletive-filled tirade against myriad targets, including Anthony Fauci.
I’m curious to see what Trump does with Meadows during the lame-duck. If he wins reelection, presumably he’ll move quickly to replace him as chief of staff. It’s not just that he contradicted the White House’s cheery prognosis for Trump when he got COVID, it’s that he failed to stop the FDA from implementing new rules to slow down vaccine approval and just yesterday hurt Trump with a terrible soundbite on national television about the pandemic. He’ll get a new chief for a second term — or maybe no chief at all, since we’ve now had four of them and Trump can’t seem to work happily with any of them.
Would Trump dump Meadows if he loses, though? Meadows has been a political crony of his for several years; he’s not a civil servant like Wray, Esper, or Haspel, with whom Trump might dispense without a second thought. But the search for scapegoats will be intense and to some extent I think Trump’s rage over defeat will simply have to be sated in the form of scalps. The easy thing to do would be to just let Meadows stay on until January 20, but I think he’ll fire him. Just to cheer himself up.


hotair--2020-10-26--Kamala on the campaign trail: Did she mispronounce her name in Cleveland?

While Joe Biden stays comfy in his basement , the campaign sends Kamala , her husband , and Jill Biden out on the campaign trail .
I ’ ve never seen a presidential candidate rely on campaign surrogates as Biden does .
It is as though the campaign has Sleepy Joe bubble wrapped and stored away until Election Day .
It is understandable given his frail appearance and tendency to deliver gaffes in his speeches but it is still noticeable .
Kamala Harris made a trip to Cleveland , Ohio , and let ’ s just say things got a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ herself to supporters , she yells hello to “ Ohio ” , and quickly stops to ask a staffer , “ Are we in Cleveland ?
” Her mic picked that quick exchange up .
Needless to say , a video clip soon circulated on social media because C-SPAN was covering the visit .
Clearly , the campaign tipped off the press that she would be making the stop because cameras are set up to film her .
Watch the clip and then I ’ ll point out something else I noticed .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ name ?
She introduced herself as Kam-a-la , not Ka-mah-la .
That ’ s interesting , right , given how we ’ ve been scolded any time her name is not pronounced as Ka-mah-la ?
Whoever says Kam-a-la is usually scolded as some kind of racist or sexist for not bothering to learn the proper way of pronouncing her name .
It ’ s a ridiculous complaint and this shows how silly it is .
At the 5:30 mark in the video , a staffer walking behind the candidate begins chanting her name @ @ @ @ @ @ @ only natural to look at Kamala ’ s name and pronounce it as you would Pamela .
Apparently , Kamala does the same .
The scolds are desperate to try and speak up about an issue that isn ’ t there , as it turns out .
It ’ s just another excuse to call people racists .
Kamala walked up and down the long line of people waiting outside to vote .
She made a few brief remarks to encourage them and thank them for coming out to vote .
There was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by the way , and some folks were not wearing masks .
The first section of the line was happy to see her and clapped and cheered .
Further back in the line her greetings were met with silence and stares .
It was all a staged campaign stop meant to look like she was just randomly stopping by to thank voters .
In pre-COVID days , presidential candidates and vice-presidential candidates might bring along a box of doughnuts or some kind of treat for election workers but I don ’ t recall @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and thank voters for waiting in line to vote , cameras in tow .
But wait , there ’ s more .
She made an appearance at Cuyahoga Community College to encourage voters to cast their ballots for the Biden-Harris ticket .
During her speech , she made a gaffe that Joe Biden has made several times .
Kamala said the death toll in the U.S. from the coronavirus is “ over 220 million ” Americans .
Yikes !
The death toll is high at 224,000 but it ’ s nowhere near 220 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to be the rising star , the woman who will be the steady one on the Biden-Harris ticket ?
She is supposed to be a reassuring force to counter Joe ’ s obvious mental decline .
Instead of going that way , it looks like Biden ’ s early dementia is rubbing off on her .
At Cuyhoga Community College she spoke to about 75 people , according to this news report .
Notice that the local reporter pronounces Kamala ’ s name as we have been instructed by our betters to do @ @ @ @ @ @ @ going to break a sweat campaigning for himself in the last days of the campaign .
He is said to be scheduled to travel to Georgia this week .
The Biden campaign is flush with campaign cash and is likely to go to some potential Democrat pick-up states if the polls are correct .
That ’ s still a big if , and the campaign doesn ’ t want to be too overly confident as the Clinton campaign was in 2016 .
Sending Biden to a red state like Georgia during the last @ @ @ @ @ @ @ numbers are good may backfire .
Beto O ’ Rourke has been pleading with the Biden campaign to send Joe to Texas to do some campaigning since the polls remain close .
Kamala is scheduled to visit the state on Friday .
She will be the first vice-presidential candidate to campaign this close to a presidential election in Texas in the last 30 years .
Democrats are fired up and determined to turn Texas blue .
We ’ ll see if they are successful this time around .
I remain hopeful that Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it will be the closest race for the Republican presidential candidate in many years .
“ It would be so helpful to have the top of the ticket make an investment in Texas , ” former Democratic presidential candidate Beto O ’ Rourke , who endorsed Biden in March , told ABC News .
“ Pennsylvania is an illustration of the law of diminishing returns : You can grow another hundred million in Pennsylvania and I don ’ t know that it ’ s going to move much more than the last hundred @ @ @ @ @ @ @ million , 10 million in Texas , and it would be catalytic , ” the former Texas congressman added .
While Biden himself has not yet visited the states during the general election , they haven ’ t been ignored : The former vice president is set to visit Georgia on Tuesday , where he will give his “ closing argument ” for the 2020 race in Warm Springs .
His running mate Sen. Kamala Harris traveled to the state on Friday , and a source familiar with her travel expects Harris to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Harris ’ husband , Doug Emhoff , and Jill Biden have both made visits to the states as well .
“ We have some good opportunities in states … like Georgia and Texas , ” Ridder said .
Remember , Good Old Joe said that Beto can be his gun czar so if Biden wins the presidential race , we have that to look forward to .
That choice alone should send conservatives running , not walking , to the polls .
A Democrat hasn ’ t won the presidential race in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by 9 points against Hillary in 2016 .
That was the worst showing for a Republican presidential candidate since Bob Dole carried Texas by 5 points in 1996 over then-President Bill Clinton .
And so it goes .
There are 8 days left until the election .

While Joe Biden stays comfy in his basement, the campaign sends Kamala, her husband, and Jill Biden out on the campaign trail. I’ve never seen a presidential candidate rely on campaign surrogates as Biden does. It is as though the campaign has Sleepy Joe bubble wrapped and stored away until Election Day. It is understandable given his frail appearance and tendency to deliver gaffes in his speeches but it is still noticeable.
Kamala Harris made a trip to Cleveland, Ohio, and let’s just say things got a little weird. As she was introducing herself to supporters, she yells hello to “Ohio”, and quickly stops to ask a staffer, “Are we in Cleveland?” Her mic picked that quick exchange up. Needless to say, a video clip soon circulated on social media because C-SPAN was covering the visit. Clearly, the campaign tipped off the press that she would be making the stop because cameras are set up to film her.
Footage captured by C-SPAN showed the Democratic vice presidential candidate turning to a staffer and asking, “Are we in Cleveland?” After apparently getting confirmation of her location in the swing state, the California lawmaker said: “Hey, Cleveland, it’s Kamala!”
Watch the clip and then I’ll point out something else I noticed.
Did you hear how she pronounces her name? She introduced herself as Kam-a-la, not Ka-mah-la. That’s interesting, right, given how we’ve been scolded any time her name is not pronounced as Ka-mah-la? Whoever says Kam-a-la is usually scolded as some kind of racist or sexist for not bothering to learn the proper way of pronouncing her name. It’s a ridiculous complaint and this shows how silly it is. At the 5:30 mark in the video, a staffer walking behind the candidate begins chanting her name, “Kam-a-la”. It is only natural to look at Kamala’s name and pronounce it as you would Pamela. Apparently, Kamala does the same. The scolds are desperate to try and speak up about an issue that isn’t there, as it turns out. It’s just another excuse to call people racists.
Kamala walked up and down the long line of people waiting outside to vote. She made a few brief remarks to encourage them and thank them for coming out to vote. There was no social distancing in the line, by the way, and some folks were not wearing masks. The first section of the line was happy to see her and clapped and cheered. Further back in the line her greetings were met with silence and stares. It was all a staged campaign stop meant to look like she was just randomly stopping by to thank voters. In pre-COVID days, presidential candidates and vice-presidential candidates might bring along a box of doughnuts or some kind of treat for election workers but I don’t recall seeing a vice-presidential candidate arranging to stop and thank voters for waiting in line to vote, cameras in tow.
But wait, there’s more. She made an appearance at Cuyahoga Community College to encourage voters to cast their ballots for the Biden-Harris ticket. During her speech, she made a gaffe that Joe Biden has made several times. Kamala said the death toll in the U.S. from the coronavirus is “over 220 million” Americans. Yikes! The death toll is high at 224,000 but it’s nowhere near 220 million.
Ooops, she did it again. Kamala Harris again claims that two-thirds of the U.S Population has died in the last several months. #BidenBrain pic.twitter.com/5B9G2TCm6z — Michael J. McDonald (@McDonaldNV) October 24, 2020
Wasn’t Kamala supposed to be the rising star, the woman who will be the steady one on the Biden-Harris ticket? She is supposed to be a reassuring force to counter Joe’s obvious mental decline. Instead of going that way, it looks like Biden’s early dementia is rubbing off on her.
At Cuyhoga Community College she spoke to about 75 people, according to this news report. Notice that the local reporter pronounces Kamala’s name as we have been instructed by our betters to do.
Joe Biden isn’t exactly going to break a sweat campaigning for himself in the last days of the campaign. He is said to be scheduled to travel to Georgia this week. The Biden campaign is flush with campaign cash and is likely to go to some potential Democrat pick-up states if the polls are correct. That’s still a big if, and the campaign doesn’t want to be too overly confident as the Clinton campaign was in 2016. Sending Biden to a red state like Georgia during the last days of the campaign where his polling numbers are good may backfire.
The campaign is now signaling a last-minute push in some of those 17 states they’ve identified as opportunities to not just win back what was lost in 2016, but expand their pathway to 270 electoral votes and beyond. Two of the states are Georgia and Texas, where polls this week show a tight race, and neither candidate polling above 50% in in Texas. That’s led some allies in the Lone Star State to express frustration that the campaign hasn’t done more to capitalize on their competitive position in the state a Democrat hasn’t won since 1976.
Beto O’Rourke has been pleading with the Biden campaign to send Joe to Texas to do some campaigning since the polls remain close. Kamala is scheduled to visit the state on Friday. She will be the first vice-presidential candidate to campaign this close to a presidential election in Texas in the last 30 years. Democrats are fired up and determined to turn Texas blue. We’ll see if they are successful this time around. I remain hopeful that Trump will win Texas but I do think it will be the closest race for the Republican presidential candidate in many years.
“It would be so helpful to have the top of the ticket make an investment in Texas,” former Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke, who endorsed Biden in March, told ABC News. “Pennsylvania is an illustration of the law of diminishing returns: You can grow another hundred million in Pennsylvania and I don’t know that it’s going to move much more than the last hundred million did. You could invest 15 million, 10 million in Texas, and it would be catalytic,” the former Texas congressman added. While Biden himself has not yet visited the states during the general election, they haven’t been ignored: The former vice president is set to visit Georgia on Tuesday, where he will give his “closing argument” for the 2020 race in Warm Springs. His running mate Sen. Kamala Harris traveled to the state on Friday, and a source familiar with her travel expects Harris to also make a trip to Texas soon. Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, and Jill Biden have both made visits to the states as well. “We have some good opportunities in states … like Georgia and Texas,” Ridder said.
Remember, Good Old Joe said that Beto can be his gun czar so if Biden wins the presidential race, we have that to look forward to. That choice alone should send conservatives running, not walking, to the polls. A Democrat hasn’t won the presidential race in Texas since 1976. Trump won Texas by 9 points against Hillary in 2016. That was the worst showing for a Republican presidential candidate since Bob Dole carried Texas by 5 points in 1996 over then-President Bill Clinton. And so it goes. There are 8 days left until the election.


hotair--2020-10-26--Biden: You can frack for natural gas but you can't burn it

In one of the rare instances where the media has bothered to ask Joe Biden about anything of substance , he was forced to give an answer during the last presidential debate about whether or not he was planning on banning fracking .
He flip-flopped on that issue yet again , saying that he would not be banning fracking , likely because he ’ s aware that the polls in Pennsylvania are hanging by a thread at the moment .
But as C. Boyden Gray points out this week at Real Clear Politics , Joe Biden ’ s answer wasn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ statements by both he and his running mate .
He ’ s also directly contradicting information published on his own campaign website .
Despite trying to clean up the mess caused by those remarks by saying we couldn ’ t get rid of fossil fuels “ for a while , ” that depends entirely on how long you think “ a while ” might be .
Uncle Joe still has a promise on his website claiming that we ’ ll be done with fossil fuels by 2035 .
For the full picture , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s official clean energy plan .
The Biden plan borrows the Green New Deal ’ s ambitious goal of a “ carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035.
” Burning natural gas—methane—inevitably emits carbon , so the Biden plan requires eliminating natural gas for electricity generation by 2035… This Green New Deal goal would never get congressional approval , but that may not matter .
Biden promises to achieve his clean energy goals by fiat , issuing executive orders of “ unprecedented reach that go well beyond the Obama-Biden Administration platform.
” A @ @ @ @ @ @ @ goal of “ carbon-free ” electricity generation through an even more aggressive version of President Obama ’ s “ Clean Power Plan ” regulations .
This Clean Power Plan 2.0 would require utilities to idle , then dismantle , their natural gas power plants .
You can read Joe Biden ’ s clean energy plan here .
It ’ s all set forth in plain text .
2035 is the target date to be done with fossil fuels , including natural gas .
So if we pair up what Biden said last week @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he ’ s telling the country that it ’ s okay to keep fracking for natural gas , but nobody will be allowed to burn it ?
Was Biden having another “ senior moment ” here or does he honestly believe that this idea could work ?
As Gray points out , this pipe dream ( pardon the pipeline pun ) is not only unrealistic but literally dangerous as well .
One-third of the massive volume of natural gas that America produces each year goes to generating electricity .
The conversion of coal-fired @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for more than a decade and it ’ s allowed us to vastly reduce our carbon footprint .
There is no viable plan to replace all of the electricity generated in this fashion , so idling the natural gas plants would effectively starve the energy grid .
The whole country would begin experiencing rolling blackouts after the sun goes down , just as is already happening in California .
Further , much of the rest of the natural gas we produce is piped into homes and businesses across the nation to power stoves @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you eliminate natural gas , those will all have to be converted to electric appliances , further driving up demand for electricity that would already be running short .
This isn ’ t any sort of coherent American energy policy .
It ’ s a suicide pact .
And that doesn ’ t even begin to address all of the tens of millions of well-paying jobs supported by fracking in places like Pennsylvania , Ohio and around the Gulf Coast .
Biden already went on record telling those workers they were going to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I ’ m pretty sure that answer isn ’ t going to go over very well .

In one of the rare instances where the media has bothered to ask Joe Biden about anything of substance, he was forced to give an answer during the last presidential debate about whether or not he was planning on banning fracking. He flip-flopped on that issue yet again, saying that he would not be banning fracking, likely because he’s aware that the polls in Pennsylvania are hanging by a thread at the moment. But as C. Boyden Gray points out this week at Real Clear Politics, Joe Biden’s answer wasn’t just at odds with previous statements by both he and his running mate. He’s also directly contradicting information published on his own campaign website. Despite trying to clean up the mess caused by those remarks by saying we couldn’t get rid of fossil fuels “for a while,” that depends entirely on how long you think “a while” might be. Uncle Joe still has a promise on his website claiming that we’ll be done with fossil fuels by 2035.
For the full picture, voters should take a look at Biden’s official clean energy plan. The Biden plan borrows the Green New Deal’s ambitious goal of a “carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035.” Burning natural gas—methane—inevitably emits carbon, so the Biden plan requires eliminating natural gas for electricity generation by 2035… This Green New Deal goal would never get congressional approval, but that may not matter. Biden promises to achieve his clean energy goals by fiat, issuing executive orders of “unprecedented reach that go well beyond the Obama-Biden Administration platform.” A Biden administration would move to achieve its goal of “carbon-free” electricity generation through an even more aggressive version of President Obama’s “Clean Power Plan” regulations. This Clean Power Plan 2.0 would require utilities to idle, then dismantle, their natural gas power plants.
You can read Joe Biden’s clean energy plan here. It’s all set forth in plain text. 2035 is the target date to be done with fossil fuels, including natural gas. So if we pair up what Biden said last week with his own published energy plan, he’s telling the country that it’s okay to keep fracking for natural gas, but nobody will be allowed to burn it? Was Biden having another “senior moment” here or does he honestly believe that this idea could work?
As Gray points out, this pipe dream (pardon the pipeline pun) is not only unrealistic but literally dangerous as well. One-third of the massive volume of natural gas that America produces each year goes to generating electricity. The conversion of coal-fired plants to natural gas has been underway for more than a decade and it’s allowed us to vastly reduce our carbon footprint. There is no viable plan to replace all of the electricity generated in this fashion, so idling the natural gas plants would effectively starve the energy grid. The whole country would begin experiencing rolling blackouts after the sun goes down, just as is already happening in California.
Further, much of the rest of the natural gas we produce is piped into homes and businesses across the nation to power stoves, furnaces and other appliances. When you eliminate natural gas, those will all have to be converted to electric appliances, further driving up demand for electricity that would already be running short. This isn’t any sort of coherent American energy policy. It’s a suicide pact.
And that doesn’t even begin to address all of the tens of millions of well-paying jobs supported by fracking in places like Pennsylvania, Ohio and around the Gulf Coast. Biden already went on record telling those workers they were going to need to learn to code, but I’m pretty sure that answer isn’t going to go over very well.


hotair--2020-10-26--Don't want to wear a mask? Welcome to the no-fly list

This seems a bit on the severe side , doesn ’ t it ?
Delta Airlines announced this week that it was adding 460 people to their no-fly lists .
But these aren ’ t terrorists or potential skyjackers .
The new additions are all the names of people who refused to wear a facemask during previous flights .
At first glance , I was a bit surprised there were less than 500 of them after the many months that the rules have been in place .
Still , it ’ s a private business and they ’ re allowed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ travel ( within reasonable limits ) so they might be able to get away with this .
But shouldn ’ t there have been some measure less harsh than lumping people in with al Queda suspects ?
( ABC News ) Usually reserved for suspected terrorists , Delta Airlines has added the names of 460 people to its no-fly lists for refusing to comply with a requirement to wear masks during flights , according to a memo to employees from the company ’ s CEO .
Delta CEO Ed Bastian revealed the number @ @ @ @ @ @ @ awareness month .
He encouraged employees to participate in helping to raise money to fight the disease .
“ Throughout the pandemic , we have focused our efforts on protecting our people , our customers and our communities , ” Bastian wrote in the memo sent to employees on Thursday and obtained by ABC News .
One of the first questions I had was how Delta managed to gain the authority to modify the no-fly lists to begin with .
Those lists are supposed to be maintained by the Terrorist Screening Center ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ division of the FBI and they ’ re not generally considered to be beholden to Delta Airlines when making such decisions .
But as it turns out , the airlines keep their own no-fly lists above and beyond the “ official ” lists that guide the TSA .
The TSC ’ s list can stop you from making it through security at the airport , but the airlines ’ lists can prevent you from even purchasing a ticket to begin with .
According to NPR , there ’ s plenty of precedent for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to allow the airlines to handle such things as they see fit , provided the rules they put in place aren ’ t discriminatory toward specific groups of people .
None of this explains how an airline can get away with banning you for having “ lewd , obscene and offensive breasts.
” But in that case , I believe the airline later apologized to the woman who was barred from boarding the aircraft .
Delta isn ’ t even the first airline to make this decision .
Back during the summer , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The problem is that once you wind up on one of these lists , it can be an extensive , challenging process to get your name off of it , assuming it ’ s even possible to do so .
That ’ s something one state senator learned the hard way a few years ago when his name was added to the no-fly lists in error .
While I realize there are plenty of people out there railing against mandates to wear masks , shutdown orders and all the rest , there really @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of an option in this case .
Airline travel was already an awful experience to begin with without having to mask up , but this is apparently the new normal .
You still have other options for travel , assuming you have the time available to take a train , drive or find some other way to get where you ’ re going .
Personally , it would pretty much take a real state of emergency to get me on a plane again at this point .

This seems a bit on the severe side, doesn’t it? Delta Airlines announced this week that it was adding 460 people to their no-fly lists. But these aren’t terrorists or potential skyjackers. The new additions are all the names of people who refused to wear a facemask during previous flights. At first glance, I was a bit surprised there were less than 500 of them after the many months that the rules have been in place. Still, it’s a private business and they’re allowed to set the rules about requirements for travel (within reasonable limits) so they might be able to get away with this. But shouldn’t there have been some measure less harsh than lumping people in with al Queda suspects? (ABC News)
Usually reserved for suspected terrorists, Delta Airlines has added the names of 460 people to its no-fly lists for refusing to comply with a requirement to wear masks during flights, according to a memo to employees from the company’s CEO. Delta CEO Ed Bastian revealed the number in an internal memo about breast cancer awareness month. He encouraged employees to participate in helping to raise money to fight the disease. “Throughout the pandemic, we have focused our efforts on protecting our people, our customers and our communities,” Bastian wrote in the memo sent to employees on Thursday and obtained by ABC News.
One of the first questions I had was how Delta managed to gain the authority to modify the no-fly lists to begin with. Those lists are supposed to be maintained by the Terrorist Screening Center (TSC). That’s a division of the FBI and they’re not generally considered to be beholden to Delta Airlines when making such decisions.
But as it turns out, the airlines keep their own no-fly lists above and beyond the “official” lists that guide the TSA. The TSC’s list can stop you from making it through security at the airport, but the airlines’ lists can prevent you from even purchasing a ticket to begin with. According to NPR, there’s plenty of precedent for rules like these and the government tends to allow the airlines to handle such things as they see fit, provided the rules they put in place aren’t discriminatory toward specific groups of people.
None of this explains how an airline can get away with banning you for having “lewd, obscene and offensive breasts.” But in that case, I believe the airline later apologized to the woman who was barred from boarding the aircraft.
Delta isn’t even the first airline to make this decision. Back during the summer, United Airlines announced a similar policy. The problem is that once you wind up on one of these lists, it can be an extensive, challenging process to get your name off of it, assuming it’s even possible to do so. That’s something one state senator learned the hard way a few years ago when his name was added to the no-fly lists in error.
While I realize there are plenty of people out there railing against mandates to wear masks, shutdown orders and all the rest, there really doesn’t seem to be much of an option in this case. Airline travel was already an awful experience to begin with without having to mask up, but this is apparently the new normal. You still have other options for travel, assuming you have the time available to take a train, drive or find some other way to get where you’re going. Personally, it would pretty much take a real state of emergency to get me on a plane again at this point.


hotair--2020-10-26--Biden: I wish my opponent George was here

George W. Bush ?
George Lopez , who co-hosted this event ?
George of the Jungle ?
One would think that four days of debate prep would have at least allowed Joe Biden to remember the name of the current president — the one he wants to replace .
Instead , as the RNC is only too happy to amplify , Biden seems unable to recall Donald Trump ’ s name in this clip from a Biden fundraiser yesterday .
Maybe Trump needs to work on his branding some more .
He always has been a bit too shy and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ President Trump with former president George W. Bush during an online fundraising event on Sunday .
The Democratic presidential candidate was speaking at the “ I Will Vote ” concert when he attempted to make the case for his election .
“ The character of the country , in my view , is literally on the ballot , ” Biden told moderators George Lopez and CNN analyst Ana Navarro .
“ Four more years of George , um , George , gon na find ourselves in a position where if Trump gets elected @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in a different world.
” Maybe Team Biden should have called a lid at , oh , five minutes before the event started .
This looks much more like the reason that Biden spent several days off the campaign trail last week , especially since his four days of “ debate prep ” only gave him enough rest to get through sixty minutes of the ninety-minute event .
This is a man who looks like he ’ s about ready to fall over , even though he ’ s barely working at all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not the same Joe Biden of the Obama administration .
It doesn ’ t even look like the same Joe Biden of 2019 .
He may still win the election , but one has to wonder whether this Biden will make it to Inauguration Day .
*- Classic Liberace reference in the headline .
Biden might be among the few to get that one , though … Update : Some people are protesting that Biden was referring to Lopez , not Trump .
Even the full context doesn ’ t support that , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ damage being done on the basis of character , and says clearly , “ Four more years of George , uh , George , uh , he , we ’ re gon na find ourselves in a position where if Trump gets elected … ” Biden got confused in the middle of his argument , and not for the first time .

George W. Bush? George Lopez, who co-hosted this event? George of the Jungle? One would think that four days of debate prep would have at least allowed Joe Biden to remember the name of the current president — the one he wants to replace. Instead, as the RNC is only too happy to amplify, Biden seems unable to recall Donald Trump’s name in this clip from a Biden fundraiser yesterday.
Maybe Trump needs to work on his branding some more. He always has been a bit too shy and retiring …
Joe Biden appeared to confuse President Trump with former president George W. Bush during an online fundraising event on Sunday. The Democratic presidential candidate was speaking at the “I Will Vote” concert when he attempted to make the case for his election. “The character of the country, in my view, is literally on the ballot,” Biden told moderators George Lopez and CNN analyst Ana Navarro. “Four more years of George, um, George, gonna find ourselves in a position where if Trump gets elected, we’re gonna be in a different world.”
Maybe Team Biden should have called a lid at, oh, five minutes before the event started. This looks much more like the reason that Biden spent several days off the campaign trail last week, especially since his four days of “debate prep” only gave him enough rest to get through sixty minutes of the ninety-minute event. This is a man who looks like he’s about ready to fall over, even though he’s barely working at all in this general-election cycle.
This is not the same Joe Biden of the Obama administration. It doesn’t even look like the same Joe Biden of 2019. He may still win the election, but one has to wonder whether this Biden will make it to Inauguration Day.
*- Classic Liberace reference in the headline. Biden might be among the few to get that one, though …
Update: Some people are protesting that Biden was referring to Lopez, not Trump. Even the full context doesn’t support that, though. Biden was arguing about the damage being done on the basis of character, and says clearly, “Four more years of George, uh, George, uh, he, we’re gonna find ourselves in a position where if Trump gets elected …” Biden got confused in the middle of his argument, and not for the first time.