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Tonight’s Jam Session at King David’s House of Song

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“Ode to Ella Baker” by Lisa McLymont (Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-ND 2.0)

Tonight, up in heaven, along the banks of the River of Life, there’s a local watering hole called King David’s House of Song. It’s a full house, with folks laughing and smiling as they watch the television screens reporting the results of the US elections. Then an old blind black man slowly makes his way through the tables and the people to an upright piano off against the wall, near a small raised stage in the corner.

A few people take notice, and start to poke each other and point to the man heading for the piano. “Shhh . . . Look – he’s gonna sing tonight.” The old man brushed his fingers across the keyboard, grinned the widest whitest smile at the crowd he could not see, and did just that, slowly dragging out the first line as his fingers ran riffs on the keys before him.

“Oh, beautiful, for heroes proved . . .”

As soon as the first syllable emerged from the old man’s mouth, a large black woman smiled and stood. The room parted for her, as she moved past the piano, up onto the stage, and joined her powerful voice to his: “. . . in liberating strife . . . “

Two white guys, one a balding blond and the other with graying brown hair, caught each other’s eyes, nodded, and grabbed a pair of guitars. Then they joined the woman on the stage, and began to sing the harmony parts: “who more than self, their country loved . . .”

Another black man then joined them on the stage, with his trim athletic body and a voice that echoed of the Caribbean, and his hands began beating on a pair of conga drums as he joined the singing: ” . . . and mercy more than life . . .”

Then a newcomer stepped up, turned to the crowd, raised his hands to conduct, and brought the whole place in right on time as the chorus came around: “America, America . . .”

When the song ended, the applause was deafening. When it began to die down, the old man at the piano waved folks to sit.

“Ladies and gentlemen, that was Bernice Johnson Reagon on lead vocals,” and the crowd applauded. As it quieted, the old man went on: “Jimmy Buffett and Kris Kristopherson on guitars,” and the applause returned again. “Harry Belafonte on drums.” More applause, louder, plus a few whistles. “And you can call me Ray” said the old man, grinning again as the cheers and whistles roared once more. “But let’s hear it for a newcomer to this joint,” said Ray, “Let’s give a big King David’s House of Song welcome to our conductor this evening, Mr. Quincy Jones!”

The reaction was electric, with waves of cheers and whistles and foot stomping that went on and on and on.

Finally, eventually, slowly, the sound died down, and a small African-American man in the back stood up with his glass raised. “A toast!” he shouted, and everyone was silent, as they turned and looked to see who it was. Then everyone — including King David himself behind the bar — raised their glasses in anxious anticipation.

Gesturing with his glass toward the television screens, the small man smiled a broad smile that took in the whole bar, and walked over to Harry Belafonte. Then he raised his glass even higher, and said three little words — “To good trouble!” — and *dinged* his glass with Harry’s.

“TO GOOD TROUBLE!” the assembly replied, as they all *dinged* their glasses together with each other.

And then the music really got going.

* * *

Back in 2007, late on a Friday afternoon at the height of the trial of Scooter Libby and the legendary liveblogging led by Marcy and the crew of Firedoglake, I told a story at FDL:

One of my kid’s favorite lines at dinnertime is, “We have to ding!”

It started on a Friday when he was not yet two, and we had finally sat down to dinner at the end of a long week for all of us. Mrs. Peterr raised her glass, I raised mine, and in a quiet, exhausted, but happy voice she smiled at me and said “To the weekend.” “To the weekend,” I echoed, touching my glass lightly against hers. Then, from the high chair, a little voice chimed in loudly and proudly, punctuating each word with a swing of his sippy cup: “To. The. Weekend! Now ding with me!”

And so it is at our house, especially on Fridays: We have to ding.

The beverages vary widely, from glass to glass and from day to day – juice, wine, water, sparkling cider, beer, milk, scotch, etc. – and so do the toasts. Some days, we toast each other; other days we toast something great that has happened. Some days, the toasts bring happy thoughts, and on other days, they carry a note of sadness and loss. Some toasts are short, simply naming the person or thing for which we are grateful. Others are longer, and take on Dr. Seuss-like rhymes and rhythms.

The one thing they have in common, though, is a sense of shared gratitude. Mark Twain put it like this: “To get the full value of joy, you must have someone to divide it with.” Science fiction writer Spider Robinson takes Twain one step further: “Shared joy is increased; shared pain is lessened.”

It’s Friday, it’s the end of a rollercoaster of a week, it’s five o’clock somewhere, and we’ve got to ding.

A lot has happened since the Kid first swung that sippy cup. He is now a college graduate and is gainfully employed, Scooter was convicted, then had his sentence commuted, and eventually was pardoned. Dubya gave way to Obama, and then came four years — four long years — of Donald Trump. Four years ago, Biden began the long tough slog of repairing our relationships abroad, as well as our COVID-battered communities here at home.

Now, after four years of Trump plotting to return and wreak vengeance with Republican leaders embracing cowardice and cravenness, tonight is the end of a rollercoaster of a campaign, the polls are closed, and by God we *have* to ding.

Raising a glass

To good trouble, and the good troublemakers who make it!

*DING*

John Lewis is still dead, but the good troublemaking goes on. And we are going to need every bit of it and then some over the next four years.

So what’s in your sippy cup, and what’s your toast tonight?

Donald J. Trump wearing an apron while dispensing french fries at a McDonald's fast food restaurant in Pennsylvania as part of a campaign stunt on Sunday, October 20, 2024. Photo by Doug Mills/AP.

Batting Down Election-Day Conspiracy Theories

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Donald J. Trump wearing an apron while dispensing french fries at a McDonald's fast food restaurant in Pennsylvania as part of a campaign stunt on Sunday, October 20, 2024. Photo by Doug Mills/AP.

There is no truth to the rumor that Donald J. Trump wearing an apron while dispensing french fries at a McDonald’s fast food restaurant in Pennsylvania was part of his preparation for a new career move should he lose tonight [Sunday, October 20, 2024. Photo by Doug Mills/AP.]

As the voters stream to the polls today, as workers at precincts around the country welcome voters to cast their ballots, as state and county election officials prepare for the counting that will take place, and as lawyers prepare for the inevitable fights in the days to come, it is incumbent on us at EW to shoot down rumors of conspiracies flying around on this momentous day.

So let’s get right to it.

There is no truth to the rumor that the staff at Mar-a-Lago has put plastic sheeting over the walls, to make cleaning up any thrown pasta easier. If anyone tells you that the custodial staff is worried about Trump throwing his dinner around once results start coming in, do not believe them.

There is no truth to the rumor that JD Vance has prepared a concession speech filled with remorse for the things he said about Kamala Harris during the campaign, and there is absolutely no truth whatsoever that Peter Thiel is preparing to have JD Vance disappeared for his failure to win.

There is no truth to the rumor that Lara Trump is planning to move to Saudi Arabia should Harris/Walz win.

There is no truth to the rumor that Fox News has a contingency plan to have an intern shut down the power to the FOX studios and take them off the air on election night if the results come in putting Harris over the top.

There is no truth to the rumor that Ivanka and Jared are giving the Saudi’s back the money they were given to “invest” back in 2020.

There is no truth to the rumor that Elon Musk is shorting DJT stock.

There is no truth to the rumor that Mike Pence has a bottle of champagne on ice for he and Mother to share this evening, should Trump/Vance lose.

There is no truth to the rumor that Alito and Thomas are so despondent at the mere thought of Trump losing that their doctors are worried about them succumbing to heart attacks in the next 72 hours.

There is no truth to the rumor that Bill Barr is preparing a memo for Kamala Harris, laying out the rationale for her naming him as her new AG should Trump lose.

There is no truth to the rumor that Liz Cheney has practicing her sincerity in anticipation of making a call later this evening to Donald Trump, offering her solemn condolences at Trump’s loss, and absolutely no truth whatsoever that her practice sessions are not going well because she can’t get through two sentences without laughing.

There is no truth to the rumor that Gavin Newsom is planning a call to Donald Trump Junior and Kimberly Guilfoyle, offering condolences on the occasion of the loss of Trump/Vance.

There is no truth to the rumor that Ted Cruz already has purchased a new home in Cancun, and absolutely no truth whatsoever that in a gesture of bipartisanship, Colin Allred has already generously agreed to bring pizza and empty boxes to help him pack.

There is no truth to the rumor that Mitt Romney has laid in numerous kegs of beer for his watch party tonight at the Romney family home, and absolutely no truth whatsoever that Mitt’s sister niece Ronna McDaniel is planning to resume using “Romney” in her name again.

There is no truth to the rumor that Trump’s staffers are secretly preparing to call in sick this evening, rather than attend any watch parties or “victory” rallies, so that they can prepare to enter witness protection programs.

THERE IS NO TRUTH TO ANY OF THESE THINGS.

There is also a rumor that the members of Putin’s election interference unit are reeling in terror at the mere thought that Harris/Walz may win, resulting in an all-expenses paid one way trip to Ukraine for the entire group. This rumor we have been unable to debunk or verify.

If you have heard other rumors that need to be shut down, please add them in the comments.

DNC Convention 2024: Day 4 — The Fight for the Future Begins

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[NB: check the byline, thanks. /~Rayne]

It’s the final day of Democratic National Committee Convention 2024. Kamala Harris is officially the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee and will close the convention with her keynote acceptance speech.

With the end of the convention, the fight for democracy begins in earnest. There are 75 days left until Election Day.

Speaking of which, are you registered? Have you checked your registration? Have you helped someone get registered which may include getting identification? Do something!

DAY 4 CONVENTION SCHEDULE
Here’s today’s convention schedule (times shown are Central Time):

7 a.m.-9:30 a.m.: Delegation breakfasts
9 a.m.-10a.m.: Morning press briefing
9:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m.: Women’s Caucus meeting
12 p.m.-1:30 p.m.: Disability Caucus meeting
12 p.m.-1:30 p.m.: Youth Council meeting
12 p.m.-1:30 p.m.: Rural Council meeting
1:45 p.m.-3:15 p.m.: Veterans & Military Families Council meeting
1:45 p.m.-3:15 p.m.: Poverty Council meeting
1:45 p.m.-3:15 p.m.: Interfaith Council meeting
6 p.m.-10 p.m.: Main programming

MAIN PROGRAMMING
Main programming has already begun as this post publishes at 7:30 PM ET/6:30 PM CT

Tonight’s schedule (times shown are Central Time):

5:30 PM

Call to Order
• Minyon Moore, Chair of the 2024 Democratic National Convention Committee

Gavel In
• Rep. Veronica Escobar (TX-16)

Invocation
• Everett Kelly, National President of the American Federation of Government Employees
• Imam Muhammad Abdul-Aleem, Masjidullah Mosque, West Oak Lane, PA

Presentation of Colors
• Illinois State Police Honor Guard

Pledge of Allegiance
• Luna Maring, 6th Grader from Oakland, California

Welcome Remarks
• Rep. Veronica Escobar (TX-16)

Joint Remarks
• Becky Pringle, President of the National Education Association
• Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers

Remarks
• Sen. Alex Padilla, California

6:00 PM

Remarks
• Marcia L. Fudge, Former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
• Rep. Ted W. Lieu (CA-36)
• Sen. Tammy Baldwin, Wisconsin
• Rep. Katherine Clark (MA-05), U.S. House of Representatives Democratic Whip
• Rep. Joe Neguse (CO-02) U.S. House of Representatives Assistant Democratic Leader
• Mayor Leonardo Williams, Durham, North Carolina
• Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-08)
• Sen. Bob Casey, Pennsylvania
• Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts

Remarks: “Project 2025—Chapter Four: Making America Weaker and Less Secure”
• Rep. Jason Crow (CO-06)

Remarks
• Rep. Elissa Slotkin (MI-07), U.S. Senate candidate
• Rep. Pat Ryan (NY-18)
• Reverend Al Sharpton, Civil rights leader

Joint Remarks from representatives of “the Central Park Five”
• Dr. Yusef Salaam, Member of the New York City Council
• Korey Wise, Activist
• Raymond Santana, Activist
• Kevin Richardson, Activist

7:00 PM

Joint Remarks
• Amy Resner, Former prosecutor and friend of Vice President Harris
• Karrie Delaney, Director of Federal Affairs at the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network
• Lisa Madigan, Former Attorney General of Illinois
• Marc H. Morial, President of the National Urban League
• Nathan Hornes, Former student at Corinthian Colleges
• Tristan Snell, Former New York State Assistant Attorney General

Remarks
• Gov. Maura Healey, Massachusetts
• Courtney Baldwin, Youth organizer and human trafficking survivor
• Deb Haaland, Secretary of the Interior
• John Russell, Content creator
• Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost, Florida
• Rep. Colin Allred (TX-32)

Joint Remarks on “A New American Chapter”
• Anya Cook, Florida
• Craig Sicknick, New Jersey
• Gail DeVore, Colorado
• Juanny Romero, Nevada
• Eric, Christian, and Carter Fitts, North Carolina

8:00 PM

National Anthem
The Chicks

Host Introduction
• Kerry Washington

Joint Remarks
• Meena Harris
• Ella Emhoff
• Helena Hudlin

Remarks
• D.L. Hughley
• Sheriff Chris Swanson, Genesee County, Michigan

A Conversation on Gun Violence
• Rep. Lucy McBath, Georgia

Joined by
• Abbey Clements of Newton, Connecticut
• Kim Rubio of Uvalde, Texas
• Melody McFadden of Charleston, South Carolina
• Edgar Vilchez of Chicago, Illinois.

Remarks
• Gabrielle Giffords, Former Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Arizona

Performance
P!NK

Remarks
• Sen. Mark Kelly, Arizona
• Leon E. Panetta, Former United States Secretary of Defense
• Rep. Ruben Gallego (AZ-03), U.S. Senate candidate
• Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Michigan

9:00 PM

Remarks
• Eva Longoria, American actress and film producer
• Adam Kinzinger, Former Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Illinois
• Maya Harris
• Gov. Roy Cooper, North Carolina

Remarks
• Kamala Harris, Vice President of the United States, Democratic Party presidential nominee and keynote speaker

Benediction
• Rabbi Lauren Holtzblatt, Adas Israel Congregation (Washington DC)
• Rev. Amos Brown, pastor, Third Baptist Church (San Franciso CA)

Closing remarks and gavel out
• Minyon Moore, Chair of the 2024 Democratic National Convention Committee

Note: this list of speakers and performances is as published by DNC this evening after 6:00 PM ET. It doesn’t match the list Nonilex has in a thread on Mastodon; there may have been/will be changes to the lineup.

HOW TO WATCH
See Monday’s Day 1 post for the best channels on which to catch the majority of this evening’s programming.

DNC at United Center-Chicago will stream a live feed from its own website between 7:00 PM to 11:00 PM ET (6:00 PM to 10:00 PM CT) Tuesday through Thursday.

https://demconvention.com/

USA Today will also live stream Tuesday through Thursday.

https://www.youtube.com/@USATODAY/streams – main page

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4d5-wtw4yuQ – tonight’s feed

The DNC’s convention feeds are:

https://www.youtube.com/@DemConvention – main page

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKNW_KHYrbY – tonight’s feed

2024 Remains an Unpredictable Race: Six Predictable Things that Could Still Upend It

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Donald Trump announced he was running in the 2024 Presidential race over 21 months ago. Tomorrow marks four weeks since Joe Biden dropped out of the race. It marks two weeks since Vice President Harris became the presumptive Democratic nominee. Monday, the Democratic Convention starts.

Back before and when Joe Biden dropped, I was certain about two things: that Kamala Harris would bring a lot more stamina to the race and she would give much better voice to a pro-Choice position that could impact the outcome of the race. I was also pretty sure that because someone was out selling wildly successful policies, both Biden and Harris’ approval ratings would improve (remember my screen caps are 5 hours ahead of ET; this tweet was three hours after Biden dropped and two after he endorsed Harris).

I hoped that Kamala would break the Double Hater logjam that has characterized the past two Presidential races (and this one, until that point).

Kamala’s approval ratings have gone up (Biden’s are less dramatic, but have ticked up maybe a point so far).

And newfound enthusiasm, especially among Independent voters, suggests the Vice President may, indeed, break that Double Hater logjam.

That said, I think far too many people are complacent in their belief that Harris will continue to slowly grow a lead that will be sustainable in the face of whatever rat-fuckery Trump tries in November.

If we’ve learned one thing about the 2024 election, it’s that normal predictions won’t hold.

I still think a true Black Swan event is possible — something like a global war.

I also think the unpredicted and widespread notoriety of Project 2025 will upend any normal political outcomes. It’s not just a post-Dobbs election (with abortion on the ballot in swing states like Arizona), but continued coverage of Project 2025 in both the political and the popular press has put democracy on the ballot in a surprising way.

But even the following six things are quite possible, which could significantly affect the race in a number of ways.

Big protests at DNC: Many of the people pressuring Biden to drop, including Nancy Pelosi, favored some kind of speed primary. Instead, Biden and Harris managed to make that impossible within 24 hours of his departure. So instead of a wildly divisive Convention, Harris can instead mostly look forward to a lovefest, where the biggest questions are whether Jimmy Carter can manage a video cameo and which surprise performers — potentially including Bruce Springsteen, Beyoncé, or even Taylor Swift will show up.

The very important caveat to that, though, is that around 30 Uncommitted delegates can will cause some dissension inside the Convention and tens of thousands of protestors will cause even more outside of it. It’s the latter I’m most worried about. The protests themselves will restore attention to the ongoing catastrophe in Gaza. But they’re also an easy target that provocateurs and right wing cops can exploit.

Meaningful ceasefire in Israel — or, further escalation: In the face of potential escalation, negotiators have redoubled efforts to forge some kind of ceasefire deal. But there’s some reason to believe that Trump and Bibi will thwart this at all costs.

The potential for Gaza to dampen Democratic enthusiasm (or to juice third party candidates) has long been a focus. But few have fully unpacked how it has been exploited by the right. So one way or another, this continues to be the most obvious pivot for more dissension among likely Democratic voters.

And all that’s before Iran’s very real efforts to target Donald Trump.

Superseding indictment and/or September sentencing for Trump: As of right now, Trump is due to be sentenced in his New York document fraud case on September 18 and the parties in Trump’s January 6 case should begin discussing what to do about SCOTUS’ immunity indictment in early September.

Yesterday, Trump asked to delay the sentencing until after the election. Roger Parloff gave a nuanced assessment of the mostly but not entirely frivolous request. Even if he’s sentenced, it’s not at all clear that Juan Merchan would sentence Trump to prison time.

Meanwhile, I’m not the only one who thinks that Jack Smith asked for an extension until the last possible day to supersede Trump before the election because he may be contemplating such a course (since I wrote that post, DOJ has chose to recharge even more crime scene January 6ers charged with obstruction). A superseding indictment might add his co-conspirators (what others predict) or change the crimes charged against Trump (my own suspicion). One way or another, though, there will be legal proceedings on the January 6 case in September, proceedings that have the possibility to expose more details about how closely Trump’s team worked with the Proud Boys or about how central a role Trump played in sending bodies to the Capitol.

The thing about both these eventualities is that it’s not at all clear whether the rule to date — that Trump’s legal troubles only make him more popular with right wingers — will hold, not least because independent voters will finally be tuning in. And even if they do, they’ll happen against a backdrop where Kamala is running as a prosecutor who has taken on thugs like Trump in the past.

Another tumultuous debate: Trump actually had a really poor debate in June, but a combination of asymmetric press coverage and normalization of Trump covered for that. If he has another such debate, it could serve as a real weight on his campaign.

But it’s really not guaranteed that Kamala will ace a debate either. Trump’s ability to reframe entire conversations is unmatched, and thus far no moderator has been able to rein that in. Plus, for at least half of Trump’s presidential debate appearances, he has arranged some kind of gimmick for them (such as hosting Tony Bobulinski or making a framed false claim about Biden’s role in the Mike Flynn investigation). Usually, they fizzle, but you can’t guarantee they will.

Further decline in Trump’s mental state: Honestly, I think the degree to which Trump’s rambling and grievance are new is wildly overblown. He has always been like this. But I think the way in which it has been perceived of late has changed. That’s partly true because his schtick has gotten tired enough that even Trumpsters have begun to tune out (and occasionally, leave his events) in noticeable numbers. Because Trump has attempted to replace his big rallies in recent weeks, appearing at events with smaller or no crowds, he hasn’t gotten the juice he normally gets from crowd adulation that he needs to pull off his performances.

That may change now that the Secret Service has developed a plexiglass booth to protect him outdoors.

Even still, Kamala Harris has found ways to trigger Trump’s ugliest side, making it harder for him to control his grievances.

As a result, the press and some Republicans have begun to comment on his mental performance in a way they’ve haven’t done since 2016.

Far right political violence: As I laid out here, Trump’s allies and Elon Musk have both been part of a transnational effort to stoke violence based on fearmongering about migrants. In the past, right wing efforts to sow fear based on fabricated claims about caravans and the like have failed. And there’s always the likelihood that Trump’s mob will rise up in response to one of the events above, such as a superseding indictment.

As noted at the start of this post, it is possible that Kamala Harris will continue to engage new voters, competing in states (started with North Carolina) that haven’t been competitive in years.

But that’s if trends continue. And this year, there’s lots of reason to question whether they will.

Update: WaPo’s latest (very positive for Kamala) poll shows that the number of people happy with their choices for POTUS have gone up 16 points, a measure of the decline in Double Haters.

In July, when the contest was still Biden vs. Trump, 28 percent of voters overall said they were satisfied with the choice. Today, 44 percent say they are satisfied with the choice of Harris or Trump.

Trump’s Broken-Down Helicopter Was a Vehicle to Make Up Shit about Kamala Harris

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Two days and at least ten journalists later, we finally have an explanation for Trump’s story claiming to have almost died with Willie Brown.

As Politico first reported, Trump did almost crash in one of his helicopters with a Black politician. But it was former Los Angeles city councilman Nate Holden, not former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown.

Trump’s former Executive Vice President Barbara Res wrote about it in her book.

On that ride, she said the pilots started feverishly maneuvering the equipment as the chopper lurched over the water. “From the corner of my eye, I can see in the cockpit and what I see is the co-pilot pumping a device with all his might,” Res wrote in her book. Donald Trump and Robert Trump were reassuring Holden.

“Very shortly thereafter the pilot let us know he had lost some instruments and we would need to make an emergency landing,” she wrote. “By now, the helicopter was shaking like crazy.”

After considerable turbulence, they landed safely in New Jersey at an airport where Trump had his commuter helicopters stored.

As Holden described it, he came onto the flight already worried because another of Trump’s helicopters had just gone down, killing three of Trump’s executives.

Holden recalled being a bit worried about the helicopter ride because it came not long after five people, including three high-level executives of Trump’s casinos, were killed when their chopper crashed in 1989 over Forked River, N.J.

But Holden says Trump told him they were in good hands, noting that he had two capable pilots. “He tells me to ‘look at the sky,’” Holden said. ‘Oh my God, it’s so beautiful.’”

At about the time Politico was publishing this story, Trump was on the phone with Maggie Haberman, complaining about the original NYT story reporting that the politician in question wasn’t Willie Brown.

In an angry phone call to a New York Times reporter as he landed several hours away from his planned rally in Bozeman, Mont., because of a mechanical issue on his plane, Mr. Trump excoriated The Times for its coverage of his meandering news conference on Thursday at Mar-a-Lago, his private club and home, during which he told of an emergency landing during a helicopter trip that he said both he and Mr. Brown had made together.

[snip]

“We have the flight records of the helicopter,” Mr. Trump insisted Friday, saying the helicopter had landed “in a field,” before shouting that he was “probably going to sue” over the Times article.

When asked to produce the flight records, Mr. Trump responded mockingly, repeating the request in a sing-song voice. As of early Friday evening, he had not provided them.

When Maggie and the two NYT journalists who first suggested maybe Trump was confusing Willie Brown with Jerry Brown matched the Politico story, they didn’t mention that Trump’s plane had maintenance issues last night, just like the helicopter 34 years ago. They didn’t mention it, even in spite of Holden’s memory of wondering how Trump could so badly neglect his equipment even after a helicopter crash the year before.

“Anyway,” he continued, “we start flying to Atlantic City. He’s talking about how great things are. And about 15, 20 minutes in, the pilot yells, ‘Shut up! Shut up!’”

The hydraulic system had failed, he said. “Donald turned white as snow,” Mr. Holden recalled. “He was shaking.”

Mr. Holden said that as the helicopter’s crew worked frantically to set the aircraft down safely, his own thoughts ran to a helicopter crash in 1989 that had killed three senior executives of Mr. Trump’s casinos over Forked River, N.J.

“I just thought, how the hell do you let your staff not maintain your aircraft after you just had a crash that killed some of your staff? How could you let this happen again? I thought, if we go down, this is your fault.”

This whole incident could serve as vehicle for commentary about how a billionaire who wants to run the country again can’t even keep his own gear running. It could provide opportunity to remind readers that Trump got elected in 2016 on a promise he’d spend on infrastructure, only to deliver a never-ending series of infrastructure weeks that nevertheless never delivered the promised investments. Heck, that might even provide opportunity to remind readers that  Kamala cast the tie-breaking vote on the American Rescue Plan in 2021, which funded infrastructure projects Republicans now like to claim credit for, and then cast the tie-breaking vote on the Inflation Reduction Act, which similarly invested in local communities. Tim Walz, too, was able to get infrastructure spending funded.

But that’s not how this started. That’s not why Trump told a story in which he swapped one Black politician with another widely known for being Kamala’s early mentor (apparently Trump told the story in response to a softball about Brown’s role in Kamala’s career).

Trump told this story to create the illusion that he remains close to Willie Brown, so close that Willie badmouths Kamala Harris to Trump. Trump told the story to make a claim that even Kamala’s early mentor now criticizes her.

Whether people have flown with Trump or not, they all deny that trash talking.

Yet that part of the story is getting buried. Holden’s denials appear in paragraph 24 in the Politico story.

Before he hung up with POLITICO, Holden assured a reporter that nobody discussed—let alone criticized—Kamala Harris as Trump claimed Brown did.

“He either mixed it up,” Holden said. “Or, he made it up. This was just too big to overlook. This is a big one. Conflating Willie Brown and me? The press is searching for the real story and they didn’t get it. You did.”

Willie Brown’s denials appear in paragraph 29 in the latest NYT version; Holden’s don’t appear at all.

Reached again Friday night, Mr. Brown reiterated that he had never flown in a helicopter with Mr. Trump and that he had not denigrated Ms. Harris to the former president because he admires and respects her.

“Those are the two things I am certain of,” he said. “All the rest of this is amusing.”

Jerry Brown’s denials appear in paragraph six of the original NYT story.

Jerry Brown, who left office in January 2019, said through a spokesman, “There was no emergency landing and no discussion of Kamala Harris.”

Willie Brown’s appear in paragraph 14.

Reached on his cellphone just after Mr. Trump’s news conference — at his regular lunch spot at Sam’s Grill in downtown San Francisco — Mr. Brown, 90, said the whole story was false. He had never ridden in a helicopter with Mr. Trump, he said. He had never nearly perished in any helicopter ride. And he remained an avid supporter of Ms. Harris’s.

[snip]

Ms. Harris ended their relationship nearly three decades ago, but Mr. Brown said he had always been a big fan and supporter of hers. “No hard feelings,” he said.

Gavin Newsom’s denials appear in paragraph 20.

The subject of Ms. Harris, with whom Mr. Newsom had enjoyed a friendly rivalry, did not come up on the helicopter, he added. “We talked about everyone else, but not Kamala,” he said with a laugh.

This effusive denial from Willie Brown appears in paragraph 8 of the SF Chronicle’s early story reporting the former Mayor’s denials of flying with Trump.

Willie Brown told the Chronicle he did not say anything disparaging to Trump about Harris, whom he dated for about a year in the mid-1990s and appointed to two state commissions years before Harris was elected San Francisco district attorney in 2003.

“It’s just as accurate as all of the other components of what you’re asking me about,” Brown said. “No, not accurate at all.”

So Brown has never said anything bad about Harris to Trump?

“Nooooooo,” Brown said Thursday. “Hell, no.”

Trump told a makebelieve story so that he could lend credence to a claim that even a historic Black politician, the Vice President’s early mentor, doesn’t like Kamala anymore. And after chasing the story for two days, that part of the fabrication is being lost, buried beneath fact checks of who flew with whom.

It was just another lie among many Trump told about Kamala Harris at that presser, lies for which only some outlets are calling him out.

I raise this because of the campaign by a slew of mostly insipid male reporters who — whether goaded by Trump or not — are making the point he wanted them to take away from his presser: that Kamala hasn’t done a presser (because, Trump claims, she’s not smart enough).

Here’s how Maggie, in a piece that never directly called Trump on a single one of his lies about Kamala or polling or his crowds or the economy (it does note his claims that he left office peacefully are false), wrote it up in a piece with Shane Goldmacher and Jonathan Swan.

Former President Donald J. Trump tried on Thursday to shoehorn himself back into a national conversation that Vice President Kamala Harris has dominated for more than two weeks, holding an hourlong news conference in which he assailed Ms. Harris’s intelligence and taunted her for failing to field questions similarly from journalists.

[snip]

The goal of Mr. Trump’s news conference, which he announced on Thursday morning on his social media site, was to highlight that Ms. Harris has yet to hold a news conference of her own or to give an unscripted interview to the news media.

It was a point he made during his event, arguing that she had avoided doing so because “she’s not smart enough.”

Journalists have been running around for days suggesting that some vaunted Fourth Estate is entitled to interviews with and press conferences from Kamala Harris as if they add something, as if they have value to democracy.

And yet the biggest immediate news story that came out of an hour long presser (Trump’s dodges about abortion will have more lasting import), that he fabricated a story about Willie Brown, has not been described as just one of many efforts in the press conference to lie about the Vice President.

Trump gathered a bunch of journalists to get them to accuse Kamala of being too stupid to hold a press conference. And yet there’s no reflection that one of the biggest things he fed journalists was a fabricated story made to prop up all the rest of his lies about Kamala.

Trump’s Imaginary Helicopter Friends and Bacon Emergency

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Three quarters of the way through yesterday’s Trump presser, Meghan McCain RTed a clip Aaron Rupar posted and predicted “Vice President Harris is going to win.”

In Rupar’s clip, Trump was, for the second time in an hour, lying about how big his crowds were. Parts of answers taking up six minutes of the 1:04 press conference (marked in blue below) were dedicated to lying about his crowd sizes, and claiming the Vice President’s were smaller — by an order of magnitude — than they actually are.

Over six more minutes (marked in red) — as well as one claim in his opening statement — were lies about how well he’s doing in the polls.

Another six minutes (marked in green) were dedicated to lies about how unfair his own prosecutions are, except the one before the “brilliant” Aileen Cannon, through whose intervention, he “won” his stolen documents case.

For much of the rest, Trump couldn’t decide whether Kamala Harris and Joe Biden were stupid, or they were super smart for managing to steal the 2020 election.

And that’s before Trump confused Black former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown with white former Governor Jerry Brown and then invented a dangerous helicopter trip he shared with one, on which whoever it was badmouthed Kamala, something both Willie and Jerry, along with Gavin Newsom, who was probably on the trip Trump lied about, disavowed. Newsom told the NYT that they had discussed “everyone else.”

The subject of Ms. Harris, with whom Mr. Newsom had enjoyed a friendly rivalry, did not come up on the helicopter, he added. “We talked about everyone else, but not Kamala,” he said with a laugh.

Given the close relationship Newsom’s former spouse, Kimberly Guilfoyle, currently has with Don Jr, that “everyone” may well suggest that Trump confused Kamala with his son’s long-term partner.

It was a shitshow.

And yet, aside from that story busting Trump for confusing Willie and Jerry Brown, outlets like the NYT have largely memory holed what a shit show it was. The press conference itself appeared on neither the dead tree front page nor the digital front page (the very good story on the Willie and Jerry confusion didn’t make it into the paper, nor does it currently appear on my digital front page).

In response to Joe Biden’s similarly awful performance at the debate, the NYT dedicated weeks to demanding he drop out.

Not Trump.

The horse race journalists have rabidly been demanding that Kamala — who has been rather busy of late — give an interview or press conference. They’ve no doubt been goaded into doing so by Trump, because both he and JD have been demanding it too.

But if yesterday is any indication, there is no imaginable value to reporting from most of these horserace journalists. They’re just props in Trump’s reality show in which he attracts the biggest crowds in history.

0:00 to 11:03: Lies about his preference to run against Kamala, lies about polls, lies about Kamala’s role as Border Czar, lies about migration. Lies that people can’t buy bacon. Misreads which debate is on September 10 (NBC rather than ABC). Attacks Kamala as “barely competent.” Lies about prisons being emptied out into the US. Accuses Kamala of being nasty to Biden. Claims “the presidency” was taken away from Biden. Lies that he’s leading. Lies about cherishing the Constitution. Falsely claims that Biden is a very angry man. Attacks Pelosi as crazy. Lies that Kamala was “appointed to head the border.” Cites Project 2025 source Tom Holman.

11:03 to 13:18: Explains that he hasn’t recalibrated strategy at all. Claims Kamala destroyed San Francisco and California. Claims Bob Tisch, who is dead, would hate what San Francisco has become. Claims Kamala is weak on crime but then claims “they” weaponized law enforcement against him. Lies that he “won” the documents case and complains that nobody wrote about it. Calls Aileen Cannon brilliant. Claims that Biden lost his documents case because he didn’t have Presidential immunity and Presidential Records Act, neither of which relate to why Cannon dismissed the case. States that Kamala could not pass her bar exam.

13:18 to 14:53: Claims he’s getting other voters (this appears to be a question about how Kamala’s entry in the race affects his support).

14:53 to 15:45: Claims Josh Shapiro is a terrible guy. Lies that Kamala was worse than any of her VP candidates.

15:45 to 16:13: Follows up on debates and states that CBS will do a VP debate. Claims JD Vance is doing a fantastic job.

16:13 to 20:18: Starts by scoffing, “give me a break.” Lies about crowd sizes. Claims Kamala had only 2,000 people on Wednesday. Lies about crowd size some more. Claims his crowds are 30 times bigger. Claims he’s happy the reporter asked the question. Claims Republicans, and he as the candidate, have the enthusiasm. Claims that if all cars were electric, you would have to rebuild every bridge in the US. Claims he has had the biggest crowds in history. Lies that he has hundreds of thousands at his rallies.

20:18 to 21:49: Claims he got Brian Kemp elected, but doesn’t know whether they can repair their differences. Lies that he’s leading in GA by a lot and PA by a lot. Complains that Kemp doesn’t like him even though he got him elected. Claims that given his margins in AL and SC, it’s impossible he lost GA. Lies that all he wants is honest elections.

21:49 to 22:38: Claims that Biden didn’t say Trump wouldn’t allow the peaceful transfer of power if he loses. Claims Biden doesn’t know what he said. Claims Biden should have brought this up at the debate.

22:38 to 24:26: Complains, “what a stupid question.” Makes excuses for why he’s not campaigning. Lies that he’s leading by a lot. Claims Kamala is not smart enough to do a press conference. Claims Russia, China, and North Korea don’t respect us anymore. Describes going to Montana (he first says it’s Wyoming) to help Tim Sheehy win the Senate race.

24:26 to 25:18: Trump applauds Elon Musk for endorsing him. Claims a lot of people are talking about the show.

25:18 to 26:06: [Possibly a follow-up on Xitter] Trump assures he’ll great along great with Xi Jinpeng. Describes there used to be a sofa where he has made journalists stand up. Claims China was taking advantage of the US.

26:06 to 28:17: [a question from Maggie Haberman] Claims people aren’t talking about January 6 and January 6 defendants were treated unfairly. Claims they weren’t there through him. Claims January 6 was the biggest crowd he’s ever spoken to. Claims it’s hard to find a picture of the crowd, and lies there were pictures of the “very small number of people” who went to the Capitol. Lies that he spoke in the same place that MLK Jr spoke and his crowd was bigger. 

28:17 to 30:11: Implies that Kamala’s pick as the nominee violates the Constitution. Repeats his claims about Biden being forced out of the race. Calls her “the first loser” again (referring to her dropping out of the 2020 race first). Asserts that Biden regrets picking Kamala and claims she turned on Biden.

30:11 to 30:46: Asserts that Hillary was far superior, in terms of intelligence, than anyone else he has run against. States that Hillary was her own worst enemy.

30:46 to 34:59: After instructing yet another journalist to speak up, points out how big the room is, then asserts Mar-a-Lago is worth $18 million (a misrepresentation of what Judge Engoron has ruled). Lies that the abortion issue is “tampered down.” Lies that “they” wanted to bring abortion back to the states, “and I did that.” Claims 82% of Republicans do believe in exceptions. Claims that abortion will be a very small issue in the election. Lies that Democrats do abortions after birth, claiming that Walz supports that. Then raises Glenn Youngkin (seemingly confusing VA and MN). Calls Walz and Kamala “progressive,” then claims no one knows what it means. Repeats that abortion is not a big factor anymore. Repeats again that “that issue” is very much subdued.

34:59 to 37:17: Claims you can’t take away guns, they need weapons for protection, entertainment, and hunting. Suggests that Chicago’s shooting rates are due to its tough gun laws. Claims Afghanistan doesn’t have shooting problems. Calls Afghanistan the worst embarrassment to the history of the country. Calls Milley incompetent. Claims DOD “took out the soldiers first.” Claims the Afghans who fell off a transport plane fell from a height three times higher than the World Trade Center.

37:17 to 38:56: Lies that Ka-Mala [which he pronounced correctly earlier in the press conference] is not in favor of giving Israel weapons. Lies that Kamala has been very very bad to both Israel and Jewish people. Mispronounces Ka-Mala again, and claims that Jews who vote for her should have their head examined. Claims he gave “them” Golan Heights and the Capitol of Israel, Jerusalem, built the embassy, gave them no Iran deal. Claims he would have had a deal one week after the 2020 election. Claims he hit Iran a couple times. Returns to what he gave Israel, the Abraham Accords. Repeats that any Jewish person who votes for Ka-Mala and her new friend ought to have your head examined.

38:51 to 39:09: States that the FBI has done a very good job with the investigation into Thomas Crooks and “this other lunatic they have in custody” (probably a reference to Asif Merchant).

39:09 to 40:02: Claims to know Willie Brown very well (he’s confusing Willie Brown with Jerry Brown, and even still inventing a close call). Invents a false story about almost dying in a helicopter with him. Lied that Willie Brown told him terrible things about Kamala. Claims Willie Brown had a big part in what happened with Ka-Mala. Lies that Willie Brown was not a fan of Kamala at that point.

40:02 to 40:40: [I missed one single answer question here.] Defers telling what his vote on the abortion referendum will be. Claims he’ll hold a press conference to announce how he’ll vote. Predicts it’ll go in a more “liberal” way than people expect.

40:40 to 42:38: Asserts his tax cuts were the biggest in history and included generous support for childcare. States the tax cuts “are coming due.” Lies that not renewing them creates a four times tax increase. Lies that Democrats would offer no security. Repeats “transgender” several times. Repeats his plan to eliminate taxes on Social Security and tips.

42:38 to 44:10: Agrees that Steve Bannon’s prosecution was politically motivated. Claims again “they” have weaponized government against him. Lies that Biden’s DOJ was behind the NY cases. Attacks mail-in ballots.

44:10 to 45:01: Makes excuses for Elon Musk.

45:01 to 47:20: Lies that there are polls that show he’ll win in a landslide. Exaggerates inflation. Claims people are paying $5 to $7 to pay for gas. Claims the Strategic Reserve has never been this low. Claims oil will soon be at $100 a barrel. Mispronounces Ka-Mala again and repeats his claim that she’s not as smart as Biden.

47:20 to 47:50: Dodges a question about mifepristone. Repeats that you have to give a vote on abortion.

47:50 to 48:09: Claims Kamala is not as smart as Biden again.

48:09 to 49:01: Observes that Kamala is a woman and “represents certain groups of people.” Lies that Kamala is going way down in the polls. Calls Gavin Newsom, “Gavin New-Scum.” Repeats her claim that Kamala destroyed California. Compares her to prosecutors who’ve prosecuted him.

49:01 to 49:50: After asking four different journalists to help him hear what a journalist asked, mocks the idea of doing a daily press briefing. Promises total access. Promises more access than you want.

49:50 to 52:33: Lies about his encouragement of “Lock her up” chants and his efforts to prosecute her. Attacks her for a claimed non-response to a subpoena. Claims he thought it was bad to consider putting Hillary in jail. Attacks Hillary for being “pretty evil.” Lies that the MAGA base is 75% of the country. Describes that China and Russia are natural allies but they have combined, along with Iran.

52:33 to 54:50: Claims he wants the election to be about policy. Accuses Kamala of being incompetent. Claims Kamala can’t do better than Biden. Jokes that Biden was never the brightest bulb in the ceiling. Claims Kamala wants to defund the police. Repeats his claim that guns are about self-protection.

54:50 to 56:21: Claims that if he loses there will be a Depression. Lies about his the debt incurred in his administration. Claims he had the perfect number on inflation. Notes they sell hats and claims that proves he’s been right about everything.

56:21 to 58:12: [A second Maggie question.] Claims there was a process behind his pardons. Describes that some of the people he pardoned were harshly treated. Repeats again that “for the most part” his pardons went through his pardon commission. Claims that he let out a lot of low income people who weren’t backed by insiders. Claims that, “for the most part,” he didn’t pardon people involved in killings.

58:12 to 59:15: States that the Federal Reserve gets things wrong a lot. Claims Jerome Powell works on gut feeling. Claims they get along fine. Asserts that the President should have a say in rates cuts. Asserts he has better instincts than Powell.

59:15 to 59:51: Addresses cannabis legalization.

59:21 to 60:42: Directs a reporter to ask Kamala something about her race. Notes that he once supported her. Claims Kamala is being disrespectful regarding her identity.

60:42 to 61:18:  States that he’s pretty much recovered from the wound to his ear. Asserts he’s a fast healer. Shows where the injury was, misdescribes it as the “lobe” of his ear. Points to his scar on the top of his ear.

61:18 to 62:31: Promises the largest mass deportation in the history of the country. Claims local police “know everything about the people.” After claiming that both Biden and Kamala are stupid repeatedly, Trump asserts they’re not stupid because anyone who (he claims) can cheat in elections like they do is not stupid. Lies that Democrats are trying to get immigrants to vote.

62:31 to 63:46: Disclaims any plans to dismantle Social Security. Promises to eliminate taxes on Social Security and tips again.

63:46 to 64:32: Attacks sanctuary cities. Boasts about property in California. Lies that the country has become a crime-ridden mess.

 

 

Harris-Walz: The First Rally

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[NB: check the byline, thanks. /~Rayne]

The last thread is getting unwieldy and there’s a lot to discuss after tonight’s first rally in Philadelphia.

Here’s the video if you didn’t get to watch it:

So many memes launched today as well; you have to imagine Team Trump shielding their fragile orange bawbag from the deluge.

I think this one might be my favorite so far:

source: https://mstdn.social/@[email protected]/112917576144993599

Heh. Share a link to your favorites in thread below.

Fridays with Nicole Sandler

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Note: I made a mistake in this. It wasn’t Mike Flynn himself who met with Kyrill Dmitriev in the Seychelles. It was Erik Prince, who was very excited about the tie to the Emirates in the meeting.

Listen on Spotify (transcripts available)

Listen on Apple (transcripts available)

Trump Aborts Interview after Smart Black Women Ask Tough Questions

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I’m an outlier about the value of the disastrous interview Donald Trump just did with three Black women journalists: Rachel Scott, Kadia Goba, and Harris Faulkner. I think the interview will help Trump reclaim the attention of the press. I think he used it to seed spurious attacks on Vice President Harris that will work to placate his dumb trolls. And I think journalists are falling into the same patterns of enabling this atrocious behavior as they have for years.

The interview was delayed a half hour. Journalists involved said a fight over whether the journalists could fact check in real time caused the delay. Trump claimed there was a sound problem.

Scott started by asking what Trump would say to Black voters after the shoddy treatment he has given to Black people (this Aaron Fritscher thread documents that all of them were things Trump himself said, but they include his attack on the Squad and other Black journalists) and his hosting of Nick Fuentes. Trump responded by accusing Scott of being rude and ABC of being fake news. He filibustered. His mispronounced “Kamala.” She asked for an answer.

She then asked if it was appropriate for other Republicans to call Harris a DEI hire. Trump deflected the question by asking Scott to define the term. Ultimately, he didn’t answer that question. He then falsely claimed that Harris switched her identity from Indian to Black. “All of a sudden she became a Black person.”

Trump’s most noxious supporters were prepared for that attack line, with Laura Loomer releasing Harris’ birth certificate, claiming that because it lists her father as Jamaican, she’s not Black. Others posted old articles that describe her as South Asian without ever saying she’s not also Black.

As is the general pattern, journalists ran to ask Republicans in Congress about Trump’s disgusting behavior. As is normal, they instead gaslighted, daring journalists to call them out, yet another means by which Trump disciplines Republicans, by demanding they act stupid for him in public.

And then a bunch of mainstream outlets parroted Trump’s words, without labeling them clearly as false, much less demonstrating that Trump staged his tantrum to attract attention by being as outrageous as possible.

It’s certainly possible that, this time, it’ll be different. It’s certainly possible that, this time, Trump won’t succeed in reclaiming the media attention without ever paying a price for his racism. It’s certainly possible that Kamala Harris will be able to flip this tired old script.

It’s certainly possible, too, that American voters are simply uninterested in the latest Birther conspiracy peddled by a conman.

But to my mind, one of the most important takeaways is that the former President couldn’t even take this damned interview to term: According to Scott, his handlers halted the interview after around 35 minutes, just as he got his first question about Project 2025.

He aborted an interview after three smart Black women asked tough questions.