VP Debate

Mike Pence vs. Kamala Harris ... or ... True Blue vs. the Shrew

Unfortunately, she will likely eat his hunch ... and maybe his dinner too. (Even, her former boyfriend, Willie Brown, is afraid of her.)


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Headlines

6 Catholics, 1 Court: SCOTUS and the rise of the Federalist Society

Pelosi and Mnuchin take a last-ditch shot at a coronavirus stimulus deal

California passes bill establishing path to slavery reparations

UK: record boat migrants

Pope rejects meeting with Pompeo, citing U.S. election

Coronavirus vaccine trial participants report exhaustion, fever and headaches — but worth it

VP Mike Pence and Karen Pence test negative for coronavirus

EU unemployment rises for 5th month

Trump, Putin, Macron call for Armenia and Azerbaijan to cease hostilities

Biden is still leading in the polls, and voters say he won his first debate against Trump

Biden hires FaceBook executive for transition team

Federal judge halts Democrat attempt to eliminate witness requirement for mail-in ballots in North Carolina


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Headlines

“A huge risk,” Trump’s allies can’t sway him on mail-in voting

Wildfires scorch millions of acres in Western U.S. as Oregon braces for ‘mass fatality’ event

GOP Rep. Rogers: Pelosi, Hoyer and Clyburn will retire if they loose House

Western wildfires: At least 23 dead, dozens missing

Trump to visit California amid criticism for silence on fires

AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine clinical trials resume in U.K. after pause over safety concerns

Nine BLM protesters cited for trespassing in McCloskey confrontation

Chicago’s Fraternal Order of Police endorses Donald Trump for president

Pence drops plans to go to fundraiser hosted by QAnon backers

Pfizer proposes expansion of coronavirus vaccine trials

McEnany: Media doesn’t care about Mueller team wiping phones

European researchers doubt safety of Russian coronavirus vaccine

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The Debates

The Presidential Debate Committee has picked the moderators for the upcoming debates. Chris Wallace, Steve Scully and Kristen Welker for the Trump-Biden exchanges  ... and Susan Page for the Pence-Harris debate.

Now these choices are supposed to be impartial picks by this impartial committee. Are they? Well I went to Wikipedia for some of the fundamentals (in quotes below, bolded text is mine) for the latter three of them ... and provide the above video for you to gage Chris Wallace’s lack of bias.

Chris Wallace
See above video. Is “redirecting funds” not “defunding?” Come on!


Steve Scully
“is a senior executive producer and political editor for the C-SPAN television network. He is one of the hosts for its morning call-in show, Washington Journal, as well as The Weekly, C-SPAN's podcast. Scully served on the board of the White House Correspondents' Association for nine years, including as president from 2006 to 2007.”

“Scully received a 1982 undergraduate degree with honors in communication and political science from American University in Washington, D.C. During his degree he completed a 1980-81 study abroad program at the University of Copenhagen, interned for Sen. Joe Biden from September to October 1978 and in Sen. Ted Kennedy’s media affairs office in early 1979.  Scully then earned a Master of Science degree in journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, graduating magna cum laude in 1984”


Kristen Welker
“is the daughter of Harvey and Julie Welker.^[3] Her father is an engineer, her mother a real estate agent.^[ Welker's father is white and her mother is black.. She graduated from Germantown Friends School in Philadelphia in 1994 and Harvard College with a Bachelor of Artsin 1998.  At Harvard, she majored in history and graduated with honors.  Welker also interned for Today in 1997, while at Harvard.”

“ Welker regularly represents MSNBC at the daily White House press briefings as well as reports live for various programs on the channel. She occasionally fills in on NBC Nightly News and Today.”


Susan Page
“ is an American journalist and biographer, and the current Washington Bureau Chief for USA Today.”

“ Her first book was published in 2019, a biography of former First Lady Barbara Bush titled The Matriarch: Barbara Bush and the Making of an American Dynasty. Also in 2019, she signed a deal to write a biography of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, tentatively titled Madam Speaker: Nancy Pelosi and the Arc of Power.”



Somehow, there always seems to be a thumb on the media’s “impartial” scale ...

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Headlines

U.S. unemployment rate fell to 8,4% in August

Payrolls increase by nearly 1.4 million as unemployment rate tumbles

DNI Ratcliffe accuses Dems of creating misleading classified document

McCarthy: ‘I don’t want the U.S. Chambers endorsement because they have sold out’

Suspect in Portland death killed by investigators, source says

Pence says Congress will move to avoid shutdown without coronavirus aid

ICE investigation leads to 19 illegal aliens charged with voter fraud

AXIOS: Biden’s centrist image ‘mirage’ ...

DeVos to enforce school testing mandates amid pandemic

Coronavirus live updates: Trump’s vaccine chief says unlikely one is available by November

Pentagon orders “Stars and Stripes” newspaper to shut down by end of month

Washington Post says election will end in violence unless Biden wins

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Headlines

Photo appears to show Jerry Falwell Jr. with zipper down and his arm around a woman

Congress, White House struggle to break coronavirus stalemate as economic pain spreads

NYC health commissioner quits, citing de Blasio’s failures

U.S. factory orders rise, signaling manufacturing recovery

French police use cameras with speakers that shout at people who break coronavirus rules

Massive explosion in Beirut port rocks Lebanese capital

VP Pence reminds Gov. Cuomo 1-in-5 Covid-19 deaths are in his state

Border wall construction crew caught smuggling from Mexico

Trump doubles down on well-wishes for alleged sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell

Research shows $60 unemployment boost didn’t discourage returning to work

White House mulls ‘unilateral’ action on coronavirus relief

Shakedown: BLM demands protection fees from Louisville restaurant

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Headlines

Schiff: Supporters of rule of law ‘nauseated’ at Trump letting Roger Stone go free

Florida reports more than 15,000 new coronavirus cases, shattering record

Coronavirus expert predicts Americans will be wearing masks ‘for several years’

Mitt Romney on Trump commuting Stone’s sentence: ‘Historic corruption’

HHS testing chief: We do expect deaths to go up

Election officials fear voting changes will confuse voters in November

Trump, Pence both have higher favorability ratings than Congressional leaders

Rifle seized from St. Louis couple who defended home with guns

Iran blames errors for [Ukrainian] jet shoot down

Mueller speaks out on Stone clemency: ‘He remains a convicted felon, and rightly so’

Portland is a war zone: Driver shoots his way out of danger as rioters surrounded car

PA Democrat calls to remove Gettysburg‘s Confederate statues

Headlines

Pence attributes coronavirus spike to young Americans ‘disregarding’ Covid guidance

Starbucks is the latest company to pause advertising across social media

Trump administration asks SCOTUS to dismantle Obamacare

Poll: Trump losing ground with whites, not gaining with minorities

Andrew Cuomo: Trump is ‘in denial’ about coronavirus

Coronavirus cases worldwide top 10 million, with nearly half a million deaths —- and 25% are in the US

Breaking: Minneapolis unanimously approves of abolishing police force

Rolling Stones threaten to sue Trump for using their songs

Pelosi on Trump: ‘With him, all roads lead to Putin’

Florida reports second consecutive day of record coronavirus cases

Senate confirms Trump’s 200th judge

BLM protesters storm Beverly Hills neighborhood: ‘Eat the rich!’

Headlines

Trump and Musk unite over Twitter, the moon and sticking it to the establishment

Coronavirus live updates: Vaccine is a ‘2021 event’ former FDA chief says, new cases surge in Latin America

Spike in South Korea virus cases shows perils of reopening ...

Pence: U.S. will not tolerate big tech censorship of conservatives

Fauci says he wears mask as ‘symbol’ of good behavior

Dr. Anthony Fauci says second wave of coronavirus is ‘not inevitable’

Average American has packed on 5 pounds during lockdown ...

Homeless deaths rise in SF during lockdown, but not due to coronavirus

Trump threatens to shutter social media companies over alleged election interference

Top MLB players would lose 80% of their salaries under new coronavirus plan

DOJ drops insider trading probes for 3 Senators ...

Twitter brands Trump’s vote-by-mail post with fact-check, citing CNN

Headlines

North Korea denies that Kim sent Trump ‘a nice note’

Coronavirus live updates: Luxury cruise that begun before pandemic nears final port after 15 weeks at sea

Spain spraying cities ... Germany reopening stores ...

UK undercounted EU migrants by up to 55 percent

Poll: Majority fear coronavirus restrictions will be lifted too soon

Pence says faulty CDC coronavirus test kits were fixed in early February

US deaths nearing 40,000 ... Govs tell Trump: too soon ...

U.N. court can force China to answer for coronavirus

EU needs 500 billion for recovery, says eurozone bailout fund chief

More voters favor government taking a bigger role in the economy during coronavirus, survey says

Vaccine may never be developed, warns expert ...

S. Korea: Single digit rise in infections

Line of Succession

According to our Constitution and subsequent law, if President Trump were to expire ... say from the China virus, Vice President Pence takes over ... and, If he also bites the bat dust, the Speaker of the House ... in this case, Nancy Pelosi, becomes the most powerful person in the world!

A very unnerving thought! So, I beseech ye Trump and Pence ... please start wearing anti-viral masks ... and begin using hydroxychloroquine prophylactically.

A Couple Things

- Woke up this AM picking my nose ... oops! I’m pretty sure that this is what VP Mike Pence means when he says, “don’t touch your face” ... along with rubbing you eyes (pink-eye is a symptom) and pulling a Dr. Evil by picking your teeth with your finger nail. Heard a NYC emergency room doctor on TV yesterday saying that “touching your face”was THE primary way of getting COVID-19. And this is very important! I believe him ... but how can my sleepy self also obey?

- I have speculated a few times before that the Wuhan virus mortality rates being reported by the Chinese authorities were at least ten times too low. Now comes some info that says that the funeral urns being picked up there by relatives of virus victims suggests my speculation might even be low ... see: Real Wuhan Deaths. This misreporting by the Chinese has been an important part of the lack of mitigating actions by the rest of the world ... costing us untold lives. For shame, Xi! Lack of candor is a major downside of authoritarian regimes ... even capitalistic ones. (Got that, Tom Friedman?)

Headlines

The resurrection of Joe Biden

Coronavirus live updates: Pence says markets will recover, WHO chief warns of more European outbrakes

Local spread of virus marks turning point in USA ...

Steyer burns $252M on failed campaign

Pence: 15,000 Coronavirus testing kits released over the weekend

Bernie Sanders leads in Texas, a pivotal Super Tuesday primary, NBC/Marist poll says

Pence: More [virus] deaths coming ...

Thousands of migrants mass on Turkey’s border with Europe

Syria says 2 warplanes downed by Turkey as tensions mount

Silicon Valley has emerged as a battle of Bernie vs. Bloomberg ahead of Super Tuesday

New international travel restrictions ...

Iran raises coronavirus death toll to 54

Headlines

Barr offers skepticism on Giuliani’s offer of info on Bidens

Amazon wants to depose Trump after losing $10 billion Pentagon cloud contract

We’re all Parasites! Politics dominate Oscars

Crossfire Hurricane: Texts suggest that FBI considered using agent’s connection to Mike Pence aide

Manchin: Trump needs ‘to act like a responsible adult, and he’s not’

Justice Department indicts four members of Chinese military for Equifax hoax

Greta Thunberg gets TV series ...

Sanders: ‘I’m not a Communist,’ Trump doesn’t know the difference

Schumer asks inspectors general to investigate whistleblower retaliation after Vindman firing

Coronavirus updates: WHO says 15% of patients get pneumonia, WeWork closes 100 buildings

More quarantine centers open up at U.S. military bases ...

Florida man arrested for allegedly driving van into GOP test

Headlines

Appeals Court rejects Democrats’ emoluments suit against Trump

Pence defends deficit spending under Trump as necessary for economic growth

Biden goes missing [in NH] ... Jill speaks to 10 people ...

Report: WH considers removing Vindman

U.S. employers add a strong 225k jobs, unemployment up to 3.6%

Wall Street’s top economist, Ed Hyman, sees 0% GDP growth this quarter in China due to coronavirus

Citizen journalists covering [China virus] outbreak go missing ...

8 Americans confirmed with coronavirus on cruise ship ...

Yang fires dozens of staffers after Iowa debacle

Post-tax cut job gains weren’t quite as great as initially thought

63.4% Labor Force Participation Rate at Trump-era high ...

Revealed: FBI had multiple informants on Trump campaign

Headlines

Democrats vow court fight to block new N.C. Congressional map

Obama warns Democrats against going too far left: ‘We have to be rooted in reality’

San Diego shooting leaves 5 dead, including 3 children ...

Yovanovich admits to having no information on criminal activity

Trump to begin new round of trade-aid payments to farmers

Robocalls hit record levels as phone companies, lawmakers and start-ups fight back

Protests erupt in Iran after gasoline price hicks ...

Dem impeachment probe tries to paint [Ukrainian pres.] Zelensky a liar to fuel  agenda

Pence aide testifies that Trump’s efforts to pressure Ukraine were ‘inappropriate’

This under-the-radar market trend suggests new highs through December

Chinese soldiers take to Hong Kong streets ...

AG William Barr accuses Democrats of ‘sabotaging’ Trump

The Hammer

Turkey’s Erdogan has backtracked  from his defiance of Trump and the US over his invasion of Syria. First, he claimed that he wouldn’t meet with VP Pence and SecState Pompeo. Then he caved in that defiance and met with them ... the result of which was an announced ceasefire with the Kurds in Syria ... see: Yahoo News Story and Video. The terms of this deal, at first blush, seem a win for Trump and our allies, the Kurds. Maybe so ... we will see how well the Turkish follow-through is.

But, if Erdogan does live up to this capitulation, it would seem Trump and company had a pretty big hammer in these discussions ... for Erdogan is a very proud and powerful man. I would love to know exactly what this hammer was. Were US economic  sanctions enough? Or did Putin or Xi come charging over the hill to Trump’s rescue?

On Wednesday, 129 House Republicans voted for a Democrat-sponsored resolution condemning Trump’s decision to pull our troops out of Syria after Turkey invaded. Only 60 GOPers voted against this premature resolution. I suspect that, given a re-vote, things would come out differently today.

Headlines

Haley-Pence rivalry heats up as GOP weighs post-Trump future

Trump will raise rates on Chinese goods in response to trade war retaliation

Ruth Bader Ginsburg undergoes more cancer treatments ...

Joni Ernst: Eliminating Electoral College would ‘silence’ Iowa voices

Trump praises Danish PM after calling her ‘nasty’ in Greenland row

EU chief Tusk says will ‘respond in kind’ if US imposes tariffs on France over digital tax

BIDEN: What would have happened if Obama had been assassinated?

Maher on David Koch: ‘I’m glad he’s dead’

Trump offers Brazil help with Amazon [rain forest] fires

Dow plummets more than 600 points after Trump orders manufacturers to leave China

Palestinian President Abbas: Millions of fighters will take over Jerusalem ...

Hong Kong protesters form 28-mile human chain

Headlines

How Silicon Valley gamed world’s toughest privacy rules

The stock market would be much lower if it weren’t for companies’ buying back their own shares

‘Summer blast’ unrelenting heatwave to break records in Southwest ...

Jon Voigt: Donald Trump greatest president since Abraham Lincoln

In Japan, Trump praises Kim Jong Un, rails against U.S. border wall ruling

Trump claims stock market would be 10,000 point’s higher if Fed didn’t raise interest rates

Fired up, ready to go? Hillary energizes 1,500 Dems in Texas ...

Pope Francis: ‘Abortion is never the answer’

Supreme Court blocks gerrymandering rulings in Michigan and Ohio

Trump takes dig at Japan for ‘substantial ‘ trade advantage and calls for more investment in US

8 mag quake strikes Peru ...

Mike Pence: West Point graduates should expect to see combat

Headlines

Pence woos 2016 anti-Trumpers to bankroll billion dollar re-election

Trump finally got his wish from the Fed, but not for the reasons he wanted

Fed: GDP growth will only be 2.1% for year ...

Maine House announces bill to rename Columbus Day

Aides struggle to see strategy in Trump’s Conway, McCain fights

US allies defy Trump administration plea to ban Huawei from 5G networks

Half of Americans don’t know all First Amendment rights ...

Illinois crowds protest radical abortion bill

EU has no choice but to approve Brexit extension

Fed holds the line on rates, says no more hikes ahead this year

Border Patrol says detention centers are full; Starts releasing ...

Poll: Kamala Harris rising as Beto O’Rourke edges in