Patterico's Pontifications

10/10/2020

Weekend Open Thread

Filed under: General — Dana @ 9:07 am



[guest post by Dana]

Here are a few news items to talk about. Feel free to share any news items that you think might interest readers. Please remember to include links.

First news item

Hm, doesn’t a test come back either negative or positive?

Reminder: Trump is hosting a White House event today with 2,000 invited guests. He will be speaking from a balcony to the masses congregating below on the South Lawn.

Second news item

On again, off again:

The Commission on Presidential Debates on Friday canceled the second debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden after the President declined to do a virtual debate despite concerns over his Covid-19 diagnosis, organizers said.

The cancellation is the culmination of a furious 48-hour back-and-forth between the commission and both campaigns and means what would have been the third debate in Nashville on October 22 will likely be the final meeting between the two candidates.

Third news item

Read the whole thing:

The 1619 Project has failed… The 1619 Project is a thesis in search of evidence, not the other way around…

Beyond these political disputes is a metaphysical question that matters. What is a founding? Why have generations of Americans considered 1776 our birth date — as opposed to 1781, when we won our independence militarily at Yorktown; or 1783, when we won it diplomatically through the Treaty of Paris; or 1788, when our system of government came into existence with the ratification of the Constitution?

The answer is that, unlike other dates, 1776 uniquely marries letter and spirit, politics and principle: The declaration that something new is born, combined with the expression of an ideal that — because we continue to believe in it even as we struggle to live up to it — binds us to the date.

Fourth news item

What could go wrong?

Yelp has started warning users of the crowdsourced business review website of alleged racist incidents at restaurants, shops and other establishments listed on the platform.

The site will add a “racist behavior” alert to a business’ page when it has evidence of “egregious, racist actions from a business owner or employee.” Examples of such behavior include using racist slurs or symbols, according to a post on Yelp’s blog.

To determine if an alert is warranted, Yelp said it will rely on, and link to, what it calls independent news reports of alleged racist actions associated with a business. The company said it will also conduct its own investigation before issuing an alert.

Fifth news item

Stop making Jesus weep:

On a radio show Friday, President Trump’s son said that his father “literally saved Christianity.”

“He’s literally saved Christianity,” Eric Trump told WZFG in North Dakota. “I mean, there’s a full-out war on faith in this country by the other side. I mean, the Democratic party, the far-left, has become the party of the quote-unquote atheists.”

He said the Democrats want to “attack” Christianity and “close churches.”

“They’re totally fine keeping liquor stores open but they want to close churches all over the country,” Trump stated.

Sixth news item

Eh, Pelosi isn’t stupid. She’s prepping for either one of the old, addle-brained coots trying to foist themselves on America:

House Democrats introduced a bill Friday to establish an independent commission under the 25th Amendment to evaluate a president’s health and oversee the transfer of power to the vice president if the president becomes incapacitated while in office.

The provision would not apply to President Trump during his current term, but could be invoked in a second term if he is reelected.

Seventh news item

For anyone dug in at the no man’s land of equal-opportunity criticism and loyalty to none:

If you refuse to give much weight to team solidarity, popular front exhortations, and “binary choice” diatribes, it’s easy to find inconvenient truths all over the place: The president is unfit for the job. Joe Biden has lost a step—or several. Nancy Pelosi is hyperpartisan. The Russian collusion story peddled by the most strident Democrats and journalists was wrong. But some claims that Trump and his campaign has behaved indefensibly viz a viz Russia have ample merit. The Republican party isn’t suffused with racism, but there are too many racists on the right and too few Republicans are willing to say so. Antifa is a real problem, and too few Democrats want to admit it publicly for the incandescently dumb reason that they think it would help Trump. Right-wing goon squads are a real problem, and too few Republicans want to say so for the incandescantly dumb reason that they think it would hurt Trump. Republican Voters Against Trump is a legitimate project, even if you disagree with it. The Lincoln Project is largely a Democratic fundraising operation, even if you agree with it. I could do this all day—because it’s kind of fun and because whatever price I’m supposed to pay for not following the party line I’ve already paid, and then some.

Eighth news item

Trump’s recovery tour continues with a new campaign ad:

Content of this advertising. President Trump is recovering from the coronavirus, and so is America. Together we rose to meet the challenge, protecting our seniors, getting them life saving drugs in record time, sparing no expense. President Trump tackled the virus head on as leaders should. I can’t imagine that anybody could be doing more. We’ll get through this together. We’ll live carefully, but not afraid. I’m Donald J. Trump and I approve.

(Video at link. I’m unable to embed it here.)

Biden tells Americans they don’t deserve to know. Say what??:

But while 57% of Americans surveyed in a recent poll conducted by ABC News and the Washington Post say the Senate should wait to replace Ginsburg until after the election, a nearly equal majority, 54%, are opposed to adding seats to the Supreme Court…”You’ll know my opinion on court packing when the election is over,” Biden said…”The people … are voting right now. They’d like to know if you and Joe Biden are going to pack the Supreme Court if you don’t get your way in this nomination,” said Vice President Mike Pence on the debate stage with Harris Wednesday night…He later added, “The American people deserve a straight answer. And if you have not figured it out yet, the straight answer is they are going to pack the Supreme Court, if they somehow win this election.”

Full exchange here.

Have a good weekend.

–Dana


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