Hear the People Sing

The other night, my 12-year-old grandson came out to where I was sitting. He seemed vaguely agitated.

"Do you want to have a conversation?" he asked. "What shall we talk about?"

Momentarily taken aback, I sputtered and took off my headphones (having been listening to "Lodi"). He went into the next room and approached the box on the counter. "Alexa, what is a good thing to talk about?"

Alexa hadn't been programmed for that, so he came back in to where I was sitting.

"I know," I suggested. "What about fantasy baseball?"

That worked. And kept working.

An hour later, after he had asked (and answered) every conceivable question one could possibly have about fantasy baseball, he seemed satiated and returned to his room.

***

One conversation we all need to be having is why so many Republicans have deserted President Trump to endorse Joe Biden. Dozens of prominent GOP figures, hundreds of leading scientists, public health experts, and constitutional law experts and military leaders have signed statements opposing Trump.

Meanwhile, I have not been able to identify even one prominent Democrat who has switched support in favor of Trump. Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, convicted of a variety of crimes involving corruption, endorsed Trump after he pardoned him.

Why is this the case? The conspiracy theorists will tell you there is a "deep state" that is aligned against Trump, but there is not, and never has been, any "deep state" -- this is a fiction devised by paranoid extremists. 

In reality, the cross-over support for Biden is unprecedented and it comes at a time of the worst partisan divide in modern history. Reasonable, rational people understand what is happening, and are stating that when it comes to Trump, enough is enough.

***

* President Donald Trump intends to choose Amy Coney Barrett to be the new Supreme Court justice, according to multiple senior Republican sources with knowledge of the process.In conversations with some senior Republican allies on the Hill, the White House is indicating that Barrett, a federal appellate judge and Notre Dame law professor, is the intended nominee, multiple sources said. (CNN)

* Trump declined for a second day to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he lost the election, while Republicans, including Mitch McConnell, implicitly rebuffed him, promising an “orderly transition.” (NYT)

* At Pentagon, Fears Grow That Trump Will Pull Military Into Election Unrest -- Defense Department officials said top generals could resign if Mr. Trump ordered the active-duty military into the streets to quell protests. (NYT)

* A former senior aide to Vice President Mike Pence who’s come out against Trump’s reelection issued a stark warning about another Trump term. “We will no longer be America after four more years of Trump,” warned Olivia Troye in a new ad from Republican Voters Against Trump. She pointed to the moment in June when Trump forced the clearance of peaceful protesters outside the White House for his church photo op. Mary Trump, the president's niece, warned that the president would be willing to go "further than you could possibly imagine" to stay in power. [HuffPost]

* Trump and McConnell are speeding the GOP to permanent minority status (WashPo)

* A wave of federal executions began in July when the Trump administration resumed carrying out the death penalty for the first time in 17 years, in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic. The government is using a drug that may torture as it kills, according to autopsy reports. Several of the men selected for execution over the past two months still had pending litigation related to their cases when their deaths were scheduled. Black people are disproportionately sentenced to death, and many people on death row were arrested before they were old enough to legally drink. [HuffPost]

* Ocean Heat Waves Are Directly Linked to Climate Change -- The “blob” of hotter ocean water that killed sea lions and other marine life in 2014 and 2015 may become permanent. (NYT)

* Trump Administration to Announce Plan to Open Tongass Forest to Logging (NYT) * FBI Director Christopher Wray testified before senators that there’s no evidence of a voter fraud effort targeting mail-in or other ballots — despite repeated claims by Trump. “We have not seen historically any kind of coordinated national voter fraud effort in a major election — whether it’s by mail or otherwise,” Wray testified before the Senate Homeland Security Committee. Any foreign assault on mail-in ballots — which Trump has very nearly classified as a foregone conclusion — would be a “major challenge for an adversary,” he testified. [HuffPost] * Trump Faces Challenges Even in Red States, Poll Shows, as Women Favor Biden -- Close races in Georgia, Iowa and Texas show President Trump’s vulnerability and suggest that Joseph Biden has assembled a formidable coalition, according to a New York Times/Siena College poll. (NYT) *  Democrats in the House of Representatives will introduce a bill next week to limit the tenure of Supreme Court justices to 18 years from current lifetime appointments, in a bid to reduce partisan warring over vacancies and preserve the court’s legitimacy. The new bill would allow every president to nominate two justices per four-year term. (Reuters) * A heat dome is projected to build over the West again this weekend, bringing hot, dry and dangerous conditions to Northern California, and it’s not likely to rain in places where it’s desperately needed. (WashPo) * California's largest-ever fire threatens cannabis farms worth millions. (Yahoo News) * Biden Now Predicted to Win 352 Electoral Votes (538) * Poll: Winner of presidential election should choose next Supreme Court justice -- A majority of Americans oppose efforts by President Trump and the GOP-led Senate to fill a Supreme Court vacancy before the election, according to a Post-ABC News poll. (WashPo)

***

 Do you hear the people sing?

Singing a song of angry men?

It is the music of a people
Who will not be slaves again

When the beating of your heart
Echoes the beating of the drums
There is a life about to start
When tomorrow comes

Will you join in our crusade?
Who will be strong and stand with me?
Beyond the barricade
Is there a world you long to see?
Then join in the fight
That will give you the right to be free

--Les Miserables