T-19.
From here on out, carefully watching the movement in the polls is the only way we can gauge whether Trump will be re-elected or Biden will replace him. All of the leading polls were burned in 2016 and have made adjustments as a result. I frequently quote 538 because they employ the "poll of polls" methodology that -- at least theoretically -- evens out the anomalies of any individual poll.
Polls aside, the news must go on. And for the most part, it is all bad.
The Senate judiciary committee hearing on Trump's Supreme Court nominee this week was a charade. While Senators from both parties postured as if they held the moral higher ground, the actual legal stakes were barely discussed.
That's a shame because at least three major human rights rulings hang in the balance.
Before considering those, it seems remarkable to me that Barrett has only three years experience as a judge. In my profession, that might qualify her for a junior position somewhere, not the highest level one can attain.
No journalist with three years experience would be named editor-in-chief of a major publication or president of a media network. But I guess the barrier to joining the Court is much lower.
Meanwhile, of all of the Republicans and Democrats on the panel, I thought Sen. Amy Klobuchar did the best job of summarizing the three key legal issues wending their way through the lower courts on their inevitable journey to the Supremes:
1. Health Care, specifically whether people with preexisting conditions can get affordable coverage.
2. Abortion, the right of a woman to control her own body.
3. Same-Sex Marriage.
Collectively, these represent some of the most important advances in human rights in our time. But while she dodged expressing her positions, Barrett appears to be opposed to all three.
There are other issues, including voter suppression, that Barrett dodged. Basically the hearing was a sham because the GOP is going to jam her appointment through before the election.
***
Here are the news headlines that caught my eye:
* More Companies Delay Return to the Office -- From Ford to Microsoft, white-collar companies are increasingly extending working from home through next summer. (NYT)
* Eighty-eight faculty members at the University of Notre Dame, where Barrett is a law school professor, said she should call for a halt to her Supreme Court nomination until after the election. (HuffPost)
* Macron announces Paris curfew as coronavirus infections rise in France (WashPo)
* The Paris-based International Energy Agency said renewables would make up 80% of new power generation by 2030, overtaking the fossil fuels that presently dominate electricity production. Installing solar photovoltaics is “consistently cheaper” than building coal or natural gas plants in most countries, and solar projects “now offer some of the lowest cost electricity ever seen,” the IEA’s researchers said in their decade-long outlook for the 2020s. The organization expects solar energy to eclipse coal as the top source of electricity in the next five years, with wind energy following close behind. [HuffPost]
* Bank of America Profit Falls 16%. Wells Fargo Earnings Drop 56%. (WSJ)
* Thousands of people have taken to the streets in the Thai capital Bangkok, as the city is gripped by yet another large-scale anti-government protest. (NHK)
* Japanese researchers use supercomputer data to develop new face shield (NHK)
* Democrats dominate early voting in Florida -- But lest they get too excited, campaign veterans warn that a wave of Republican votes is coming on Election Day. (Politico)
* Trump Promotes Baseless, QAnon-Endorsed Conspiracy Theory Alleging Obama Staged Bin Laden’s Killing (Forbes)
* Trump is still falsely claiming that Mexico is paying for his border wall (CNN)
* Dry, windy weather posed an extreme wildfire risk Wednesday in Northern California, where massive blazes already have destroyed hundreds of homes and killed or injured dozens of people.The National Weather Service issued a red-flag warning for extreme fire danger from 5 a.m. through Friday morning. (AP)
* Barron Trump tested positive for Covid-19 but showed no symptoms. (CNN)
* If you have blood type O you *may* have some protection against Covid-19, according to two recent studies. (CNN)
* Mnuchin says new economic relief deal unlikely before election (WashPo)
* Sen. Kamala Harris questioned Barrett in the judiciary committee proceedings; Barrett refused to say whether she believes voting discrimination exists. (CNN)
* Survey reveals that Californians working from home spend an average of 1.7 hours a week trying to resolve tech issues (Cherry Digital)
***
I cannot know who reads these posts, except for those who react (i.e., "like") or add a comment, and I am especially grateful to those who do. My main motivation at this point in this strange year is the hope that by writing I may somehow be having an impact. It is deeply frustrating to witness what is happening to the country I love.
And in what month?
This clock never seemed so alive
I can't keep up, and I can't back down
I've been losing so much time
And all of the people with nothing to do
Nothing to lose
And it's you and me
And all the other people
And I don't know why
I can't keep my eyes off of you
Just aren't coming out right?
I'm tripping on words
You got my head spinning
I don't know where to go from here
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