Vice President Pence: “I am still weeping just thinking about it. God has truly blessed this nation with a man who was carved and molded by the Almighty for just such an hour. There shall be a time for speaking, and a time for inspecting of bunkers — and Donald Trump was formed unto that time. I hope that God looks like Donald Trump.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/06/05/an-oral-history-trumps-very-necessary-real-bunker-inspection/
The White House has cancelled Donald Trump’s planned weekend at his Bedminster golf resort amid New Jersey’s request that travelers who have visited states with coronavirus spikes self-quarantine for 14 days.
Mr Trump has recently visited Arizona, which has seen a surge in cases and hospitalisations, and a county in Wisconsin on Thursday that its state government says has a “high” Covid-19 activity level.
White House officials have declined to disclose the reason for why the trip was cancelled just a few hours before the president was scheduled to leave the White House on Marine One. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-bedminster-new-jersey-coronavirus-quarantine-golf-club-white-house-a9588161.html
Trump says he canceled weekend trip to Bedminster amid protests ‘to make sure law & order is enforced’ (Fox News) https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-cancels-weekend-trip-to-bedminster
Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump 3:15 PM Jun 26, 2020: “I was going to go to Bedminster, New Jersey, this weekend, but wanted to stay in Washington, D.C. to make sure LAW & ORDER is enforced. The arsonists, anarchists, looters, and agitators have been largely stopped…” [continues] “…I am doing what is necessary to keep our communities safe — and these people will be brought to Justice!”
President Donald Trump also said on Twitter Friday that he has signed an executive order on protecting monuments, an action the President had been teasing for the past week.
“I just had the privilege of signing a very strong Executive Order protecting American Monuments, Memorials, and Statues – and combating recent Criminal Violence,” the President wrote Friday. “Long prison terms for these lawless acts against our Great Country!”
The text of the act has not been released. It’s not clear how the order differs from the existing Veterans’ Memorial Preservation Act, under which the President claimed earlier this week that he had “authorized the Federal Government to arrest anyone who vandalizes or destroys any monument, statue or other such Federal property in the U.S. with up to 10 years in prison.”
CNN has reported some Trump allies had been pushing the White House to take a stance — any stance — on the racial issues fracturing the country.” https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/26/politics/trump-signs-monuments-executive-order/index.html
Meanwhile, “America’s single worst day of new coronavirus cases obliterated President Donald Trump’s fantasyland vision of a post-Covid America — even as he sowed new diversions in an effort to hide the reality of his leadership void in a deepening national crisis.” https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/26/politics/donald-trump-coronavirus-single-worst-day-new-cases/index.html See also “A Devastating New Stage of the Pandemic : The U.S. has seen more cases in the past week than in any week since the pandemic began. https://amp.theatlantic.com/amp/article/613522/
In other news: “Russia Secretly Offered Afghan Militants Bounties to Kill U.S. Troops, Intelligence Says : The Trump administration has been deliberating for months about what to do about a stunning intelligence assessment.” (NYT 6/26/20) https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/26/us/politics/russia-afghanistan-bounties.html
Let us all enthustically applaud our Fearless Leader says:
Trump visits private golf course as US battles rapid surge in coronavirus cases : US president heads to Virginia a day after saying he’d stay in Washington DC to ‘make sure law and order is enforced’ amid ongoing anti-racism protests https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/27/trump-visits-private-golf-course-us-battles-rapid-surge-coronavirus-cases
The visit comes as the number of confirmed new coronavirus cases per day in the US hit an all-time high of 40,000, according to figures released by Johns Hopkins on Friday. Many states are now seeing spikes in the virus with Texas, Florida and Arizona especially badly hit after they reopened their economies – a policy they are now pausing or reversing.
(June 26, 2020): “Right now, there are 2.3 million confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States. CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield estimates that number could be as high as 23 million. The estimate comes after doctors looked at blood samples for the presence of antibodies to the virus.” https://abc3340.com/news/local/300k-alabamians-may-be-infected-with-covid-19-cdc-suggests
Nice blog
“Way Down In The Hole” (Tom Waits, 1987) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Way_Down_in_the_Hole
8AM MDT, tomorrow morning, 5th
Vice President Pence: “I am still weeping just thinking about it. God has truly blessed this nation with a man who was carved and molded by the Almighty for just such an hour. There shall be a time for speaking, and a time for inspecting of bunkers — and Donald Trump was formed unto that time. I hope that God looks like Donald Trump.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/06/05/an-oral-history-trumps-very-necessary-real-bunker-inspection/
The White House has cancelled Donald Trump’s planned weekend at his Bedminster golf resort amid New Jersey’s request that travelers who have visited states with coronavirus spikes self-quarantine for 14 days.
Mr Trump has recently visited Arizona, which has seen a surge in cases and hospitalisations, and a county in Wisconsin on Thursday that its state government says has a “high” Covid-19 activity level.
White House officials have declined to disclose the reason for why the trip was cancelled just a few hours before the president was scheduled to leave the White House on Marine One. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-bedminster-new-jersey-coronavirus-quarantine-golf-club-white-house-a9588161.html
Trump says he canceled weekend trip to Bedminster amid protests ‘to make sure law & order is enforced’ (Fox News) https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-cancels-weekend-trip-to-bedminster
Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump 3:15 PM Jun 26, 2020: “I was going to go to Bedminster, New Jersey, this weekend, but wanted to stay in Washington, D.C. to make sure LAW & ORDER is enforced. The arsonists, anarchists, looters, and agitators have been largely stopped…” [continues] “…I am doing what is necessary to keep our communities safe — and these people will be brought to Justice!”
President Donald Trump also said on Twitter Friday that he has signed an executive order on protecting monuments, an action the President had been teasing for the past week.
“I just had the privilege of signing a very strong Executive Order protecting American Monuments, Memorials, and Statues – and combating recent Criminal Violence,” the President wrote Friday. “Long prison terms for these lawless acts against our Great Country!”
The text of the act has not been released. It’s not clear how the order differs from the existing Veterans’ Memorial Preservation Act, under which the President claimed earlier this week that he had “authorized the Federal Government to arrest anyone who vandalizes or destroys any monument, statue or other such Federal property in the U.S. with up to 10 years in prison.”
CNN has reported some Trump allies had been pushing the White House to take a stance — any stance — on the racial issues fracturing the country.” https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/26/politics/trump-signs-monuments-executive-order/index.html
Meanwhile, “America’s single worst day of new coronavirus cases obliterated President Donald Trump’s fantasyland vision of a post-Covid America — even as he sowed new diversions in an effort to hide the reality of his leadership void in a deepening national crisis.” https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/26/politics/donald-trump-coronavirus-single-worst-day-new-cases/index.html See also “A Devastating New Stage of the Pandemic : The U.S. has seen more cases in the past week than in any week since the pandemic began. https://amp.theatlantic.com/amp/article/613522/
In other news: “Russia Secretly Offered Afghan Militants Bounties to Kill U.S. Troops, Intelligence Says : The Trump administration has been deliberating for months about what to do about a stunning intelligence assessment.” (NYT 6/26/20) https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/26/us/politics/russia-afghanistan-bounties.html
Trump visits private golf course as US battles rapid surge in coronavirus cases : US president heads to Virginia a day after saying he’d stay in Washington DC to ‘make sure law and order is enforced’ amid ongoing anti-racism protests https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/27/trump-visits-private-golf-course-us-battles-rapid-surge-coronavirus-cases
The visit comes as the number of confirmed new coronavirus cases per day in the US hit an all-time high of 40,000, according to figures released by Johns Hopkins on Friday. Many states are now seeing spikes in the virus with Texas, Florida and Arizona especially badly hit after they reopened their economies – a policy they are now pausing or reversing.
(June 26, 2020): “Right now, there are 2.3 million confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States. CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield estimates that number could be as high as 23 million. The estimate comes after doctors looked at blood samples for the presence of antibodies to the virus.” https://abc3340.com/news/local/300k-alabamians-may-be-infected-with-covid-19-cdc-suggests
Trump denies being briefed on Russian bounty intelligence https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/28/politics/russia-us-troops-afghanistan-trump/index.html
Lawmakers want answers from Trump Administration on reports Russia paid Taliban to attack US troops https://www.foxnews.com/politics/lawmakers-want-answers-on-russia-paying-taliban-to-attack-us-troops
Former acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell lashed out at “leaks of partial information” reported about U.S. intelligence that Russia offered secret bounties to Taliban militants to kill U.S. troops and other coalition forces in Afghanistan.
The Trump loyalist was subject to intense scrutiny after White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany released a statement Saturday evening asserting that President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence were never briefed on the “alleged Russian bounty intelligence” first reported by the New York Times.
Rep. Ted Lieu, a California Democrat, tweeted at Grenell daring him to confirm whether he did not tell Trump and Pence about a Russian military intelligence unit offering financial rewards to Taliban militants to kill U.S. troops or McEnany was lying. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/richard-grenell-decries-leaks-of-partial-information-over-report-on-russia-offering-bounties-to-kill-us-troops