President Obama was terrific for his take-down of Donald Trump.

But Kamala Harris was the star of the night. Her demeanor was impeccable. With her facial expressions, she made us feel like she was talking to each one of us. She was so believable, so self-assured, so happy to be there, so (justly) proud.

Kudos, Kamala. I hope you win.

I tuned into the DNC just as Hillary Clinton began her short speech. She packed so much into that short amount of time, and every sentence was meaningful. She may have made the best case so far to vote for the Democrats. Remember that she won by 3 million popular votes, and lost the election.

The Democrats need to make sure the margin is much, much higher this year so that Donald Trump can't steal the election. In other words, "it takes a village."

Hillary also made sure to insert Biden into her speech at multiple points. But to me, it was her listing of the key policy differences between Republicans and Democrats that really made her case: On health insurance for all, on social security and medicare, on social justice, Democrats are the only choice. And while they have done poorly on reversing the decades of draconian sentences and the arbitrary and discriminatory treatment of minorities and the economically disadvantaged inherent in our criminal justice system, Republicans are always worse.

Thinking about what could and should have been in 2016 is the best reminder it can happen again in 2020. [More...]

Donald Trump is holding a press conference -- he is ten minutes late.

Trump has spent the past two days capmpaigning in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Arizona. On Tuesday, he also made a last-minute stop in Iowa for a briefing about damage from the derecho last week that has left thousands without power and caused catastrophic damage across the battleground state.

Trump arrives.

Trump announces he is restoring sanctions against Iran. He blasts Obama and Biden for the deal they made with Iran

[More...]

Miles Taylor, who served as Chief of Staff at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) under Donald Trump, writes a scorching op-ed in the Washington Post about Trump's incompetence and how dangerous Trump is for America.

Just when I think we've heard it all, I learn somthing new about Donald Trump that flat out disgusts me even more. This one is just mind-boggling:

Top DHS officials were regularly diverted from dealing with genuine security threats by the chore of responding to these inappropriate and often absurd executive requests, at all hours of the day and night. One morning it might be a demand to shut off congressionally appropriated funds to a foreign ally that had angered him, and that evening it might be a request to sharpen the spikes atop the border wall so they’d be more damaging to human flesh (“How much would that cost us?”). .

How utterly sickening. Here's a video of Taylor delivering his criticism.

2020 at the DNC:

1967: With the Buffalo Springfield

Stephen Stills explains to Variety how this came about. As to how times have changed, or not, he says:

Asked how the political climate today compares to the one that inspired the song, Stills says, “The swamp is just as deep and the mendacity and hipocrisy is too — although there’s a lot more on the line now....“I think this election has certainly brought everybody to the party,” he concludes, “and I’m glad to see it.”

To those of you who remember the song from the 60's, which version resonates more with you now?

Final Update: Did anyone convince me tonight there was any reason to vote for Joe Biden other than getting rid of Trump? No. Not by a longshot. But it is what it is.

Update: Bernie Sanders and Michelle Obama were both excellent. I preferred Bernie (Video and Transcript here) because he was more concrete and focused on policy. He spoke to all Democrats who are willing to listen. He gave specific examples of positions Biden has promised to take. (My advice: Don't throw out your salt shakers yet, i.e., take them with a grain of salt).

Saddest line: "For as long as I am here" I'll work with progressives...." On the other hand, he seemed younger and more spirited tonight, and got every point across without being bombastic. He didn't have trouble breathing. He didn't stumble over words. He looked robust and healthy, even his hair was neatly combed.

Shorter version of Bernie: Vote for Biden and then we'll raise hell and have a better chance of success because Congress will have more Democrats than it does now. [More...]

49 years ago today, I moved to Colorado.

I couldn't have made a better choice. On days when I see sunsets like the one above, the old tagline from the Denver Post always comes to mind: "'Tis a privilege to live in Colorado".

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

The New York Times posits five questions about the Democrats' virtual convention which begins Monday. Chief among them:

As Mr. Biden seeks to excite skeptical liberals while reaching out to moderates disillusioned with President Trump, Monday will demonstrate how Democrats hope to thread that needle.

For some of us, we can count the probable number of presidential elections left in our future on one hand -- and that makes this election all the more important. Can we afford another four years of the Megamaniac Donald Trump having a desk in the oval office? What kind of world would we be leaving the next generation? [More...]

Donald Trump's latest attempt to subvert the mail-in vote in November is just another trick pony. We really don't need the post office to mail back our ballots. Friday night on CNN, Anderson Cooper interviewed the Secretary(s) of State for both Colorado and Washington, two of the five states that rely almost exclusively on mail-in voting. Each explained while mail-in voting is safe and secure, why Trump's attempt to cast doubt on the Post Office's ability to handle mail-in votes is just politicization and wrong, and what measures are in place to secure and protect your ballot. Also debunked, Trump's claim that mail-in voting may lead to fraud.

Every town and city and rural county in America has at least a town hall if not a city hall or a city administration building or a county courthouse. Every one of these places can install a ballot drop-off box in front with a blocked off parking space or two in front so people can drive up, get out of their car for 10 seconds to deposit the ballot and drive off. All but the elderly and infirm should drop their ballots off this way. [More...]

Joe Biden:

I have the great honor to announce that I’ve picked @KamalaHarris — a fearless fighter for the little guy, and one of the country’s finest public servants — as my running mate.

They are ready to hit the ground running. In terms of picking a running mate who will bring him votes he might otherwise not receive, he made the right choice. She will enthuse and excite the base in ways he does not.[More...]

Writing about Donald Trump is like listening to a broken record. Over and over the media exposes his lies and incompetence, his narcisism and delusions of grandeur, the danger he poses to the global stature of he United States and even to our democracy. At least since the start of COVID-19 (which is when I began watching cable news again after an absence of many years), every night on CNN, in broadcasts distributed around the world, not one, but three prime time hosts brand Donald Trump all these things and worse.

Everyone except his marginalized, fanatical base knows he's a charlatan. Everyone knows he lost the popular vote in 2016. Everyone knows he appoints unqualified people to key staff positions and his administration has the higest turnover rate of any recent occupant of the oval office. Everyone belittles his aides, his nepotism, his adult children, and his apathy to anything that doesn't line his own coffers or ego. Everyone knows he doesn't care about America.

Yet, every morning we wake up and he's still here. He's still dominating the news. He's still lying about COVID-19. Why isn't he gone?

It will take a generation or more to recover from the damage Donald Trump has inflicted on America at every level -- from our physical and economic health to our educational system, our personal and professional lives, the social fabric of our nation and our standing in the world. If we recover at all.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Trump held a signing ceremony Saturday to sign four executive orders he claimed provide COVID-19 relief. Not one of them does what he says it does.

The Order on evictions: It doesn't reinstate the band the expired in July. It doesn't prevent evictions. It doesn't authorize or fund assistance with mortgage or rent payments. It merely "makes suggestions to federal agencies."

Trump's executive order on unemployment benefits takes $50 million from FEMA to pay states to provide $400 a week (instead of the $600 per week the feds provided from March through July) -- which according to experts will be used up in just 5 weeks. Plus, the order requires states to create new programs, which will take time, so it's anyone's guess when anyone will receive any of this money. For those who need money now, it's no help at all. [More...]