October 23, 2026

Marie: Earlier today I hypothesized that Todd Blanche (or "the White Death" as we like to call him here) had signaled that he planned to "improperly" interfere with the election. It didn't take him long to prove me right: ~~~

Jeremy Roebuck & Patrick Marley of the Washington Post: “The Justice Department has moved to preemptively block certification of the results of Alaska’s Senate race if Republican incumbent Sen. Dan S. Sullivan loses his tight race against Democrat Mary Peltola next month. In a lawsuit filed in federal court Thursday, department officials described the candidacy of a third contender in the race — another Republican named Dan J. Sullivan Jr. — as a bid to mislead supporters of Sen. Sullivan into voting for the wrong candidate. They asked a federal judge to bar the state from certifying the race’s results, should the senator lose by a margin less than the number of votes his same-named challenger receives. In that scenario, the department said, the court should investigate whether that result was tainted by voter confusion.The move marked a highly unusual bid by the Justice Department to potentially intervene in the outcome of a race that could determine control of the Senate before the election has occurred.” Here's Politico's report. ~~~

~~~  Now comes an admission that makes the DOJ action even more appalling: ~~~

      ~~~ Shrai Popat & Sam Levine of the Guardian: “Donald Trump said he ordered the justice department to file a lawsuit to block the certification of Alaska’s US Senate results if the Republican incumbent loses, a move that voting rights experts called an “unprecedented intervention” by the federal government with control of Congress in the balance. 'I’m the one that said do it,' Trump told reporters as he landed in Florida for a campaign rally on Friday.” MB: Michael Feinberg, formerly a top FBI agent, said on MS NOW that the DOJ is now no more than a "mob law firm." See also Akhilleus' commentary on this below; he confirms, and reiterates the proof of what Feinberg asserted. ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Devlin Barrett & Kellen Browning of the New York Times: “The Trump administration asked a federal court on Friday to block certification of the Senate election in Alaska if the Republican incumbent narrowly loses, a highly unusual move that signaled an effort to potentially intervene in the outcome.... [Donald] Trump made clear that he had demanded the lawsuit, acknowledging how directly he has harnessed the Justice Department to carry out his wishes. 'I’m the one that said do it,' he told reporters hours later.... Elections are administered by state and local officials, but in recent weeks, the Trump administration has filed lawsuits seeking to alter how states like Alaska and California do so.... 

“David Becker of the Center for Election Innovation & Research, a nonpartisan group that advises election officials, said..., 'D.O.J. making this claim this late smells of political interference and is against D.O.J. policy.... The feds have absolutely no authority to tell Alaska when and how to certify. The state officials are following Alaska state law, as the Constitution requires.' He said he expected the courts to reject the administration’s lawsuit.” The link is a gift link. ~~~

~~~ Matthew Kupfer & Jim Saksa of Democracy Docket: "... the lawsuit against Alaska is a serious escalation in the Trump administration’s attacks on the midterms.... On the ballot, Sen. Sullivan is listed as the Republican incumbent, whereas Daniel J. Sullivan does not have a party affiliation next to his name. The Division of Elections kicked the second Sullivan off of the ballot earlier this year, saying his candidacy aimed to confuse voters. But the Alaska Supreme Court ordered him back on over the summer after protracted litigation. Early voting in the state began earlier this week.... It is unclear whether the suit can survive motions to dismiss, given the speculative nature of the claims." 

Marie: The other day, in the Comments I think, I asserted that Putin held a deep belief that Ukraine "belonged" to Russia. He has confirmed my assertion, claiming "genetic" evidence: ~~~ 

~~~ Catherine Belton & Natalia Abbakumova of the Washington Post: “Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday cited genetics to declare that Russians and Ukrainians are 'one people' and reiterated his claim to Ukrainian territory, saying: 'I think that it is not their territory but the historical territory of Russia.'... Putin’s statements, in an interview with Kremlin journalist Pavel Zarubin broadcast late Thursday, doubled down on his claims to territory in Ukraine that Russia invaded and illegally annexed in 2022. '... I think that it is not their territory but the historical territory of Russia,' Putin said, while also asserting that illegal referendums Russia orchestrated at gunpoint in September 2022 proved residents want to be Russian.... 'What is there to say?' [Putin asked.] 'The latest genetic studies show that Russians and Ukrainians are in fact one people.'” ~~~ 

     ~~~ Marie: Gosh, funny that Zarubin, the Kremlin mouthpiece, didn't ask Putin why he was willing to kill tens of thousands of the "one people" -- people fighting on both sides of the Russia/Ukraine war -- in order to reunite them. One would think the lives of "his" people would be precious. (Okay, I'm lying.) The great tragedy of the early 21st century is that Trump & Putin -- and others -- don't recognize that genetics do not identify a country and do not determine international borders. Trump, on Thursday, celebrated the ad on Truth Social.... Both men seem to understand that Republicans who criticize Ramaswamy are also implicitly criticizing them.

Ohio Senate Race. Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times: “By tacitly siding with a man indicted on charges of child rape, Ramaswamy has shown us all who he is. But ... denouncing the Ramaswamy ad gives conservatives a chance to try to drag their movement out of the Trumpist gutter.... If conservatives were to suddenly decide that moral depravity is disqualifying, it would be bad news for Trump and those closest to him. It’s not surprising, then, that on Wednesday, JD Vance praised Ramaswamy’s 'audacity' in running the spot, declaring himself 'disgusted' by Republicans who are 'whining' about it.” The link is a gift link. MB: Goldberg's comparison of JayDee & Vivek is illuminating.    

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Rachel Dobkin of the Independent: “Donald Trump mocked progressive Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, who is running for U.S. Senate in Michigan, and called him a 'jihadist' as the president campaigned in Iowa. Trump was in Sioux City to stump for Republican Ashley Hinson, who is running for U.S. Senate against Democrat Josh Turek, and made the appearance after banning The Independent from the trip following the president's attack on reporter Andrew Feinberg earlier in the week. The president compared Turek to 'extremists' such as El-Sayed and Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico in Texas and Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar of Minnesota.... Trump was campaigning in Sioux City for Hinson and Zach Lahn, who is running for Iowa governor against Democrat Rob Sand. Both Hinson and Lahn’s races remain tight in a state that Trump won in the 2016, 2020 and 2024 presidential elections. Turek is leading Hinson 48 to 45 percent, while Sand is ahead of Lahn 52 to 45 percent among likely voters in Iowa, according to a recent Marist Poll.”

Another Empty Gesture. Max Rego of the Hill: Donald “Trump signed an executive order Thursday aiming to lower mortgage payments as elevated borrowing costs have stifled the housing market. Trump’s order directs Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director <Bill Pulte to create a pilot program to cancel insurance premiums for government-backed mortgages once a borrower has satisfied equity requirements. The president also established a task force to lower home construction costs and improve the quality of housing by 'facilitating the use of modern manufacturing methods' in the production of units eligible for federal programs.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This is ridiculous. Removing insurance premiums from a mortgage payment does not reduce a homeowner's monthly payments. Yes, it lowers the FHFA payment, but a homeowner will still have to buy the same homeowner's insurance & pay the premiums. Whether she pays it to the government or directly to the insurance carrier doesn't make much difference. (Caveat: FHFA may [and I don't know one way or the other] collect the insurance premiums in advance, so the homeowner loses the use of that money for a period of months.) As for the task force, creating do-nothing task forces are officials' favorite way of, well, doing nothing.

The Ass-Man-in-Chief. Anderson Cooper proves himself a master of double entendres. Thanks to RAS for the link:

View on Threads

Dareh Gregorian & Erika Angulo of NBC News: “A federal judge in Florida on Thursday ordered ... Donald Trump to sit for a deposition in his defamation lawsuit against the BBC by Dec. 11 or face the possibility of having his $10 billion action dismissed. U.S. Magistrate Judge Enjoliqué Lett handed down the order after the BBC’s lawyers complained that Trump was stalling. He was supposed to sit for a deposition on Oct. 16 but canceled it for a 'matter of national importance.' BBC attorney Charles Tobin told the judge that matter turned out to be a political rally and a fundraiser. 'He was participating in party politics and prioritized that over sitting for the deposition, Tobin said.... Discovery in the case is supposed to close on Dec. 18, and Trump is the single most important witness in the case since he’s the one who claims he suffered billions of dollars in damages from the BBC’s 2024 story, Tobin said. Lett also ruled that the deposition can be videotaped — something Trump attorney Alejandro Brito argued against.The judge agreed with Brito that the deposition date could be pushed back if the district judge overseeing the case extends the deadline for discovery, but only that judge, Jeffrey Kuntz, has the power to do that.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Let's hope the deposition leaks. The case centers on Trump's January 6 speech. The BBC has subpoenaed Jack Smith to testify.

Marco Hernandez & Anushka Patil of the New York Times: “The president declared in a Truth Social post on Monday that construction on East Potomac Park would begin 'IMMEDIATELY,' even as the redevelopment plan remains tied up in contentious litigation. His new design aims to attract elite golf tournaments, but it drastically cuts down on the current park’s multiple functions and changes the East Potomac Golf Links from a 36-hole, three-course facility to a single 18-hole course that stretches to the edges of the peninsula. For the casual players of all ages who use the current golf course, there is a 'lot to lose,' said Mark Mungeam, a former president of the American Society of Golf Course Architects, noting that the two nine-hole courses that will be lost under the new design 'could be played by beginners and advanced players alike.' A single 18-hole course will take longer to play, and courses of the caliber that Mr. Trump desires typically allow fewer golfers to play at once, ultimately reducing the number of available tee times, he said. But for Washington’s families, cyclists, runners, birders and fishermen, the loss of the outdoor space provided by the scenic Ohio Drive and Hains Point recreational area is the 'bigger shame,' he said.” The link is a gift link. (Also linked yesterday.)

Kevin Breuninger of CNBC: “... Donald Trump asked Elon Musk to ease restrictions he had imposed on the military-grade version of SpaceX’s Starlink system in Ukraine, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, citing U.S. officials. The Starshield system, which Ukraine depends on in its war against Russia, was 'working more normally Thursday, shortly after' Trump spoke to Musk by phone, U.S. and Ukrainian officials told the Journal. The newspaper reported Tuesday that Musk, the founder and CEO of SpaceX and a critic of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, had ordered the Starlink slowdown.... Trump has repeatedly denied involvement in the decision and said he does not know if Musk was behind it.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Michael Crowley, et al., of the New York Times: Donald “Trump called Elon Musk last week and asked him to restore Ukraine’s full access to the Starshield satellite communications network, according to a senior administration official and a person briefed on the exchange. Mr. Trump’s call to Mr. Musk, who owns the Starshield network, came after Ukrainian officials reported that they were encountering new limits on their ability to operate the military drones that have become essential to their war against Russia. The development raised alarms in Ukraine that Mr. Trump, who has demanded that Ukraine stop its drone attacks on Russian diesel refineries, might have instructed Mr. Musk to impose the limits. Asked on Thursday whether he had made such a call to Mr. Musk, as first reported by The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Trump declined to say. 'I don’t want to comment on it, you know, whether I called or whether ⁠somebody else called — doesn’t make any difference, I guess. The bottom line — he put it back,' the president ​told reporters.” The link is a gift link. MB translation of Trump's remarks: “I told him to cut it off; I told him to put it back. But I'm not going to admit to something that makes me look like a murdering psychopath & proves I lied to the public about it.”~~~

~~~ AND YET.  Abbey Fenbert & Tim Zadorozhnyy of Kyiv Independent: "Ukraine's military Starlink service is still operating at a speed cap of 161 kilometers per hour, a Ukrainian official told the Kyiv Independent on Oct. 22. The official's statement contradicts claims quoted by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), which reported on Oct. 22 that Starlink functionality was back to normal in Ukraine following a phone call between SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and ... Donald Trump.... 'Overall, nothing has changed anywhere,' [a Ukrainian] official said. The 161 kph speed cap remains in place, severely limiting key military operations, including mid-range strikes and high-speed drone interceptions." Look, Trump & Musk (and Marco & Pete) are lying as fast as they can. They'll get back to you. ~~~

I am no Elmo defender, but if you cant see that the White House is desperately trying to make him the fall guy for what is happening to Ukraine, you are ignoring reality. If Trump wanted to help Ukraine militarily and with starshield he could. He is president. He doesn't want to. -- Phillips O'Brien on X, via Heather Scott Richardson ~~~

~~~ Paul Krugman: "Billionaires should not be making decisions critical to national security.... And the case of Elon Musk and his attempt to undermine Ukraine makes that clearer than ever. Recent events, that is in the past 24 hours, really don’t change that point. If anything, they reinforce it.... None of the parties to all of this are credible.... It should be very clear that if national security is at stake, which it is — this is a war in which US technology is playing a critical role — that unambiguously, this should be under the control of publicly elected officials, the president and Congress, not some guy who happens to have a lot of money. But it is not.... Whether [Trump] gave the order or Musk gave the order doesn’t really matter. The fact was that the ... private control of Starlink allowed Trump to hide behind, or he thought it would allow him to hide behind, the fact that this was a private enterprise.... Even with a bad president, explicit public control of national security does help. It means that public outrage gets reflected in policies that are somewhat less treasonous than would otherwise be taking place."

Molly Parks of the Washington Examiner: “Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky mocked U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff on Thursday for calling Russian president Vladimir Putin a 'humanitarian' as the two countries exchanged overnight strikes. 'Three waves of ballistic missiles have been launched at Kyiv by Russian “humanitarians” since yesterday evening. They used 21 missiles. Unfortunately, numerous sites across the city have been hit and damaged: ordinary residential buildings, energy facilities, infrastructure at one of the railway stations and the metro, shopping malls, and businesses,' Zelensky wrote on X.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Noah Keate of Politico: “Asked whether London agreed that Putin is a humanitarian, Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s spokesperson said: 'We certainly do not recognize that characterization.... President Putin has killed thousands of people, both innocent Ukrainians and his own Russian people, who he has sent to their deaths on the front line. He is starving children and the elderly of heat and warmth and systematically targeting critical national infrastructure.' The spokesperson echoed the comments of Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, who tweeted Thursday morning: 'Overnight, Kyiv residents heard what Russian “humanism” truly sounds like' after Moscow attacked the Ukrainian capital with ballistic missiles. At least two people were killed and 22 wounded, including four children.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Glenn Thrush, et al., of the New York Times: “The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into Corey Lewandowski over accusations that he profited from his role as a top adviser to the Department of Homeland Security, according to two officials with knowledge of the situation. The inquiry, one of the rare instances in which an ally or appointee of ... [Donald] Trump’s has been investigated for potential wrongdoing during his second term, was initiated in response to a referral from the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general, the officials said.... Late Thursday, Mr. Trump told reporters at the White House that he had heard about the investigation but did not know the details. He did not, however, offer words of support or even consolation to his longtime ally. He added that he viewed the potential theft of public funds as a personal affront. 'I want my people to be honest, and if they are not going to be honest they have to be prosecuted,' he said. 'If people are not honest, they’re stealing from me.' Any dishonest people, he added, would be handled by 'my D.O.J.'” The link is a gift link. An ABC News story is here.

     ~~~ Marie: Ha ha ha ha ha. Translation of Trump's remarks: “The little punk didn't cut me in. My crew is gonna make him pay.” Trump is so brazen in revealing the motivation for the “investigation” of Lewandowski that he implies Lewandowski and his ilk (Kimberly Guilfoyle) were “stealing from me.” Not from the people, not from the government, “from me.” That's not exactly a subtle way of saying, “I didn't get my cut.” And it's a warning to others in his administration that they had better cut Trump in on their dirty little side deals. Because if he finds out you didn't pay him tribute, looking both ways before crossing the street is not gonna save you from getting runned over by a damned old truck. ~~~

~~~ MEANWHILE, All in the Family. Julia Ornedo of the Daily Beast, republished by Yahoo! News: "Jared Kushner has been accused of holding two secret bank accounts in the Middle East that were exposed by Russian operatives who hacked his phone. Screenshots from Kushner's phone were found on a remote server run by Russia's foreign military intelligence agency, according to a bombshell new book excerpt published by Vanity Fair, which ... Donald Trump's son-in-law blasted as 'outrageous fabrications.' The claims date back to 2017, when Dutch authorities arrested a Russian operative with the GRU after learning that he was traveling to the U.K. for a spy mission.... [Threatened by the Dutch,] the Russian hacker ... is said to have given Dutch spies access to a sensitive GRU server that contained secret files with screenshots of Kushner's iPhone X, according to the excerpt of the book by freelance investigative journalist Matthew Cole. By 2018, the Dutch had figured out how the Russians got into Kushner's phone—and they stayed on the device to track his activity.... At the time, Kushner served as a senior adviser to the president...." ~~~

     ~~~ The Vanity Fair excerpt of Cole's book & a related New Republic story both are firewalled, but Paul Campos, in LG&$, pulls out some of the, well, money quotes from both, which will help you get a better understanding of the lengths Kushner went to and the staggering amount of money being transferred.

About That Eisenhower Globe. New Excuse: It's a Fake! Courtney Kube, et al., of NBC News: “A Pentagon official acknowledged the incident but said the globe was a replica. 'An accident occurred while staff were transporting a replica of the Eisenhower globe as part of its relocation. Accidents happen, we are grateful no one was harmed, and the globe is being repaired,' the Pentagon official said. NBC News has verified from ... three officials and a photo that it was not a replica, but the original globe used by Eisenhower.” The original WashPo story linked yesterday is here; this is a gift link. ~~~

     ~~~ Steve Benen of MS NOW: “Those who spend enough time reading about current events on social media will inevitably come across the 'writers’ room' joke. The basic idea is that our civic lives during Donald Trump’s presidency have become so ridiculous — and at times, almost literally unbelievable — that they more closely resemble a satirical television show than actual political events in the world’s preeminent global superpower. The joke came to mind reading The Washington Post’s latest report on developments inside Pete Hegseth’s Pentagon.... If I’d seen this in an episode of 'Veep,' I would’ve quietly chided the writers for concocting a ham-fisted metaphor about an unqualified defense secretary, in the midst of a failed war, literally breaking the world. And yet, in this case, there is no writers’ room. This is just our reality.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Benen apparently wrote this piece before a "Pentagon official" claimed that yes, the boys dropped the ball, so to speak, but all they had damaged was a replica of an "Eisenhower globe," not a real Eisenhower globe. No more valuable than, say, a cereal-box copy of Declaration of Independence. One can see Veep Selina Meyer's aides Dan Egan & cohort searching for an excuse & coming up with the replica story. ~~~

     ~~~ Heather Cox Richardson leans into the damaged globe story to discuss Eisenhower's attempts after the war to prevent another Hitler. MB: Now, I don't want to put words in Richardson's letter, but I kinda think she means Trump. Note to Steve Benen: sure looks as if Richardson was in the writers' room.

Blanche Reveals the Plot. Ryan Reilly & Jane Timm of NBC News: “Attorney General Todd Blanche on Thursday left open the possibility that the Justice Department could seek to block states from certifying votes in the midterm elections, though he said it wasn’t his intention to 'improperly interfere with elections.'... Blanche said there could be some 'doomsday' scenario in which it would seek to get involved. 'It is not DOJ’s intention to, and it’s never our intention to, improperly interfere with elections or the state confirmation process or certification process,' he told reporters before he boarded a plane.” MB: Blanche didn't leave DOJ a little wiggle room; he nearly admitted DOJ hacks & goons would get up to some post-election shenanigans. He uses three weasel words here: “intention,” “improperly,” and "doomsday.” He can claim that today he does not have that intention to do some thing in the future, but he can later change his mind & do that thing. That thing is not "interfere with elections”; it is “improperly interfere with elections.” Of course, no public official is going to say he plans to do something “improper.” As for “doomsday scenarios,” they will arise where Republicans lost surprising, close or almost-close elections.

Zach Montague of the New York Times: “The Justice Department asked a federal appeals court on Thursday to step in and accelerate a lawsuit against California, where it has sought to compel the state not to tabulate as many as 20,000 mail-in ballots sent to voters it claims are 'likely noncitizens.' The request jumped ahead of a lower court that was still considering the government’s emergency request last week. The government’s moves came as it has gone to extraordinary lengths to scrutinize the midterm elections, ostensibly in search of instances of voter fraud. Related efforts, such as trying to force states to turn over voter rolls and having homeland security agents interview recently naturalized citizens about their voting history, have been blocked in other federal court cases.

“In a filing on Thursday, the Trump administration cited the 'critical and exigent nature' of its request, and blamed a lower court’s 'silence' so far for holding up the lawsuit. It repeated accusations that California was in the processing of sending and counting 'vote-by-mail ballots cast by ineligible noncitizens to illegally participate in federal elections.' The judge presiding over the case, Judge David O. Carter of the Central District of California, had scheduled a hearing next Tuesday to consider the government’s claims.” The link is a gift link.

Perry Stein & Salvador Rizzo of the Washington Post: “The Justice Department indicted Virginia state Sen. L. Louise Lucas, one of the most powerful Democrats in the commonwealth, as part of a long-running corruption investigation involving a family-run marijuana business. The indictment, which was returned by a federal grand jury in Virginia last week and unsealed Thursday morning, alleges that Lucas and her relatives set up a business to sell marijuana before the substance was legalized for recreational sales in the commonwealth. Lucas, who co-owns a marijuana business, turned herself in to authorities, while multiple members of her family were arrested Thursday morning. Federal authorities charged her with five crimes....

“Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel, appearing together during a news conference Thursday to announce the charges, said the case was about more than a state senator selling marijuana, portraying it instead as a racketeering case involving a powerful lawmaker using her position to enrich herself. Critics, however, said the indictment was aimed at an outspoken detractor of the Trump administration and appeared political, an assertion disputed by Blanche and Patel.... Lucas is not up for reelection, and Virginia Democrats have a stronghold in the state legislature, but her indictment is a political shock wave less than two weeks before the national midterm elections that will decide control of Congress.... Federal officials have historically avoided taking public steps in politically fraught cases ahead of elections....” MB: What? No perp walk, boys? You missed your chance to parade an 82-year-old grandma in cuffs & leg irons in front of the cameras.

Abbie Van Sickle of the New York Times: “The Supreme Court agreed on Thursday that New Hampshire can direct election officials not to consider student IDs when verifying voters’ identities, ahead of the midterm elections. New Hampshire’s secretary of state in April ordered officials to avoid reviewing student IDs, even in conjunction with other documents, for voters who are having trouble establishing their identity when checking in at the polls or requesting absentee ballots. Republican state leaders had argued that the measure was needed to combat voter fraud and had asked the Supreme Court to intervene after a lower court blocked the directive earlier this month. The ruling by the court did not include a vote count, which is typical for such emergency orders. The one-paragraph order explained the court’s reasoning by quoting a previous Supreme Court ruling that said the justices have 'repeatedly emphasized' that 'lower federal courts should ordinarily not alter the election rules on the eve of an election.'” The link is a gift link. An AP item, republished by ABC News, is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: New Hampshire's secretary of state, David Scanlan, is a Republican. The purpose of his directive, obviously, was to curb the votes of young people, who are more likely to vote Democratic. Suppressing the vote was so important to him, that he took his case all the way to the Supremes. This is why you don't vote for a Republican, even if you think the job he's seeking is fairly inconsequential & he is your friendly neighbor who always hosts the block's annual BBQ party. 

Joey Swanson of KTSP (St. Paul): "Several Minnesota law enforcement officials are once again trying to get the federal government to share evidence from three high-profile shootings during Operation Metro Surge. The lawsuit, submitted last week by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty, and BCA Superintendent Drew Evans, argues that federal officials blocked Minnesota’s investigation. Specifically, it said that the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and other top federal officials blocked Minnesota investigators from obtaining evidence related to the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, as well as the shooting that injured Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis."

Gerrit De Vynck & Nitasha Tiku of the Washington Post: “Anthropic, which makes the chatbot Claude, said Sunday that it would donate 5 percent of the company to a new fund to benefit the public. It may be used to address AI’s destabilizing impact on workers, the company said, including payments 'to specific populations.' If the company is valued at $2 trillion when it lists on the stock market this year, as some analysts expect, the fund will be endowed with $100 billion. Anthropic’s seven founders — all set to become multibillionaires — have separately said they will donate 80 percent of their wealth to charitable causes. The day after Anthropic’s commitment, SpaceX founder Elon Musk said that he plans to give 'one of my SpaceX shares to every kid in America' next year and donate more in the future.... Donald Trump later said that the shares will be distributed through Trump Accounts, which have enrolled 70 million children since the program launched in July. At SpaceX’s share price late Wednesday, Musk’s contributions could total more than $11 billion.

“Combined with OpenAI’s philanthropic foundation, which the company has said owns about a quarter of the company, the money set aside by the three AI firms could represent nearly $300 billion of philanthropic capital.... The massive commitments could make the AI companies influential far beyond their business interests.” MB: Please don't start feeling all warm & fuzzy about the generosity of these multibillionaires. The way to redistribute their earnings is to tax the hell out of them. The people's representatives should decide how the money is distributed or spent, not billionaires. (To some extent, Musk's method of redistributing the wealth beats other so-called philanthropic gestures.) ~~~

~~~ Marie: Here is one of many reasons "billionaire" is an expletive: ~~~

~~~ Jessica Piper of Politico: “SpaceX CEO Elon Musk gave another $76 million to boost Republicans in the first two weeks of October, bringing his total giving this cycle to more than $442 million. The additional funds, which Musk gave to his super PAC, America PAC, make the group one of the biggest super PACs this cycle.”

Nina Agrawal of the New York Times: “An experimental vaccine developed by Merck and Moderna could become the first vaccine of its kind used to treat cancer. Scientists hope it won’t be the last. On Thursday, the drug makers announced that patients with melanoma who received a vaccine tailored to help their immune systems attack their tumors were 42 percent less likely to experience a recurrence of the cancer within two years than those who did not receive the vaccine. The companies have yet to show the treatment can prolong melanoma patients’ overall survival. The results come at a time of great momentum in the development of cancer vaccines — an idea scientists have tried and failed to realize for decades.” The link is a gift link.

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Maine Senate Race. Tim Balk of the New York Times: “In the final stage of the tight Senate race in Maine, Senator Susan Collins, a Republican, is trying to shore up her support in the center. Troy Jackson, her progressive Democratic challenger, is trying to excite his party’s base. On Thursday, Mr. Jackson, wearing a button-down shirt under a navy vest, appeared at a theater in the state’s largest city, joined by Representative Alexandria-Ocasio Cortez of New York, a 37-year-old democratic socialist who is considering a run for president. The visit followed trips by Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, two progressive leaders, to Maine to back Mr. Jackson. On Wednesday, Ms. Collins, clad in a light blue suit, joined a 79-year-old retired senator with centrist credentials, former Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, a former Democrat, for low-key stops at a century-old diner and a dusty shoe factory in politically split regions.” The link is a gift link. MB: I did contribute to Jackson's campaign, if only to get rid of Susan O'Kavanaugh Collins.

Michigan Senate Race. Shane Goldmacher of the New York Times: “Senator Bernie Sanders was so irate when he learned on Wednesday that the nation’s top pro-Israel lobby planned to spend as much as $9 million to defeat Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee in Michigan’s Senate race, that he immediately transferred $1 million to him. Then Mr. Sanders and his team ... dialed other progressive allies, urging them to pony up to counter the spending from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee to help elect Dr. El-Sayed, who would be the first Muslim senator in American history.... The New York Times reported on Wednesday that AIPAC was making a rare decision to invest in a Republican in a general election, contributing as much as $9 million to a super PAC supporting Mike Rogers, a former congressman and the Republican nominee.” The link is a gift link.

New York. Ed Shanahan & Dana Rubinstein of the New York Times: “The New York City Council voted on Thursday to banish horse-drawn carriages from Central Park in two years, setting the stage for the elimination of an attraction as old as the park itself. The Council vote on the bill imposing the ban was a definitive, if not final, step toward ending a politically contentious debate over the future of the carriage industry, which some people criticize as a form of animal cruelty with no place in a crowded park and others embrace as a vestige of old-world charm. Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s office helped craft the bill, which passed 40 to 7, a veto-proof margin.... The bill’s passage was a major victory for animal-rights activists, who have waged a yearslong campaign against the carriages. Those efforts, which had previously failed to attract substantial political support, gained momentum this summer with the death of Romanch Mahajan, an 18-year-old tourist from India.” The link is a gift link.

Ohio Gubernatorial Race. Cheyanne Daniels of Politico: “Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine on Thursday condemned a recent controversial campaign ad from Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican he endorsed to succeed him, that featured the estranged mother of Democratic candidate Amy Acton. Speaking to reporters in Columbus, DeWine called the ad 'deeply, deeply troubling.... It’s wrong to run this ad,' said DeWine. 'When you know the rest of the story, when you know the backstory, when you know that the husband of the mom was indicted by a grand jury after hearing testimony, and that he took off along with the mother and that two children never saw the mother after that. When you know that, it just, to me, makes it more serious. It makes it just more wrong.' Though DeWine urged Ramaswamy to take the ad down, he did not rescind his endorsement.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ So Then. Chris Stein of the Guardian: “Donald Trump issued a swift rebuke against Mike DeWine, Ohio’s Republican governor, who on Thursday said gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy was “wrong” to release an ad critical of his Democratic rival Amy Acton that featured her estranged mother.... On Truth Social Thursday afternoon, Trump ... [said] DeWine was 'disloyal to the Republican party'... 'He probably wants a Dumocrat to win, and certainly doesn’t want someone who will do a much better job than he is capable of doing,' Trump wrote. 'I suggested, on the other hand, that Vivek should keep it up, and let everyone listen to the mother of a defective, dishonest, and incapable Candidate, explain how the daughter is a DISASTER who, uncontrollably, lies, cheats, and steals!'” MB: Just what you'd expect from a felon & an adjudicated rapist. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Amanda Marcotte of Salon: “The news that the GOP nominee was championing an abusive mother over her daughter quickly became the media narrative, leading to multiple predictions that the ad would backfire on Ramaswamy. And yet MAGA leaders, including ... Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance, are doubling down on the ad.... MAGA media figures like the Daily Wire’s Ben Shapiro, Trump’s traveling companion Laura Loomer and Newsmax’s Greg Kelly have also defended the ad. Podcaster Megyn Kelly praised Arthur for trying to expose her daughter’s 'sketchy history.'... But the framing of Ramaswamy’s ad also suggests there is another audience his campaign has in mind: aging MAGA voters who are obsessively angry about the phenomenon of parental estrangement. Right-wing media frequently runs scare stories about adult children who cut off their parents, a phenomenon that gets blamed on therapists, progressive ideology and social decay supposedly producing selfish children — but never the parents themselves.” ~~~

~~~ Ray Marcano in an MS NOW opinion piece: "I’ve been a reporter and editor, run the largest (at the time) journalism organization in the country and covered my share of elections.... The Ramaswamy ad featuring a mother who supported her husband over a preteen daughter who said he raped her is the worst I’ve ever seen.... A reoccurring pattern in [Ramaswamy's] campaign is an emphasis on character assassination instead of issues. One ad featured a woman accusing [his opponent Dr. Amy] Acton, who ran the Ohio Department of Health during Covid-19, of being responsible for her 88-year-old mother’s death. The mom, however, lived in Kentucky."

Could New York Times reporters be any more in the bag for Trump? ~~~

Texas Senate Race. Steve Myers & Dustin Volz of the New York Times: “Even as ... [Donald] Trump pursued a thawing of relations with the Kremlin this week, a covert Russian influence operation targeted the Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate in Texas, James Talarico, by spreading a fabricated claim of misconduct. Several groups of researchers who track Russian disinformation operations attributed the claim to Storm-1516, a covert group that in 2024 peddled a similarly unfounded accusation against Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, who was the Democratic vice-presidential nominee. The attack followed a flurry of Russian posts on social media in recent weeks and provided the latest indication that Moscow is once again targeting an American election with online influence operations.

“In recent weeks, Russia has ramped up those efforts, according to a U.S. official familiar with classified intelligence assessments on the matter. Most of the Russian content so far, spread by bot networks around the world, has targeted Democratic candidates, especially in closely contested Senate races that could determine control of Congress in Mr. Trump’s remaining two years in office. Still, the intelligence assessments do not specify that Russia is explicitly seeking to harm one political party more than the other, the official said.” The link is a gift link. MB: The Russians don't just happen to be targeting Democrats in their interference project; they're acting as an arm of the Trump camp, not necessarily at the behest of Trump but under his infamous wink-wink-nod-nod instructions. Shame on the Times reporters for knocking themselves out to suggest otherwise.

~~~~~~~~~~

Israel. Gerry Shih & Lior Soroka of the Washington Post: “ Two Palestinian gunmen attacked a road junction near Hebron on Friday, prompting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to direct Israel’s military to prepare for a 'full lockdown' of the West Bank. The militant group Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack, which Israel’s emergency response service said wounded five people. The Israeli military said its soldiers killed the two assailants. The clash sent tensions soaring just days before an Israeli national election that has shaped up as a referendum on Netanyahu’s handling of security issues, especially the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre by Hamas.”