Join us at 8 p.m. for live coverage of tonight’s Democratic debate. Josh Marshall will be writing here in the ed blog, and TPM staff will be on hand with a liveblog for members and coverage of tonight’s notable moments.
Remember far back in the before-times there was the “pivot,” way back into 2015 and 2016. It’s so far back and so confounded by everything that has come since that it is genuinely hard to remember. But we need to.
The idea was that Donald Trump was acting like a clown — and, what’s worse, a fairly racist and even fascistic clown. But he was also becoming a more credible presidential candidate. Because he had jumped to the head of the GOP primary pack and, contrary to the expectations of many, he wasn’t collapsing. Indeed, he was gaining strength. At the time it was considered obvious and essential that you can’t actually become president that way, not behaving like an erratic and dangerous buffoon. So at some point he had to “pivot” to acting normal. He even got in on explaining that the “pivot” was coming.
Of course, it never came. He won the primaries, which should have been entirely expected. He also won the election, which — well — many of us didn’t see coming. He continued being the same unstable, erratic and predatory person. The pivot never happened.
But something is different now.
Aside from the myriad other stories swirling this morning, we have a report that captures not just the sorry but ridiculous state in which the country now finds itself. According to the Post, the White House is considering a plan, which, depending on one’s generosity and willingness to squint, ranges from federalizing homeless policy in California to setting up internment camps for the homeless in the state.
The word is that John Bolton is not going quietly after President Trump’s ostentatious slam-dunking of him on Twitter. Maybe he won’t. But there’s a part of this equation I doubt we’ll see discussed much in the press coverage of this story. Bolton isn’t really a foreign policy guy and hasn’t been for more than a decade. Yes, he still discusses foreign policy and for the last year or so he had what is basically the top foreign policy job in the U.S. government. But since the end of the Bush years Bolton has really been a public politics guy and a consummate player in the GOP buck-raking industrial complex.
This is quite astounding. President Trump is considering issuing a $15 billion line of credit to Iran to help them weather the financial chaos created by the sanctions we placed on them after Trump tore up the Iran nuclear deal, according to a new report from the Daily Beast. We would be doing this to get them to come back into compliance with the deal that Obama negotiated, which was working and being complied with until Trump abrogated the deal. That led to sanctions and to Iran eventually “violating” the deal.
It sounds like Jerry Falwell Jr. may be taking legal advice from lawyers who went to Liberty University.
In discussing firing John Bolton, Trump tells reporters Kim Jong-un “wanted nothing to do with John Bolton.”
Trump explaining firing of John Bolton. "I don't blame Kim Jong-un for what he said after that. He wanted nothing to do with John Bolton." pic.twitter.com/d7Fvk9qwHn
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) September 11, 2019
We have yet another poll where all of the major Democratic presidential candidates are beating President Trump in a head-to-head match-up. This one from ABC-WAPO — Biden (15), Sanders (9), Warren (7), Harris (7), Buttigieg (4). (I’m a Buttigieg fan but I’m not sure he warrants inclusion in this top group anymore.)
Take a moment to watch this video Rudy Giuliani tweeted this morning to commemorate 9/11. Even in the age of Trump, it’s disturbing. It ties the battle against the perpetrators of 9/11 with battles against Antifa or generic left-seeming protestors. Indeed, it basically says they are one and the same. Watch.
Pretty stunning development down in North Carolina. We’ll have more on it shortly. But North Carolina Republicans used the opportunity of a morning session, which was supposed to have no votes, to push through a surprise veto override of the state budget with barely half the legislators there. There are reports that a number of the Dems were at 9/11 commemorations. But that’s less clear. More to come shortly.