Fill That Seat: Ruth Bader Ginsberg isn’t even cold and the politics of her replacement are hot. President Trump is promising to name a woman this week to replace the late justice, but two Republican senators have already said there should be no vote before election day.

  Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, if they stick to their word, have already whittled the President’s margin down to 51. Two more defections and he loses.  

  Always the classy guy, Trump told a political crowd, “I think it should be a woman because I actually like women much more than men.” Some supporters chanted “Fill that seat! Fill that seat!”

  A Third Trump appointment would build into the court a six vote conservative majority for decades to come. At stake are the future abortion rights, Obamacare, and voting rights, among other major issues.

  In pushing forward with a replacement only weeks before the election, Republicans are reversing themselves on what they described as a principled blockade of President Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland in the last year of his presidency. 

   Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had argued in 2016 that “the American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice” which meant “this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president”.

  South Carolina’s Lindsay Graham said, “I want you to use my words against me. If there’s a Republican president in 2016 and a vacancy occurs in the last year of the first term, you can say Lindsey Graham said let’s let the next president make that nomination.”

  Ginsberg’s family quotes her close to death saying, “My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed.”

  With the Senate split 53 Republican to 45 Democrats, the Democrats need four Republican defections to block the candidate. Fifty-fifty won’t do it because Vice President Mike Pence could vote to break the deadlock.

  Several Republican senators with shaky election prospects might defect as well. Cory Gardner, and Thom Tillis, the senators from Colorado, and North Carolina might see voting against the nominee as a way to demonstrate independence from Trump and save their electoral butts. Collins will be boiled like a Maine lobster if she ends up voting “yes.” 

  Utah’s Mitt Romney might be on the fence and even Lindsey Graham is a bit of a question mark.

  President Trump evidently sees pushing forward with an appointment as a way to firm up his conservative vote and win re-election. It could also turn more voters against him. 

  David Frum writes for The Atlantic, “Trump’s people do not usually execute the smart play. They are often the victims of the hyper-ideological media they consume, which deceive them about what actually is the smart play

TikTok, TikTok, TikTok: President Trump has given preliminary approval to a deal that will allow the social media app Tik Tok to keep operating in the US. “I have given the deal my blessing,” Trump said. “I approve the deal in concept.”

  But also yesterday, a federal judge issued an order to block Trump from barring the Chinese-owned app WeChat from carrying out commercial transactions in the United States. 

  The software company Oracle and Walmart say they’ll form a new entity called TikTok Global, which to be headquartered in the US. The two companies would control the data collected by TikTok, which Trump has called a national security threat if it remains in Chinese hands. How that might work is beyond us. The Chinese company ByteDance is expected to continue holding its majority ownership.

Viral News: The US will probably hit 200,000 coronavirus deaths sometime today. This morning the number is 199,513. Worldwide deaths are approaching 1 million.

Anarchy: Incredibly, William Barr’s Justice Department has included New York City among three cities labeled “anarchist jurisdictions.” New York, along with Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington could lose some federal funding.

  The NY Post reports that in a statement to be released today, Barr says, “When state and local leaders impede their own law-enforcement officers and agencies from doing their jobs, it endangers innocent citizens who deserve to be protected, including those who are trying to peacefully assemble and protest.” 

  President Trump has targeted cities that cut their police budgets. New York made the Justice Department’s list in part because its City Council approved a budget in July that cuts $1 billion from the NYPD’s $6 billion budget. 

Oh, Canada: A Canadian woman suspected of sending an envelope of the poison ricin to President Trump has been arrested crossing the border from Canada to the US. 

  The unwatchable Canadian Netflix comedy series “Schitt’s Creek” won nine Emmy Awards last night. Canadians Eugene levy won Best Actor in a comedy and Catherine O’Hara, Best Actress. They too should have been arrested crossing the border with a show that could make you die not laughing.

Punch Me: President Donald Trump told a campaign crowd in North Carolina that they’ll never see or hear from him again if he loses the election to Joe Biden. “If I lose to him, I don’t know what I’m going to do. I will never speak to you again,” Trump told supporters in North Carolina.  He said, “You’ll never see me again.”

  The Biden campaign quickly turned out an ad with the audio of Trump’s words and his opponent saying, “I’m Joe Biden and I approved this message.”

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