Today’s edition of quick hits:
* RBG: “Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg revealed Friday that she is being treated for a recurrence of cancer after lesions were found on her liver. The 87-year-old justice, a cultural icon and leader of the progressive wing, said she is tolerating chemotherapy well and remains fully able to serve on the court.”
* A stunning story out of Oregon: “Federal law enforcement officers have been using unmarked vehicles to drive around downtown Portland and detain protesters since at least July 14. Personal accounts and multiple videos posted online show the officers driving up to people, detaining individuals with no explanation of why they are being arrested, and driving off.”
* On a related note: “Mayor Ted Wheeler of Portland, who is also police commissioner, said the federal response was ‘irresponsible’ and asked for those deployed to stay inside federal buildings or leave the city. The Multnomah County sheriff, Mike Reese, called the federal response a ‘significant setback’ in efforts to calm tensions.”
* Another step backward in Georgia: “Georgia’s governor on Thursday sued Atlanta’s mayor over that city’s mask law, a day after he banned local governments from requiring the coverings that health experts say help to stop the spread of COVID-19.”
* On a related note: Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said Friday that she thinks it’s no coincidence that Georgia’s governor filed a lawsuit against her over her city’s mask law a day after she said President Donald Trump violated it during his visit Wednesday. ‘This filing of a lawsuit is simply bizarre, quite frankly,’ Bottoms, a Democrat, said in an interview with NBC’s ‘Today’ show.”
* DOD: “Secretary of Defense Mark Esper issued specific guidance on what flags may be displayed in military installations on Friday, omitting the Confederate flag from the list of flags permitted without explicitly banning it.”
* Getting worse, not better: “The United States reported 77,255 new cases of the coronavirus on Thursday, shattering its record single-day spike by nearly 10,000, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.”
* The public has noticed: “Americans’ views of President Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic have deteriorated significantly as cases rise across the country and personal fears of becoming infected persist, a Washington Post-ABC News poll finds.”
* Wesley Ira Purkey: “The United States on Thursday carried out its second federal execution in three days following a hiatus of nearly two decades, killing by lethal injection a Kansas man whose lawyers contended he had dementia and was unfit to be executed.”
* Dustin Honken: “A meth kingpin from Iowa who was convicted of killing two young girls and three adults is scheduled to be executed Friday, the third federal inmate to be put to death this week following a 17-year pause in federal executions.” * Retail numbers: “Americans cracked open their wallets more than expected in June, as shoppers began venturing out to malls and diners returned to restaurants. But with a staggering 32 million workers still jobless and the spread of COVID-19 prompting renewed business closures and lockdowns, this shift towards normalcy might be fleeting.” * On Capitol Hill: “Top Senate Republicans are pushing to give federal courts jurisdiction over personal injury and medical liability claims stemming from the coronavirus pandemic as part of a temporary set of legal protections for businesses, schools and other organizations.” * If recent history is any guide, Trump will soon attack the researchers behind this study: “The first randomized clinical trial testing hydroxychloroquine as an early treatment for mild covid-19 found the drug was no better than a placebo in patients who were not hospitalized.” Have a safe weekend.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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