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Trump was asked if he was tested for coronavirus before the first debate. His response? I don’t know, I don’t even remember. Great.
A moderator just asked Trump if someone tested him for coronavirus before the first debate. His response? "I don’t know, I don’t even remember."* Great. NBC

*The full quote: "I don't know, I don't even remember. I test all the time. I can tell you this. After the debate, like, I guess, a day or so, I think it was Thursday evening, maybe even late Thursday evening, uh, I tested positive. That's when I first found out."

A man allegedly set fire to a police officer's car near Denny Park this afternoon: SPD took the man into custody. An officer was in the car and suffered minor burns, reports the Seattle Times. This story is breaking. Not many details are immediately available.

Quote of the Day: “If I had not had that abortion, I’m pretty sure there would have been no Fleetwood Mac." It comes from Stevie Nicks.

There's no presidential debate in Miami tonight (thank god): But the two presidential candidates are hosting competing town hall events. (Trump withdrew from the scheduled second debate because he couldn't handle doing it remotely.) Both of the town halls started around 5 PM Seattle-time, with Biden's lasting an hour-and-a-half, and Trump's about an hour. Trump's is in Miami. Biden's is in Philly.

A few of the lies coming from Trump's town hall: Trump falsely said that 85% of people who wear masks get coronavirus. That's not true. (AP: "The study cited, by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, did not find that 85% of mask wearers catch COVID-19. If that were the case, the majority of Americans would be infected.") Trump also said he's "done more for the African-American community than any president with the exception of Abraham Lincoln." He says this a lot. It's still not true. Trump touted that "we had the greatest economy in the history of our country, last year." Not. Fucking. True. From NYT economics reporter Jeanna Smialek:

Mr. Trump often says that his administration fostered the best economy in history before the onset of the pandemic. But data show that the economy in 2019 failed to measure up to prior economic eras across several dimensions.

The expansion that stretched from 2009 through early 2020 was the longest on record, and it brought very low unemployment and improving wage gains. But many people remained on the job market’s sidelines: the employment rate for men in their prime, for instance, never rebounded to pre-2008 crisis levels. Output growth, which did receive a temporary boost from Mr. Trump’s tax cuts, has otherwise generally hovered around 2 percent. That is roughly the level economists see as sustainable given modern productivity and demographic trends, and lower than the run rate that prevailed in prior decades. And inequality remained very high. The top 1 percent held almost 40 percent of the nation’s wealth last year, little changed from 2016, based on Federal Reserve data.

FYI: We don't have coronavirus under control. Today, the US passed its eight million mark for known infections, according to a New York Times database.

Trump wouldn't denounce QAnon: "They are very strongly against pedophilia. And I agree with that! I mean, I do agree with that!" SIR. FUCKIN' COME ON.

YouTube will ban QAnon: The company joins Twitter and Facebook in no longer allowing "content that targets individuals and groups with conspiracy theories, specifically QAnon and its antecedent, 'pizzagate.'" It's too little too late, but these companies are clearly noticing the polls and preparing for a Biden administration. It's like they had the tools all along.

Meanwhile, over at Biden's town hall: Biden said parts of the 1994 crime bill, his signature legislation, were a mistake. A caveat: "Yes, it was. But here’s where the mistake came. The mistake came in terms of what the states did locally." He admitted that "things have changed drastically" since 1994. Lol. Yes, they have. Biden also said he does not support defunding the police—someone tell Republicans!!—and that he thinks between four and eight Republican Senators would back his agenda if we elected him to office.

Biden suggested a coronavirus vaccine should be mandatory: Of course, "it depends on the state of the nature of the vaccine, when it comes out, and how it's being distributed." He said he couldn't enforce mandatory coronavirus vaccines but that the country should nevertheless consider mandatory vaccines.

Remember what Jasmyne mentioned this morning: Biden continues to hold a double-digit national lead over Trump. Get out the vote and manifest the polls, America!


Twitter had a major crash this afternoon: The world rejoiced.

Is this how we save music venues? I'm down.

As you've heard, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled today that Eyman's $30 Car Tab initiative was unconstitutional: But buried in that ruling was an important footnote, spotted by SCC Insight:

Buried on page 13 of today’s Washington State Supreme Court ruling invalidating Initiative 976 is a lengthy footnote. It does something very unusual for a footnote: it explicitly overturns a 1960 ruling by the Court, in an attempt to make amends for an incredibly racist opinion that has sat on the books for sixty years.

Read more here.

What are you doing on Saturday? I'm sure, at some point, you'll be sitting at home, so you should just plan right now to participate in the first-ever VIRTUAL Video Store Day. Scarecrow Video will host an eight-hour telethon, featuring appearances and performances by Collide-O-Scope Seattle, the Found Footage Festival, and me and Jasmyne Keimig (probably around ~4:30). There will also apparently be "a review of every film in our Giallo section by Scarecrow fan Corey Brewer." Fair warning: It's a big section.

Help me decide what movie to watch tonight: I'm attempting Scarecrow's Psychotronic Challenge this month. Tonight's challenge is "HELL ON FOUR WHEELS," which means I have to pick a movie that features characters in wheelchairs. Should I go with Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, Friday the 13th Part 2, or Nightmare on Elm Street 3?