So why was poor Thomas Jefferson Byrd shot and killed early Saturday morning in southwest Atlanta? What the hell happened? An Atlanta Journal Constitution story says the cops found Byrd with “multiple gunshot wounds in his back.” Multiple? That’s rage. That’s wild-eyed, mad-man stuff.

Spike Lee put this on Instagram earlier today:

I have a journo pally…actually two journo pallies who’ve been telling me that I can’t see the forest for the trees, and that Trump is going to tap into something momentous or a geyser of Jett Rink oil is going to suddenly explode on his property…basically that the Fate Godz are going to spin things around and hand him an electoral victory on 11.3.

All along I’ve been saying “no, you can’t be right, there’s too much evil here, Americans are stupid but they’re not this stupid”.

But everything changed this morning. A new NBC News / Wall Street Journal poll, tabulated after the debate but before Trump was diagnosed with Covid-19, has Biden leading by 14 points. Will the fact that Trump’s cavalier, mask-averse attitudes led to widespread White House infections, including his own…will this expand or diminish Biden’s advantage?

I’m asking myself “what kind of drooling backwater voter would give Trump a sympathy pass because he was louche and arrogant enough to allow himself to get infected?” And the answer is “any voter who regards himself as a real–deal, true–blue American.”

I’m just saying that today I realized that the journo pallies were right all along…of course Trump will snatch victory from the jaws of defeat…of course he’s going to reverse the course of history and gravity and common sense and turn it all around. A Biden-over-Trump 14-point lead is nothing…nothing at all. A lot can happen over the next 30 days, and the obvious fact that God the Father Almighty wants Trump to win…well, just wait and see what happens.

“He’s such a flagrant, toxic narcissist.” That’s Bruce Springsteen’s view of @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/FKLtK2TsVJ

— Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) October 18, 2016

So SNL decided against a skit about Trump spinning his health situation while inhaling Remdesivir inside his suite at Walter Reed Hospital. Because it would have felt brusque and cruel, and because they wanted the heavily hyped Jim Carrey (Joe Biden) and Maya Rudolph (Kamala Harris) front and center. But a Walter Reed skit might’ve worked. Carrey’s best bits came at the very beginning — blam-blam with the finger pistol and using the tape measure.

Harry Lewis’s “Toots”: “S’matter, doncha get it? A con. Guaranteed for life.” Thomas Gomez’s “Curly” Hoff: “Oh, we get it, all right.”

Never forget that in 1950, or roughly two years after Key Largo opened, Lewis and his then-girlfriend (and future wife) Marilyn Friedman invested $3,500 to open the Hamburger Hamlet restaurant at the corner of Sunset Blvd and Hilldale Ave. on the Sunset Strip. (That’s not the longtime location on the north side of Sunset near Cory Ave. but a block west of the Whisky a Go Go.) The restaurant was successful and grew into a chain of 24 locations. Harry and Marilyn sold all the HH restaurants for about $30 million in 1987. The couple also launched Kate Mantilini on Wilshire in 1987, and then a Woodland Hills location in ’03. Both KMs are now dead and gone. Harry passed on 6.9.13 at age 93.

I’ve been to the actual Key Largo. The Warner Bros. sound stage atmosphere ain’t what it used to be, if it ever existed at all.

I wish Trump didn’t have tough German genes, but he does. I have them also and know how that goes. So he walks out of Walter Reed in a week or two, but when could he resume his hillbilly Nuremberg rally speeches? Short time frame before 11.3. What are the odds?

Tweeted around 4 pm: “I’m not a fan of Presidents who have to go to hospitals. I like Presidents who don’t get sick, okay?”

pic.twitter.com/gvIPuYtTZG

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 3, 2020

Last night on the Strip the reddish amber moon was striking and beautiful to the naked eye, but the iPhone camera was useless against the splotchy glare of billboards, headlights, traffic lights and whatnot.

He’s finished, right? His poll numbers were dropping anyway after his brash and abrasive performance during last Tuesday’s debate. On top of which he’d behaved in a thoughtless and cavalier fashion all through the pandemic, and eventually God couldn’t stand it any more and said “fuck this guy.”

And so Trump’s karma and the hovering virus joined hands and infected his ass (perhaps during last weekend’s super-spreader event at the White House) along with Melania and Hope Hicks and several of his supporters, and then he went to a New Jersey campaign event last Thursday despite having been diagnosed, and now he looks like a completely thoughtless and malignant asshole.

In the wake of all this, what kind of slimy hinterland bottom-feeders would vote for this sociopath? Millions, as we all know. Tens of millions.

Anyway, Trump is especially vulnerable to Covid due to his obesity and advanced age (74), but former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, who announced his Covid infection this morning, might be even more vulnerable, no? Due to his weight and size proportions being even more pronounced than Trump’s?

Incidentally, a sensible, good-hearted guy who knows some rightwing guys has sent the following: “Someone high up told me Trump is taking the most promising vaccine. They wouldn’t tell me if he self infected, but they did say when he gets well and says he tried it on himself first for the rest of us, he will be the ‘superhero who saved America and wins in a landslide.'” What a steaming pile!

“…to vote to kill Roe v. Wade, if given the opportunity, and thereby make it as difficult as possible for women to have abortions in this country. I also solemnly pledge, if given the opportunity, to vote to kill the Affordable Care Act. I don’t have much of a choice as far as my speaking voice is concerned, so you can rest assured that if I am confirmed to the Supreme Court, I will continue to not sound like Lauren Bacall, Anne Bancroft, Rosalind Russell, Katharine Hepburn, Ingrid Bergman, Barbara Stanwyck or Meryl Streep and sound, in fact, like a 12-year-old Girl Scout selling cookies door to door. Oh, and while it’s possible I could test positive for Covid-19 within the next few days, I probably won’t as I didn’t mingle much during last weekend’s White House super-spreader event. Thank you, Mr. President, and may God bless America.”

Ladies and Gentlemen, here’s my little corner of Hollywood Elsewhere’s space.

It’s my own project, named PRAVDA (Truth).

Possible topics: (a) My opinion about films; (b) The difference between Russians and Americans in terms of general views about life; (c) Education; (d) Healthcare; (e) Reactions to marijuana legally for sale in California.

Please send me your ideas on what might be interesting for you, and I will get into that as best I can. You can contact me here in comments or through my email: t.antropova74@gmail.com.

I have so much to share with you. The only obstacle is a language barrier. Unfortunately, my English speech currently is not as elaborate and expressive as the Russian. But everything is temporary. :-))

When I feel strong enough, I will move to my own website. But right now I need your support and help.

Thanks to Jeff’s friend who suggested this idea and inspiration.

My first topic is about perception of the Russian language. As a linguist with a bachelor’s degree, I’m curious how English-speaking people regard the Russian language from a phonetic point of view. What does Russian sound like? Is it harsh? Musical? Pleasant or unpleasant?

Over the last couple of days I shot and edited a short video about Grace Kelly, my favorite Hollywood actress. Shot on my iPhone, edited with iMovie. Duration: 3 min. 48 sec. Russian language.

This morning a Politico story about a Saturday press briefing by Dr. Sean Conley, physician to President Trump, and other Walter Reed doctors, was posted around 9 am. It reported the expected blah-blah about how Orange Plague is “doing very well” and “fever-free and not currently on supplemental oxygen,” etc.

But the story also contains a huge boinnngg! statement: “It had been 48 hours since Trump started a key element of his treatment and 72 hours since he was diagnosed with coronavirus.” This is an admission that Trump and his flunkies lied from the get-go.

Trump announced that he and Melania had tested positive for Covid-19 very late Thursday night (technically Friday morning), but this morning’s statement said that his treatment began on Thursday morning (10.1) — over 12 hours before Trump’s tweeted announcement.

Worse, this morning’s Conley statement said that Trump’s coronavirus infection was discovered 72 hours prior or sometime on the morning of Wednesday, 9.30, meaning that the news was kept secret for the better part of two days.

It also confirms that the mask-free Trump attended political rallies and get-togethers on Wednesday and Thursday, knowing full well that he was infected and could very well spread the virus to others.

Politico excerpt: “Members of Trump’s medical team said it had been 48 hours since Trump started a key element of his treatment and 72 hours since he was diagnosed with coronavirus. But Trump only revealed his positive status early Friday morning — about 36 hours before Saturday’s briefing. If accurate, the timeline suggests Trump knew about his status on Wednesday — the day of a campaign trip where he was surrounded by a largely unmasked crowd in Minnesota — and long before he traveled to a fundraiser in New Jersey on Thursday after a senior aide had been diagnosed.

“After [the] briefing, a White House press pool reporter conveyed a statement from ‘a source familiar with the president’s health’ that appeared to explain why the president had been hospitalized if he had not been on supplemental oxygen.

“The president’s vitals over the last 24 hours were very concerning and the next 48 hours will be critical in terms of his care,” the statement said. “We’re still not on a clear path to a full recovery.”

A “fatigued” Donald Trump has been flown to Walter Reed military hospital after last night’s COVID-19 diagnosis. Mild fever, cough, chills, stuffed up. This is due to an excess of caution, which of course means that his situation is probably a bit worse than they’re letting on. Trump will stay there “a few days” and will work from the hospital’s presidential suite, blah blah. They’re saying he weighs 240 pounds — not a chance. My guess is 260, 270…somewhere in there.

I don’t want him dead. I want him alive and alert and facing the likely reality of 11.3. I want him to feel the drip-drip-drip of defeat and repudiation.

This is incredible commentary from Fox News’ Chris Wallace about Trump’s coronavirus prognosis. Just wait for it. pic.twitter.com/LS3EhetGSi

— John Aravosis 🇺🇸🇬🇷🏳️‍🌈 (@aravosis) October 2, 2020

Yesterday I finished watching Billy Ray‘s The Comey Rule (Showtime), which is not a miniseries but a two-parter, and a highly absorbing one at that. Take no notice of the 64% Rotten Tomatoes rating and the corresponding 58% Metacritic score. Because it’s good, and by that I mean good enough. More than that actually. If you don’t go looking for God or salvation or cosmic happiness you’ll be completely fine with it. Ray has directed and written in a professional, first-rate fashion.

I can only conclude that the critics who panned it aren’t reviewing the show as much as venting fury at what Comey did to Hillary Clinton and in fact the whole country when he announced on 10.28.16 that the FBI was reopening an investigation into her emails because of Anthony Weiner’s laptop (which was a terrible call on his part). I, on the other hand, am reviewing the show, and I’m telling you it’s not a problem.

The Comey Rule may not be the most profound or earth-shaking dramatization of a recent, real-life Washington melodrama, but it’s good enough. I wasn’t expecting an imaginative or mind-bending revisiting of the former FBI Director‘s saga between his 2013 appointment and 2017 termination (who would want that?), but a taut and exacting one. This is exactly what you get. I was hooked from start to finish.

What I was mostly looking for was (a) efficient writing and (b) skillful performances from the various players, and in these realms I was wholly satisfied.

Yes, that includes Brendan Gleeson‘s reanimation of Orange Plague. Does he deliver the greatest impression of Trump ever seen or imagined? No, but he’s suitably menacing. Is he trying to be funny like Alec Baldwin? No, but he’s vaguely hilarious anyway. I also found him convincing as far as it went. Gleeson is perhaps a little more satanic than the Real McCoy, but nonetheless a good guy to have around, and I mean that in the sense that Gleeson really means it.

As Comey, Jeff Daniels delivers the fundamental decency and cautiously bland rectitude. But God, this is exhausting…how can I deliver assessments of 20 or 25 performances, all of them decent and more than a few arresting or even fascinating? I’m drowning just thinking about it. Holly Hunter‘s Sally Yates…a little too cornpone but that’s Hunter for you. Michael Kelly as Andrew McCabe — perfect. Jennifer Ehle as the savyy, strategic, Hillary-supporting Patrice Comey — ditto. Scoot McNairy is dead-on as the chilly but curiously naive Rod Rosenstein.

Jonathan Banks as James Clapper, Steven Pasquale as Peter Strzok, Oona Chaplin as Lisa Page, Amy Seimetz as Trisha Anderson, Steve Zissis as Jim Baker…as good as they could possibly be, in the zone, pocket drop.

T. R. Knight‘s Reince Priebus is such an asshole! Anthony Bowden‘s George Papadopoulos is a hoot…a real opportunistic lounge sleaze. And I especially loved (i.e.m felt relaxed with) Kingsley Ben-Adir‘s Barack Obama. KBA also delivers a satisfactory Malcom X in One Night in Miami.