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Wednesday

Apr152020

The Commentariat -- April 16, 2020

Afternoon Update:

Josh Dawsey & Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post: "The White House released new guidance late Thursday afternoon for states to reopen amid the coronavirus pandemic, leaving the decisions up to governors to make on a statewide or county-by-county level. The guidance, which will be formally announced during a 6 p.m. news conference, doesn't lay out a specific timeline for relaxing social distancing restrictions. It lists a set of criteria -- such as testing and hospital capacity -- for state leaders to use in making their decisions." Mrs. McC: But Hans Nichols of NBC News says the guidance says very little about testing, and it certainly isn't a prerequisite for reopening portions of the economy. It does talk about "contact tracing." ~~~

~~~ Gov. John Carney (D) of Delaware said on CNN that Delaware and other states do not have the capacity to do the "contact tracing" & other testing necessary to implement the guidance for reopening.

The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Thursday are here. "President Trump told governors that some could begin reopening their states by May 1 or earlier if they wanted to, but backed down from his confrontation with them by making it clear that he would not seek to impose his will on when they reopen businesses, schools and everyday life.... 'The president will announce a plan in the works to drastically increase the capacity for state and local health departments to do core public health work like testing people, doing contact tracing," said [a top government] official.... On a conference call Thursday morning, Mr. Trump repeatedly told House lawmakers that people around the country were raring to get the economy moving again. He drew attention to protests in some states, saying that Americans were angry. [Mrs. McC: You knew he would.] And he hinted that 29 states were ready to reopen, telling lawmakers he would have more to say later...." ~~~

~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for Thursday are here.

Carol Lee, et al., of NBC News: "The White House is exploring ways of drastically increasing coronavirus testing in the U.S., as ... Donald Trump's aides scramble to put measures in place that might make it feasible for him to meet his goal of reopening the economy in parts of the country by May 1, according to four people familiar with the efforts.... The push to ramp up testing reflects an acknowledgment by some of the president's advisers that, despite his insistence that testing is working well, there are problems with access and that significantly increasing the number of tests per day will be critical if the economy is going to reopen."

Cities to Trump: Save Lives, Pay Your Bills. Dave Levinthal of the Center for Public Integrity, republished by NBC News: "Here's how some city leaders say ... Donald Trump could immediately help them grapple with the coronavirus crisis: Pay bills they already sent his campaign committee months or years ago. Fourteen municipal governments -- from Albuquerque, New Mexico, to Wildwood, New Jersey -- want Trump's campaign committee to clear a combined $1.82 million worth of public safety-related debt connected to Trump's 'Make America Great Again' campaign rallies, according to interviews with local officials and municipal records obtained by the Center for Public Integrity.... Many cities that hosted Trump rallies chose not to bill his campaign for police and public safety costs, explaining they have policies against doing so or didn't bother because of Trump's history of nonpayment.... Trump frequently touts his support for law enforcement.... But in a statement..., the Trump campaign indicated it's not responsible for reimbursing cities for police and public safety costs...."

Steve Benen of MSNBC on Trump's threat to adjourn Congress: "Let's ... not forget that many of Trump's nominees are ridiculous and are currently stuck in committee because Senate Republicans aren't sure they can advance the president's picks in good conscience. It's probably why Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) demurred yesterday in response to Trump's misguided threat.... Part of the problem is that Donald Trump has never fully familiarized himself with how the federal government works, and his civic blind-spots lead him to blurt out ideas he doesn't recognize as foolish. But the other part of the equation is nearly as important: Trump wants to appear strong and powerful, unaware of the extent to which these efforts backfire when he discovers that he doesn't have the authority he wishes he had." ~~~

~~~ MEANWHILE. Jordain Carney of the Hill: "The Senate scheduled another two weeks of pro forma sessions Thursday, just a day after President Trump demanded senators either return to town or adjourn. The Senate is now slated to meet roughly every three days until May 4, when senators are expected to return to Washington.... Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced Wednesday that he was extending the recess in consultation with medical professionals and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.)." ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: That is, Trump is out of luck. He can't make his horrible recess appointments because there's no recess. And tho the Hill story doesn't say so, he can't just adjourn the Congress, either. Under the Constitution, "in case of disagreement between the [two chambers of Congress], with respect to the time of adjournment, he [the president*] may adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper." But the House & Senate agreed a long time ago to adjourn January 3, 2021. There's no disagreement between the House & Senate. So Trump has no Constitutional option to adjourn Congress.

The Turbo-Tax Hitch. Heather Long & Michelle Singletary of the Washington Post: "Many Americans woke up Wednesday expecting to find a payment of $1,200 or more from the U.S. government in their bank account, but instead they realized nothing had arrived yet -- or the wrong amount was deposited. Parents of young children complained they did not receive the promised $500 check for their dependent children.... Several million people who filed their taxes via H&R Block, TurboTax and other popular services were unable to get their payments because the IRS did not have their direct deposit information on file, according to the Treasury, companies and experts."

Noah Higgins-Dunn, et al., of CNBC: “New York and other East Coast states are extending their shutdown of nonessential businesses to May 15 as officials grapple with how to reopen parts of the economy without leading to a resurgence in coronavirus cases, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Thursday. Cuomo announced the move at his daily briefing in Albany and via Twitter, saying 'New York on PAUSE' will be extended in coordination with other states." ~~~

~~~ Jarrett Renshaw of Reuters: "New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has tapped high-powered consultants to develop a science-based plan for the safe economic reopening of the region that can thwart pressure from ... Donald Trump to move more rapidly, state government sources told Reuters.... McKinsey & Company is producing models on coronavirus testing, infections and other key data points that along with other research and expert opinions will help underpin decisions on how and when to reopen the region's economy."

As I Suspected. Anna Nichols & Susan Demas of Michigan Advance: "More than 3,000 people -- including some brandishing Confederate and militia flags, as well as guns -- piled into downtown Lansing for hours on a snowy Wednesday. They were supposed to be there to protest Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's stay home order during the COVID-19 pandemic, but much of the event effectively turned into a pro-... Donald Trump rally.... Many had anti-Whitmer signs likening her to Adolf Hitler and calling for her removal from office. Nazi Germany was referenced in several signs. One sign used a swastika to claim Whitmer and Democrats as dictators taking away liberty from citizens, while some protestors had swastika tattoos.... Michigan has been hit particularly hard by the coronavirus, with the fourth-most cases in the country, per Johns Hopkins University tracking."

Steve Hendrix & Ruth Eglash of the Washington Post: "Israel ran into another wall -- actually, the same wall -- in its quest to break a year-long political impasse early Thursday when another deadline passed without the country's main rival factions able to strike a deal and form a government. The two sides, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former army chief Benny Gantz, were still talking when midnight came and went, marking the end of Gantz's official window to assemble a ruling coalition. The rivals, spurred by the coronavirus crisis, have been struggling for weeks to agree on a power-sharing arrangement in which they would take turns in the prime minister's office."

~~~~~~~~~~

Jeff Cox of CNBC: "Protection measures against the coronavirus continued to tear through the employment ranks, with 5.245 million more Americans filing first-time claims for unemployment insurance last week, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The new filings bring the crisis total to just over 22 million, nearly wiping out all the job gains since the Great Recession. The total was a bit worse than the 5 million expected from economists surveyed by Dow Jones.Though the most recent total, for the week ended April 11, represented a drop from the previous two weeks, it still showed that the damage to the U.S. labor market remains profound."

Reuters, via CNBC: "US housing starts plunge[d] 22.3% to 1.216 million in March."

Stupid Trump Tricks, Ctd.

Mrs. McCrabbie: It isn't just Trump's inaction that is causing additional havoc in a time of crisis; he is actively initiating counterproductive and superfluous policies and threats to further exacerbate the crisis.

Hey, Let's Create an Unnecessary Constitutional Crisis During a National Crisis! Brett Samuels of the Hill: "President Trump on Wednesday called on the Senate to either confirm his nominees to vacancies across the administration or formally adjourn, threatening to use executive power to try and force both chambers of Congress to adjourn. The president offered a lengthy diatribe against what he described as congressional obstruction in confirming his nominees, which he argued was more urgent than ever amid the coronavirus pandemic. The Senate ... is not expected to return until May 4 but has been conducting pro forma sessions in the meantime, preventing Trump from making recess appointments.... The president threatened to use his 'constitutional authority' to adjourn both chambers of Congress, which would allow him to make recess appointments to vacant positions.... Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution grants Trump with the power to 'on extraordinary occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in case of disagreement between them, with respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Colby Itkowitz & Erica Werner of the Washington Post: "[Trump] spent several minutes [Mrs. McC: at the top] of his daily coronavirus briefing Wednesday blaming Senate Democrats for blocking his nominations, even though most of the vacancies in the federal government are because Trump hasn't selected anyone to fill them. Several of his nominees haven't been given a confirmation hearing yet in the Republican-led Senate. Trump cited a never-exercised power the Constitution grants the president to adjourn Congress if leaders of the House and Senate can't agree on whether to adjourn." (Also linked yesterday.)

~~~ Sarah Burris of the Raw Story: Trump's impeachment lawyer, Jonathan Turley, wrote on Twitter, "The President just said that he may unilaterally adjourn Congress. This seems to be a reference to Article II, Section 3, which gives a president in 'extraordinary occasions' to convene or adjourn the Houses. This power has never been used and should not be used now.... The power to adjourn only applies 'in case of disagreement between them, with respect to the time of adjournment.' Pro forma sessions have been used by both Democratic and Republican houses to prevent recess appointments. I have long been a critic of such recess appointments. Senators of both parties should vote to support the congressional control over adjournment. Absent a 'disagreement' there is no presidential power to adjourn under Article II. A pandemic should not be an invitation for pandemonium. Indeed, we need regular order now more than ever." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ MEANWHILE. Mrs. McCrabbie: Trump "reinstated" the other Constitutional crisis he created Monday -- saying he has "absolute control" over when and how states open up elements of their economies -- a position he backed off Tuesday, but essentially reiterated Wednesday, saying he could "shut down" any efforts by governors to defy his recommendations and punishing those who did. I'll get up a print story on this if one becomes available. But I heard Trump say it on the teevee, and Joy Reid of MSNBC reran the videotape later. You just can't have too many Constitutional crises during an actual existential crisis. ~~~

~~~ Update. Apparently the press isn't too interested in King Donald's latest claims to royal prerogatives, but here are some outtakes of a transcript of yesterday's decrees:

If we're not happy, we'll take very strong action against a state or a governor. If we're not happy with the job a governor's doing, we'll let them know about it. As you know, we have very strong action we can take, including a close-down, but we don't want to do that.... We have the right to do whatever we want, but we wouldn't do that. But, no, we would have the right to close down what they're doing if we want to do that, but we don't want to do that, and I don't think there'll be any reason to do that, but we have the right to do that. -- Donald Trump, propaganda show, April 15

Vivian Salama, et al., of CNN: "In the first phone call convened between ... Donald Trump and some members of his newly formed business council, industry leaders reiterated to the President what public health experts and governors have been telling him for weeks: that there would need to be guarantees of ramped-up coronavirus testing before people return to work, according to one person briefed on the discussions. The call, one of a series with various sectors on Wednesday, was the first task force teleconference aimed at devising a strategy for reopening the country. The call lasted for about an hour and had dozens of participants from the banking, food, hospitality and retail sectors, many of whom lauded the President and his administration for their efforts to combat coronavirus and jump-start the economy, this person said." ~~~

~~~ Jonathan Swan of Axios, speaking on MSNBC, said the "business task force" was a joke. Not a task force at all, it consists of Trump making phone conference calls to some business leaders. ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: You might describe this as Trump's once again flying by the seat of his pants, but it's less than that. It sounds like a bullshit session where a bunch of business leaders stroked Trump's ego and a few cautiously conveyed their real message: "My God! Don't kill our employees & customers!" ~~~

~~~ Update. Toljaso. Robert Costa, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump's attempt to enlist corporate executives in a push to reopen parts of society amid the coronavirus pandemic got off to a rocky start Wednesday, with some business leaders complaining the effort was haphazard and warning that more testing needs to be in place before restrictions are lifted.... Across the business world, there was private unhappiness with how the White House handled the announcement of the advisory council -- which it has dubbed its 'Great American Economic Revival Industry Groups' -- and others warned that Trump's goal of a May 1 reopening date for much of the country was unrealistic.... Participants in the calls -- which took place in four rounds and included representatives from more than a dozen industries, including banking, sports, agriculture and health care -- painted a picture of a chaotic approach by the White House. 'Trump made it very clear he was ready to go on May 1,' a person who was on one of the afternoon calls said. The person ... added that Trump seemed to bask in the praise from CEOs, who repeatedly opened their comments with compliments for the president." ~~~

~~~ Annie Karni, et al., of the New York Times: "Some business leaders had no idea they were included until they heard that their names had been read in the Rose Garden on Tuesday night by President Trump. Some of those who had agreed to help said they received little information on what, exactly, they were signing up for. And others who were willing to connect with the White House could not participate in hastily organized conference calls on Wednesday because of scheduling conflicts and technical difficulties. In short, the rollout of what the president referred to last week as his 'Opening Our Country Council' was as confusing as the process of getting there. Instead of a formal council, what Mr. Trump announced on Tuesday was a watered-down version that included 17 separate industry groups, including hospitality, banking, energy and 'thought leaders.' And on Wednesday, a bipartisan group of lawmakers received emails inviting them to join another task force." ~~~

~~~ Stephanie Ruhle, et al., of NBC News: "While happy to participate, the vast majority of those on [Trump's supposed advisory] list were not informed that they would be named by the president and not told in advance what their roles might be. Some others, like Mark Cuban, owner of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, said they were told about the group by phone on Tuesday, just hours before the president spoke. And some emails simply went astray, with White House officials inviting former CEOs no longer in charge, in what appears to have been a last-minute effort to cobble together an announcement for Trump's daily news conference.... sources familiar with [Trump's Wednesday conference] call said the participating executives, about 50 in total, were not informed that their names would be included in any formal White House group or council." ~~~

~~~ Matt Stieb of New York highlights some amusing screw-ups in the rollout of these tasks forces or phone chats or whatever they are and whatever they're called. If Trump's objective was to portray the White House as a "Three Stooges"' or "Keystone Cops"-type of operation, then he has been a rollicking success.

James Hohmann of the Washington Post: "A draft national strategy to reopen the country in phases, developed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, emphasizes that even a cautious and phased approach 'will entail a significant risk of resurgence of the virus.' The internal document, obtained by The Washington Post, warns of a 'large rebound curve' of novel coronavirus cases if mitigation efforts are relaxed too quickly before vaccines are developed and distributed or broad community immunity is achieved." Underlying WashPo story linked yesterday. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ David Lim of Politico: "The number of coronavirus tests analyzed each day by commercial labs in the U.S. plummeted by more than 30 percent over the past week, even though new infections are still surging in many states and officials are desperately trying to ramp up testing so the country can reopen. One reason for the drop-off may be the narrow testing criteria that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last revised in March. The agency's guidelines prioritize hospitalized patients, health care workers and those thought to be especially vulnerable to the disease such as the elderly. Health providers have been turning away others in part due to shortages of the swabs used to collect samples.... After being overwhelmed for weeks, commercial labs say they are now sitting with unused testing capacity waiting for samples to arrive." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

Here's perhaps the most important reason mass testing (with reliable tests) is vital: ~~~

~~~ ** Arman Azad of CNN: "People might be most infectious with the novel coronavirus before they show symptoms, according to a study published Wednesday. The research, published in the journal Nature Medicine, adds to a growing body of evidence showing that seemingly healthy people are spreading the virus. 'We observed the highest viral load in throat swabs at the time of symptom onset, and inferred that infectiousness peaked on or before symptom onset,' the researchers wrote. They found that viral shedding -- when people may be able to infect others -- could begin two to three days before symptoms appeared. The amount of virus given off, though, appeared to decline after people began feeling sick."

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie Update: Lawrence O'Donnell told a horrifying story of a new widow having to call 1-800-AUTOPSY to get her husband's body autopsied to find out if he had Covid-19.

George Conway in a Washington Post op-ed: "Among Donald Trump's many flaws as president is one that's as fundamental as any: He simply doesn't understand his job.... Trump made this clear during his briefing Monday, with an extraordinary series of statements about presidential power -- well, perhaps extraordinary for anyone but him.... Trump took a solemn oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. After his years in the job, he ought to know something about that document.... In our federal system, the states aren't under Washington's control, the way a corporate subsidiary might be owned by, say, the Trump Organization. It's not just federalism that Trump misapprehends. It's grade-school-level civics that the president carries out laws.... Justice Hugo L. Black, then the court's leading textually oriented conservative, wrote [in Youngstown Sheet and Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952)], 'The President's power, if any, to issue the order must stem either from an act of Congress or from the Constitution.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Jonathan Chait: "When Congress enacted an emergency plan to send $1,200 checks to every American adult, Republicans joked that President Trump would want to sign his name on the checks. A few weeks later, after the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump was exploring this outlandish desire, a reporter asked, '... Do you want to sign those checks?' Trump denied it: 'No. Me sign? No.' Last night, the Washington Post reported that Trump's name will be displayed on every check.... Trump's presidency has largely consisted of outrageously corrupt notions proceeding from fearful accusation to accepted reality.... Trump has never respected any meaningful distinction between the federal government and the Trump Organization. He expects every federal employee, especially its law-enforcement agents, to advance his personal political agenda. He has functionally mixed its budget with his own by having the government pour money into his properties, and he has treated its official powers as if they are his own personal chits. The authority he has gained through the emergency response to the coronavirus has vastly expanded the potential for corruption, and every sign indicates that Trump is already engaging in systemic abuse." Read on. (Also linked yesterday.)

Caitlin Emma of Politico: "... Donald Trump's halt to World Health Organization funding is illegal and violates the same federal spending laws as the Ukraine aid freeze that partly prompted his impeachment, House Democrats said on Wednesday. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Trump's decision is 'dangerous, illegal and will be swiftly challenged,' without elaborating on what specific action might be taken." ~~~

From the New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Wednesday: "Dr. Robert R. Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, heaped praise on the World Health Organization Wednesday morning, saying that questions about what the group did during the pandemic should be left until 'after we get through this.' His comments on the 'CBS This Morning' program were at odds with President Trump's announcement Tuesday evening that he has ordered a freeze on American funding of the W.H.O., accusing the organization of a 'China-centric' bias and of contributing to deaths by covering up the spread of the virus.... His comments underscore the clash between Mr. Trump and his health care professionals." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times: "Thousands of Americans would be alive today if President Trump had spent more time listening to the World Health Organization instead of trying to destroy it. Trump's announcement that he will halt American funding for the W.H.O. just as the world is facing a raging pandemic is a dangerous attempt to find a scapegoat for his own failings. It is like taking away a fire department's trucks in the middle of a blaze.... [Trump's] own pandemic preparedness plan, which he characteristically has failed to implement, called for building support for the W.H.O. -- because it's a critical player to keep Americans safe. Yes, some of the complaints about the W.H.O. are valid.... But it has still managed the coronavirus crisis far better than the Trump administration.... Trump's main complaint about the W.H.O. is that it is too close to China, and there's some truth to that -- but Trump himself fawned over China's response to the pandemic.... If Trump insists on holding people accountable..., he can gaze in the mirror." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Yeganeh Torbati of ProPublica: "An internal memorandum written by U.S. officials and addressed to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warns that cutting funding to the World Health Organization, as ... Donald Trump said he would do Tuesday, would erode America’s global standing, threaten U.S. lives and hobble global efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic. The memo, which was prepared before Trump's Rose Garden announcement, was written by officials within the State Department's Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs and includes a detailed list of how U.S. funding to the WHO helps countries in the Middle East control the pandemic."

Roman Papademetriou of Crooked: "A slew of polls now show that the public is becoming aware of how poorly Trump has handled this public health crisis, so Trump has returned to one of his favorite tactics: shifting the blame at all costs.... The WHO is only the latest victim of Trump's efforts to avoid responsibility and divert attention from his failures. Since the virus began spreading in the country, Trump has tried to pin the blame on a host of other scapegoats, while asserting 'I don't take responsibility at all.'" Papademetriou names six other Trump scapegoats: the media, Democratic governors, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, China and inspectors general. ~~~

~~~ ** "False Prophet." McKay Coppins of the Atlantic: "... in recent weeks, the president and his allies have been waging a dystopian campaign of revisionist history more brazen than anything they've attempted before.... Meanwhile, Trump and the party he's remade in his image are working overtime to undermine the journalists who are uncovering damaging details of his pandemic response.... On February 28, Donald Trump stood before a crowd of supporters in South Carolina and told them to pay no attention to the growing warnings of a coronavirus outbreak in America. The press was 'in hysteria mode,' the president said. The Democrats were playing politics. This new virus was nothing compared with the seasonal flu -- and anyone who said otherwise was just trying to hurt him. 'This is their new hoax,' Trump proclaimed.... Six weeks later, the coronavirus has killed more than 25,000 Americans, the U.S. economy has been crippled -- and Trump is recasting himself as a pandemic prophet."

Trump Lies about Everything. Toluse Olorunnipa & Lisa Rein of the Washington Post: "When President Trump publicly denied on April 3 that he wanted his signature on stimulus checks that would be sent to millions of Americans..., officials in the Treasury Department were already secretly working on a plan to get the president's name on the payments. Trump, who was reportedly musing about placing his signature on the checks as early as late March, defended the unprecedented move Wednesday. 'I don't know too much about it. But I understand my name is there,' Trump said. 'I don't know where they're going, how they're going. I do understand it's not delaying anything, and I'm satisfied with that. I don't imagine it's a big deal. I'm sure people will be very happy to get a big, fat, beautiful check and my name is on it.'... The effort to place his name on the checks was largely kept secret until this week, with top White House [and some senior IRS] officials in the dark until the plan became public.... After privately suggesting to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin that he be allowed to formally sign the checks, Trump settled for having his name printed in the memo section, according to administration officials...." ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Trump, Mnuchin, et al., obviously know putting Trump's name on the stimulus checks was disgraceful. Otherwise, Mnuchin wouldn't have kept the plan secret & Trump wouldn't have lied about it. It's a lot like that $130K check to Stormy Daniels that Michael Cohen kept secret & Trump knew nothing about.

Masks for Us But Not for You. Carol Leonnig, et al., of the Washington Post: "In mid-March, a National Security Council team rushed to address ... a lack of masks to protect enough staff on the White House complex.... The effort resulted in a donation of hundreds of thousands of surgical masks from Taiwan.... The deal was sensitive in Taiwan, which had banned commercial exports of masks to protect supply for its citizens.... The bulk of Taiwan's goodwill shipment went to the Strategic National Stockpile, but 3,600 masks were set aside for White House staff and officials.... At the time, the U.S. government was discouraging the public from wearing masks, saying that healthy people didn't need them and that the gear should be saved for front-line medical workers most at risk of infection." Emphasis added.

The Prerogatives of a Princess. Annie Karni of the New York Times: "Ivanka Trump ... has positioned herself as one of the leaders of the administration's economic relief efforts and one of its most vocal advocates of social distancing.... But Ms. Trump herself has not followed the federal guidelines advising against discretionary travel, leaving Washington for another one of her family's homes, even as she has publicly thanked people for self-quarantining. And effective April 1, the city of Washington issued a stay-at-home order for all residents unless they are performing essential activities. [The Kushners reside in a D.C. mansion.] Ms. Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner..., traveled with their three children to the Trump National Golf Club Bedminster in New Jersey to celebrate the first night of Passover this month..., even as seders across the country were canceled and families gathered remotely over apps like Zoom.... Mr. Kushner returned to the White House.... Ms. Trump has continued to work from Bedminster...."

Palace Intrigue. Dan Diamond & Daniel Lippman of Politico: "The White House is installing Trump campaign veteran Michael Caputo in the health department's top communications position, Caputo confirmed to Politico. The move is designed to assert more White House control over Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, whom officials believe has been behind recent critical reports about ... Donald Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic, according to two officials with knowledge of the move.... Caputo is an intense Trump loyalist whose recent book 'The Ukraine Hoax,' alleged a conspiracy behind Trump's impeachment. The high-level move comes after a series of news reports that portrayed Azar as warning Trump about the pending Covid-19 pandemic in January but having the president and his aides dismiss his concerns. Trump on Sunday tweeted that Azar 'told me nothing until later,' appearing to refute those reports."

Reversal of Fortunes? Helene Cooper, et al., of the New York Times: "The Navy is looking into whether it can reinstate Capt. Brett E. Crozier, who was removed from command of the carrier Theodore Roosevelt after he pleaded for more help fighting a novel coronavirus outbreak aboard his ship, Defense Department officials said on Wednesday. Adm. Michael M. Gilday, the chief of naval operations, has indicated that he may reinstate Captain Crozier, who is viewed as a hero by his crew for putting their lives above his career, officials said. 'No final decisions have been made,' Cmdr. Nate Christensen, a spokesman for the admiral, said in a statement on Wednesday.... But Admiral Gilday's decision could be upended by President Trump, who has not been shy about intervening in military personnel cases.... Navy officials insist that Admiral Gilday will make a decision based on the findings of the investigation into the Roosevelt crisis, and not on what he believes the president wants him to do."

Aaron Gregg, et al., of the Washington Post: "An emergency loan program intended to get money swiftly into the hands of small businesses has all but collapsed under an unprecedented crush of applications and a shortage of funds, overwhelming agency officials and prompting urgent calls for action on Capitol Hill. The Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, or EIDL, a long-standing program run by the Small Business Administration (SBA), is separate from the $349 billion Paycheck Protection Program for small businesses that is the subject of a political fight on Capitol Hill. The federal government normally doles out EIDL loans to small businesses hurt by tornadoes and wildfires. On March 12, the SBA expanded the program to help entrepreneurs hurt by the coronavirus, offering low-interest loans of up to $2 million." (Also linked yesterday.)

Lucia Mutikani of Reuters: "U.S. retail sales suffered a record drop in March as mandatory business closures to control the spread of the novel coronavirus outbreak depressed demand for a range of goods, setting up consumer spending for its worst decline in decades.... Retail sales plunged 8.7% last month, the biggest decline since the government started tracking the series in 1992.... Economists polled by Reuters had forecast retail sales tumbling 8.0% in March. Compared to March last year, retail sales dropped 6.2%." --s (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: The NYT's live updates for Wednesday describes the drop in U.S. retail sales as "by far the largest in the nearly three decades the government has tracked the data."

USA Today has compiled state-by-state updates of coronavirus developments.

Adam Raymond of New York: "Protesters around the country have started gathering, some in groups that defy social-distancing recommendations, to register their disapproval for the ongoing economic shutdown tied to the coronavirus." Mrs. McC: While these protests may appear to be organic, my guess is that 99.9% of the protesters are Foxbots & 93.2% own MAGA hats.

Florida. Dave Zirin of the Nation: "Run by 74-year-old billionaire Friend-of-Trump Vince McMahon, WWE [World Wrestling Entertainment] has decided to resume live programming this week in the midst of the coronavirus, instead of doing safer bulk pretapings... to fulfill contractual requirements to the USA and Fox networks.... The decision to go to live-event programing comes after news this weekend that an unnamed on-air personality has tested positive for Covid-19.... In addition, McMahon is taking advantage of Florida's lax laws concerning Covid-19, enacted by their blithering goon of a governor, Ron DeSantis. WWE will be filming its live shows in the corrupt sinkhole of Orlando, where McMahon has received an 'essential business' label from the friendly Florida government.... As Alex Nazaryan of Yahoo News tweeted, 'Florida now has twice as many coronavirus cases (20,601) as South Korea (10,537). About 30 million more people live in South Korea than in Florida.'... Sure enough, the same day that McMahon announced that WWE would be doing live tapings in Florida, former Trump cabinet official Linda McMahon's (former WWE executive and Vince's spouse, of course) committed her Trump reelection PAC to spending $18.5 million in Florida in 2020.... It is a microcosm of a corrupt system in a state of profound decay." Emphasis added. ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: In addition, Zirin said on MSNBC that Vince McMahon -- who is subjecting his employees to coronavirus exposure -- is a member of Trump's back-to-business council. No doubt McMahon will offer prudent advice.

Kentucky. Morgan Watkins, et al., of the Louisville Courier Journal: "Impatient protesters demanding Gov. Andy Beshear reopen Kentucky disrupted his televised Wednesday afternoon pandemic update, chanting, blowing horns and shouting into a megaphone outside the window of the briefing room and nearly drowning out his comments.... Protesters, some of whom appeared to be standing less than 6 feet apart from one another, chanted 'we want to work' and 'facts over fear.' They yelled non-stop throughout Beshear's one-hour press briefing, switching up chants and occasionally sounding a horn.... Similar crowds gathered this week near the state Capitols in [Lansing, Michigan,] Columbus, Ohio, and Raleigh, North Carolina."

Michigan. Allan Smith & Erin Einhorn of NBC News: "Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed one of the most restrictive stay-at-home orders in the country late last week in hopes of containing the coronavirus outbreak in her state -- one of the hardest hit. The backlash has been immense. Michiganders, many from the more conservative areas of the state, believe Whitmer's latest order went too far.... [At least until the end of April,] Michiganders won't be allowed to travel to in-state vacation residences. They are not permitted to use a motor boat. Business restrictions have been tightened, including that large stores must close areas 'dedicated to carpeting, flooring, furniture, garden centers, plant nurseries, or paint,' among other measures. Violators could be fined or charged with a misdemeanor, though the practicality of strict enforcement was unclear.... Prominent conservatives circulated a petition to have her recalled -- one that generated more than 200,000 signatures -- while more than 300,000 Facebook users joined a group titled 'Michiganders Against Excessive Quarantine' in recent days." ~~~

~~~ Update. Allan Smith: "Thousands of demonstrators descended on the state Capitol in Lansing, Michigan, on Wednesday to protest Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's restrictive stay-at-home order, clogging the streets with their cars while scores ignored organizers' pleas to stay inside their vehicles. The protest -- dubbed 'Operation Gridlock' -- was organized by the Michigan Conservative Coalition and the Michigan Freedom Fund, a DeVos family-linked conservative group.... Demonstrators, on foot, were seen waving American, 'Don't Tread on Me' and Trump campaign flags. At least two Confederate flags were spotted. Protesters could be heard chanting 'Open up Michigan!' At one point, there was a 'lock her up' chant in reference to Whitmer.... 'We know this rally endangered people,' [Whitmer] said, adding that such activity 'will put more people at risks and could prolong how long we need to be in this posture.' She said it was a 'sad irony' that the protest may necessitate to a lengthening of the stay-at-home order."

New Jersey. A Gruesome Discovery. Tracey Tully of the New York Times: "By Monday, the police in a small New Jersey town had gotten an anonymous tip about a body being stored in a shed outside one of the state's largest nursing homes. When the police arrived, the corpse had been removed from the shed, but they discovered 17 bodies piled inside the nursing home in a small morgue intended to hold no more than four people.... The 17 were among 68 recent deaths linked to the long-term care facility, Andover Subacute and Rehabilitation Center I and II, including two nurses, officials said. Of those who died, 26 people had tested positive for the virus.... Of the patients who remain at the homes, housed in two buildings, 76 have tested positive for the virus; 41 staff members, including an administrator, are sick with Covid-19.... Andover Subacute is not alone. The coronavirus has swept through the New York region's nursing homes with devastating and deadly speed, killing thousands of residents at facilities struggling with staff shortages, increasingly sick patients and a lack of personal protective gear."

New York. Noah Higgins-Dunn, et al., of CNBC: "New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday he is ordering all people to wear a face covering while in public as the state works to combat the nation's worst coronavirus outbreak. The executive order will take effect after a three-day grace period, Cuomo said at his daily news conference in Albany." According to Matt Stieb of New York, the order goes into effect Friday.

Southwest. Jennifer Hiller & Liz Hampton of Reuters: "Oil fields from Texas and New Mexico to Oklahoma and North Dakota are going quiet..... Fuel demand has plunged by as much as 30 million barrels per day (bpd) - or 30% - as efforts to fight the coronavirus pandemic have grounded aircraft, reduced vehicle usage and pushed economies worldwide toward recession.... The governments of global oil producers and consumers are seeking to make unprecedented cuts to overall supply of some 19.5 million bpd. U.S. President Donald Trump heralded the deal to cut supply as one that would save hundreds of thousands of U.S. jobs. But oil prices fell again this week, dropping as much as 10% on Tuesday, because even those cuts may fail to stem the glut...Across the United States, up to 240,000 oil-related jobs will be lost this year[.]" --s (Also linked yesterday.)

Jacqueline Feldscher of Politico: "The Pentagon's inspector general 'could not definitively determine' whether the White House influenced the procurement process for a major cloud computing contract because senior Defense Department officials were barred from answering questions on the subject during interviews, according to a 313-page report released on Wednesday. Department personnel who evaluated proposals and awarded the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure contract were not pressured by any senior DoD leaders, the IG found. But investigators were unable to rule out whether the White House interfered with the contract award because DoD's general counsel instructed senior DoD witnesses not to verbally answer questions about communications between the White House and Pentagon because of 'the assertion of a "presidential communications privilege."'... Amazon sued DoD last year, alleging that the Pentagon made several mistakes in its evaluation of bids and that ... Donald Trump's public remarks disparaging Amazon and its founder, Jeff Bezos, improperly influenced the outcome."

Jenna McLaughlin of Yahoo! News: "The White House is still refusing to give Congress a reason for firing Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson, as required by law, missing a deadline set by a bipartisan group of senators." --s (Also linked yesterday.)

Bill & Don's Excellent Adventure. Erin Banco & Lachlan Cartwright of the Daily Beast: "In a series of conversations last September, senior Department of Justice officials worked with representatives of the Australian government to hammer out an arrangement to win the release of a pair of Australian bloggers imprisoned in Tehran. At the same time those talks were taking place, Attorney General Bill Barr and his lieutenants were speaking to the Australians about ... getting their help as the Department of Justice looked into the origins of ... Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. Barr's ... review has been widely seen as an attempt to discredit the Mueller investigation.... Just days before the culmination of talks in September -- which coincided with an official Australian state visit -- Trump himself pushed Prime Minister Scott Morrison to help Barr with this inquiry.... According to four sources ... the American government agreed to help facilitate the release of the Australian bloggers, in part by agreeing to pull back from pursuing the extradition of an Iranian scientist held in Australia.... The discussions between Washington and Canberra raise questions about why the Department of Justice engaged in a behind-the-scenes effort to help win the release of Australian hostages from Iran and whether the president's request to have the country assist in Barr's Russia inquiry influenced the department's decision-making." Via safari. (Also linked yesterday.)

Presidential Race

Caitlin Oprysko of Politico: "Joe Biden on Wednesday accused ... Donald Trump of throwing 'temper tantrums' rather than showing concern for those affected by the coronavirus pandemic, escalating his criticism of Trump following a series of exceedingly contentious White House briefings over the past few weeks. 'He likes to say he's a wartime president. Well, he needs to begin to step up and act like one,' Biden said during a virtual town hall with non-healthcare front-line workers. 'Not harangue the press for hours on end while people are dying....' The former vice president earlier this week lambasted Trump over his claim during a briefing that the president has 'total authority' to override state governors and reopen the country, tweeting that 'I am not running for office to be king.'"

Maggie Astor & Shane Goldmacher of the New York Times: "Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts endorsed Joseph R. Biden Jr. on Wednesday, the latest in a string of prominent endorsements for the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.... She left the timing of her announcement up to Mr. Biden's team, according to people familiar with the matter. There was no holdup or demand for concessions, these people said.... Since Ms. Warren ended her own campaign, she and Mr. Biden have spoken multiple times about policy issues, including Mr. Biden's plan to respond to the coronavirus pandemic. 'One thing I appreciate about Joe Biden is that he will always tell you where he stands,' Ms. Warren said in her endorsement video. 'When you disagree, he'll listen -- not just listen, but really hear you and treat you with respect, no matter where you're coming from. And he has shown throughout this campaign that when you come up with new facts or a good argument, he's not too afraid or too proud to be persuaded.'" Emily Stewart of Vox has the story here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Axios: "Sen. Elizabeth Warren told MSNBC's 'The Rachel Maddow Show' Wednesday she would become former Democratic presidential rival Joe Biden's running mate if he asked her." Mrs. McC: One thing I appreciate about Elizabeth Warren is that she will always tell you where she stands.

George Conway & other Board Members of the conservative, anti-Trump Lincoln Project, in a Washington Post op-ed: "Publicly supporting a Democratic nominee for president is a first for all of us. We are in extraordinary times, and we have chosen to put country over party -- and former vice president Joe Biden is the candidate who we believe will do the same. Biden ... has our support. Biden has the experience, the attributes and the character to defeat Trump this fall. Unlike Trump, for whom the presidency is just one more opportunity to perfect his narcissism and self-aggrandizement, Biden sees public service as an opportunity to do right by the American people and a privilege to do so."

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Tuesday

Apr142020

The Commentariat -- April 15, 2020

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Wednesday are here. "Dr. Robert R. Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, heaped praise on the World Health Organization Wednesday morning, saying that questions about what the group did during the pandemic should be left until 'after we get through this.' His comments on the 'CBS This Morning' program were at odds with President Trump's announcement Tuesday evening that he has ordered a freeze on American funding of the W.H.O., accusing the organization of a 'China-centric' bias and of contributing to deaths by covering up the spread of the virus.... His comments underscore the clash between Mr. Trump and his health care professionals." ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: The NYT's live updates, linked above, describes the drop in U.S. retail sales as "by far the largest in the nearly three decades the government has tracked the data."

Jennifer Hiller & Liz Hampton of Reuters: "Oil fields from Texas and New Mexico to Oklahoma and North Dakota are going quiet..... Fuel demand has plunged by as much as 30 million barrels per day (bpd) - or 30% - as efforts to fight the coronavirus pandemic have grounded aircraft, reduced vehicle usage and pushed economies worldwide toward recession.... The governments of global oil producers and consumers are seeking to make unprecedented cuts to overall supply of some 19.5 million bpd. U.S. President Donald Trump heralded the deal to cut supply as one that would save hundreds of thousands of U.S. jobs. But oil prices fell again this week, dropping as much as 10% on Tuesday, because even those cuts may fail to stem the glut.... Across the United States, up to 240,000 oil-related jobs will be lost this year[.]" --s

Annie Karni & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "President Trump stood in the Rose Garden on Tuesday evening and recited a list of dozens of prominent business and labor leaders who he said would be advising him in deciding when and how to reopen the country's economy.... Mr. Trump was vague about whether those on his list had all agreed to serve on the task force his administration has been struggling to put together over the past week. Some business leaders have been hesitant to attach their names to it in the middle of intense discussions in the White House about who would serve on a formal council, and what its mandate would be. It was also not clear if all of the companies and executives Mr. Trump mentioned had been asked in advance if they would serve in advisory roles to the White House. At least one person on the president's list, who asked not to be identified for fear of angering the White House, said that no request had been made to join the list and that there had been no advance notice of an announcement." Mrs. McC: Maybe you should check; your name may be on it.

George Conway in a Washington Post op-ed: "Among Donald Trump's many flaws as president is one that's as fundamental as any: He simply doesn't understand his job.... Trump made this clear during his briefing Monday, with an extraordinary series of statements about presidential power -- well, perhaps extraordinary for anyone but him.... Trump took a solemn oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. After his years in the job, he ought to know something about that document.... In our federal system the states aren't under Washington's control, the way a corporate subsidiary might be owned by, say, the Trump Organization. It's not just federalism that Trump misapprehends. It's grade-school-level civics that the president carries out laws.... Justice Hugo L. Black, then the court's leading textually oriented conservative, wrote [in Youngstown Sheet and Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952)], 'The President's power, if any, to issue the order must stem either from an act of Congress or from the Constitution.'" ~~~

~~~ Jonathan Chait: “When Congress enacted an emergency plan to send $1,200 checks to every American adult, Republicans joked that President Trump would want to sign his name on the checks. A few weeks later, after the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump was exploring this outlandish desire, a reporter asked, '... Do you want to sign those checks?' Trump denied it: 'No. Me sign? No.' Last night, the Washington Post reported that Trump's name will be displayed on every check.... Trump's presidency has largely consisted of outrageously corrupt notions proceeding from fearful accusation to accepted reality.... Trump has never respected any meaningful distinction between the federal government and the Trump Organization. He expects every federal employee, especially its law-enforcement agents, to advance his personal political agenda. He has functionally mixed its budget with his own by having the government pour money into his properties, and he has treated its official powers as if they are his own personal chits. The authority he has gained through the emergency response to the coronavirus has vastly expanded the potential for corruption, and every sign indicates that Trump is already engaging in systemic abuse." Read on.

~~~ David Lim of Politico: "The number of coronavirus tests analyzed each day by commercial labs in the U.S. plummeted by more than 30 percent over the past week, even though new infections are still surging in many states and officials are desperately trying to ramp up testing so the country can reopen. One reason for the drop-off may be the narrow testing criteria that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last revised in March. The agency's guidelines prioritize hospitalized patients, health care workers and those thought to be especially vulnerable to the disease, such as the elderly. Health providers have been turning away others in part due to shortages of the swabs used to collect samples.... After being overwhelmed for weeks, commercial labs say they are now sitting with unused testing capacity waiting for samples to arrive."

Bill & Don's Excellent Adventure. Erin Banco & Lachlan Cartwright of the Daily Beast: "In a series of conversations last September, senior Department of Justice officials worked with representatives of the Australian government to hammer out an arrangement to win the release of a pair of Australian bloggers imprisoned in Tehran. At the same time those talks were taking place, Attorney General Bill Barr and his lieutenants were speaking to the Australians about ... getting their help as the Department of Justice looked into the origins of former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. Barr's ... review has been widely seen as an attempt to discredit the Mueller investigation.... Just days before the culmination of talks in September -- which coincided with an official Australian state visit -- Trump himself pushed Prime Minister Scott Morrison to help Barr with this inquiry.... According to four sources ... the American government agreed to help facilitate the release of the Australian bloggers, in part by agreeing to pull back from pursuing the extradition of an Iranian scientist held in Australia.... The discussions between Washington and Canberra raise questions about why the Department of Justice engaged in a behind-the-scenes effort to help win the release of Australian hostages from Iran and whether the president's request to have the country assist in Barr's Russia inquiry influenced the department's decision-making." Via safari.

Presidential Race. Maggie Astor & Shane Goldmacher of the New York Times: "Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts endorsed Joseph R. Biden Jr. on Wednesday, the latest in a string of prominent endorsements for the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.... She left the timing of her announcement up to Mr. Biden's team, according to people familiar with the matter. There was no holdup or demand for concessions, these people said.... Since Ms. Warren ended her own campaign, she and Mr. Biden have spoken multiple times about policy issues, including Mr. Biden's plan to respond to the coronavirus pandemic. 'One thing I appreciate about Joe Biden is that he will always tell you where he stands,' Ms. Warren said in her endorsement video. 'When you disagree, he'll listen -- not just listen, but really hear you and treat you with respect, no matter where you're coming from. And he has shown throughout this campaign that when you come up with new facts or a good argument, he's not too afraid or too proud to be persuaded.'" Emily Stewart of Vox has the story here.

~~~~~~~~~~

Actual President Endorses Vice President Biden to Succeed Him, Says Placeholder Sucks:

Joe has the character and the experience to guide us through one of our darkest times and heal us through a long recovery. The other side has a massive war chest, the other side has a propaganda network with little regard for the truth. On the other hand, pandemics have a way of cutting through a lot of noise and spin to remind us of what is real and what is important. This crisis has reminded us that governments matter. -- President Barack Obama, in his endorsement of Joe Biden ~~~

~~~ Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "... with calibrated stealth, Mr. Obama has been considerably more engaged in the campaign's denouement than has been previously revealed. For months, he had kept in close contact with senior party officials, in hopes of preventing a repeat of the protracted and nasty 2016 primary race. Then, in the weeks after it became clear that Mr. Biden was the party's near-certain nominee, Mr. Obama -- telling a friend he needed to 'accelerate the endgame' -- had at least four long conversations with his former vice president's remaining rival, Senator Bernie Sanders. Mr. Obama's efforts to ease the senator out of the race played a significant role in his decision to end his bid and, on Monday, endorse Mr. Biden, according to people close to the Vermont independent.... Now, with the primary campaign over, Mr. Biden and his aides are eager to deploy the former president as quickly as possible, especially on fund-raising, as they race to compete with President Trump's small-donor juggernaut." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "It may have taken a once-in-a-century pandemic, but the Democrats are not in disarray. After presidential primary races in 2008 and 2016 that stretched across all 50 states, the 2020 contest ended on an altogether tidy note on Monday as Senator Bernie Sanders appeared on a live stream with Joseph R. Biden Jr. and told him: 'We need you in the White House.' The endorsement was quick in the making, full-throated in nature and offered a vivid illustration of how differently this election is unfolding from the often bitter last two Democratic nominating contests. 'The way Bernie did this was really helpful,' said former Gov. Howard Dean of Vermont. 'There is clearly no animosity between the two of them and this will definitely make it easier for Bernie's supporters to vote for Biden.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

The New York Times' live updates for Tuesday's coronavirus developments in the U.S. are here. The Washington Post's live updates for Tuesday are here.

Lisa Mascaro & Laurie Kellman of the AP: "As ... Donald Trump spoke during his daily coronavirus briefing Tuesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued a stark warning for Americans to 'ignore the lies' and 'insist on the truth' while the U.S. assesses next steps in the crisis.... She [wrote in a letter to House Democrats] the president ignored early warnings about the virus and took 'insufficient' action that 'caused unnecessary death and disaster.' Because of his 'incompetent' reaction, she said, the economy is now a 'disaster.' 'The truth is a weak person, a poor leader, takes no responsibility,' she wrote. It was a stunning missive from the California Democrat who typically reserves her most harsh criticisms of the president for private settings. The two are essentially no longer on speaking terms. 'The truth is, from this moment on, Americans must ignore lies and start to listen to scientists and other respected professionals in order to protect ourselves and our loved ones,' she wrote to colleagues. 'Our future will be healthy and prosperous if we no longer tolerate lies and deceit,' she wrote."

As the Chest Puffs & the Lips Flap

Projection AND Deflection. Michael Shear of the New York Times: "For weeks, President Trump has faced relentless criticism for having overseen a slow and ineffective response to the coronavirus pandemic, failing to quickly embrace public health measures that could have prevented the disease from spreading.... So on Tuesday, the president tried to shift the blame elsewhere, ordering his administration to halt funding for the World Health Organization and claiming the organization made a series of devastating mistakes as it sought to battle the virus. He said his administration would conduct a review into whether the W.H.O. was responsible for 'severely mismanaging and covering up' the spread. 'So much death has been caused by their mistakes,' the president told reporters during a White House briefing. In effect, Mr. Trump was accusing the world's leading health organization of making all of the mistakes that he has made since the virus first emerged in China and then spread rapidly around the world.... He said the W.H.O. 'willingly took China's assurances to face value' and 'pushed China's misinformation.' But it was Mr. Trump himself who went out of his way to publicly and repeatedly praise the Chinese government for its handling of the virus at a time at the beginning of the year that his administration was negotiating a trade deal with China." An AP story is here. ~~~

~~~ Amber Philips of the Washington Post: "When Trump first floated cutting WHO funding last week, he acknowledged it might not be the best thing to do in a pandemic. But on Tuesday, he displayed no such hesitation." ~~~

~~~ Trump Threatened to Walk Out of His Own Press Briefing Because Press Asked Questions. Matthew Chapman of the Raw Story: "Following ... Donald Trump's aggressive attacks on the World Health Organization at Tuesday's coronavirus press briefing, several reporters pointed out that the WHO wasn't responsible for key failures of the U.S. government, including the ongoing shortage of COVID-19 tests in many regions of the country. The president quickly grew angry in response to the questioning -- and ultimately threatened to leave the press conference. 'It's up to the governors,' said Trump. 'It hasn't been up to the federal government.' One reporter pointed out that the governors 'are following your lead,' at which point Trump started shouting, 'If you keep talking I'll leave and you can have it out with the rest of these people ... just a loudmouth.'" ~~~

~~~ Trump Realizes It's Hard to Blame Governors for Covid-19 Deaths if He Pretends to Exercise "Absolute Power." Jill Colvin & Zeke Miller of the AP: "... Donald Trump said Tuesday he's open to some states 'reopening' before federal social distancing guidelines expire at the end of month, as he appeared to back off his claim of absolute authority to decide when the time was right to act. Hours after suggesting that the bipartisan concerns of governors about his assertion of power would amount to an insurrection, Trump abruptly reversed course, saying he would leave it to governors to determine the right time and manner to revive activity in their states. Trump said he would be speaking with governors, probably on Thursday, to discuss his plans. 'The governors are responsible,' Trump said Tuesday. 'They have to take charge.' Still, he insisted, 'The governors will be very, very respectful of the presidency.'... In a departure..., Trump ended his daily briefing without turning the mic over to federal health experts, who have cautioned against moving too quickly to restart economic activity..... Earlier Tuesday, Trump initially indicated he was relishing the fight with state officials -- particularly Democrats in hard-hit states -- who have voiced fears that the president's ambitious timetable could lead to a resurgence of a virus that is still killing more than 1,000 Americans a day.... Still, Trump warned [at his briefing] that he would be monitoring the performance of governors, and signaled he might blame them if he believes their actions slow the pace of what he hopes will be a robust economic recovery. 'If they don't do a good job we're going to come down on them hard,' Trump said."

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Notice that Trumpty-Dumpty never says, "I was wrong to assert absolute power.” He just pretends he will magnanimously allow governors to try to control movement in their own states. What a dick.

Fauci States the Obvious as Trump Remains Delusional & Irresponsible. Lauran Neergaard & Julie Pace of the AP: "Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government's top infectious disease expert, said Tuesday the U.S. does not yet have the critical testing and tracing procedures needed to begin reopening the nation's economy, adding a dose of caution to increasingly optimistic projections from the White House. 'We have to have something in place that is efficient and that we can rely on, and we're not there yet,' Fauci said in an interview with The Associated Press.... Donald Trump has floated the possibility of reopening some areas by May 1 and said he could announce recommendations as soon as this week. Fauci said a May 1 target is 'a bit overly optimistic' for many areas of the country. Any easing off the strict social-distancing rules in place in much of the country would have to occur on a 'rolling' basis, not all at once, he said, reflecting the ways COVID-19 struck different parts of the country at different times." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Philip Rucker, et al., of the Washington Post: "Impatient with the economic devastation wrought by social distancing and other mitigation measures -- and fearful of the potential damage to his reelection chances -- Trump has been adamant in private discussions with advisers about reopening the country next month.... Inside the White House, it has been clear to officials since last week that there is no longer much of a debate -- at least with the president -- about starting the reopening process May 1.... 'Our country has to get open, and it will get open, and it'll get open safely and hopefully quickly -- some areas quicker than other areas,' Trump said at a Rose Garden news conference.... Trump&'s advisers are trying to shield the president from political accountability should his move to reopen the economy prove premature and result in lost lives, and so they are trying to mobilize business executives, economists and other prominent figures to buy into the eventual White House plan, so that if it does not work, the blame can be shared broadly, according to two former administration officials familiar with the efforts." Emphasis added. ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: The moment I heard Trump was planning to assemble an "economic task force" to "help" him reopen the economy, I thought anyone dumb enough to add his name to the group would be blamed for participating in the high-profile death squad. ~~~

~~~ Matt Stieb of New York: "On March 13, the day that he announced social distancing measures after essentially ignoring the emerging crisis for over a month, President Trump responded to a question about accountability for the federal government's failure, saying, 'I don’t take responsibility at all.' Over 25,000 American deaths later, the president appears to be sticking to that philosophy. According to a report from the Washington Post, Trump's strategy for re-opening the economy involves bringing in several unofficial advisers so he can spread the blame around if the plan to reopen results in an immediate second outbreak and unnecessary death."

Michael Shear & Annie Karni of the New York Times weigh in on Trump's propaganda extravaganza: "President Trump turned Monday's daily coronavirus task force briefing into an aggressive defense of his own halting response to the pandemic and used a campaign-style video to denounce criticism that he moved too slowly to limit the deadly spread of the virus. For nearly an hour, Mr. Trump vented his frustration after weekend news reports that his own public health officials were prepared by late February to recommend aggressive social distancing measures, but that the president did not announce them until several weeks later -- a crucial delay that allowed the virus to spread. Mr. Trump broadly mischaracterized an article on his response to the coronavirus, published over the weekend in The New York Times, repeatedly insisting that the United States had very few cases of the virus in early January -- six weeks earlier -- and angrily mocking a suggestion that was never made: that he should have ordered all schools and businesses shut that month." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Peter Baker & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "There once was a time when President Trump made clear that governors were the ones mainly responsible for the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. But that was Sunday. On Monday, he declared that he was really in charge and would make the decision about when and how to reopen the country. The president's reversal raised profound constitutional questions about the real extent of his powers and set him once again on a potential collision course with the states. For weeks, he sought to shift blame to the governors for any failures in handling the virus, presenting himself as merely a supporting player.... Asked what provisions of the Constitution gave him the power to override the states if they wanted to remain closed, he said, 'Numerous provisions,' without naming any.... 'For the purpose of creating conflict and confusion, some in the Fake News Media are saying that it is the Governors decision to open up the states, not that of the President of the United States & the Federal Government,' he wrote Monday morning on Twitter. 'Let it be fully understood that this is incorrect. It is the decision of the President, and for many good reasons.'... Less than 24 hours before his decision-by-me tweets, he was still putting the onus for the pandemic response on the states.... Even at Monday's daily news briefing, he took further jabs at the governors. 'Many of them didn't do their jobs,' he said. 'We helped some of the ones who didn't know what they were doing.'" ~~~

~~~ Meagan Flynn & Allyson Chiu of the Washington Post: "When President Trump was asked during Monday's news briefing what authority he has to reopen the country, he didn't hesitate to answer. 'I have the ultimate authority,' the president responded, cutting off the reporter who was speaking.... Not only does the power Trump asserted have no basis in reality, experts said, but it's also completely antithetical to the Constitution, the concept of federalism and separation of powers -- whether during a time of emergency or not.... 'You won't find that written in the Federalist Papers anywhere,' Robert Chesney, a law professor at the University of Texas at Austin, told The Washington Post.... 'Nope,' [Steve] Vladeck[, also of UT Law,] wrote [on Twitter], 'That would be the literal definition of a *totalitarian* government.'... Josh Blackman, a constitutional law professor at the South Texas College of Law Houston..., [said] there is no 'emergency clause' in the Constitution for presidential power.... Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) tweeted the full text of the 10th Amendment, which says any powers not specifically delegated to the federal government in the Constitution are reserved to the states. The federal government, she said, 'does not have absolute authority.' Appearing on CNN, New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo (D) ... [said] 'You don't become king because there's a federal emergency.'" An NPR story is here.

Mnuchin Caves Again to President* Me-Me-Me. Lisa Rein of the Washington Post: "The Treasury Department has ordered President Trump's name be printed on stimulus checks the Internal Revenue Service is rushing to send to tens of millions of Americans, a process that is expected to slow their delivery by several days, senior agency officials said. The unprecedented decision, finalized late Monday, means that when recipients open the $1,200 paper checks the IRS is scheduled to begin sending to 70 million Americans in coming days, 'President Donald J. Trump' will appear on the left side of the payment. It will be the first time a president's name appears on an IRS disbursement.... The decision is another sign of Trump's effort to cast his response to the pandemic in political terms. Trump had privately suggested to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who oversees the IRS, to allow the president to formally sign the checks.... But the president is not an authorized signer for legal disbursements by the U.S. Treasury. It is standard practice for a civil servant to sign checks issued by the Treasury Department to ensure that government payments are nonpartisan.... Chad Hooper..., president of the IRS's Professional Managers Association..., said he was appalled by what he called 'an abuse of government resources.'" ~~~

AND Akhilleus has some thoughts on the Dear Leader's name being engraved upon the paper checks going to some who survived the Trumpandemic:

First, [Trump] had nothing to do with those stimulus checks. Zip. Zero. Nada. He was too scared of being in the same room with Nancy Pelosi so he stayed in his room watching imbeciles on Fox tell him he';s great. Second, if he had his way, that money would be going to him and his criminal, mooching family, not to people who need it. There is no bottom to this loathsome swine. -- Akhilleus, in today's thread

If some politician's name belongs on the checks (and it does not, largely because the checks are drawn on the accounts of millions of today's and tomorrow's U.S. taxpayers), then it would be Nancy Pelosi's name, or Chuck Schumer's, or Bernie Sanders' or Andrew Yang's or or or. -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie

A Plan Is in the Works. What a Concept! Lena Sun, et al., of the Washington Post: "A team of government officials -- led by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- has created a public health strategy to combat the novel coronavirus and reopen parts of the country. Their strategy, obtained by The Washington Post, is part of a larger White House effort to draft a national plan to get Americans ... back to work. It gives guidance to state and local governments on how they can ease mitigation efforts, moving from drastic restrictions such as stay-at-home orders in a phased way to support a safe reopening. CDC and FEMA officials have worked on the public health response for at least the past week, and the resulting document has been discussed at the White House, including by members of the coronavirus task force.... President Trump wants a final plan on reopening the country ready within days so he can issue suggestions for some states to reopen May 1, officials said. 'The plans to reopen the country are close to being finalized,' Trump said at a White House briefing Tuesday.... The president has not committed to following the guidelines delineated in the draft." The report includes some recommendations in the draft plan.

Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: "More than 80 percent of the benefits of a tax change tucked into the coronavirus relief package Congress passed last month will go to those who earn more than $1 million annually, according to a report by a nonpartisan congressional body expected to be released Tuesday. The provision, inserted into the legislation by Senate Republicans, temporarily suspends a limitation on how much owners of businesses formed as 'pass-through' entities can deduct against their nonbusiness income, such as capital gains, to reduce their tax liability. The limitation was created as part of the 2017 Republican tax law to offset other tax cuts to firms in that legislation. Suspending the limitation will cost taxpayers about $90 billion in 2020 alone, part of a set of tax changes that will add close to $170 billion to the national deficit over the next 10 years, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT), the nonpartisan congressional body." Emphasis added. (Also linked yesterday.)

GOP Congressman Will Sacrifice Your Life for Trumponomics. Paul LeBlanc of CNN: "An Indiana congressman said Tuesday that letting more Americans die from the novel coronavirus is the 'lesser of two evils' compared with the economy cratering due to social distancing measures. Speaking with radio station WIBC in Indiana, Republican Rep. Trey Hollingsworth asserted that, while he appreciated the science behind the virus' spread, 'it is always the American government's position to say, in the choice between the loss of our way of life as Americans and the loss of life, of American lives, we have to always choose the latter.'... Hollingsworth's comments echo a growing desire among some Republicans -- including President Donald Trump -- to begin to ease the guidelines that have shuttered businesses and kept workers at home." Mrs. McC: Hollingsworth is 36 years old, appears fit, & is the 12th richest MoC. So probably not at a high-risk for complications from the coronavirus.

Ariana Cha of the Washington Post: "About 9,000 ... American health-care workers ... have had positive coronavirus tests as of April 9, according to a ... CDC analysis released Tuesday that provides an early snapshot of infections in health-care workers across the country. They are mostly white, female and in their 40s, the report found. Although most were not sick enough to be hospitalized, 27 died, the CDC said. As with the rest of the U.S. population, most of the deaths occurred among those age 65 or older. These numbers are believed to be a gross undercount of infections due to the continuing lack of available tests in many areas. Some regions and institutions are no longer testing health-care workers, reserving kits for the sickest patients." The story is free to nonsubscribers.

New York. Karen Matthews, et al., of the AP: "The official death toll from the coronavirus soared in New York City on Tuesday after health authorities began including people who probably had COVID-19, but died without ever being tested. Officials reported 3,778 'probable' deaths, where doctors were certain enough of the cause of death to list it on the death certificate, and 6,589 confirmed by a lab test. Combined, that would put the total fatalities in the city over 10,000. The change in the city's accounting of deaths came after officials acknowledged that statistics based only on laboratory-confirmed tests were failing to account for many people dying at home before they reached a hospital or even sought treatment."

"There's no value in" watching @realDonaldTrump's press briefings, @realDonaldTrump's press briefings, @NYGovCuomo says. "It could be a comedy skit..." -- Jesse McKinley, in a tweet @8:33 am ET Monday

Cuomo's been calling daily, even hourly, begging for everything, most of which should have been the state's responsibility, such as new hospitals, beds, ventilators, etc. I got it all done for him, and everyone else, and now he seems to want Independence! That won't happen! -- Donald Trump, in a tweet @10:07 am ET Monday

Not all that funny, but some good clips:

Lola Fadulu of the New York Times: "A federal court has struck down a 2018 Agriculture Department rule that reversed nutrition standards for sodium and whole grains in school meal programs once championed by the former first lady Michelle Obama. The U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland vacated the rule, concluding that it violated the Administrative Procedure Act because the 2018 rule differed significantly from the administration's 2017 interim rule setting up the final standards. The school breakfast and lunch rule is only the latest in a series of Trump administration regulations that have been struck down for violating the legal procedures that Congress set out for approving new regulations." Thanks to citizen625 for the link.

Richard Burr, Notorious Crook. Robert Faturechi of ProPublica: "The chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Richard Burr, has come under fire in recent weeks for unloading stock holdings right before the market crashed on fears of coronavirus and for a timely sale of shares in an obscure Dutch fertilizer company. Now the North Carolina Republican's 2017 sale of his Washington, D.C., home to a group led by a donor and powerful lobbyist who had business before Burr's committee is raising additional ethical questions. Burr sold the small townhouse, in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, for ... $900,000 -- to a team led by lobbyist John Green. That is tens of thousands of dollars above some estimates of the property's value by tax assessors, a real estate website and a local real estate agent. The sale was done off-market.... In 2017, the year of the sale, Green lobbied on behalf of a stream of clients with business before Burr's committees.... The legality of this sale hinges on whether the home was purchased for fair market value. If it was purchased for more than that, it would be considered a gift. Gifts of significant value from lobbyists are generally banned by Senate ethics rules, and those that aren't are typically required to be publicly disclosed. Neither Burr nor Green disclosed any such gifts. Gifts that are intended to influence official actions are illegal."

David Folkenflik of NPR: "Michael Bloomberg's short-lived presidential bid reignited a long-simmering dispute over the widespread use of nondisclosure agreements at American corporations -- especially at his own. His namesake company, Bloomberg LP, has used nondisclosure agreements broadly to conceal allegations and silence complaints from employees of sexual harassment or a hostile work environment, as published reports have documented. The story of one Bloomberg reporter and his wife showcases the widespread use of such legal restraints at the company -- and how far their reach can extend. Six years ago, Bloomberg News killed an investigation into the wealth of Communist Party elites in China, fearful of repercussions by the Chinese government. The company successfully silenced the reporters involved. And it sought to keep the spouse of one of the reporters quiet, too." You'll have to read on for the details. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

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Monday

Apr132020

The Commentariat -- April 14, 2020

Afternoon Update:

Actual President Endorses Vice President Biden to Succeed Him:

~~~ Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "... with calibrated stealth, Mr. Obama has been considerably more engaged in the campaign's denouement than has been previously revealed. For months, he had kept in close contact with senior party officials, in hopes o preventing a repeat of the protracted and nasty 2016 primary race. Then, in the weeks after it became clear that Mr. Biden was the party's near-certain nominee, Mr. Obama -- telling a friend he needed to 'accelerate the endgame' -- had at least four long conversations with his former vice president's remaining rival, Senator Bernie Sanders. Mr. Obama's efforts to ease the senator out of the race played a significant role in his decision to end his bid and, on Monday, endorse Mr. Biden, according to people close to the Vermont independent.... Now, with the primary campaign over, Mr. Biden and his aides are eager to deploy the former president as quickly as possible, especially on fund-raising, as they race to compete with President Trump's small-donor juggernaut." ~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~

The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Monday are here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) The Washington Post's live updates for Tuesday are here.

When somebody's the President of the United States, the authority is total. -- Direct from the Horse's Ass, White House ~~press~~ propaganda briefing, Monday (no link) ~~~

~~~ Brett Samuels of the Hill: "President Trump on Monday used the White House briefing room to lash out at critics of his response to the coronavirus outbreak, rattling off a litany of grievances about press coverage and airing a reel of cable news footage that portrayed his actions in a positive light. The president sought to use a briefing ostensibly intended to inform the American public about the latest developments in the battle against the virus to frame his handling of the pandemic as a success. He bristled at any criticism and picking a fight with journalists in the room before experts delivered any update on the disease that has killed more than 22,000 people in the U.S.... Monday's press briefing marked a striking extension of his defense, using the briefing room to air a campaign-style clip and complaining repeatedly that he has not received a fair amount of praise in news stories. 'The press has not treated these incredible people who have done such a great job -- they haven't treated them fairly. They're way off. We were way ahead of schedule,' Trump said. 'Everything we did I was criticized because I was too early.'... The White House's promotional video highlighted only one administration action in the whole month of February, when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shipped its first testing kits.... The apparent blurring of White House business with campaign promotion promptly drew the attention of ethics watchdogs." ~~~

~~~ Rachel Sandler of Forbes: "... the president on Monday deviated from the normal White House Coronavirus Task Force briefing to play a campaign-style video montage defending his coronavirus response and afterward lashed out at reporters for questioning his actions. Interspersed with clips from media outlets and graphics, the text of the video, which was played on screens behind the podium, read: 'The media minimized the risk from the start, while President Trump took decisive action, even as partisans sniped and criticized. Bipartisan governors recognize the president's support.' The video used a Fox News segment from a March 26 episode of 'Hannity' that showed guests on CBS and NBC saying the coronavirus was not an immediate threat to the U.S. in January. After the section on the media, the video cuts to a timeline, highlighting Trump's January 31 travel ban on Chinese foreign nationals and his March declaration of a national emergency. The timeline skips over February entirely and when asked by a reporter what actions he took in that month, Trump said 'a lot' and called the reporter a 'fake.'... When asked who produced the video, Trump said it was put together by staff inside the White House." ~~~

~~~ Ted Johnson of Deadline: "CNN and MSNBC cut away from Donald Trump's coronavirus press briefing on Monday, with anchors protesting that the White House was using the time to air a campaign-style 'propaganda' video to defend and praise the president's response to the crisis.... On CNN, John King said, 'To play a propaganda video at taxpayer expense in the White House briefing room is a new -- you can insert your favorite word here -- in this administration.'... [Both networks] eventually returned to the briefing as Trump took questions from reporters.... The video appeared to have been motivated by a New York Times report over the weekend -- He Could Have Seen What Was Coming: Behind Trump's Failure On the Virus [also linked here Sunday]. Trump sent out multiple tweets throughout Sunday bashing the Times for the report.... The video featured clips that tried to highlight where Trump took decisive action during the crisis, as well as quotes of praise for his response coming from political figures such as New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and California Governor Gavin Newsom. But the clips were cherry picked. They did not include moments in January and February where the president downplayed the threat of the virus.... After CNN cut away from the briefing, John King ran through a list of dates where Trump minimized the impact of the virus....

"Trump sparred with CBS News White House correspondent Paula Reid, who pressed him on what the administration did through the month of February. 'The entire month of February, your video has a complete gap,' she said. 'What did your administration do in February in the time that your travel ban bought you?' 'We did a lot,' Trump responded, before telling her, 'Look, you know you're a fake. You know that the whole network, the way you cover it is fake.' He also called her 'disgraceful.'" ~~~

~~~ Toluse Olorunnipa, et al., of the Washington Post: "The White House sought to tamp down speculation Monday that President Trump would fire the nation's top epidemiologist in the middle of the pandemic, but concern over an Easter presidential retweet attacking Anthony S. Fauci continued to reverberate as many of the president's allies and critics warned that such a move would be counterproductive.... On Monday, Trump dismissed those concerns as if he had not initially sparked them when he retweeted a message Sunday night that included the hashtag #FireFauci. 'Today I walk in and I hear I'm going to fire him,' Trump said during the White House daily press briefing. 'I'm not firing. I think he's a wonderful guy.'... At the news briefing, Fauci appeared to back away from some of the comments about the coronavirus response that had drawn Trump's scorn -- describing his Sunday remarks to CNN as 'a poor choice of words.'" ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Isn't it odd how Trump can't seem to remember blasting somebody yesterday but is the elephant who never some perceived slight someone laid on him years ago? ~~~

~~~ Susan Page of USA Today: "President Trump late Monday turned a White House briefing on the coronavirus into a fervent defense of his actions to respond to the deadly pandemic and an attack on reporters who posed skeptical questions.... The extraordinary performance came amid signs of a looming showdown between the White House and some of the nation's governors about when it will be safe to reopen business and schools.... He blasted the news media for what he called unfair accounts that had raised questions about his leadership. He said that 'nobody' had asked for ventilators, an inaccurate claim." ~~~

~~~ Ashley Parker of the Washington Post: "... in the middle of this deadly pandemic that shows no obvious signs of abating, the president made clear that the paramount concern for Trump is Trump -- his self-image, his media coverage, his supplicants and his opponents, both real and imagined.... Trump has always had a me-me-me ethos, an uncanny ability to insert himself into the center of just about any situation. But Monday's coronavirus briefing offered a particularly stark portrait of a president seeming unable to grasp the magnitude of the crisis -- and saying little to address the suffering across the country he was elected to lead." The article is free to nonsubscribers. Mrs. McC: Worth reading because Parker reproduces a few of key exchange with reporters. ~~~

~~~ Daniel Dale, et al., of CNN: "... Donald Trump delivered another litany of false and misleading claims on Monday at a White House coronavirus briefing during which he repeatedly accused the media of dishonesty. Trump delivered an indignant screed about claims that he was slow in responding to the coronavirus outbreak, repeatedly citing the travel restrictions on China he announced in late January and began in early February. Yet his defense did not address his public downplaying of the virus into March, how his administration was slow to deploy the tests experts believe might have helped contain the outbreak, or how the administration waited critical weeks to make large orders of critical equipment. Trump also falsely claimed he has 'total' authority over states' coronavirus restrictions, falsely claimed he had inherited broken coronavirus tests, falsely claimed ... Joe Biden apologized for having called him xenophobic, falsely claimed that governors have stopped talking about a need for ventilators, and falsely claimed he banned travel from Europe. Here's our preliminary rundown of his claims and the facts that go with them." ~~~

~~~ "L'état, C'est Moi." Jeremy White of Politico: "... Donald Trump, hours after governors on both coasts announced regional plans for reopening their states, asserted 'total authority' over decisions about when and how to emerge after coronavirus shutdowns. 'When somebody's president of the United States, the authority is total,' Trump said at a press briefing Monday when asked about the governors' plans. 'And that's the way it's got to to be. It's total. It's total. And the governors know that.... They can't do anything without approval of the president of the United States,' Trump said at the briefing." ~~~

~~~ Tim Craig & Brady Dennis of the Washington Post: "President Trump declared Monday that he has 'total' authority and 'calls the shots' when it comes to deciding how and when to lift the pandemic restrictions and reopen the economy, even as [groups of] governors on both coasts proceeded with their own plans and asserted their own powers.... [Trump] also suggested that if a governor declined to go along, he or she would pay a price. 'If some states refuse to open, I would like to see that person run for election,' Trump said.... [Gov. Andrew] Cuomo [D-NY] said he would challenge the White House in court if Trump pushes to reopen businesses without enough safeguards to protect public health. Earlier in the day, Cuomo was joined via phone by governors from New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Rhode Island as they formed a pact to coordinate on an eventual end to their states' restrictions. Later, Cuomo announced that Massachusetts, led by Gov. Charlie Baker (R), was joining the group.... On the West Coast, the governors of California, Oregon and Washington also announced a pact to work together to tamp down the ongoing outbreak and carefully restart the economy in their states." The article is free to nonsubscribers. A CNN story is here. ~~~

~~~ Morgan Chalfant of the Hill: "President Trump on Monday claimed that he, not state governors, has the ultimate authority to loosen restrictions on states as the coronavirus outbreak eases, an assertion disputed by legal experts. 'For the purpose of creating conflict and confusion, some in the Fake News Media are saying that it is the Governors decision to open up the states, not that of the President of the United States & the Federal Government. Let it be fully understood that this is incorrect,' Trump tweeted Monday morning. 'It is the decision of the President, and for many good reasons. With that being said, the Administration and I are working closely with the Governors, and this will continue,' Trump continued. 'A decision by me, in conjunction with the Governors and input from others, will be made shortly!' However, legal experts who spoke to The Hill said that, while Trump can issue federal regulations to prevent the spread of diseases, he does not have the authority to reverse a public health restriction put in place at the state or local level." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: This may sound strange coming from the leader of the states' rights/Tenther party, but it is not the stretch it might appear to be. Rather, Trump's assertion is a subset of the controlling principle, "I have an Article II right to do whatever I want." Update: And the president* who claims his "authority is total." The other key to the Trump doctrine is that while his "authority is total," he takes no responsibility at all. He has variously blamed China, the Obama administration and, of course, governors for his screw-ups.

Trump: "I Am the Oversight." Neil Barofsky in a New York Times op-ed: "More than $2 trillion is about to head out the door, committed in a single news release last week by the Federal Reserve Board. In that release, the Federal Reserve announced how it and the Treasury Department intend to leverage just a portion of the $454 billion that Congress gave the department in the ... CARES Act, with the potential of trillions more in lending to come.... We need to ensure that this government aid is not being stolen, wasted or given to political cronies. And we need to make sure that the public is aware of how and to whom those trillions are distributed. In short, we need watchdogs.... Congress has leverage -- and must use it.... For the CARES Act, Congress demanded the same watchdog function within Treasury -- but so far, that dog is still in the pound.... President Trump included a signing statement to the CARES Act that suggested he would limit the ability of the new inspector general to reveal to Congress efforts by his administration to obstruct or impede his inquiries. Some are also raising questions about the president's intended nominee for the job, Brian Miller." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Sarah Ferris & Heather Caygle of Politico: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi lashed ... Donald Trump during a private call with her caucus Monday, saying he was putting Americans in grave danger if he rushes to reopen the economy at the end of this month. Pelosi sharply criticized Trump's handling of the coronavirus outbreak, telling Democrats it was 'almost sinful' how his administration had failed to live up to promises to make testing available to all Americans and quickly address the mask, gown and glove supply shortage in hospitals across the country.... Pelosi's criticism of Trump comes as White House officials have signaled they are hoping to reopen the economy as early as May 1 -- a timeline that has alarmed Democrats and public health experts alike.” ~~~

~~~ Heather Caygle & Sarah Ferris: "As ... Donald Trump beams into American homes with his daily coronavirus briefings, Speaker Nancy Pelosi has decided the best way to counter him is to be everywhere -- even if that means doing so from her San Francisco kitchen. Almost daily, Pelosi pops up on one network or another -- even cycling through the late-night talk show junket -- dropping in for interviews from a computer propped up on a dining room table that sits just off her West Coast kitchen. For Pelosi, leading the counterprogramming is the most effective antidote to Trump's nearly daily briefings. Since first joining the news conferences a month ago, Trump has been repeatedly criticized for peppering his appearances with falsehoods during the briefings, which often stretch beyond two hours. And even as former Vice President Joe Biden becomes the presumptive Democratic nominee, it's Pelosi who remains the most prominent face of opposition against Trump."

Cristina Cabrera of TPM: "The Navy announced on Monday morning that a crew member on the USS Theodore Roosevelt, the ship formerly led by Captain Brett Crozier before his ouster, had died from COVID-19 earlier in the day. The sailor, whose name is currently being withheld, tested positive for the coronavirus on March 30 and was moved to the ICU on Naval Base Guam last Thursday, according to the Navy. On the day the sailor had tested positive, Crozier wrote a letter to Navy leadership pleading for assistance on the outbreak of COVID-19 on his ship, which had infected more than 100 members of his crew at that point." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Florida. Samantha Gross of the Miami Herald: "Count professional wrestling among the essential businesses like grocery stores and pharmacies that can stay open despite coronavirus-related restrictions statewide. WWE will continue taping and airing live from the empty WWE Performance Center near Orlando even during the state's month-long 'shelter-in-place,' which Gov. Ron DeSantis announced April 1." --s ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: This is insane. Late-night entertainment teevee isn't an essential business, either, but most of the late-night figured out a way to punt -- while still sheltering in place and maintaining social distance. Unless the WWE performers are going to wrestle with their consciences instead of their fake opponents, they are going to have nearly as much social contact as sex workers & their partners. ~~~

~~~ The Very Rich Are Different from You and Me. Charles Rabin & Aaron Leibowitz of the Miami Herald: "Fisher Island -- an exclusive enclave of multimillion-dollar condos and homes and one of the wealthiest ZIP codes in the country -- has purchased thousands of rapid COVID-19 blood test kits from the University of Miami Health System for all of its residents and workers. The private island, set along Government Cut and nestled between Miami and Miami Beach and accessible only by boat or helicopter, worked out a deal with UHealth to make the tests available to the 800 or so families that live there, and all the workers who maintain the property and patrol its streets. The purchase and availability of the testing are in sharp contrast to much of the rest of the state, where only about 1 percent of the population has been tested for the deadly virus that has caused a global pandemic. Most people who want a test have to meet certain criteria during a screening. Then an appointment must be set up, which generally means a lengthy wait in line. Those without vehicles can't even access drive-thru testing sites." The article is free to nonsubscribers. Mrs. McC: The rest of you shlubs can console yourselves sitting home & watching wrestlers give each other Covid-19.

Illinois. Mary Ann Ahern of NBC 5 Chicago: "A poll worker who was stationed at a Chicago voting site on election day died from the coronavirus, the Chicago Board of Elections said Monday. The person was a city employee who was working the March 17 election at the Zion Hill Baptist Church in the city's 17th Ward, officials said Monday. City officials identified him as Revall Burke. The Cook County Medical Examiner's office said Burke, 60, died on April 1. He was a 'hardworking, health-conscious ex-Marine,' Patch reported.... Voters and polls workers who were at the polling place ... received letters informing them that a person who voted there in person on election day tested positive for the coronavirus.... [Gov. J.B.] Pritzker [D] and the Chicago Board of Elections traded barbs on election day ... over the Board's claim that he denied its request to postpone the election or move to all mail-in ballots."

"South Dakota Is Not New York City." Griff Witte of the Washington Post: "As governors across the country fell into line in recent weeks, South Dakota's top elected leader stood firm: There would be no statewide order to stay home. Such edicts to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus, Gov. Kristi L. Noem said disparagingly, reflected a 'herd mentality.' It was up to individuals -- not government -- to decide whether 'to exercise their right to work, to worship and to play. Or to even stay at home.' And besides, the first-term Republican told reporters at a briefing this month, 'South Dakota is not New York City.' But now South Dakota is home to one of the largest single coronavirus clusters anywhere in the United States, with more than 300 workers at a giant pork-processing plant falling ill.... The company was forced to announce the indefinite closure of the facility Sunday, threatening the U.S. food supply... [Despite pleas that she impose a shelter-in-place order], she used a media briefing Monday to announce trials of a drug that President Trump has repeatedly touted..., despite a lack of scientific evidence. 'It's an exciting day,' she boasted, repeatedly citing her conversations with ... Jared Kushner."

Virginia. Hemant Mehta, the Friendly Atheist: "The last time Bishop Gerald O. Glenn delivered a sermon at Richmond, Virginia's New Deliverance Evangelistic Church, which he founded, he proudly proclaimed how full the church was despite the threat of COVID-19. He didn't give a damn that gatherings were supposed to be limited to 10 people. 'I firmly believe that God is larger than this dreaded virus...,' he said, repeating it a second time to claps, saying that 'people are healed' in his church. On Sunday, the church announced that Glenn had died of COVID-19.... The church has removed his final sermon from YouTube." Glenn's widow is ill with the virus. Emphasis original.

Wisconsin's Supreme GOP Hypocrites. Daniel Bice of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "When the state Supreme Court took up ;Gov. Tony Evers' last-minute order to delay the April 7 election, they didn't have to worry about one possible consequence of their decision. No matter what, they wouldn't be joining thousands of other voters standing in line at the polls the next day. That's because all seven justices had already voted absentee, either by going in early and voting in person or by mailing in ballots.... In the previous five elections, a majority of the justices voted in person at the polls on election day.... The justices voted along ideological lines, with the four conservative opposing Evers' order and the two liberals voting to uphold it. Justice Daniel Kelly [a Scott Walker appointee,] did not participate in the case because he was on the ballot, running for a full 10-year term against Dane County Judge Jill Karofsky, a liberal."

2020 Elections

** Felicia Sonmez & Michael Scherer of the Washington Post: “Sen. Bernie Sanders, the independent senator from Vermont who ended his White House bid last week, said Monday that he is endorsing former vice president Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. Sanders made the announcement on a live stream hosted by Biden examining the country's response to the coronavirus pandemic. 'Joe, I know that there is an enormous responsibility on your shoulders right now, and it is imperative that all of us work together,' Sanders said on the live stream. Biden responded: 'Your endorsement means a great deal. ... I look forward to working with you. And I am going to need you badly.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Benjamin Swasey of NPR: "Joe Biden has won the Wisconsin Democratic primary, The Associated Press projects. The former vice president was already the party's presumptive presidential nominee, after Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders suspended his campaign last week.... Sanders had [Mrs. McC: decisively] won the Wisconsin primary in 2016 over eventual nominee Hillary Clinton." ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: According to Google, with about 99 percent reporting, Biden won about 63 percent of the vote to Sanders' 32 percent, with the rest of the vote going to other candidates. I believe Steve Koranacki said on MSNBC last night that Biden won every Wisconsin county.

Eric Bradner of CNN: "Democrats claimed victory Monday in a Wisconsin Supreme Court election that Republicans insisted on holding last week despite the coronavirus pandemic. Liberal Dane County Judge Jill Karofsky defeated conservative Justice Daniel Kelly, an incumbent backed by ... Donald Trump, in a race for a 10-year seat on the state's Supreme Court. Karofsky declared victory and Kelly conceded Monday evening as votes were still being counted in the close contest. The outcome is an embarrassment for state and national Republicans, who had blocked Democratic Gov. Tony Evers' bid to postpone the election or have it conducted entirely by mail and had fought in court against rules that would have made it easier to cast absentee ballots -- leaving Wisconsin the only state to go forward with in-person voting in April. A federal judge had ordered Wisconsin to wait six days before counting the votes cast last Tuesday, giving absentee ballots that were postmarked by election day time to arrive at clerks' offices." ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Forcing the six-day waiting period also would have reduced the number of live coronavirus organisms. ~~~

~~~ Reid Epstein of the New York Times: "The victory, by upward of 120,000 votes as of Monday night, came as a shock to Republicans and Democrats alike in Wisconsin, where contests for president, governor and the state's high court in the last four years have all been decided by about 30,000 votes or less.... The decisive Democratic win offered a signal that the party, highly energized and mobilized heading into 2020, could organize and execute a winning get-out-the-vote program against strident Republican efforts to limit voter turnout in a narrowly divided state widely expected to be crucial in this fall's presidential election." Thanks to Ken W. for the link. ~~~

~~~ Jim Rutenberg & Nick Corasaniti of the New York Times outline how the confederate Supremes, led by Brett Kavanaugh, "curtailed the right to vote in Wisconsin." Mrs. McC: The Supremes' decision was a feature, not a bug of some ideological preference of conservojustices.

Phoning It In. Fadel Allassan of Axios: "The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments via teleconference in May, it announced Monday.... It's the first time the court will hear cases remotely -- and it'll allow the media to listen in as well -- marking a huge step for the notoriously technophobic branch of government amid the coronavirus crisis. The 10 cases on the docket, which were previously indefinitely postponed, will now take place on May 4-6 and 11-13." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Josh Smith of Reuters: "South Korea reported on Monday that at least 116 people initially cleared of the new coronavirus had tested positive again, although officials suggested they would soon look at easing strict recommendations aimed at preventing new outbreaks.... Officials are still investigating the cause of the apparent relapses But Jeong Eun-kyeong, director of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), has said the virus may have been reactivated rather than the patients being re-infected. Other experts said faulty tests may be playing a role, or remnants of the virus may still be in patients' systems but not be infectious or of danger to the host or others. The 116 cases is more than double the 51 such cases South Korea reported a week earlier." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: What worries me the most about Trump's "reopening America" is that something like 90% of Americans -- myself probably included -- have never been exposed to the coronavirus; ergo, the vast majority of Americans could not have built up immunities. Since I have no medical training, perhaps my concern is exaggerated or baseless, but I see no end to the danger until a vaccine is widely available (and we can look forward to a mad rush to get the vaccine when the first vials roll off an assembly line). (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Marc Lipsitch, an immunologist, has an interesting opinion piece in the New York Times on research into immunity from the novel coronavirus & other viruses. He also explains the phenomemon of "herd immunity": "As more and more people become immune to the virus, an infected individual has less and less chance of coming into contact with a person susceptible to infection. Eventually, herd immunity becomes pervasive enough that an infected person on average infects less than one other person; at that point, the number of cases starts to go down. If herd immunity is widespread enough, then even in the absence of measures designed to slow transmission, the virus will be contained -- at least until immunity wanes or enough new people susceptible to infection are born." Mrs. McC: Me, I'm still thinking bubonic plague.

** Matthew Cole & Alex Emmons of The Intercept: "Erik Prince, founder of the private security firm Blackwater and a Trump administration adviser, has sought in recent months to provide military services to a sanctioned Russian mercenary firm in at least two African conflicts, according to three people with knowledge of the efforts. Prince, who is the brother of Trump Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, met earlier this year with a top official of Russia's Wagner Group and offered his mercenary forces to support the firm's operations in Libya and Mozambique, according to two people familiar with Prince's offer.... 'The conflicts of interest are deep and threaten democracy when you have a free agent going between the U.S. and its main power rivals,' said [Sean] McFate [a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council]. 'It would never clear an intelligence community background check. This is a dangerous thing for any democracy.'" --s (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Jesse Eisenger of ProPublica: "Walmart, a defendant in the massive lawsuit brought by states and municipalities around the country that accuses a broad range of companies of lax controls over opioid sales, failed to reveal that it had been under criminal investigation for similar conduct, according to plaintiffs in the case. Linda Singer, a partner at Motley Rice, which represents multiple states, counties and municipalities in the litigation..., cited a recent ProPublica article that revealed that the U.S. attorney of the Eastern District of Texas sought to charge the company criminally for its opioid dispensing practices. Walmart, which denies any criminality, avoided the charges by appealing to Trump appointees at the Justice Department, who repeatedly overruled the Texas prosecutors." --s

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