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Mar162020

The Commentariat -- March 17, 2020

It's primary election day in three states: Florida, Illinois & Arizona. Ohio's primary was cancelled in the middle of the night by a state supreme court ruling; see link to Columbus Dispatch story under "Presidential Race" below.

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

From the New York Times' live updates on coronavirus developments: "As the coronavirus pandemic ground large swaths of the economy to a halt, cost an increasing number of people their jobs and sent the markets reeling, the White House, Congress and the Federal Reserve began taking steps to get aid to people and businesses. In a briefing on Tuesday, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the administration is talking to Congress about sending cash payments to Americans over the next two weeks to cushion the economic blow from coronavirus. 'The president has instructed me we have to do this now,' he said. Mr. Mnuchin said that this Trump administration currently prefers making direct payments to Americans to get cash into their hands now rather than pushing for a payroll tax cut that would take months to reach people. He also said that President Trump instructed him to allow for the deferment of tax payments, interest free and penalty free for 90 days. People can defer up to a $1 million and corporations can defer up to $10 million in payments. The Treasury secretary said that this would inject $300 billion into the economy.... Mr. Trump said that his administration was also working to expand testing and preparing to ask Congress to infuse about $850 billion in additional stimulus to prop up the economy."

Trump Proposes Hu-u-ge Package to Raise Deficit & Help the Rich, Corporations. Erica Werner & Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: "The Trump administration is asking Congress to approve a massive economic stimulus package of around $850 billion to stanch the economic free fall caused by the coronavirus, four officials familiar with the planning said Tuesday. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will present details to Senate Republicans later Tuesday. The package would be mostly devoted to flooding the economy with cash, through a payroll tax cut or other mechanism, two of the officials said, with some $50 billion directed specifically to helping the airline industry. White House officials also want to include more assistance for small businesses and their employees in the legislation, the officials said.... The $850 billion package would come in addition to another roughly $100 billion package that aims to provide paid sick leave for impacted workers, though the details of that legislation remain very fluid as it moves through Congress.... Democrats have said their proposals are focused more on helping workers, health care providers, schools, and senior citizens.... Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D., N.Y.) is expected to outline his $750 billion proposal and contrast it with the White House's approach. Schumer's offering would expand unemployment insurance, provide money for schools, public transportation, expand Medicaid funding, expand more investments in health care, provide loan assistance, and halt evictions and foreclosures, among other things." ~~~

~~~ Franklin Foer of the Atlantic: "The coming bailout is a familiar moral catastrophe. During the financial crisis, the government saved the banking industry's bacon, while asking exceedingly little of the culprits. When the government spends billions of dollars to save industries, it has enormous leverage. This is the moment when Congress can shape an economy. It should demand, for instance, that the airlines keep their workers in their jobs; it should place hard caps on executive pay and prohibit stock buybacks; it can demand that airlines take steps to reduce their Sasquatch-size carbon footprint.... If the industry wants the public's money, it will have to deal with it."

Maggie Haberman & Noah Weiland of the New York Times (March 16): "The culture that President Trump has fostered and abided by for more than three years in the White House has shaped his administration's response to a deadly pandemic.... It explains how Mr. Trump could announce he was dismissing his acting chief of staff as the crisis grew more severe, creating even less clarity in an already fractured chain of command. And it was a major factor in the president's reluctance to even acknowledge a looming crisis, for fear of rattling the financial markets that serve as his political weather vane.... Crises are treated as day-to-day public relations problems by Mr. Trump, who thinks ahead in short increments of time and early on in his presidency told aides to consider each day as an episode in a television show. The type of long-term planning required for an unpredictable crisis like a pandemic has brought into stark relief the difficulties that Mr. Trump was bound to face in a real crisis. Mr. Trump has refused repeated warnings to rely on experts, or to neutralize some of the power held by his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, in favor of a traditional staff structure. He has rarely fully empowered people in the jobs they hold." ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Sorry, I thought I had linked this story earlier, but I see I did not. There's not much in it you don't know, but it does give a good picture of how unsuited Trump is to hold any administrative post, much less president*.

Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: "It isn't easy to find any bright spots amid our ongoing slide into failed-state status, but here's one: Far more Americans trust the news media than trust President Trump to tell them the truth about our coronavirus crisis. A new poll from NPR, PBS News Hour and Marist finds that only 37 percent of Americans have a good deal of trust in the information Trump tells them about coronavirus. By contrast, 60 percent have little to no trust. Meanwhile, the poll also finds that 50 percent have a good deal of trust in the news media's information about the disease, versus 47 percent who lack trust.... Our national response to a crisis with extraordinarily far-reaching destructive potential is more or less under the control of a megalomaniac who, with the eager backing of his media allies, vastly prioritizes protecting his reelection chances over protecting the country.... In addition to the threat it poses to the country, coronavirus also poses an existential threat to Trump's presidency. This Trump-protection project will only grow more urgent...." ~~~

~~~ MEANWHILE. Elizabeth Williamson of the New York Times: "When Deborah Frank Feinen, the mayor of Champaign, Ill., drafted an emergency powers declaration last Thursday to confront the coronavirus pandemic, she was proud of her city's early preparation. But by the time she got to work the next morning, the National Rifle Association had blared a 'national alert' saying 'anti-gun extremists' were moving 'to undermine our firearms freedom.' The city government was soon under siege.... Keen to defend President Trump from criticism and portray virus-related warnings as politically motivated fear-mongering, conservative organizations, media and Trump loyalists are undermining state and local government efforts to convey accurate information and protect their constituents.... On Sunday..., the Rev. Rodney Howard-Browne, an evangelical pastor and conspiracy theorist who has prayed with Mr. Trump in the White House, encouraged his tightly packed congregation to shake hands, to prove they were not 'pansies.'... He added, 'There's going to be forced vaccines' to 'kill off many people.' The president has not rebuked his allies for their denialism."

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Benedict Carey of the New York Times: "Scientists tracking the spread of the coronavirus reported on Monday that, for every confirmed case, there are most likely another five to 10 people in the community with undetected infections. These often-milder cases are, on average, about half as infectious as confirmed ones, but are responsible for nearly 80 percent of new cases, according to the report, which was based on data from China."

Trump Faces Some Facts (At Least for Now). Nolan McCaskill & Joanne Kenen of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Monday acknowledged the gravity of the coronavirus pandemic, releasing strict new guidelines to limit people's interactions in an increasingly urgent bid to slow the virus in the next two weeks before U.S. hospitals are overwhelmed. 'It's bad. It's bad,' the president said at a news conference after releasing guidelines that called for people to avoid gathering in groups of more than 10 people and to steer clear of eating and drinking at bars, restaurants and food courts. The guidelines -- including a strict recommendation that anyone with even minor symptoms stay home -- are not mandatory. But they were issued with a sense of alarm and a frankness that Trump has not previously displayed.... No country, including the United States, has it under control, he said." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Just yesterday Trump said the coronavirus was something "we have tremendous control of." He also said he would give himself a "10" on a scale of one-to-ten for his response to the virus, which he claimed no one saw coming a month ago. So, ya know, he hasn't totally faced reality. Trump said, too, that he was tested "very strongly" for the virus, & the test was negative. What does that mean? Did he get a super-test? Did the technician stab him really hard? I just hope if I'm tested, it won't be done "very weakly." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Jonathan Chait: "President Trump's Monday coronavirus press conference was his best since the beginning of the crisis. That is, of course, a relative measure.... His most remarkable utterance -- one that would have set off an uproar if a normal president had said it -- came when he claimed the coronavirus had snuck up on everybody. 'We have a problem that, a month ago, nobody thought about,' he proclaimed. Uh, well, no. In January, two former Trump administration officials wrote a Wall Street Journal op-ed pleading with Trump to take the coronavirus seriously. Almost two months ago, Joe Biden wrote an op-ed demanding a more forceful response. Trump spent this entire period relentlessly denying the United States faced any danger at all." ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Chait is in Trumpspeak denial here. When Trump says, "nobody knew," of course he means, "I didn't know" or "I just learned." The form of the statement is just like the one he made to GOP officials three years ago: "Most people don't even know [Abraham Lincoln] was a Republican. Does anyone know? Lot of people don't know that." Of course the Stable Genius can't acknowledge his own ignorance, so he must attribute that ignorance to "most people" or "everybody."

~~~ If You Beat Trump Over the Head with a Baseball Bat Enough Times, He Might Just Sorta Get It. Meredith McGraw, et al., of Politico: "Before markets started spiraling like 1987's 'Black Monday' crash, and even before ... Donald Trump heard from state governors and G-7 leaders trying to stave off deaths at home, the president received a series of fresh warnings about the scale of the calamity poised to wash over America. His coronavirus task force presented new information based on overseas models showing how quickly the virus could spread without swift action. And new data he was shown from China overnight highlighted that country's economic collapse -- plunging factory activity and soaring unemployment -- despite its draconian measures to combat the coronavirus crisis. Faced with a reality that the nation he oversees needs to take dramatic action or follow in the footsteps of deeply troubled nations abroad, the president took on a newly somber tone about a virus outbreak he spent months downplaying.... In just 24 hours, the president went from telling people filling up their pantries to just 'relax,' to acknowledging the economy might be careening toward a recession and warning the public they have a narrow window of 15 days to stop the spread of a lethal disease." ~~~

~~~ Ben White of Politico: "The early signals from the coronavirus crisis point to a scale of damage unseen in the modern U.S. economy: the potential for millions of jobs lost in a single month, a historic and sudden plunge in economic activity across the nation and a pace of sharp market swings not seen since the Great Depression. The S&P is now only around 300 points away from wiping out all its gains since Donald Trump won the White House in November 2016. President Trump himself, one of the grandest boasters of the strength and resilience of markets and the American economy, appeared to capitulate on Monday with a more somber tone reflecting the immense magnitude of the challenge facing the nation.... The hope on the part of White House officials is not to avoid a sharp economic slowdown -- they all know it is coming -- but that the short-term pain from extreme measures will lead to a flattening in the curve of the virus spread."

Paul Krugman: "At every stage, Donald Trump minimized the threat and blocked helpful action because he wanted to look good for the next news cycle or two, ignoring and intimidating anyone who tried to give him good advice. But here';s the thing: Even if he weren't so irresponsibly self-centered, he has denuded the government of people who could be giving good advice in the first place.... As far as I can tell, the Trump team is utterly incapable of formulating a coherent response to the gathering economic crisis.... At this point, in other words, it's pretty much up to Jay Powell, the Fed chairman, and Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the House; the question is whether Trump and Senate Republicans will let them save the economy.... In another time, under another president, the White House would have played a crucial role in shaping crisis legislation. But last week..., it was almost entirely a Democratic effort.... True, Steve Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary, negotiated with Pelosi, basically to make the bill a bit worse.... The Senate probably will eventually pass Pelosi's bill. But with all signs pointing to a steep economic dive, we need a much bigger stimulus package -- perhaps along the lines being developed by Chuck Schumer...."

Fred Imbert of CNBC: "Stocks fell sharply Monday -- with the Dow suffering its worst day since the 'Black Monday' market crash in 1987 and its third-worst day ever -- even after the Federal Reserve embarked on a massive monetary stimulus campaign to curb slower economic growth amid the coronavirus outbreak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 2,997.10 points lower, or 12.9%, at 20,188.52. The 30-stock Dow was briefly down more than 3,000 points in the final minutes of trading. The S&P 500 dropped 12% to 2,386.13 -- hitting its lowest level since December 2018 -- while the Nasdaq Composite closed 12.3% lower at 6,904.59 in its worst day ever. The major averages fell to their lows into the close after ... Donald Trump said the worst of the outbreak could last until August. He also told reporters the U.S. 'may be' heading into a recession." This is an update of a story linked previously. ~~~

~~~ New York Times live market updates: "The S&P 500 fell 12 percent, its biggest drop since the coronavirus outbreak began to roil markets in the United States last month -- and its worst daily decline since October 1987.... Financial markets cratered on Monday, as investors were confronted with evidence that a steep decline in the world's largest economies may have already begun. The sell-off began after the Federal Reserve took extraordinary steps on Sunday afternoon to bolster the American economy, signaling that it saw an economic crisis unfolding as businesses shut down and borders are closed to contain the coronavirus. The financial downdraft was global.... Then came news that factory activity in China -- one of the world's largest economies -- fell 13.5 percent last month compared with February of last year. Investment in China fell by roughly 25 percent. And one of the first bits of data for American economic activity in March, a gauge of manufacturing activity in New York State, showed a record one-month plunge in the measure, which fell to its lowest level since 2009." ~~~

~~~ Matt Egan & Rob McLean of CNN: "America's eight biggest biggest banks are slamming the brakes on their aggressive share buyback programs as they promise to preserve capital to get through the coronavirus crisis. The financial institutions announced the buyback decision simultaneously Sunday evening just after the Federal Reserve took emergency actions aimed at staving off a deep economic recession.... The decision reflects a realization that it would look bad for banks to reward shareholders with massive buybacks while simultaneously taking unpopular steps such as foreclosures, pulling credit lines, freezing hiring and laying off workers." --s ~~~

~~~ Al Lewis of CNBC: "Goldman Sachs' economists declared the U.S. economy all but recession-proof at the dawning of 2020, but now it appears a coronavirus-induced recession may have begun just a few months later. The analysis didn't account for a 'Black Swan,' a term for an improbable and unforeseen event.... 'We are going into a global recession,' warns chief economic advisor at Allianz Mohamed El-Erian, who correctly called the bear market as it approached. 'The economic damage is going to last.'" --s (Also linked yesterday.)

Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "President Trump told a group of governors on Monday morning that they should not wait for the federal government to fill the growing demand for respirators needed to treat people with coronavirus. "'Respirators, ventilators, all of the equipment -- try getting it yourselves,' Mr. Trump told the governors during the conference call, a recording of which was shared with The New York Times. 'We will be backing you, but try getting it yourselves. Point of sales, much better, much more direct if you can get it yourself.' The suggestion surprised some of the governors, who have been scrambling to contain the outbreak and are increasingly looking to the federal government for help with equipment, personnel and financial aid. Last Wednesday, Mr. Trump directed his labor secretary to increase the availability of respirators, and he has generally played down fears of shortages." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ William Baldwin of Forbes (March 14): "The German government just placed an order for 10,000 mechanical ventilators. What's the U.S. government doing about a potential shortage here? Not much, it seems.... 'We could increase production five-fold in a 90- to 120-day period,' says Chris Kiple, chief executive of Ventec Life Systems, a Bothell, Wash. firm that makes ventilators used in hospitals, homes and ambulances.... The ventilator industry is getting a burst of desperate orders from China and Italy. The U.S. hasn't seen that yet, although manufacturers are bracing for it. 'The time for action by the government is now,' says Kiple." --s

Tom Boggioni of RawStory: "As part of his duties overseeing the task force in charges of dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, Vice President Mike Pence has been holding secret meetings with prominent right-wing 'influencers' on how to spin Donald Trump's administration's efforts to contain the growing health crisis." --s

Nahal Toosi, et al., of Politico: "Seven days before Donald Trump took office, his aides faced a major test: the rapid, global spread of a dangerous virus in cities like London and Seoul, one serious enough that some countries were imposing travel bans. In a sober briefing, Trump's incoming team learned that the disease was an emerging pandemic ... and that health systems were crashing in Asia, overwhelmed by the demand.... But ... this 2017 crisis didn't really happen -- it was among a handful of scenarios presented to Trump's top aides as part of a legally required transition exercise with members of the outgoing administration of Barack Obama.... But roughly two-thirds of the Trump representatives in that room are no longer serving in the administration. That extraordinary turnover in the months and years that followed is likely one reason his administration has struggled to handle the very real pandemic it faces now, former Obama administration officials said.... 'The problem is that they came in very arrogant and convinced that they knew more than the outgoing administration -- full swagger,' one former Obama administration official who attended said. 'There were people who were there who said, "This is really stupid and why do we need to be here,"' added another senior Obama administration official...."

MEANWHILE, on Trump TV. Paul Farhi & Sarah Ellison of the Washington Post: "For weeks, some of Fox News's most popular hosts downplayed the threat of the coronavirus, characterizing it as a conspiracy by media organizations and Democrats to undermine President Trump. Fox News personalities such as Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham accused the news media of whipping up 'mass hysteria' and being 'panic pushers.' Fox Business host Trish Regan called the alleged media-Democratic alliance 'yet another attempt to impeach the president.' But that was then. With Trump's declaration on Friday that the virus constitutes a national emergency, the tone on Fox News has quickly shifted. On his program on Friday, Hannity -- the most watched figure on cable news -- lauded the president's handling of what the host is now, belatedly, referring to as a 'crisis.'... Trump, meanwhile, has long looked to Fox News and its personalities for guidance and approval, a dynamic that may have been pivotal this week after host Tucker Carlson reportedly visited with the president in person to urge him to take the coronavirus seriously."

Ryan Lucas of NPR: "Federal courthouses across the United States are taking steps large and small -- including postponing trials and moving courtroom hearings to video conferences -- as officials scramble to curtail public gatherings and limit the spread of the coronavirus.... The most dramatic effect so far on the federal judiciary was the Supreme Court's decision Monday to postpone oral arguments scheduled through April 1.... But there is no blanket decision that covers all district and circuit courts. Instead, each is crafting its own response in coordination with state and local health officials." (Also linked yesterday.)

Amy Goodman of Democracy Now, via RawStory: "A teenager's website tracking coronavirus has become one of the most vital resources for people seeking accurate and updated numbers on the pandemic. The URL is nCoV2019.live. We speak with 17-year-old Avi Schiffmann, a high school junior from Mercer Island outside Seattle, who started the site in late December, when coronavirus had not yet been detected outside of China. Now the site has been visited by tens of millions from every country on Earth." --s (Also linked yesterday.)

Mariel Padilla & Zach Montague of the New York Times: "Representative Devin Nunes, a California Republican, on Sunday encouraged healthy people to dine out at restaurants, contradicting public health advisories that strongly encouraged social distancing and discouraged Americans from attending mass gatherings.... 'There's a lot of concerns with the economy here because people are scared to go out,' he said. 'But I will just say, one of the things you can do is, if you're healthy, you and your family, it's a great time to just go out, go to a local restaurant. Likely you can get in easily. Let's not hurt the working people in this country that are relying on wages and tips to keep their small business going.'" (Also linked yesterday.)

Jared Holt of Right Wing Watch: "Former Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke melted down in a profanity-laced Twitter rant on Sunday in which he encouraged the public to defy the government' precautionary warnings meant to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease, alleging that liberal billionaire George Soros was somehow involved in the 'FLU panic.' 'GO INTO THE STREETS FOLKS. Visit bars, restaurants, shopping malls, CHURCHES and demand that your schools re-open. NOW! If government doesn't stop this foolishness...STAY IN THE STREETS. END GOVERNEMNT CONTROL OVER OUR LIVES. IF NOT NOW, WHEN? THIS IS AN EXPLOITATION OF A CRISIS,' Clarke posted on his Twitter account, where he has nearly one million followers. In another tweet, Clarke called the United States' response to the COVID-19 coronavirus the byproduct of 'several decades of liberal wussification.'... In one since-removed tweet, Clarke claimed that the ordered closures of bars and restaurants were part of 'orchestrated attempt to destroy CAPITALISM.' Clarke urged businesses to 'defy the order.'" Ginni Thomas (Clarence's wife) previously recommended that the White House hire Clarke for 'a homeland security role.'" (Also linked yesterday.)

Jonathan Chait on Trump's attempt "to pay a German biopharmaceutical company to develop a coronavirus vaccine in the United States, with the proviso that the product would be 'only for the United States.'... First, it shows his inability to grasp positive sum outcomes, especially between countries. A vaccine is a reductio ad absurdum of his dog-eat-dog worldview. While production capacity is somewhat finite, a vaccine is not a scarce good. Successful vaccines are always shared around the world because the entire world has a shared interest in eradicating diseases. Trump is the only world leader who is trying a beggar-thy-neighbor strategy for pandemic response. Second, it reveals his cynical assumption that everybody else shares his own amorality.... And third, we have Trump's inability to grasp the larger picture.... Would other countries be happy about this, or angry? Would they react in ways that might harm us when we might need their cooperation?" (Also linked yesterday.)

Peter Whoriskey & Neena Satija of the Washington Post on how U.S. testing failed: "As the coronavirus continues to spread across the United States, causing more than 80 deaths and over 4,000 confirmed cases, the struggles that overwhelmed the nation's testing are becoming clearer. First, the CDC moved too slowly to tap into the expertise of academia and private companies..., experts said.... The government effort was nevertheless marred by a widespread manufacturing problem that stalled U.S. testing for most of February.... Critics say government officials should have moved much more quickly to bring on expertise from outside the CDC." The story goes on to illuminate how the CDC rejected assistance from both the private sector & some state labs. Experts are urging the government to find out why.

Mitt Gets Real. Clare Foran of CNN: "Republican Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah on Monday outlined a list of proposals to address the coronavirus outbreak, including giving all American adults $1,000 in response to fallout from the spread of the disease. Romney's office framed the proposals as a way to ensure economic stability for working Americans.... The proposal comes after businessman Andrew Yang drew attention as a candidate in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary by advocating a universal basic income of $1,000 per month for every American adult to address economic inequality. Yang, who dropped out of the presidential race in February and is now a CNN political commentator, tweeted about the Romney proposal on Monday, saying, 'Mitt understands this crisis' potential impact on the economy and what is at stake.'" Thanks to Ken W. for the link.

Josh Marshall of TPM: "As we've moved into the shocking events of March one of my central experiences has been what I would call time dilation.... What's unthinkable Thursday is quaint by Sunday. Such rapid shifts in our perceptions of the world and reality we're living in are profoundly disorienting. I suspect more disorienting than many of us yet understand simply because there's no respite from the rush of events. With all this I thought it would be helpful to review some of the recent timeline of events, both to get some temporal footing but also to start thinking about the range of possibilities of what might happen and how long this might last." --s

Ben Collins of NBC News: "The various false text messages forwarded to many Americans on Sunday and Monday all started a little differently before making the same debunked claim: Martial law is coming. Martial law is not coming.... With social media networks like Facebook and Twitter cracking down on the spread of dangerous misinformation in the face of the pandemic, misleading information and false claims have moved to what experts are calling a literal 'game of telephone' in text-messaging apps. Some users, even those who have no intention of spreading wrong information, are forwarding along viral rumors and urban legends to push vital information that is frequently untrue.... The supposed 'source' of the martial law rumors differs from recipient to recipient. Different versions of the texts seen by NBC News attribute the rumor to 'high-ranking military officials,' a 'close friend ... with incredibly reliable information' and 'a source that works for Homeland Security.'"

Alex Wickham of BuzzFeed News: "The UK only realised 'in the last few days' that attempts to 'mitigate' the impact of the coronavirus pandemic would not work, and that it needed to shift to a strategy to 'suppress' the outbreak, according to a report by a team of experts who have been advising the government. The report, published by the Imperial College COVID-19 Response Team on Monday night, found that the strategy previously being pursued by the government -- dubbed 'mitigation' and involving home isolation of suspect cases and their family members but not including restrictions on wider society -- would 'likely result in hundreds of thousands of deaths and health systems (most notably intensive care units) being overwhelmed many times over'... 'Our most significant conclusion is that mitigation is unlikely to be feasible without emergency surge capacity limits of the UK and US healthcare systems being exceeded many times over,' perhaps by as much as eight times, the report said. In this scenario, the Imperial College team predicted as many as 250,000 deaths in Britain."

The Grifters. Jordan Libowitz of CREW: "On March 7, less than two weeks after President Trump returned from an official visit to India, the business he still owns and profits from made an announcement: it would now ship Trump-branded products to India. This appears to be a clear violation of the Trump family's pledge of no new foreign business during the Trump presidency, and an invitation for corruption. This decision will allow foreign nationals to funnel money into President Trump's pocket in a way that is unfortunately both secret and legal. India is joined on the announcement by Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Scotland (which we must note is still technically part of the United Kingdom) and Germany." --s (Also linked yesterday.)

Swamp. Mike Spies & Jake Pearson of ProPublica: "The Republican National Committee has paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to contractors closely connected to the organization's chairwoman, Ronna McDaniel. One contract went to her husband's insurance company. Two others went to businesses whose executives recently donated to Ronna for Chair, a largely inactive political action committee that McDaniel controls.... The companies won the contracts soon after McDaniel became the party's top official. She was picked for the position by President Donald Trump after the 2016 election." --s (Also linked yesterday.)

Phillip Bailey of the Louisville Courier Journal: "Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is quietly making phone calls to senior federal judges and urging them to step aside ahead of the 2020 election. A source familiar with the Kentucky leader's thinking described Monday how McConnell is personally reaching out to judges appointed by past Republican presidents.... The effort underscores how the GOP leader might be concerned about Republicans losing their Senate majority in the fall or ... Donald Trump failing to be reelected."

Robert Faturechi of ProPublica (March 10): "House members and staffers of both parties are increasingly dodging ethics investigators. The last decade showed a sharp drop in cooperation starting in mid-2016. Before that, in 74% of distinct cases subjects cooperated fully..., according to a ProPublica review of every case in which OCE found a potential violation. Since then, full cooperation has plummeted to just 33% of cases. Today, it's common for lawmakers from both parties to refuse not just some requests for interviews and documents from OCE, but all of them. In the last four years, subjects in 11 of 18 distinct cases refused any cooperation whatsoever. In the six years before that, there were just three such cases out of 43." --s (Also linked yesterday.)

Michael Balsamo & Eric Tucker of the AP: "The Justice Department is moving to drop charges against two Russian companies that were accused of funding a social media campaign to sway American public opinion during the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Prosecutors said they concluded that a trial, against a corporate defendant with no presence in the United States and no prospect of meaningful punishment even if convicted, would likely expose sensitive law enforcement tools and techniques, 'potentially undermining their effectiveness.' Concord Management and Consulting LLC and Concord Catering were among three companies and 13 individuals charged in 2018 by special counsel Robert Mueller in a conspiracy to spread disinformation on social media during the 2016 presidential race. The effort was aimed at dividing American public opinion and sowing discord in the electorate, officials said. The case was one of the signature indictments from Mueller's two-year Russia investigation.... Concord was the sole defendant in the case to enter an appearance in Washington's federal court and contest the allegations. The case had been set for trial next month, making the government's filing all the more abrupt. Concord is controlled by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a wealthy businessman known as 'Putin's chef' for his ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin." ~~~

~~~ Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "The Justice Department's retreat comes after several controversies over Attorney General William P. Barr and top aides' handling of Mueller-related cases." The Hill has a story here. Mrs. McC: I smell a rat. Or two. Or three.

Presidential Race

John Wagner & Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post: "Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) said that no in-person voting will take place in the state's primary Tuesday, noting that proceeding as usual would not be in accordance with the CDC guidelines against gatherings of 50 people or more.... He said a lawsuit will be filed to enact the change.... Election officials in the three other states voting Tuesday -- Arizona, Florida and Illinois -- have said they will proceed with their primaries, though Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) questioned the wisdom of that ... Sunday." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Update. As of 8 pm ET Monday, it wasn't clear if Ohio polls would be open or closed tomorrow. Gov. DeWine, according MSNBC, asked a court to close the polls, and the court declined his request. DeWine is appealing. ~~~

~~~ ** Update 2. Rick Rouan & John Futty of the Columbus Dispatch: "For real this time: There is no Ohio primary Tuesday. Early Tuesday, the Ohio Supreme Court denied a legal challenge to the state delaying the primary. A candidate in Wood County filed the action alleging the delay of the primary violated election laws. Only four justices participated in the ruling, which was issued without an opinion. The ruling capped a chaotic 12 hours in which it appeared the election was off, back on, and then off again.... Lawsuits are expected Tuesday seeking to allow additional days for absentee balloting and to perhaps move the election to a date other than June 2." ~~~

~~~ ** Nick Corasaniti & Stephanie Saul of the New York Times: "The other three states scheduled to vote on Tuesday [today] -- Arizona, Florida and Illinois -- have indicated that they intend to hold their elections as planned.... Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana and Ohio have postponed their presidential primary elections.... Wyoming is suspending in-person caucuses and asking voters to mail or drop off their ballots. Other states are weighing similar options or adding extra precautions for voters." The story has more information on voting in the three states voting today, but if you vote in those states, you'll probably have to consult local papers or other news outlets for clarification.

Senate Race. Kentucky. Daniel Desroches of the Lexington Herald-Leader: "U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's campaign called on a potential Democratic opponent -- former Marine Corps pilot Amy McGrath -- to stop running political advertisements during the COVID-19 pandemic. 'Amy McGrath's decision to blanket the airwaves with deceitful ads during the coronavirus outbreak is tasteless and shameful,' said McConnell campaign manager Kevin Golden.... The Kentucky primaries were slated for May 19, but Gov. Andy Beshear delayed the primary by 35 days to June 23." Mrs. McC: Seems to me like a good time to run ads about how Mitch is holding up passage of a bill for coronavirus relief & mitigation funding.

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Sunday

Mar152020

The Commentariat -- March 16, 2020

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Trump Faces the Facts (At Least for Now). Nolan McCaskill & Joanne Kenen of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Monday acknowledged the gravity of the coronavirus pandemic, releasing strict new guidelines to limit people's interactions in an increasingly urgent bid to slow the virus in the next two weeks before U.S. hospitals are overwhelmed. 'It's bad. It's bad,' the president said at a news conference after releasing guidelines that called for people to avoid gathering in groups of more than 10 people and to steer clear of eating and drinking at bars, restaurants and food courts. The guidelines -- including a strict recommendation that anyone with even minor symptoms stay home -- are not mandatory. But they were issued with a sense of alarm and a frankness that Trump has not previously displayed.... No country, including the United States, has it under control, he said." ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Just yesterday Trump said the coronavirus was something "we have tremendous control of." He also said he would give himself a "10" on a scale of one-to-ten for his response to the virus, which he claimed no one saw coming a month ago. So, ya know, not he hasn't totally faced reality. Trump said, too, that he was tested "very strongly" for the virus & the test was negative. What does that mean? Did he get a super-test? Did the technician stab him really hard? I just hope if I'm tested, it won't be done "very weakly."

Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "President Trump told a group of governors on Monday morning that they should not wait for the federal government to fill the growing demand for respirators needed to treat people with coronavirus. '"Respirators, ventilators, all of the equipment -- try getting it yourselves,' Mr. Trump told the governors during the conference call, a recording of which was shared with The New York Times. 'We will be backing you, but try getting it yourselves. Point of sales, much better, much more direct if you can get it yourself.' The suggestion surprised some of the governors, who have been scrambling to contain the outbreak and are increasingly looking to the federal government for help with equipment, personnel and financial aid. Last Wednesday, Mr. Trump directed his labor secretary to increase the availability of respirators, and he has generally played down fears of shortages."

Jared Holt of Right Wing Watch: "Former Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke melted down in a profanity-laced Twitter rant on Sunday in which he encouraged the public to defy the government's precautionary warnings meant to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease, alleging that liberal billionaire George Soros was somehow involved in the 'FLU panic.' 'GO INTO THE STREETS FOLKS. Visit bars, restaurants, shopping malls, CHURCHES and demand that your schools re-open. NOW! If government doesn't stop this foolishness ... STAY IN THE STREETS. END GOVERNEMNT CONTROL OVER OUR LIVES. IF NOT NOW, WHEN? THIS IS AN EXPLOITATION OF A CRISIS,' Clarke posted on his Twitter account, where he has nearly one million followers. In another tweet, Clarke called the United States' response to the COVID-19 coronavirus the byproduct of 'several decades of liberal wussification.'... In one since-removed tweet, Clarke claimed that the ordered closures of bars and restaurants were part of 'orchestrated attempt to destroy CAPITALISM.' Clarke urged businesses to 'defy the order.'" Ginni Thomas (Clarence's wife) previously recommended that the White House hire Clarke for "a homeland security role."

Mariel Padilla> & Zach Montague of the New York Times: "Representative Devin Nunes, a California Republican, on Sunday encouraged healthy people to dine out at restaurants, contradicting public health advisories that strongly encouraged social distancing and discouraged Americans from attending mass gatherings.... 'There's a lot of concerns with the economy here because people are scared to go out,' he said. 'But I will just say, one of the things you can do is, if you're healthy, you and your family, it's a great time to just go out, go to a local restaurant. Likely you can get in easily. Let's not hurt the working people in this country that are relying on wages and tips to keep their small business going.'"

Al Lewis of CNBC: "Goldman Sachs' economists declared the U.S. economy all but recession-proof at the dawning of 2020, but now it appears a coronavirus-induced recession may have begun just a few months later. The analysis didn't account for a 'Black Swan,' a term for an improbable and unforeseen event.... 'We are going into a global recession,' warns chief economic advisor at Allianz Mohamed El-Erian, who correctly called the bear market as it approached. 'The economic damage is going to last.'" --s

Robert Faturechi of ProPublica (March 10): "House members and staffers of both parties are increasingly dodging ethics investigators. The last decade showed a sharp drop in cooperation starting in mid-2016. Before that, in 74% of distinct cases subjects cooperated fully, providing interviews and documents as requested, according to a ProPublica review of every case in which OCE found a potential violation. Since then, full cooperation has plummeted to just 33% of cases. Today, it's common for lawmakers from both parties to refuse not just some requests for interviews and documents from OCE, but all of them. In the last four years, subjects in 11 of 18 distinct cases refused any cooperation whatsoever. In the six years before that, there were just three such cases out of 43." --s

~~~~~~~~~~

The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments is here. "Countries closed borders, cities from New York and Los Angeles to Paris and Madrid closed bars and restaurants, schools closed more classrooms and hundreds of millions of people closed their doors on one another as the authorities took ever more drastic steps to slow the spread of the new coronavirus. The consequences of China's harsh measures to halt the virus -- restricting the movement of about 700 million people at one point -- became apparent on Monday when the government released economic data showing industrial output falling to its lowest level in decades and unemployment rising at its highest rate ever in February.... There is a scramble across the [European] Continent to step up production of ventilators, with leaders calling for the kind of effort seen in wartime to produce munitions." The Washington Post's live updates are here. Both papers' coronavirus updates are free for nonsubscribers.

Zachary Basu of Axios: "Several state governments -- Michigan, Illinois, Massachusetts, California & Washington -- on Sunday called for the closure of bars and restaurants, a drastic step to enforce 'social distancing' that follows similar measures in Europe, where the coronavirus outbreak has put tremendous strain on health resources.... Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government's top infectious disease expert, made a plea on the Sunday morning talk shows for young people to stop flooding bars and restaurants."

Heather Long of the Washington Post: "The Federal Reserve announced on Sunday it would drop interest rates to zero and buy at least $700 billion in government and mortgage-related bonds as part of a wide-ranging emergency action to protect the economy from the impact of the coronavirus outbreak. The moves, the most dramatic by the U.S. central bank since the 2008 financial crisis, are aimed at keeping financial markets stable and making borrowing costs as low as possible as businesses around the country close and the U.S. economy hurtles toward recession. The Fed, led by Chair Jerome H. Powell, effectively cut its benchmark by a full percentage point to zero. The benchmark U.S. interest rate is now in a range of 0 to 0.25 percent, down from a range of 1 to 1.25 percent. In addition to rate cuts, the Fed announced it is restarting the crisis-era program of bond purchases known as 'quantitative easing,' in which the central bank buys hundreds of billions of dollars in bonds to further push down rates and keep markets flowing freely. The Fed is also giving more-generous loans to banks around the country so they can turn around and offer loans to small businesses and families in need of lifeline." Politico's story is here. ~~~

~~~ Fred Imbert of CNBC: "Stocks fell sharply on Monday even after the Federal Reserve embarked on a massive monetary stimulus campaign to curb slower economic growth amid the coronavirus outbreak. The S&P 500 dropped 11.4% while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2,700 points, or 11.7%. The Nasdaq Composite traded 11.2% lower. Before the open, futures contracts tied to the major averages hit their 'limit down' levels, meaning they could not trade below that threshold. Those limits are imposed by the CME Group to maintain orderly market behavior." This is an update of a story linked earlier this morning.

Mrs. McCrabbie: I don't know what to make of this, but there it is in a real newspaper, and apparently confirmed by a German minister: ~~~

~~~ Philip Oltermann of the Guardian: "The Trump administration has offered a German medical company 'large sums of money' for exclusive access to a Covid-19 vaccine, German media have reported. The German government is trying to fight off what it sees as an aggressive takeover bid by the US, the broadsheet Die Welt reports, citing German government circles. The US president had offered the Tübingen-based biopharmaceutical company CureVac 'large sums of money' to gain exclusive access to their work, wrote Die Welt. According to an anonymous source quoted in the newspaper, Trump was doing everything to secure a vaccine against the coronavirus for the US, 'but for the US only'. The German government was reportedly offering its own financial incentives for the vaccine to stay in the country. The German health minister Jens Spahn said that a takeover of the CureVac company by the Trump administration was 'off the table'. CureVac would only develop vaccine 'for the whole world', Spahn said, 'not for individual countries'." Thanks to Ken W. for the link. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ This US News report is more detailed & less sensational. It seems to back up the essence of the story, but it isn't clear from this report that Trump's aim was to secure the CureVac vaccine "for the U.S. only." Mrs. McC: If that is Trump's plan, it's analogous to a war crime. (Also linked yesterday.) A Reuters story, which I think was the first-published English-language report, is here. ~~~

~~~ Zeke Miller of the AP: "The first participant in a clinical trial for a vaccine to protect against the new coronavirus will receive an experimental dose on Monday, according to a government official. The National Institutes of Health is funding the trial, which is taking place at the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute in Seattle.... Public health officials say it will take a year to 18 months to fully validate any potential vaccine. Testing will begin with 45 young, healthy volunteers with different doses of shots co-developed by NIH and Moderna Inc. There's no chance participants could get infected from the shots, because they don't contain the virus itself. The goal is purely to check that the vaccines show no worrisome side effects, setting the stage for larger tests. Dozens of research groups around the world are racing to create a vaccine as COVID-19 cases continue to grow."

Some highlights from Sunday's NYT coronavirus updates: "New York's mayor announced on Sunday night that he would order all bars and restaurants to close. Restaurants would be limited to takeout and food delivery, officials said.... The [CDC] recommended Sunday that no gatherings with 50 people or more -- including weddings, festivals, parades, concerts, sporting events or conferences -- be held in the United States for the next eight weeks in one of the federal government's most sweeping efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus.... California called for all people 65 and older to shelter in their homes. Massachusetts moved to ban dining in bars and restaurants beginning Tuesday, effectively closing Boston's bars for St. Patrick's Day. And Puerto Rico set some of the strictest measures in the United States, imposing a 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew and closing nonessential businesses.... By Sunday morning, known cases of coronavirus in the United States exceeded 2,700, spread across 49 states, prompting the mass cancellation of events and the reordering of American public life. Just one week ago, fewer than 500 cases of the illness had been diagnosed in the country..... Two American emergency-room doctors -- one in Washington State and one in New Jersey -- were in critical condition with Covid-19." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ See also in yesterday's Comments, Anonymous's account of a very early Sunday morning grocery-shopping outing.

The Travel Ban Fiasco

Matt Stieb of New York: "In an error-laden speech on Wednesday night, President Trump surprised the airline industry by announcing a travel ban on citizens from 26 European countries in an attempt to quell the spread of the coronavirus. On Saturday, the first day that the restrictions and 'enhanced entry screenings' were put into effect, Customs lines at major U.S. airports were inundated with passengers, resulting in reported waits of up to seven hours. Like many Trump administration responses to the pandemic, the implementation of the rules may have increased the likelihood of COVID-19 transmission, rather than their intended effect.... With the travel ban extending to Ireland and the United Kingdom on Monday at midnight, it's unlikely that the chaos at the airports, and the increased potential for COVID-19 exposure caused by the lines, will subside -- and all for a containment effort that public-health experts are confident will not work. University College London epidemiologist Francois Balloux told NPR that 'From a public-health perspective, it's completely pointless.'"

Derek Hawkins, et al., of the Washington Post: "Airports around the country were thrown into chaos Saturday night as workers scrambled to roll out the Trump administration's hastily arranged health screenings for travelers returning from Europe. Scores of anxious passengers said they encountered jam-packed terminals, long lines and hours of delays as they waited to be questioned by health authorities at some of the busiest travel hubs in the United States." Mrs. McC: The accompanying photo of the U.S. Customs waiting area at Dallas-Fort Worth International is not exactly a picture of "social distancing," even though many of the people in the photo are coming from areas with high coronavirus incidences. It's a "What's Wrong with This Picture?" moment. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Cheryl Benard in a Washington Post op-ed: "Arriving at Dulles International Airport via London, I encountered a case study in how to spread a pandemic.... Dulles had been identified by the [Trump] administration as one of the handful of U.S. airports equipped to test arriving passengers and admit or quarantine them accordingly.... Upon landing, I spent three hours in a jammed immigration hall trying to decide which analogy fit better: the ignorant Middle Ages during the plague years or the most chaotic airport in the least developed country.... There was no attempt to enable social distancing; we were packed closely together. Two giant queues of people -- one for U.S. citizens and green-card holders and one for foreign nationals -- wound their way through the cavernous hall. I counted and came up with approximately 450 people in each section, for a total of just under a thousand. Many were coughing, sneezing and looking unwell." Read on. It gets worse.

Jacob Rosenberg of Mother Jones: "On Saturday night, as images of huge crowds stuck at customs at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport went viral, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker [D] tweeted his frustration -- tagging ... Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. 'These crowds are waiting to get through customs,' he said, 'which is under federal jurisdiction....you need to do something NOW.' Pritzker's message was clear: 'The federal government needs to get its s@#t together.'... On Sunday morning, Pritzker said on Meet the Press that he did hear from the White House late Saturday night. Except it wasn't to offer support or help at one of the nation's biggest airports -- rather, it was to yell at him for tweeting about it in the first place."

Taylor Dolven of the Miami Herald: "Despite the positive test for COVID-19 from a passenger who had disembarked days earlier, thousands of people were allowed to leave a cruise ship in Miami on Sunday without undergoing medical screening. The former passenger got off the MSC Meraviglia in Miami on March 8 after an eight-day Caribbean cruise, leaving 103 passengers and the ship's crew aboard for the next voyage. Four days later, after the ship had sailed with thousands of additional new passengers aboard, the Public Health Agency of Canada informed Broward-based MSC Cruises that the former passenger had tested positive. Once it received the result, the company said it isolated in individual cabins seven crew members who had been in close contact with the passenger. But instead of holding the ship off the Florida coast and testing people on board for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, MSC said U.S. health authorities cleared it to dock Sunday and disembark passengers as normal."

** Ariana Cha of the Washington Post: "In the Chinese city of Wuhan..., doctors made life-or-death decisions last month when 1,000 people needed ventilators to support their breathing, but only 600 were available. In Iran, where numerous high-level officials have been infected, doctors sought unsuccessfully to get the international community to lift sanctions so they could purchase more lifesaving machines. And in northern Italy, doctors took the painful step last week of issuing guidelines for rationing ventilators and other essential medical equipment, prioritizing treatment for the young and others with the best chance of survival. Such tough choices could well be ahead for the United States, a nation with limited hospital capacity and grim epidemiological projections estimating that as many as 40 to 60 percent of the country's population of 327 million could eventually become infected." ~~~

~~~ Mrs. MCrabbie: If you're looking for reassurances from the Dear Leader, here's what you get: "We're in the process, and in some cases have already done it, ordered a large number of respirators just in case. We hope we don't need them but we've ordered a large number." (March 14) WTF does that even mean? Trump of course will get whatever medical equipment he needs; as he struggles for breath, his doctor isn't going to tell him a procurement clerk in the process of ordering a new respirator for him, but nobody knows if the paperwork has gone through, and if even the manufacturer gets the order, gets around to filling & sending it, what government storehouse it might go to & how & when it might be routed to Walter Reed. And his doctor won't have a momentary twinge of conscience and say, "But I'm lying about all this, Sir. There are no respirators on order, much less ventilators. You're going to die, Sir. Right quick."

Quack, Quack. Sarah Jones of New York: "... for some people, a pandemic is a business opportunity.... In response to the pandemic, some consumers are turning to homeopathy, essential oils, and other forms of alternative medicine and home cures to either prevent COVID-19, or to treat it. Others are raking in profit off the anxieties of the public. The problem has become so significant that the World Health Organization now addresses a few choice urban legends on its official website for COVID-19.... Even without the looming threat of pandemic, pseudoscientific cures can pose a real threat to the public. No scientific evidence supports the claim that homeopathy has curative properties, for example, and relying on unproven treatments without the assistance of conventional medicine can put a person's health at risk." Jones names a number of famous-ish people selling snake oil, including televangelist Jim Bakker & actor Gwyneth Paltrow.

Summer Concepcion of TPM: "President Trump attempted to quell the panic that has ensued amid the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. during a White House press briefing Sunday afternoon. After shouting out to his meeting with executives from Target, Campbell's and Costco, Trump advised against panic-buying in response to the outbreak. 'You don't have to buy so much,' Trump said. 'Take it easy, just relax. People are going in and buying more. I remember -- I guess during the conversation Doug of Walmart said -- that they're buying more than they buy at Christmas. Relax. We're doing great. It all will pass.' Trump later added that the executives he met with earlier Sunday 'have asked me to say, "Could you buy a little bit less please?"' which he thought he 'would never hear that from a retailer.'" More on Trump's Sunday press briefing in the story by the NYT's Karni & Goldman linked below.~~~

~~~ I Really Don't Care. Do U? David Leonhardt of the New York Times: "I've reviewed all of [Trump's] public statements and actions on coronavirus over the last two months, and they show a president who put almost no priority on public health. Trump's priorities were different: Making the virus sound like a minor nuisance. Exaggerating his administration's response. Blaming foreigners and, anachronistically, the Obama administration. Claiming incorrectly that the situation was improving. Trying to cheer up stock market investors.... Now that the severity of the virus is undeniable, Trump is already trying to present an alternate history of the last two months. Below are the facts -- a timeline of what the president was saying, alongside statements from public-health experts as well as data on the virus."

Charles Blow of the New York Times: "The virus was never a hoax or a media creation or a flash in the pan that would affect few and miraculously vanish. But Trump, the supposed leader of the country, wasted precious time -- weeks and weeks -- telling the American public just that, while not taking the drastic measures that the government is now, belatedly, taking. That puts lives in danger, and surely, in the end, will have cost lives.... Even when cooler heads and bigger brains prevailed, and Trump stopped trying to wish the virus away and started the work of driving it away, he was hapless, dishonest and dissembling."

Justine Coleman of the Hill: "President Trump said Sunday that he is 'strongly considering' a full pardon for his former national security adviser Michael Flynn. 'So now it is reported that, after destroying his life & the life of his wonderful family (and many others also), the FBI, working in conjunction with the Justice Department, has "lost" the records of General Michael Flynn,' he tweeted. 'How convenient. I am strongly considering a Full Pardon!' he added." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ "It Is Reported"?? Martin Pengelly & Oliver Laughland of the Guardian: "Although Trump did not cite specific reports, [Flynn's lawyer Sidney] Powell had tweeted hours earlier an unsubstantiated claim that '#FBI still hiding evidence of #Flynn's innocence'." Mrs. McC: Oh. The "reports" are in the right-wing fantasy loop. So (1) make up a story about some miscarriage of justice; (2) pardon the guy based on the invented story. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Annie Karni & Adam Goldman of the New York Times: "Mr. Trump, who appeared to spend the day stewing at the White House, also lashed out at a familiar group of perceived Democratic enemies: Hillary Clinton, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Senator Chuck Schumer of New York. The president brought up Mrs. Clinton's use of a private email server, accused Mr. Schumer of threatening his two appointees to the Supreme Court and falsely blamed the Obama administration of responding slowly to the swine flu outbreak in 2009. In the evening, Mr. Trump made an appearance in the White House briefing room.... He left Vice President Mike Pence to address the escalating anxiety across the country and the availability of testing.... During the news conference, Mr. Trump again attacked the news media, after he falsely claimed last week that Google had 1,700 engineers at work on a coronavirus website that would help people evaluate their symptoms and locate a drive-by testing site. 'The Fake and Corrupt News never called Google,' Mr. Trump tweeted earlier in the day, inaccurately, in his latest attempt to sow mistrust of the news media. 'Even in times such as these, they are not truthful. Watch for their apology, it won't happen.'"

Presidential Race

America, go to the YouTube right now. -- Bernie Sanders, Sunday debate, on Joe Biden's claim that he didn't make repeated attempts to cut Social Security ~~~

~~~ First Runner-up in the Democratic Prezstakes Will Be a Woman. Alexander Burns & Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Senator Bernie Sanders called for vastly more aggressive government action to battle the coronavirus but split over some of the details along familiar ideological lines on Sunday night.... In their first one-on-one encounter of the primary race, Mr. Sanders ... demanded sweeping economic reform and the creation of a single-payer health care system to address crises like the virus. Mr. Biden said he would call up the military to help and enact 'a multi-multi-billion dollar program' of disease containment and economic rescue, and said that there were more issues at hand that could not wait on reinventing the health care system. Mr. Biden also used the debate to explicitly pledge to name a woman as his running mate, a vow that prompted Mr. Sanders to say he would 'in all likelihood' do the same. The specter of the disease pervaded their encounter from their first moments onstage: Mr. Biden and Mr. Sanders declined to shake hands at the start and stood six feet apart from each other at a television studio in Washington, following the guidelines for social distancing prescribed by public health authorities.... The debate took place without a live audience." ~~~

~~~ Christopher Cadelago & Elena Schneider of Politico describe "key moments" in the debate. NBC News reporters list some key exchanges here. ~~~

~~~ Joe Biden knows the way to the Situation Room.

Superfluous "News": Karen Heller of the Washington Post believes she has compiled "The Definitive Guide to Bernie Sanders' Hand Gestures." (Also linked yesterday.)

Beyond the Beltway

Florida. Patricia Mazzei of the New York Times: "Andrew Gillum, the former Tallahassee mayor who was the Democratic nominee for governor of Florida in 2018, announced on Sunday night that he is going into rehab. Mr. Gillum, who narrowly lost the governor's race and went on to become a prominent television commentator, said in a statement that he would seek treatment for alcoholism. Mr. Gillum was found in a Miami Beach hotel room last week when paramedics were called in to help another man who was suffering from a possible drug overdose."

Way Beyond

Israel. Uh, Wow? David Halbfinger of the New York Times: "Benny Gantz, the centrist former army chief battling to depose Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, on Sunday won the endorsements of a narrow majority of lawmakers, earning him a fresh chance to form a government and break Israel's yearlong political deadlock. The surprise majority for Mr. Gantz, 60, who earned the backing both of Arab lawmakers often accused of sympathizing with terrorists and from ultranationalist lawmakers often called rabidly anti-Arab, puts him in a stronger-than-expected position to try to pry loose Mr. Netanyahu's 11-year grip on power. Israel' president, Reuven Rivlin, said he would formally assign Mr. Gantz, of the Blue and White party, the mandate to form a government at midday on Monday."

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Saturday

Mar142020

The Commentariat -- Ides of March 2020

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Caitlin Kelly of Wired: "Tonight, former vice president Joe Biden and Vermont senator Bernie Sanders will meet onstage to debate for the 11th time in the 2020 campaign season -- but it's never been quite like this.... It's the first time the two men will face off one-on-one in a debate like this. And after spending months portrayed as an underdog, Biden is now the presumptive favorite to be the Democratic nominee for president. Tonight's debate starts at 8 pm ET (5 pm PT), and is hosted by CNN and Univision.... [The debate will] be held at CNN's studio in Washington, DC. There will also be no live audience." The story includes ways to watch.

Mrs. McCrabbie: I don't know what to make of this, but there it is in a real newpaper, and apparently confirmed by a German minister: ~~~

Some highlights from today's NYT coronavirus updates: "By Sunday morning, known cases of coronavirus in the United States exceeded 2,700, spread across 49 states, prompting the mass cancellation of events and the reordering of American public life. Just one week ago, fewer than 500 cases of the illness had been diagnosed in the country..... Two American emergency-room doctors -- one in Washington State and one in New Jersey -- were in critical condition with Covid-19.... As the U.S. government rushed on Saturday to implement President Trump's restrictions on travel from Europe, part of an effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus, chaos ensued at some of America's biggest airports."

Superfluous "News": Karen Heller of the Washington Post believes she has compiled "The Definitive Guide to Bernie Sanders' Hand Gestures."

~~~~~~~~~~~

The New York Times' coronavirus live updates for Sunday are here. The Washington Post's live updates for Sunday are here. Both are free for nonsubscribers.

The New York Times' coronavirus live updates for Saturday are here. The page is open to nonsubscribers. Among the highlights: "Spain and France announced drastic, countrywide restrictions on Saturday to contain the spread of the coronavirus.... The virus has been reported in more than 2,100 people in 49 [U.S.] states, as well as Washington and Puerto Rico, and has killed at least 48.... It was unclear if Mr. Pence, who interacted with some of the infected Mar-a-Lago visitors, had known that the president was tested. Answering a reporter's question about his own status, Mr. Pence said, 'I'm going to speak immediately after this news conference with the White House physician's office,' which he said had previously advised him that neither he nor his wife needed to be tested.... Despite being pressed repeatedly at the White House news conference on Saturday, Mr. Pence did not share substantive new details about Mr. Trump's earlier claim that Google was developing a website to help people decide whether a test for the coronavirus was warranted and where they could get one.... As thousands of Americans flee from Europe and other centers of the coronavirus outbreak, many travelers are reporting no health screenings upon departure and few impediments at U.S. airports." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Access to the Washington Post's live updates on the coronavirus pandemic also is free. There is currently on the WashPo's front page a list of other virus-related stories that are free to nonsubscribers.

Jessie Hellmann & Morgan Chalfant of the Hill: "President Trump has ordered for travel to be suspended from the United Kingdom and Ireland as the United States seeks to stem the spread of the coronavirus domestically. The restrictions, which take effect Monday night at midnight, don't apply to American travelers returning to the U.S., Vice President Pence said during a White House briefing on Saturday.... Trump said Saturday his administration is also considering domestic travel restrictions. 'If you don't have to travel, I wouldn't do it. We want this thing to end. We don't want a lot of people getting infected,' he said." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Trump Unaware of His Own "Decisions." Here's Trump saying that "we're looking very seriously at" extending the European travel ban to the U.K. & Ireland (begins about 34 sec. in):

~~~ About 15 minutes later, in the same press briefing, mike pence said, "The President* has made a decision to suspend and travel to the United Kingdom & Ireland":

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: The Hill story linked above is a good example of how journalists clean up Trump's goofs, leaving readers as clueless as Trump is.

Susannah Luthi of Politico: "... Donald Trump said on Saturday that he has been tested for coronavirus after being questioned about it Friday. 'I also took the test last night,' Trump said during a briefing at the White House. 'And I decided I should, based on the press conference yesterday. People were asking, "Did I take the test?"' Asked when test results would be returned, he said: 'A day, two days. They send it to a lab.'... Late Friday, press secretary Stephanie Grisham released a memo from the White House physician saying Trump had dined at Mar-a-Lago with a person who has since tested positive for coronavirus. However, Navy Cdr. Sean Conley did not recommend testing the president as a necessity." Mrs. McC: So testing an old man who has been around three known virus carriers is unnecessary? I don't get it. It's almost as if you can't believe a single word that comes out of this White House. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Update. Jason Hoffman & Veronica Stracqualursi of CNN: "... Donald Trump has tested negative for the coronavirus, according to a statement from the White House.... 'Last night after an in-depth discussion with the President regarding COVID-19 testing, he elected to proceed,' according to the statement about the results released by press secretary Stephanie Grisham with Trump's permission. 'One week after having dinner with the Brazilian delegation in Mar-a-Lago, the President remains symptom-free. I have been in daily contact with the CDC and White House Coronavirus Task Force, and we are encouraging the implementation of all their best practices for exposure reduction and transmission mitigation.'

Jonathan Swan of Axios: "Vice President Mike Pence sent White House staff an email Saturday afternoon recommending 'social distancing' and to 'avoid physical contact' to keep themselves and their colleagues safe from the novel coronavirus.... This is the first staff-wide email Pence has sent across the complex during his time as vice president -- and is the latest sign the White House is shifting its posture against the pandemic. As recently as Thursday, Pence, who is leading the President Trump's task force to combat COVID-19, told CNN he was still shaking hands with people at the White House."

Susannah Luthi & Evan Semones of Politico: "The White House on Saturday began checking the temperatures of anyone in close contact with ... Donald Trump or Vice President Mike Pence. White House staff met reporters at the door of the press briefing room with a thermometer, checking the temperatures of everyone coming in for a noon press conference on coronavirus developments. A man who appeared to be a journalist was blocked from entering the briefing room because his temperature was deemed too high."

Carolyn Johnson & William Wan of the Washington Post: "After disastrous communications during the 2001 anthrax attacks ... the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention created a 450-page manual outlining how U.S. leaders should talk to the public during crises.... They compiled a list of pitfalls to avoid -- a list that has begun to look a lot like the administration's playbook.... The Trump administration's zigzagging, defensive, inconsistent messages about the novel coronavirus continued Friday, breaking almost every rule in the book and eroding the most powerful weapon officials possess: Public trust.... The fundamental principles behind good public health communication are almost stunningly simple: Be consistent. Be accurate. Don't withhold vital information, the CDC manual says. And above all, don't let anyone onto the podium without the preparation, knowledge and discipline to deliver vital health messages.... Trump in particular checks off many of attributes the manual specifically warns against. The spokesperson must be 'familiar with the subject matter' and have the 'ability to talk about it clearly and with confidence.'"

Spitballing a National Crisis. Ashley Parker, et al., of the Washington Post: "The administration's struggle to mitigate the coronavirus outbreak has been marked by infighting and blame-shifting, misinformation and missteps, and a slow recognition of the danger. Warring factions have wrestled for control internally and for approval from a president who has been preoccupied with the beating his image is taking.... Jared Kushner ... -- who has zero expertise in infectious diseases and little experience marshaling the full bureaucracy behind a cause -- saw the administration floundering and inserted himself at the helm, believing he could break the logjam of internal dysfunction.... 'People just show up in the Oval and spout off ideas,' said a former senior administration official briefed on the coronavirus discussions. 'He'll either shoot down ideas or embrace ideas quickly. It's an ad hoc free-for-all with different advisers just spitballing.'" (Also linked yesterday.)

Maureen Dowd: Trump “can't cover up his lack of empathy, his instinct to mislead, his refusal to do his homework and his blame-shifting.... Even when the president stopped being so blithe about the virus, even after his error-ridden national address and his press conference Friday declaring a national emergency -- 'two very big words' -- his attempt at maturity was crystallized in one sound bite. 'No, I don't take responsibility at all,' Trump said, when asked about the egregious lag in testing. It was far from his tweet in 2013, when he loved trolling Obama: 'Leadership: Whatever happens, you're responsible. If it doesn't happen, you're responsible.'" (Also linked yesterday.)

AP: "The U.S. Defense Department is planning to halt all domestic travel for military members after ... Donald Trump declared the coronavirus pandemic a national emergency. The Pentagon says Deputy Defense Secretary David Norquist has approved new travel restrictions on service members and Defense Department civilians assigned to military installations and surrounding areas within the United States and its territories." Mrs. McC: Could be partly because "a financial document obtained by The Daily Beast found massive shortfalls for detecting, treating, and preventing COVID-19 from spreading throughout 1.2 million soldiers and Army employees, as well as roughly 3 million dependent family members." (Daily Beast story linked yesterday.) (Also linked yesterday.)

Linda Qiu of the New York Times lists the major false claims Trump made during his news conference Friday & summarizes the actual facts: "I don't take responsibility at all because we were given a set of circumstances and we were given rules, regulations, and specifications from a different time." "If you go back to the swine flu, it was nothing like this. They didn't do testing like this, and actually they lost approximately 14,000 people, and they didn't do the testing. They started thinking about testing when it was far too late." This is blatantly wrong. Diagnostic tests for the swine flu were approved and shipped out less than two weeks after the H1N1 virus was identified and a day before the first death in the United States. "... Google is helping to develop a website, it's going to be very quickly done, unlike websites of the past, to determine whether a test is warranted and to facilitate testing at a nearby convenient location." "As you know, Europe was just designated as the hot spot right now and we closed that border a while ago." "This includes the following critical authorities -- the ability to waive laws to enable telehealth, a fairly new and incredible thing that has happened in the not-so-distant past." It's been used for decades. "When you say me, I didn't do it [disband the White House's pandemic team]. We have a group of people I could ask -- perhaps my administration -- but I could perhaps ask Tony about that because I don't know anything about it." "To help our students and their families, I have waived interest that all student loans held by federal government agencies, and that will be until further notice." This needs context. Mrs. McC: Quite a list. (Also linked yesterday.)

Grace Panetta & Lauren Frias of Business Insider: "A third person who visited Mar-a-Lago ... has tested positive for the novel coronavirus on Friday. 'Brazil's Chargé d'Affaires Ambassador Nestor Forster has learned tonight that he has tested positive for Covid-19,' the Brazilian embassy in the US announced Friday. 'Following medical advice, Amb. Forster will extend his self-quarantine, which he had already placed himself into as a precautionary measure, for another two weeks.' The Washington Post reported that the second infected person was present at a Sunday fundraising lunch 'hosted by Trump Victory, a committee that raises money for the Trump campaign and the Republican Party.'" (Also linked yesterday.)

Matthew Chapman of the Raw Story: "... Ronna McDaniel, the chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, is being tested for coronavirus after reporting she is feeling unwell. McDaniel's illness comes after she visited ... Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago country club." As Anonymous points out, that's Ronna Don't-Call-Me-Romney McDaniel.

Healthcare Video of the Day: Wash your hands for 20 seconds, or as long as it takes to sing the chorus of "I Will Survive." Thank you, Gloria Gaynor:

Joanne Kenen of Politico: "Local officials from around the country are worried about the readiness of the U.S. public health system, citing a sharply limited number of ventilators to help some of the sickest coronavirus patients and an inadequate supply of critical care beds in a hospital industry that has gone through years of cutbacks in inpatient beds. As they prepare for an expected influx of patients, local public health officials painted a picture of a system with only a limited 'surge' capacity, and stressed the importance of social distancing as a crucial way to keep the numbers of patients at a level the system can handle." (Also linked yesterday.)

The Twitter Monster was busy Saturday morning touting yesterday's market surge (hmm, nothing about the previous day's plunge), and promising a "full report latter" on his meetings today. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Jamie Gangel of CNN: "... Donald Trump on Friday sent a note to supporters that included a chart showing the Dow Jones Industrial Average dramatically rising roughly at the time he began a news conference declaring a national emergency over coronavirus. The President signed the chart. The note, which was also sent to some members of Congress, included screenshots of television coverage of the stock market closing much higher than Thursday. 'The President would like to share the attached image with you, and passes along the following message: "From opening of press conference, biggest day in stock market history!"' read the note.... The message did not mention the overall coronavirus crisis, the number of people who have died or are sick, nor the fact that he had just declared a national emergency.... In boasting about the stock market, the President was cherry-picking a single day's rally amid a period of major selloffs and a 20% decline that was the fastest in history.... The day's rally ... came the day after the worst day for stocks since the 1987 crash." Thanks to Bobby Lee for the lead. ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: There is some good news in this: President* Me-Me-Me now has evidence that when he indicates he's facing the coronavirus crisis, the markets rise, whereas his attempts to disregard & downplay the pandemic were at least partially responsible for the markets' big drops. ~~~

~~~ Update. Never Mind. President Dummkopf Didn't Learn Anything. Jeanne Smialek of the New York Times: "President Trump said on Saturday that he had the power to remove or demote Jerome H. Powell, the Federal Reserve chair, renewing a long-running threat against the central bank's leader at a time when it could further roil volatile markets. Mr. Trump said in a news conference at the White House that ousting Mr. Powell was not his current plan but that he was 'not happy with the Fed' because it was 'following' and 'we should be leading.' He said he had the right to remove Mr. Powell as chair 'and put him in a regular position and put somebody else in charge,' but added, 'I haven't made any decisions on that.'"

Ginia Bellafante of the New York Times: "By Thursday afternoon, texts and emails circulating among New York's professional class warned that ... the city was going into lockdown.... The rumor was false but that didn't slow it down.... These rumors did inspire those who were not in a position to flee the city to instead panic shop. Broad-scale emergencies never fail to reveal the fault lines in the American class system, and it was suddenly clear that well-off New Yorkers were going to go about the business of combating the coronavirus ... with ... secondary real estate. As the messages flew around, the people with weekend homes ... made plans to flee to them, indefinitely. Outside a prewar co-op on lower Fifth Avenue on Friday morning, well-dressed people were loading cats and canvas bags into their hatchbacks. 'The building is empty,' one woman entering with her dog explained. 'Everyone's gone to the Hamptons.'"

Presidential Race

Ben Nadler of the AP: "Georgia's March 24 presidential primaries have been postponed until May because of fears over the new coronavirus, state election officials announced Saturday, a day after Louisiana also pushed back its primaries. In-person early voting, which began statewide March 2, will be halted and the election will be moved to May 19, when Georgia's other 2020 primary elections are being held, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said in a statement. In addition to public safety, one of the biggest considerations was the risk the virus posed to poll workers, who are often older, election officials said."

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