The Commentariat -- March 18, 2020

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Jordain Carney of the Hill: "The Senate passed the House's coronavirus aid package on Wednesday, sending it to President Trump, who is expected to sign it. Senators voted 90-8 on the bill that passed the House in a middle-of-the-night Saturday vote but needed dozens of pages of corrections and changes, which cleared the chamber on Monday. The measure, which the Joint Committee on Taxation estimates will cost $104 billion, is the second package that Congress has passed amid growing concerns about the widespread coronavirus outbreak.... Senators are already working on 'phase three,' with Senate Republicans wanting to pass that next week. The bill approved Wednesday bolsters unemployment insurance and guarantees free diagnostic testing for the coronavirus. It also provides up to 10 days of paid sick leave for some workers. It caps that at companies with 500 employees and would allow for those with fewer than 50 to apply for a waiver."

Jessie Hellmann of the Hill: "President Trump announced Wednesday he will invoke the Defense Production Act, which would allow the administration to force American industry to ramp up production of medical supplies that are in short supply in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. Hospitals and states have pleaded with the administration for more supplies to protect doctors and nurses on the frontlines of the pandemic.... Democrats in Congress, hearing about shortages of supplies from hospitals in their states and districts, have urged Trump to invoke the DPA to direct the domestic production of necessary medical equipment. 'This would ensure we have the materials we need at the ready, rather than wait for disruptions in the global supply chain to subside,' 57 House Democrats wrote in a letter to Trump last week." ~~~

~~~ Jonathan Chait: "A reporter asked Trump [Tuesday] if he had [invoked the Defense Production Act]. Here was his reply: 'Well, we're able to do that if we have to. Right now, we haven't had to, but it's certainly ready. If I want it, we can do it very quickly. We've studied it very closely over two weeks ago, actually. We'll make that decision pretty quickly if we need it. We hope we don't need it. It's a big step.'... They are days away from having potentially thousands of Americans dying, and Trump still hasn't decided if he's ready to take the step to ramp up the machines that will be needed to keep them alive.... We might have clung to the wan hope that his abdication was merely a surface display of incompetence, and that below his level, the government was still functioning. The evidence before us suggests the government actually followed his lead, following the complacent signals he sent -- or, at least, has simply floundered for lack of any direction from the top. The closer you look at the inner workings of Trump's coronavirus response, the worse it gets." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I suspect quite a few government decision-makers are exhausted from having to ping-pong between the real world -- where emergency actions have been indicated for weeks & months -- and Trump Delusion World. These people, both career & political appointees, have been tasked with doing diametrically opposed actions, and many just gave up, while others decided it was in their short-term best interest to follow the Dear Leader. As for making the Defense Production Act operational, I'm not sure how quickly this can be done, much less how quickly & wisely it will be done. There is a timeline between (1) the moment Trump signs a piece of paper & holds it up to the cameras, and (2) the moment the first hospital gets the first ventilator manufactured by the first company ordered to ramp up production.

I would like to begin by announcing some important developments in our war against the Chinese virus. -- Donald Trump, beginning today's press briefing with a bellicose, racist remark (more on Trump's remarks at the linked ABC News page)

I always treated the Chinese Virus very seriously, and have done a very good job from the beginning, including my very early decision to close the 'borders' from China - against the wishes of almost all. Many lives were saved. The Fake News new narrative is disgraceful & false! -- Donald Trump, in a tweet this morning, insulting the Chinese people, everyone aware of Trump's previous remarks, the mainstream media & the truth

It just gets worse. Trump is pressed about a White House official reportedly using the term 'Kung-flu' and if language like 'Chinese virus' puts Asian Americans at risk. 'No, not at all,' he says. 'I think they probably would agree with it a 100%. It comes from China.' -- MJ Lee of CNN, in a tweet (related opinion piece by Kurt Bardella linked below)

The New York Times' live market updates are here. "Stocks tumbled on Wednesday as the coronavirus continued its relentless spread, governments ramped up efforts to contain it and investors continued to wait for lawmakers in Washington to take action on proposals to bolster the American economy. The S&P 500 fell more than 5 percent. Major European markets were also sharply lower, following a late-day slump in Asian shares. Those significant drops represented another swing in sentiment on Wall Street. Stocks jumped on Tuesday as the White House called for urgent action to pump $1 trillion into the economy. But the calls so far haven't been met with tangible action in the Senate. [The House is on a week's hiatus.]... The renewed selling showed how fragile any gains have become as long as the virus continues to spread and the number of cases continues to grow at a staggering rate." Update: "The S&P 500 fell more than 7 percent, a drop that triggers so-called circuit breaker and results a 15-minute pause in trading."

The New York Times' live updates for coronavirus developments today is here. It is free to nonsubscribers. Some highlights:

The White House is asking Congress to allocate $500 billion for two separate waves of direct payments to American taxpayers in the coming weeks and another $300 billion to help small businesses continue to meet payroll, according to a Treasury Department proposal circulating on Capitol Hill and among lobbyists. The outline, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times, calls for a total of $1 trillion in spending for those programs, which would also include $50 billion for secured loans for the airline industry, and another $150 billion for secured loans or loan guarantees for other parts of the economy hard hit by the unfolding financial crisis.... But the details remained far from complete.

Mr. Trump announced on Wednesday that [by mutual consent] the border with Canada was being closed to all but essential traffic.... The move on Wednesday would allow trade to continue, but would restrict flights and border crossings for things like vacations.

Melanie Zanona & Marianne Levine of Politico: "Republicans suddenly find a bailout they can back.... Such a massive rescue package would seem to mean an agonizing vote for the GOP -- the last major bailout in 2008 helped launch the conservative tea party movement and many senior lawmakers still boast about their opposition to it. But Republicans say the coronavirus is an entirely different animal: the hospitality and airline industries didn't cause the global pandemic.... Republicans are mostly brushing aside long-held cost concerns in order to salvage the economy -- and perhaps Trump's reelection, as well as their own."

Matt Novak of Gizmodo: "Hospital workers in Washington state have started to make their own face masks from supplies they've purchased at craft stores, according to a new report from Seattle's KOMO TV station. The DIY face masks are just the latest example of health workers around the world getting creative as they struggle with shortages of vital medical supplies during the covid-19 pandemic. Staff at Providence St. Joseph Health hospital volunteered and spent much of Tuesday constructing personal protective equipment (PPE), like face shields and surgical masks, from supplies bought at craft stores in the Seattle area." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: CNN interviewed a Georgia (U.S.) hospital administrator this morning who said his hospital also was sewing its own masks. In the meantime, he has been able to source masks from a Mexican company who said they had a stock of a million masks & will sell them for $7 each, masks the hospitals normally pays 58 cents apiece for. He said the hospital would probably buy some of the $7 masks. Also, apparently hospitals are finally getting their test kits, but it appears they aren't getting the results back. The administrator said his hospital had received only a few results & have a backlog of 400 tests which a lab has not analyzed yet. He says his hospital is now performing about 100 tests a day, so the backlog is only going to grow.

Kurt Bardella in an NBC News opinion piece: "CBS White House correspondent Weijia Jiang tweeted Tuesday that 'this morning a White House official referred to the #Coronavirus as the "Kung-Flu" to my face. Makes me wonder what they're calling it behind my back.'... On Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday, Trump took to Twitter to sound off about COVID-19. But rather than refer to it by its scientific name, he instead insisted on labeling it the 'Chinese Virus.'"

S.V. Date of the Huffington Post: "Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, the state's top legal officer, contracted with ... Donald Trump's Miami golf resort to host a crime prevention conference, despite the U.S. Constitution's prohibition against his accepting money from a state. The conference, set for late May, has been indefinitely postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic before any payments 'were made or due,' said Lauren Cassedy, a spokesperson in Moody's office. Cassedy, though, would not explain why Moody, a Republican who was elected to the statewide job in 2018 after receiving Trump's endorsement, chose to award the contract to Trump's resort in the first place. Under its terms, some $70,000 of Florida taxpayer money likely would have gone to Trump National Doral. Nonprofit groups, local governments and others attending the event that had been set for late May likely would have spent an additional $600,000.... The U.S. Constitution states in Article II: 'The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a Compensation which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Don't worry. Trump is arranging to give himself a generous bailout for the illegal business he lost when Moody cancelled.

Oh, AND Happy Birthday, Kimberly. Ken Vogel, et al., of the New York Times: "It was a lavish birthday party for Donald Trump Jr.'s girlfriend, Kimberly Guilfoyle. The setting was Mar-a-Lago, President Trump';s private club in Palm Beach, Fla. The guest list included dozens of Trump family members and friends. But when it came to picking up the tab, hands went out to other attendees. Among them were at least four whose families are financial supporters of the president's re-election campaign, for which Ms. Guilfoyle helps lead the fund-raising. They ended up pitching in tens of thousands of dollars, passed along to Mar-a-Lago, to help pay for what two people familiar with the planning said was a $50,000 celebration of Ms. Guilfoyle's 51st birthday.... At least one attendee [at the March 7 party] -- a Brazilian government official who stopped by the party briefly -- has tested positive for the [corona]virus, while another -- Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida -- self-quarantined, though he later announced he had tested negative for the virus."

Sydney Ember, et al., of the New York Times: "Faiz Shakir, [Bernie] Sanders's campaign manager, said the Vermont senator was considering his options after he was soundly beaten in Florida, Illinois and Arizona on Tuesday by Joseph R. Biden Jr., but also suggested a decision on how to proceed was not imminent. 'The next primary contest is at least three weeks away,' Mr. Shakir said in a statement. 'Senator Sanders is going to be having conversations with supporters to assess his campaign. In the immediate term, however, he is focused on the government response to the coronavirus outbreak and ensuring that we take care of working people and the most vulnerable.'... It is possible Mr. Sanders could stay in the race to collect delegates in order to accumulate leverage and bolster progressive power in party reform -- while running what effectively amounts to an inactive campaign as he focuses on his legislative agenda around the coronavirus."

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The Latest Imaginary Donald. This is a pandemic. I felt it was a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic. -- Donald Trump, Tuesday briefing

This is the rhetorical equivalent of standing on Fifth Avenue, smoking gun in hand, a dead body at his feet, and saying, "Of course I didn't do it." -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie ~~~

~~~ Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "On Tuesday, Mr. Trump spent much of a lengthy news conference praising his administration's response to the pandemic, saying the only mistake his administration made had been a mismanagement of relationships with the news media.... When asked why he had suddenly adopted a somber and realistic tone about the virus on Tuesday, the president denied that he had changed his mind at all. 'No, I've always viewed it as very serious,' Mr. Trump said. 'There was no difference yesterday from days before. I feel the tone is similar, but some people said it wasn't.'" ~~~

~~~ Nolan McCaskill of Politico: "Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Tuesday that the Trump administration was considering offsetting the economic burden of the coronavirus pandemic by 'immediately' cutting checks to Americans. Mnuchin, speaking at a White House press conference, did not say how much money Americans could potentially expect to receive, and indicated that the administration could seek to exclude those who are well-off from receiving payments.... Mnuchin indicated that the president's preference for a payroll tax holiday -- a six- to eight-month process -- would take too long to put money into Americans' pockets." ~~~

~~~ Heather Long of the Washington Post: "Americans could get a check for $1,000 or more in the coming weeks, as political leaders coalesce around a dramatic plan to try to prevent a worse recession and protect people from going bankrupt. The idea took off Monday when Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) called for every American adult to receive a $1,000 check 'immediately' to help tide people over until other government aid can arrive. By Tuesday, there was bipartisan support for the idea, including from President Trump. The White House even suggested the amount could be over $1,000, an acknowledgment of how big the economic crisis is becoming.... The United States has done this twice before. During the Great Recession, the federal government sent about every adult a $300 to $600 check (plus $300 per child). The same thing happened in 2001, when the majority of Americans received a $300 check.... Many studies have shown that bumping up food stamps, welfare and unemployment insurance during downturns provides an even larger economic boost for the same reason: These Americans are the most cash-strapped, and they tend to spend the money quickly." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Although nothing is solidified, I heard on the news that people who have earned more than $85,000/year will not likely get checks.

Nancy Cook & Ben White of Politico: "The government's economic stimulus is ballooning into trillion-dollar territory -- the largest rescue in modern American history -- as major industries flood the Trump administration and Capitol Hill for aid while huge swaths of the economy stall from the coronavirus crisis. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin met with Senate Republicans behind closed doors Tuesday to present options for aid to airlines, hotels, casinos and small-to-medium-sized businesses.... Mnuchin warned senators that if they didn't reach a deal quickly, unemployment could be as high as 20 percent.... Democrats are pushing their own package of provisions that don't overlap entirely with the GOP pitch. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and other Democrats are >pitching a package of 'at least' $750 billion that is expected to include more emergency aid for hospitals, expanded unemployment insurance, more funds for small business, help with child care, and food assistance for seniors.... [The administration's plan] was also expected to include an idea ... Donald Trump has latched onto -- a temporary cut or suspension of the payroll tax cut ... which would benefit both companies and workers. One version of the payroll tax holiday would cost $950 billion alone through the end of the year." Emphasis added.

From the New York Times' live updates on coronavirus developments for Tuesday: "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." (Also linked yesterday.)

Trump Proposes Yu-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." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ 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." (Also linked yesterday.)

** Eric Lipton, et al., of the New York Times: "... despite [Trump's] promises of a 'whole of government' effort, key agencies -- like the Army Corps of Engineers, other parts of the Defense Department, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Veterans Affairs -- had not been asked to play much of a role.... 'We are starting the process,' Mr. Trump said during a news conference Tuesday afternoon, referring to New York's request to enlist the Army Corps of Engineers.... Even after Mr. Trump committed to supporting the states on Tuesday, the Army Corps of Engineers said it still had not received direction from the administration.... Hospital ships are at port. The Department of Veterans Affairs, legally designated as the backup health care system in national emergencies, awaits requests for help. The veterans department has a surplus of beds in many of its 172 hospital centers and a robust number of special rooms for patients with breathing disorders. The sprawling system of emergency doctors and nurses ready to be deployed by the Department of Health and Human Services -- known as the National Disaster Medical System -- is also still waiting for orders, other than to staff locations where passengers offloaded from cruise ships are being quarantined. And the Defense Department, home to 1.3 million active-duty troops and a civilian and military infrastructure that has made planning for national emergencies almost an art form, has yet to be deployed to its fullest capabilities." Oregon & New York City asked the feds for masks; they got delayed responses & a fraction of the number of masks they asked for -- and all of the masked ";were well past the expiration date." ~~~

~~~ Margo Sanger-Katz, et al., of the New York Times: "A new Harvard analysis shows that many parts of the United States will have far too few hospital beds if the new coronavirus continues to spread widely and if nothing is done to expand capacity. In 40 percent of markets around the country, hospitals would not be able to make enough room for all the patients who became ill with Covid-19, even if they could empty their beds of other patients. That statistic assumes that 40 percent of adults become infected with the virus over 12 months, a scenario described as 'moderate' by the team behind the calculations. These numbers are not exact predictions. In many ways, they reflect a worst-case scenario...." The story has one interactive map, showing the "moderate scenario. ProPublica has the story here. It includes a feature that IDs hospital bed availability in your region (apparently based on your IP address) & allows you to check other regions.

Zolan Kanno-Youngs, et al., of the New York Times: "The Trump administration plans to immediately turn back all asylum seekers and other foreigners trying to cross the southwestern border illegally, saying they cannot risk allowing the coronavirus to spread through detention facilities and among Border Patrol agents, four administration officials said on Tuesday. The officials said the ports of entry would remain open to American citizens, green card holders and some foreigners with proper documentation. Some foreigners would be blocked, including Europeans currently subject to earlier travel restrictions enacted by the administration. The entryways will also be open to commercial traffic."

Myah Ward of Politico: "Trump referred to Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer [D] as the 'failing Michigan governor' on Monday and lashed out at New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo [D] after his calls for stepped up federal assistance. Minutes later, he heaped praise on his own administration for 'working very well with the Governors and State officials.'... 'Cuomo wants "all states to be treated the same." But all states aren't the same. Some are being hit hard by the Chinese Virus, some are being hit practically not at all,' Trump tweeted.... 'New York is a very big "hotspot", West Virginia has, thus far, zero cases. Andrew, keep politics out of it.'" ~~~

~~~ Jonathan Martin & Alexander Burns of the New York Times: "One day after President Trump told the nation's governors on a conference call that he had been 'watching a lot of you on television' dealing with the coronavirus, he proved it Tuesday morning by angrily tweeting at Michigan's governor for saying on MSNBC that 'the federal government did not take this seriously early enough.'... 'Ironically, he made my point that they're not taking this as seriously as they need to,' [Gov. Gretchen] Whitmer [D-Mich.] said in an interview Tuesday afternoon, noting that the president had been 'watching TV.' The back-and-forth illustrated the enormous gap between the president's response to the colossal public health crisis and that of many chief executives in the states. Since the coronavirus began spreading, the governors have taken a lead role in issuing strict guidelines and stern warnings, asserting themselves in ways that only highlighted the initial inaction and lack of seriousness from the White House.... This year, not a single Democratic governor became a major contender for the presidency. And in the 2016 primary campaign, a long roster of current and former Republican governors were trampled by Mr. Trump. But figures like [Governors Mike DeWine [R-Ohio], [Jay] Inslee [D-Washington] and ... Andrew M. Cuomo [D] of New York, each of whom have decades of government experience, may be some of the few leaders who emerge politically stronger from this crisis."

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." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

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...." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ 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...." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ "The Perils of the Pinocchio Presidency." Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "For three years, President Trump told his supporters that the federal government perpetrates hoaxes and frauds, that the media produces fake news and that nothing is on the level except for his tweets. He did the same with the novel coronavirus, portraying it as an ordinary flu that would 'disappear' and accusing Democrats of a hoax and the media of exaggerating.... But Trump's late conversion to reality has left behind one group of Americans that will be difficult to convince: his own supporters. Their alternative-facts diet has left them intolerant of anything the government and the media feed them. An alarming new poll from NPR, PBS NewsHour and Marist shows that the number of Republicans who believe the virus is a real threat has actually fallen over the past month, from 72 percent in February to just 40 percent now.... At Tuesday's briefing...,[Trump] spoke to those inclined toward vacation travel: 'I would recommend that they just enjoy their living room.' And he admonished those not following social-distancing guidelines: 'I'm not happy with those people.'... 'Those people' are Fox-News viewing Trump supporters who, until this week, had been encouraged to believe Trump's claims that the virus was well under control."

Thanks to safari for embedding this video, featuring governors, media personalities & ordinary people doing a far better job of attacking the coronavirus than is Donald Trump:

Hans Van der Burchard of Politico: "German pharmaceutical company CureVac insists it did not receive any offer from ... Donald Trump to secure exclusive rights to a potential coronavirus vaccine, despite the German government and the company's main investor saying it did. CureVac deputy CEO Franz-Werner Haas said on Tuesday 'there was and is no offer' from Trump 'or any governmental organizations' to take over the company or 'to have manufacturing slots reserved' for exclusive vaccine production for the U.S. market. The Tübingen-based company on Sunday and Monday rejected reports that Trump had attempted to snatch up exclusive rights to the firm's coronavirus vaccine, which is currently being developed in cooperation with a taxpayer-funded German institute. But Haas, in a one-hour news conference carried out by telephone, failed to explain why senior German ministers had confirmed -- and strongly condemned -- such a bid, and why even the company's main investor, Dietmar Hopp, said Monday that he had been informed about a U.S. offer which he then rejected."

Thomas Fuller, et al., of the New York Times: "The most ambitious experiment in America to stop the spread of the coronavirus -- shelter-in-place orders for almost every resident -- was underway for seven million people living around the San Francisco Bay on Tuesday.... Seven counties on Monday ordered that people stay inside -- and leave their homes only to 'obtain or perform vital services.'... As other parts of the country contemplate similar measures, the shelter-in-place order in the Bay Area is testing the willingness of a go-it-alone society to curb personal behavior for the greater good of the community.... It was left up to the counties and cities to decide what was essential and in a modern society, it turns out, that can be a lot.... Late on Tuesday, [San Francisco] City Hall reversed an earlier decision by declaring that marijuana dispensaries were considered essential and could remain open." ~~~

~~~ Get Used to It. Brian Resnick of Vox: "... public health experts believe social distancing is the best way to prevent a truly horrific crisis: perhaps hundreds of thousands or more if our health care system is overwhelmed with severe Covid-19 cases.... Adam Kucharski, an epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine..., says, 'The main message that isn't getting across to a lot of people is just how long we might be in this for.... This virus is going to be circulating, potentially for a year or two, so we need to be thinking on those time scales. There are no good options here.'... The reason we may be in for an extended period of disruption, Kucharski says, is that the main thing that seems to be working right now to fight this pandemic is severe social distancing policies. Drop those measures -- allow people to congregate in big groups again -- while the virus is still out there, and it can start new outbreaks that gravely threaten public health.... We'll need something to stop the virus to truly end the threat. That's either a vaccine ... or herd immunity. This is when enough people have contracted the virus, and have become immune to it, to slow its spread. Herd immunity is not guaranteed."

The Latest Virus-Breeding Sites: Unemployment Offices. Rebecca Rainey of Politico: "Employers are slashing jobs at a furious pace across the nation due to mass shutdowns over the coronavirus, slamming state unemployment offices with a crush of filers facing sudden crises. Long before official government data is expected to reveal the depths of the economic shock inflicted by the coronavirus, reports from state officials and businesses around the country indicate the gathering of a massive wave of unemployment on a scale unseen since the Great Recession. In New Jersey, 15,000 people applied for unemployment benefits on Monday, a twelvefold increase over normal levels. In Connecticut, nearly 8,000 applications arrived over the weekend, an eightfold increase over the norm.... According to an NPR/Marist poll conducted Thursday and Friday, 18 percent of households already reported someone being laid off or having hours reduced because of the coronavirus outbreak, with women hit harder (21 percent) than men (16 percent), and people who earn less than $50,000 hit harder (25 percent) than those earning $50,000 or more (14 percent)."

Julie Tsirkin & Dareh Gregorian of NBC News: "Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the Senate would move at 'warp speed' to pass coronavirus legislation Tuesday, but Sen. Rand Paul, his fellow Kentucky Republican, put a damper on those plans, two leadership sources told NBC News. Senators were heading toward a vote Tuesday on the package -- which would include provisions for free coronavirus testing, secure paid emergency leave, enhance unemployment insurance, strengthen food security initiatives and increase federal Medicaid funding to states -- but they had to slam on the brakes because of an amendment Paul proposed.... His amendment ... would 'require a social security number for purposes of the child tax credit, and to provide the President the authority to transfer funds as necessary, and to terminate United States military operations and reconstruction activities in Afghanistan.' McConnell agreed to take up the amendment Wednesday, delaying the vote on the larger bill, the sources said. The Paul amendment is not expected to pass. McConnell ... said earlier Tuesday that a number of his members think that the package the House passed Saturday has 'considerable shortcomings' but that it is still necessary and urgent. 'My counsel to them is to gag and vote for it,' he said."

Stephen Colbert & Jon Batiste practice social distancing:

Max & Mel Brooks, too. (Sorry about the sottotitoli; this was the only good video I found):

Anne Gearan & David Nakamura of the Washington Post: "China's expulsion of American reporters from three major news organizations on Tuesday marked a major escalation of a proxy war between the world's two largest economies over the origin and global spread of the novel coronavirus that President Trump has called the 'Chinese virus.' Chinese authorities announced Tuesday that U.S. journalists from The Washington Post, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal must hand over press credentials, effectively meaning they must leave the country. The move is in retaliation for recent restrictions on U.S.-based Chinese state media put in place by the Trump administration, but the newly hostile public posturing also comes as the health, economic and social costs of the virus are skyrocketing in the United States and have already taken a toll on China. At a time when public health experts say the world needs clear communication and cooperation to contain the pandemic, two of the globe's leading powers are butting heads as part of a nationalistic tit-for-tat over the coronavirus -- accusing each other of mishandling the outbreak and misrepresenting one another's roles in its rise." An NPR story is here.

Take This Job & Shove It. Daniel Lippman of Politico: "Dale Cabaniss, the director of the government's Office of Personnel Management, resigned abruptly on Tuesday, effective immediately. Cabaniss stepped down because of, what two people familiar with the matter said, was poor treatment from the 29-year-old head of the Presidential Personnel Office, John McEntee, and a powerful appointee at OPM, Paul Dans, the new White House liaison and senior adviser to the director of OPM. OPM Deputy Director Michael Rigas is now acting director of OPM.... Cabaniss had been at the agency only since September. The departure casts a cloud of uncertainty over the federal workforce as it struggles to decide how to handle the coronavirus outbreak.... OPM is the human resources management policy shop for the federal government's civil service.... McEntee's return to the White House has roiled the administration with some officials criticizing the former Trump campaign staffer for what they see as an effort to stock the administration with his friends, including at least three college seniors.... Dans has 'clearly come with some kind of agenda,' said a person familiar with his hiring, who noted Dans doesn't appear to have much of a background in Title V of the U.S. code...." ~~~

~~~ Lisa Rein of the Washington Post: "... Dale Cabaniss resigned in frustration following months of tension with the White House budget office and more recently with its newly configured staffing office and a political appointee the office installed at OPM in the last month, according to three people familiar with her decision. Cabaniss thought that she was being micromanaged and that her authority was not respected, the people said.... Cabaniss, 58, has deep experience with federal personnel issues and was respected by her staff and by Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill, where she served for two decades as a top Senate aide overseeing civil service issues." Mrs. McC: Donald Trump is the best example ever of the old saying, "A fish rots from the head down."

John Vidal of the Guardian: "Only a decade or two ago it was widely thought that tropical forests and intact natural environments teeming with exotic wildlife threatened humans by harbouring the viruses and pathogens that lead to new diseases in humans such as Ebola, HIV and dengue. But a number of researchers today think that it is actually humanity's destruction of biodiversity that creates the conditions for new viruses and diseases such as Covid-19.... David Quammen, author of Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Pandemic, recently wrote in the New York Times, 'We cut the trees; we kill the animals or cage them and send them to markets. We disrupt ecosystems, and we shake viruses loose from their natural hosts. When that happens, they need a new host. Often, we are it.'" --s

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Thanks to safari for linking the video. This would be hilarious if these charlatans weren't such dangerous liars: ~~~

Alexander Burns & Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "Joseph R. Biden Jr. easily defeated Senator Bernie Sanders in three major primaries on Tuesday, all but extinguishing Mr. Sanders's chances for a comeback, as anxious Americans turned out to vote amid a series of cascading disruptions from the coronavirus pandemic. Mr. Biden ... won by wide margins in Florida and Illinois and also carried Arizona, sweeping the night and achieving a nearly insurmountable delegate lead. The emphatic outcome could greatly intensify pressure on Mr. Sanders to end his campaign and allow Democrats to unify behind Mr. Biden as their presumptive nominee. The routs in Florida and Illinois, two of the biggest prizes on the national map, represented both a vote of confidence in Mr. Biden from most Democrats, and a blunt rejection of Mr. Sanders's candidacy by the kind of large, diverse states he would have needed to capture to broaden his appeal beyond the ideological left.... The turmoil caused by the coronavirus upended plans for a primary election in Ohio, where state officials postponed voting scheduled for Tuesday, in an abrupt maneuver that barely survived last-minute legal scrutiny. Four other states have also taken steps to delay their primary elections until late this spring, with Maryland on Tuesday becoming the latest to push back voting.... In a gesture to the gravity of the moment, Mr. Biden used much of his brief victory address -- via a balky live stream from his home in Wilmington, Del. -- to discuss the virus and to reassure the country." The Guardian's story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Dear Bernie: I voted for you in 2016. Now is the time to drop out of the 2020 race. Not just because you can't win, but because it could save lives. Love, Your Friend & Admirer, Mrs. Bea McCrabbie ~~~

~~~ Sean Sullivan of the Washington Post: "As Bernie Sanders's decisive primary defeats Tuesday put him almost hopelessly behind in the race for the Democratic nomination, he began facing growing calls to withdraw from Democrats who want the party to unite and focus its energy on defeating President Trump.... Sanders and his wife, Jane, are expected to reach a decision together about the future of the campaign, people in frequent contact with them said, taking input from advisers but making the call on their own. Many Democrats are waiting anxiously to see what Sanders says on Wednesday about the future of the race, if anything." The Guardian's story is here.

House Race. Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: "Representative Dan Lipinski, a conservative Democrat from Illinois whose opposition to abortion rights and the Affordable Care Act made him a pariah in his party, lost a hard-fought primary race on Tuesday night to his progressive challenger, Marie Newman. Ms. Newman, a business consultant and founder of an anti-bullying program, edged out Mr. Lipinski by two percentage points, with 493 of 500 precincts reporting early Wednesday. She had the backing of the progressive group Justice Democrats and its standard-bearer, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, as well as Emily's List, the powerful group that backs Democrats who support abortion rights. Mr. Lipinski narrowly beat Ms. Newman in 2018. Tuesday's results were a major upset for the congressman, whose family has represented Illinois' third district, in the Chicago suburbs, for nearly four decades. Mr. Lipinski's father, Bill Lipinski, first won the seat in 1982 and held it until 2005, when Mr. Lipinski succeeded him." A BuzzFeed News story is here.

Matt Zapotosky of the Washington Post: "Former U.S. congressman Duncan D. Hunter -- the California Republican who won reelection while under federal ­indictment, only to later admit wrongdoing in the case and resign -- was sentenced Tuesday to 11 months in federal prison, authorities said. The penalty brings to a close a dramatic case that saw prosecutors air publicly how the congressman used hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign funds to pay for family vacations, theater tickets and even to facilitate extramarital affairs, while Hunter countered that he was being unfairly targeted by a politicized Justice Department.... He was one of the first congressman to support Donald Trump as the Republican nominee for president, and after he was charged, he took a Trump-like approach to the case, attacking the prosecutors as politically motivated."

Sam Biddle et al., of The Intercept: "The makers of TikTok, the Chinese video-sharing app with hundreds of millions of users around the world, instructed moderators to suppress posts created by users deemed too ugly, poor, or disabled for the platform, according to internal documents obtained by The Intercept. These same documents show moderators were also told to censor political speech in TikTok livestreams.... TikTok controls content on its platform to achieve rapid growth in the mold of a Silicon Valley startup while simultaneously discouraging political dissent with the sort of heavy hand regularly seen in its home country of China." --s ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I've decided to self-select as being too ugly, poor and disabled.

Comments

[unwashed]

Oh, and about that website? Just more grift.

[safari]

I'm waiting for Agent Orange to remind of his billionaire status when he guarantees that none of his businesses (hotels) will receive any bailout money because he' sooo rich he doesn't need anybody's money. Especially after all the tax exemptions he self-served and the Fed cutting down the interests on his mountains of debt to creditors across the world.

I'm expecting the same declarations from Javanka, the Kushners in general, Mnuchin, that old sleepy fart Ross, and all the other grifters in the "most transparent administration in history". In fact, the Democrats should've written it into the bill itself.

[PD Pepe]

"The Year of Living Dangerously" is a 1982 Australian film directed by one of my favorite directors, Peter Weir; it's about a love affair set in Indonesia during the overthrow of President Sukarno. I thought about this film today because of its title –-that we are now living, and have been ever since Trump became president, only "Year" should be changed to "Years." From the moment this fake took office we have had nothing but catastrophes –-large and small and now it has come to full fruition. The fault, I fear, is not only due to HIM––he's the catalyst; you could almost call him the vector–-of a system that is broken, and within that system a populace that coveted this kind of showman–-this kind of moronic, malodorous misanthrope.

If by chance, Biden loses, and Trump trumps in November, our years of living dangerously will continue full throttle. If Biden wins we will snatch back a bit of decency but the system ain't gonna change; for that we need a revolution which is up to the people to make happen and I don't see that happening any time soon.

Praise for many of our governors who apparently know how to govern in times like these.

[Jeanne]

Thanks for the Colbert clip-- we miss him...
The mashup of the never-trumping folks of all the stupid/mean/wrong/crazy/idiotic things the Yellow Peril has had to say on the road to his so-wise assertion that he has ALWAYS thought it would be a pandemic is priceless. Too bad his equally moronic followers and his bobblehead committee people are still convinced this guy walks on water. They are brainwashed to a point of no return.

Stay safe and well-- still reading every day and so value the existance of RC and the community.

[Jeanne]

I think I saw the mashup by Nevertrumpers on Huffpost-- should have been clearer about that...

[periscope]

So, to change the subject off COVID-19 for a minute, anyone here have a suspect list of possible women VP picks that Biden would choose?

I think Susan Rice might be a possibility. Former Obama admin NSA; recent book author - signalling she is still engaged in politics; a non-congressperson. "Tough love" Rice would be woman who projects decisiveness, has a broad worldview of America's role in the world, and could step into the president role with relative ease if Joe fades...IMHO.

[Marie Burns]

@periscope: Pundit Bill Scher wrote a ranking -- published in Politico Magazine -- of whom he considers Biden's top 12 veep candidates.

[safari]

When Agent Orange took office on Jan. 19, 2017, the stock market was at 19,732.40. Today, at least temporarily (trading is still going on), the stock market returned to that same number.

All of the stock markets gains under this administration, gone up in smoke.

I'd like to ask all those old, white, money changers, after all the damage unleashed nationally and abroad, was it worth it? I'm afraid most will say yes, and will be voting accordingly.

[periscope]

@ Bea,
I don't agree with Scher's rankings, or assessment of Rice's shortcomings. When you compare the relative weight of "baggage", Rice's position on Benghazi versus Biden's position and influence on entering the Iraq war - the left already has a huge baggage load to accept with Biden. Adding Rice shouldn't be a big deal.

I also disagree with his conclusion that Harris is the best VP choice. As the AG appointee - great.

[PD Pepe]

EYES WIDE SHUT

While listening to the press conference this afternoon my eyes were on Trump––I like watching him when others are talking, he's like a great bulk of blubber concealed within a suit suited up for bigly things like the job of president. But this time I noticed his eyes which were actually closed for many moments while others were talking. Oh, no, I said aloud, that can't be true so I got up close and personal to the T.V, and sure enough––dem widdle beady eyes were closed! Hmmm, I thought–-is Fatty bored? Is he sick? Will he suddenly fall over? No such luck–-our reporters who finally seem to have gotten a backbone asked some questions that got Fatty's ire up and then he was in his element–-snarky and dismissive once again.

My guess–- is–-all this virus hoopla is too much for him–-he leaves everything up to others while he hopes to hell this thing is over soon–-like a miracle and in the Spring it will just disappear. He pretends to be leading on this; to date he's doing squat.

[Hattie]

PD Pepe -
Yes! Peter Weir = Superlative!
Fat Bastard (with apologies to Mike Myers)? Not so much:

Two of my specialists are Asian.
One from China.
One from Viet Nam (who came as a “Boat People” child).
Both highly respected in their fields.
Both show up everyday at large university hospitals.
Putting *their* health at risk for the sake of others’ lives.
And the numbers of patients here needing their help multiplies.
THEY are the men and women on the front lines!
THEY deserve Medals of Valor!
(A friend’s daughter in med school needs to SHARE masks with colleagues when on rounds cuz there ain’t enough.)
Despotus’ labeling this outbreak as The Asian Virus has me livid! We’ve already seen our local Asians taunted, if not physically assaulted.
Leave it to Despotus and BestBabe to inspire peace and compassion.
I have hesitated to “diagnose” him in psychological terms.
Even when / if accurate, I find doing so cuts him a break.
I believe his “sickness” to be inherently who he is.

My friends and I are beyond furious (understatement).
And oh-so fearful for the health of each other.
And for all whom we will never know, here and around the world.

Be safe & well, ya’ll.