Wednesday
Mar182020
The Commentariat -- March 19, 2020
Washington Post: "Spring ... sweeps in overnight late Thursday, marking the earliest start to spring in a century.... Most years, the spring equinox falls between March 20 and 22. But for those in the United States, not this year. In fact, space.com reports that the March 19 equinox is earlier than any in the past 124 years.... The vernal equinox isn't a day; it's a precise moment that strikes at 11:49 p.m. eastern Thursday night. In that instant, the sun's most direct rays will cross the equator from the southern hemisphere into the northern hemisphere." Mrs. McCrabbie: Here in New England, large flakes of snow are falling softly but relentlessly, forming a thick blanket upon the visible world of a person sheltering in place.
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Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
Nobody in their wildest dreams would think we need tens of thousands of ventilators. -- Donald Trump, press briefing Thursday
Uh, nobody but CDC scientists, who predicted the ventilator shortage in 2015. 2015. Those CDC researchers are wild dreamers, aren't they? Mrs. Bea McCrabbie ~~~
Ignorant, Surly Prez* Gives Another Briefing. Washington Post liveblog: President Trump incorrectly said in a Thursday news briefing that chloroquine, a malaria drug, has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration to fight the novel coronavirus and that there were plans to 'make that drug available almost immediately.' But after Trump spoke, FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn clarified that chloroquine would first need to be tested for use on the virus.... Trump had called the drug a possible 'game changer.'" ~~~
~~~ Ladies & Gentlemen, Fix Bandanas! Mrs. McCrabbie: Yesterday I first addressed the lagtime between the moment Trump signed the Defense Procurement Act & hospitals actually got supplies because of it. Well, it's worse than I thought:
~~~ Matt Perez of Forbes: "President Trump faced questions Thursday around his reticence to use the Defense Production Act to compel companies to produce healthcare items to combat the coronavirus, a day after he said he'd be invoking its powers. Trump faced criticism early Thursday from Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who in a statement called on the president to use the Defense Production Act to address supply shortages, saying, 'There is not a day to lose.' Addressing his reluctance, Trump said the federal government is 'not a shipping clerk' and that 'governor's are supposed to be doing it,' later saying, 'Nobody's heard the number of masks ordered.'... When asked about gloves, respirators and other equipment outside surgical masks that are being requested by state governments, he said, 'For years they bought them and now they're coming to the federal government.'
"Asked about the production of n95 masks -- and reports that a shortage has led some healthcare workers to use bandannas -- Vice President Mike Pence said a stockpile of 35 million masks produced by 3M were now available to use after a legislation change Wednesday night, which apparently addressed a liability issue that companies could face, according to Trump.... 300 million. That's how many masks could be needed for healthcare workers versus the current stockpile of 30 million, as testified to Congress by Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar at the end of February." ~~~
~~~ Meagan Vazquez of CNN: According to the order Trump signed, he would use the Defense Procurement Act "to obtain 'health and medical resources needed to respond to the spread of COVID-19, including personal protective equipment and ventilators.'" BUT THEN, "The President stressed later Wednesday that he would only use the powers granted under the Defense Production Act 'in a worst case scenario.'"
When Your Doctor Looks Like a Wild West Bandit. Carolyn Johnson, et al., of the Washington Post: "As the federal government scrambles to rapidly boost the nation's capacity to test for the novel coronavirus, cutting red tape and leaning on the speed and technology of the private sector, new delays are developing because of a shortage of raw materials and vital items: chemical solutions, swabs and even face masks for health-care workers. This week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention attempted to address the mask shortage by recommending the use of bandannas, if necessary. 'In settings where face masks are not available, [health-care providers] might use homemade masks (e.g., bandana, scarf) for care of patients with COVID-19 as a last resort,' the CDC said, referring to the disease caused by the virus. 'Caution should be exercised when considering this option.'"
Fred Imbert & Thomas Franck of CNBC (@ ca. 10:20 am ET): "Stocks rose on Thursday, erasing steep losses from earlier in the day as sharp gains in big-tech shares led to a sharp turnaround. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 100 points, or about 0.4%, after falling as much as 721 points. The S&P 500 traded 0.6% higher. It was down more than 3% at the start of the session. The Nasdaq Composite jumped more than 2%."
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The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments today are here. Access is free to nonsubscribers. Highlights: "China reported its first day with no new locally transmitted coronavirus infections, three months after the first case was detected.... But China is not out of danger. Experts have said that it will need to see at least 14 consecutive days without new infections for the outbreak to be considered over. It remains to be seen whether the virus will re-emerge once daily life restarts and travel restrictions are lifted.... In California, more than nine million people have been told not to leave their homes.... In Spain, violations of isolation orders are enforced with fines. Russia is using facial-recognition technology to track down and fine people who violate mandatory quarantines.... New York City officials, already grappling with one of the largest outbreaks in the country, expressed growing alarm that the coronavirus is spreading quickly in tightly knit Hasidic Jewish communities in Brooklyn...." ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post's live updates, also free, are here. "The virus continued to spread globally, with Italy announcing a record number of deaths on Wednesday and Spain reporting a similarly alarming death-toll spike on Thursday.... As confirmed cases [worldwide] topped 200,000, Australia and New Zealand closed their borders to everyone except citizens and residents."
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." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Charles Pierce of Esquire: "Presented without comment: the eight senators who voted against the coronavirus relief package on Wednesday. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN); Jim Inhofe (R-OK); James Lankford (R-OK); Mike Lee (R-UT); Rand Paul (R-KY); Ben Sasse (R-NE); Tim Scott (R-SC), and Ron Johnson (R-WI)." ~~~
~~~ Update. Morgan Chalfant of the Hill: "President Trump on Wednesday signed into law a multibillion-dollar emergency aid package aimed at helping Americans impacted by the coronavirus." ~~~
~~~ 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." (Also linked yesterday.)
Only in Trump's Dystopia. Asraf Khalil of the AP:"The Agriculture Department said Wednesday that it would appeal a judge's ruling that it would be 'arbitrary and capricious' to move forward during a global health crisis with food stamp changes that could force hundreds of thousands from the program. Federal Judge Beryl Howell, in a ruling late last week, stopped a set of changes that would have taken effect on April 1. On Wednesday, an Agriculture Department spokesperson responded to an Associated Press query with a terse email saying only that 'USDA disagrees with the court's reasoning and will appeal its decision.'... Estimates from the Agriculture Department set the number of people who would be removed from the program at approximately 700,000."
Fred Imbert & Yun Li of CNBC: "Stocks tumbled on Wednesday, reaching a new coronavirus crisis low as investors worried about the economic damage from the pandemic. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1,338.46 points, or 6.3% to 19,898.92, marking its first close below 20,000 since February 2017. The Dow was down more than 2,300 points at the lows of the session. The S&P 500 dropped 5.2% to 2,398.10 and closed nearly 30% below a record set last month. The Nasdaq Composite slid 4.7% to 6,989.84. Virtually no market was safe from the selling wave, with crude prices having their third-worst decline on record. Stocks came off their lows in the final minutes of trading after the Senate obtained the votes to pass a coronavirus relief plan to expand paid leave.... Trading was briefly suspended after a 'circuit breaker' was tripped up." ~~~
~~~ Dippity-Doo-Dah. Victoria Guida of Politico: "The stock market's latest plunge on Wednesday did more than wipe out billions of dollars in investor equity. It also nearly obliterated ... Donald Trump's favorite measure of his economic success. The Dow Jones Industrial Average's decline below 20,000 almost completely erased all of the iconic index's previous gains since Trump's inauguration, jeopardizing a key talking point for his reelection campaign." ~~~
~~~ BUT. Thomas Franck of CNBC: "Futures contracts tied to the major U.S. stock indexes jumped Wednesday evening after the European Central Bank joined the Federal Reserve in announcing a massive stimulus plan to help combat the impact the coronavirus. As of 8:29 p.m. ET, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were 347 points higher, implying an opening jump of 450.08 points." ~~~
~~~ The New York Times' live market updates are here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Yun Li of CNBC: "The New York Stock Exchange said Wednesday it will temporarily close its historic trading floor and move fully to electronic trading after two people tested positive for coronavirus infection at screenings it had set up this week. All-electronic trading will begin on March 23 at the open, the exchange said. The facilities to be closed are the NYSE equities trading floor and NYSE American Options trading floor in New York, and NYSE Arca Options trading floor in San Francisco."
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." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ For Want of a Swab.... Katie Thomas of the New York Times: "Just as the nation's ability to test for coronavirus is expanding, hospitals and clinics say another obstacle is looming: shortages of testing swabs and protective gear for health care workers.... The main manufacturer of the swabs, Copan, is an Italian company whose manufacturing plant is in Northern Italy, a region that has itself been hard hit by the coronavirus outbreak. It says it has ramped up manufacturing to deal with the extraordinary demand for an otherwise unassuming product...." Mrs. McC: That's right: people may die because hospitals can't get what amounts to a glorified (albeit specialized) Q-tip. I suspect this would not have been a problem if John Bolton had not disbanded the pandemic team & if Trump had given the team the authority to prepare; figuring out what hospitals would need to combat the virus & making sure the hospitals had those supplies sound like jobs that group would do. ~~~
~~~ Marcus Weisgerber of Defense One: "The U.S. Air Force quietly flew 500,000 swabs for COVID-19 testing kits from Italy to Memphis, Tennessee, on Monday.... Gen. Dave Goldfein, the Air Force chief of staff, confirmed that military cargo planes were moving coronavirus testing kits, but did not give specific details during a Wednesday briefing at the Pentagon." Mrs. McC: Tennessee is not a state that has a high rate of coronavirus cases, but it does have a Republican governor & senators, and seven of its nine House members are Republicans. ~~~
~~~ 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." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ 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. ~~~
~~~ 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 lag time 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. Update. So following an answer -- and not a happy one -- to my question about the lag time:
~~~ ** Sarah Kliff, et al., of the New York Times: "... There are not nearly enough lifesaving ventilator machines to go around, and there is no way to solve the problem before the disease reaches full throttle.... American and European manufacturers say they can't speed up production enough to meet soaring demand, at least not anytime soon.... Some European governments are deploying wartime-mobilization tactics to get factories churning out more ventilators -- and to stop domestic companies from exporting them. The United States, by contrast, has been slow to develop a national strategy for accelerating the production of ventilators. That appears to reflect in part the federal government's sluggish reaction to the coronavirus, with President Trump and others initially playing down the threat. This week, Mr. Trump urged governors to find ways to procure new ventilators. 'Try getting it yourselves,' he said."
~~~ 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." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ 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.
** Pam Belluck of the New York Times: "American adults of all ages -- not just those in their 70s, 80s and 90s -- are being seriously sickened by the coronavirus, according to a report on nearly 2,500 cases in the United States.... Of the 508 patients known to have been hospitalized, 38 percent were notably younger -- between 20 and 54. And nearly half of the 121 patients who were admitted to intensive care units were adults under 65, the C.D.C. reported.... The youngest age group, people 19 and under, accounted for less than 1 percent of the hospitalizations, and none of the I.C.U. admissions or deaths."
Megan Twohey, et al., of the New York Times: "... with testing still in short supply in areas of the country, leaving health care workers and many sick people unable to get diagnoses, some prominent personalities have obtained tests without exhibiting symptoms or having known contact with someone who has the virus, as required by some testing guidelines.... Celebrities of all kinds appear to have had a far easier time getting diagnoses." ~~~
~~~ The Phat Philosopher on the "Story of Life." Brett Samuels of the Hill: "President Trump on Wednesday said he did not agree that professional athletes and wealthy individuals should get preferential access to coronavirus testing, but blamed an 'obsolete system' for the slow rollout of widespread testing. Multiple NBA teams have been tested for the virus after a few players were diagnosed with the virus, raising questions about how they were able to access the tests so quickly.... Asked if wealthier individuals should be getting faster access to tests, Trump said he did not think so. 'No, I wouldn't say so, but perhaps that's been the story of life,' he said."
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 ~~~
~~~ 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.'" (Also linked yesterday.) See also Hattie's comment at the end of yesterday's thread.
The Washington Post's live updates for coronavirus developments on Wednesday are here. The New York Times' live updates for Wednesday are here. The pages are free to nonsubscribers. Some highlights from the Times:
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.
Michael Wines of the New York Times: "Only days into the start of the 2020 census, the Census Bureau said Wednesday that it is suspending its field operations for two weeks while it searches for ways to protect its workers from exposure to the coronavirus. The immediate impact of the suspension, beyond a delay in a scheduled count of the nation's homeless and a break in training census-takers, was not clear.... The first and biggest part of the head count -- persuading residents to fill out census forms online, by mail or over the telephone -- appears to be going well. While the first census invitations reached homes only last week, some 11 million households have completed forms online and hundreds of thousands more have responded by mail and phone." An AP story is here.
Lies, Damned Lies & Fake Statistics. The Stupidest Senator Has Some Uplifting Thoughts. Jonathan Chait: "'Right now, all people are hearing about are the deaths,' Republican Senator Ron Johnson told the New York Times last week. 'I'm sure the deaths are horrific, but the flip side of this is the vast majority of people who get coronavirus do survive.'... In a follow-up interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Johnson attempted to clarify his thinking, and managed to express it in an even more callous and stupid way: 'I'm not denying what a nasty disease COVID-19 can be, and how it's obviously devastating to somewhere between 1 and 3.4 percent of the population,' he said. 'But that means 97 to 99 percent will get through this and develop immunities and will be able to move beyond this. But we don't shut down our economy because tens of thousands of people die on the highways. It's a risk we accept so we can move about....'... Around 37,000 people die every year in car crashes, which is certainly a lot. But losing 1 to 3.4 percent of people who get the coronavirus would mean millions of deaths." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Assuming a population of about 330 million & a worst-case estimate of 3.4 percent deaths, that means Covid-19 would kill 11,220,000 Americans. But thanks, Ron, for your cheery POV & for voting against coronavirus aid.
Spring Break in the Time of Coronavirus: Pretty Much the Same. If I get corona, I get corona. At the end of the day, I'm not gonna let it stop me from partying. -- Brady Sluder, a spring breaker & nitwit nihilist from Ohio ~~~
~~~ Florida: The Great American Petri Dish. Patricia Mazzei, et al., of the New York Times: "A disease that is deadly to the elderly and easily spread by the young has left Florida especially vulnerable. Yet faced with the prospect of dealing a shattering blow to an $86 billion tourism industry, Gov. Ron DeSantis has moved more slowly than some other states to contain a pandemic that is spreading with alarming speed. Whole swaths of the state have yet to begin robust testing, according to State Department of Health data. And even as some of the beaches still swarmed with college revelers, the state refused to close them.... Mr. DeSantis, a Republican, was at first reluctant to mandate mass cancellations of public events or restrictions on movement. But on Tuesday, after photos on social media showed crowds of tanned young people sunning shoulder-to-shoulder on the beaches, the governor shut down bars and nightclubs for a month and ordered restaurants to cut their seating capacity by half. He refused to close beaches, though groups will have to be no larger than 10." A CBS News story is here.
Juliegrace Brufke of the Hill: "Rep. Ben McAdams (D-Utah) announced Wednesday he tested positive for the coronavirus after developing symptoms on Saturday. McAdams, 45, is the second lawmaker to test positive for COVID-19. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), 58, announced his diagnosis shortly before the Utah Democrat."
Tom Krisher of the AP: "Concerns about the spreading coronavirus forced most of North America's auto plants to close, at least temporarily. Ford, General Motors, Fiat Chrysler, Honda, and Toyota said they would shut down all factories in the region, citing concerns for employees who work in close quarters building automobiles. Nissan will close U.S. factories. Hyundai shut down its Alabama plant after a worker tested positive for the virus. Detroit's three automakers said their closures would begin this week, while Honda and Toyota will start next week. Nissan will close U.S. plants starting Friday. Closings will run from a few days to over two weeks, but most automakers said they'll have to evaluate the spread of the virus before reopening.... Detroit's three automakers alone will idle about 150,000 workers. They likely will receive supplemental pay in addition to state unemployment benefits. The two checks combined will about equal what the workers normally make."
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.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ 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." (Also linked yesterday.)
David Ignatius of the Washington Post: "The Trump administration is continuing its shake-up of the intelligence community with a potentially disruptive change of leadership at the National Counterterrorism Center, the agency that coordinates government efforts to guard the homeland. The White House announced its plan to nominate as NCTC director Christopher Miller, a former Army Special Forces officer who had overseen counterterrorism efforts in the Trump White House before moving to a similar position at the Pentagon. Miller gets solid marks from former colleagues, but the move has increased fears within the intelligence community that the administration has embarked on a politically motivated campaign against career professionals. The move came hours after I reported that Richard Grenell, the acting director of national intelligence, had begun a 'review' of the NCTC and was weighing staff cuts there and in other parts of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.... Miller, if confirmed, would take over from Russell Travers..., a widely respected career intelligence officer, was told that he could remain as Miller's deputy...."
Presidential Race
Sean Sullivan, et al., of the Washington Post: "Bernie Sanders signaled Wednesday that he was open to ending his presidential run after another round of landslide losses to Joe Biden, and new signs emerged of communication between the two camps as some Democrats hoped for a swift end to a bruising primary. Sanders campaign officials said the senator from Vermont planned to leave Washington and return home, where he and his wife, Jane, would talk to supporters and determine the future of his presidential run. The campaign also suspended its Facebook ads and, uncharacteristically, made no request for donations in an email to backers updating them on the situation.... The two campaigns 'have been in regular contact at a senior level' since last week to discuss how the coronavirus pandemic is affecting the campaigns, [Biden deputy campaign manager Kate] Bedingfield said in a statement to The Washington Post, 'as well as to discuss both Vice President Biden's and Senator Sanders' ideas on policy responses to 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." (Also linked yesterday.)
Ellen Nakashima of the Washington Post: "More than 80 career national security professionals have [broken with a tradition of neutrality and] signed an open letter of support for Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, saying that President Trump 'has created an existential danger to the United States.' Most of the signatories, who include career diplomats, intelligence officers and defense policymakers, have served both Republican and Democratic administrations. They noted that their policy views cover a spectrum and as officials they 'have often been in opposition, sometimes bitterly, with each other.'But in a letter published online Wednesday, they expressed a shared belief that Trump's approach to leadership has undermined the country's role in the world."
Annie Karni of the New York Times: "A day after President Trump officially racked up enough delegates to become the presumptive 2020 Republican nominee for president, former Gov. William F. Weld of Massachusetts, his last Republican challenger, ended his campaign."
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Reader Comments (19)
Aside from Ron Johnson’s dire need for remedial 4th grade math (and/or a functioning brain), what he’s saying is, essentially, hey, moms and dads, brothers and sisters of those 29,000 soldiers who died at Normandy on D-Day, quit yer whining. Just think of the boys who made it. Stop trying to make it out to be worse than it is and making the president look bad.
No wonder he voted against the coronavirus emergency aid package. He and the other confederate assholes who voted thumbs down on this thing are just being responsible legislators, right Li’l Randy? This is why, for weeks, not a one of ‘em challenged the Orange Monster’s claim that the pandemic was a fake news perpetrated by Democrats and the media to make him look bad.
They were just being responsible. Right responsible for perhaps thousands of additional deaths. But it’s not so bad. Not everyone will die.
In short, dead people? So what? And not a penny to help anyone else.
Every time it seems like they couldn’t get stupider or meaner, Republicans ALWAYS come through.
So refreshing (like a nice cold cup of cyanide) to hear Fatty, poor little rich boy, acknowledge that the wealthy and the connected always get special treatment. The rest can tell their story walkin’. It’s been the story of his life. Then that gots, gets. Them that don’t, get got.
I watched the clip of that knucklehead Barry Sluder, red-faced drunken retard on spring break, daring a deadly pathogen to come get him. He’s gonna party anyway, mofos! Yeah!
A future Republican congressman if I’ve ever seen one.
"There is no public health system in the US, in short, because the richest nation in the world has no capacity to protect the public as a whole, apart from national defense. Ad-hoc remedies such as House Democrats and the White House fashioned on Friday are better than nothing, but they don’t come close to filling this void." Robert Reich
And this from Wordsworth who even in the eighteen-nineteen centuries was worth his weight in gold and if alive in this century would probably say the same:
"The world is too much with us, late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers.
Little we see in Nature that is ours,
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!..."
So––here we are–-it's like we have sucked away the oxygen of hope; while millions remain confined to their homes, dolts like Ron Johnson from Wisconsin continue to sound off like those in Fla. who continue to frolic half naked on the beaches that will disappear altogether one of these centuries. Play it as it lays–-all these heads deep in the sand ignoring the heat from the sun on their backside. Tick-tock
Have been waiting for the Pretender to tumble to it, and he finally did.
That Iran thing didn't work out, but he got his election-year wish: He's now a "war president," he says, relentless, committed at all costs to overcoming that pesky foreign invader, no matter how much money borrowed from other people he has to employ in the battle against the economic fallout from that virus that turned out to be real after all--and, more critically, the one coming in November--against that even peskier Biden guy, who seems to have survived the first battle of Ukraine.
Dollars and Sense:
It would seem that the path of economic inequality that most western countries have deliberated trodden for the last forty years has left them in a very poor position to meet any economic downturn.
Not only do nearly one half of Americans live hand to mouth, with no surplus resources with which to face even a mild crisis, but in this country our tax policies have put the government in the same position, so starved that it too has to live on a credit card, hoping against hope that the bill will never come due.
Another seeming: The Pretender likes the WWII analogy but hasn't noticed the heighened tax rates on the wealthy and well-to-do that were an essential part of that era's war footing and fundamental to that "we're all in this together" thing.
Looking over my five year old grandson's kindergarten lesson plans this morning--he's a refugee from the closed Seattle schools--I see this suggestion for discussion. Talk with him, it said, about the difference between certainty (the sun will rise in the morning), possibility, (if the clouds go away, we might play on the beach), and nonsense (flying pigs).
Couldn't help but think that while he is in so many ways no more than five years old and kindergarten is long behind him, the Pretender somehow missed that elementary lesson.
Marsha Blackburn (R-TN); Jim Inhofe (R-OK); James Lankford (R-OK); Mike Lee (R-UT); Rand Paul (R-KY); Ben Sasse (R-NE); Tim Scott (R-SC), and Ron Johnson (R-WI)." ~~~
Staring in Quinton Tarantino's sequal to the "Hateful Eight".
Here's and interesting short video explaining exactly why soap and
water are the best for killing virus.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=224&v=LKVU
arhtvE&feature=emb_title
And you know times have changed when the young man across the
street, who works in the city, calls every day to ask if we need
anything from the store. I got a new thomometer yesterday. Hooray!
From what I see on the net, niqabs seem to be available and provide protection for the entire head. Irony is not dead.
@Victoria: They don't come in my color (blue). But I can see
Melanie wearing one with that famous saying on the back "I really
don't care, do you?"
Political foreshadowing?
https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-03-18/israel-coronavirus-netanyahu
Think the Pretender and his coterie of scumbags aren't paying attention?
A very good account of how people in the USG have known for years about the probability of a global pandemic and how it would unfold in the US.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/19/us/politics/trump-coronavirus-outbreak.html
There is mention near the end of the "lessons learned" that one of the participants wrote up after ebola 2014 and earlier exercises. In the disaster preparedness/management biz, these used to be referred to jokingly as "lessons observed" --- because the folks actually in charge of implementing them never learned that they were more than academic suggestions.
For virtually every type of national disaster, you (if "you" work in the USG) can pull up a list of "lesson learned" by type, developed from real-life events and exercises, and you can organize your initial responses using them. But in almost no case does the NSC leadership actually DO that. They try to reinvent the wheel each time. Not just Trumpies, but every administration since Nixon's, which is as far back as I go.
And ... this fact (failure to learn from the past) has been brought to the attention of senior NSC folks for over 40 years. There are people who make a living at it. Yet the ignorance persists.
RE the new top o' the page posts::
Maybe the Pretender "plan" is to fuck things up so badly that suspending the fall elections and declaring martial law are the only "rational" alternatives.
Gawd, this is grim and getting grimmer by the hour.
And, Patrick, ignorance too often pays, not just in bliss or peace of mind, but it's easier than planning, and judged by our short term economic "system's" measures, is often rewarded by dollars in one's pocket.
Victoria's exchange with Forest re: "niqabs" is as funny as it is perfect.
and Ken: Lest we forget–-CHAOS IS CONTROL–– in fatty's world and in this administration–-twas true right from the beginning.
My wife and I just completed our 2020 Census form for online. It does ask the race question, so we checked the box for Other and entered "Human".
I mistakenly had the tv on when the sideshow with the governors began-- they kept the cameras on presidunce and the man was falling asleep. He kept closing his eyes and kept his defensive posture but I then turned it off-- I seem to have missed his latest tirade, thank goodness. All day long I just wander around my house, in between walking in the neighborhood. I think I really need to turn it ALL off-- the tv, not the virus, is making me sick.
Stay well, tune out, stay sane, peeps!
So the Dear Leader is now adopting the mantle of “war president” and putting the country on a “war footing”, as the Decider used to put it.
I’m guessing he hopes that being a “war president” will inoculate him against any criticism or discussions of ignorance, incompetence, or self dealing. You may recall how we were all told to watch our step and be careful of what we said about Bush and Cheney after they kicked off their made up war of choice. El Generalissimo Donaldo is hoping for the same, no doubt.
So how long before Field Marshall Fatty gets fitted out in his very own Idi Amin-Gaddafi-Pinochet banana republic dress uniform with the gold braids, giant epaulets, and seventeen pounds of fruit salad on his chest? Oh, yeah, and the peaked cap with the Trump emblem (dollar sign) on the front.
Will we get daily briefings from the front? Hourly notices of Field Marshall Fatty’s glorious battles against the evil “Chinese Virus”?
Does Melanie really not care?
AK -
Not sure if this will take you directly to the fatty-amin diptych.
Give it a go?
From Humor Times:
https://images.app.goo.gl/auiAe2KPnorKkqrt6
. . .or maybe better luck with this one?
https://www.humortimes.com/56652/kochs-buy-uganda-install-trump/