Tuesday
Mar032020
The Commentariat -- March 4, 2020
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
Ian Millhiser of Vox: "Wednesday morning's arguments in the biggest threat to abortion rights to reach the Supreme Court in nearly 30 years went so badly for Louisiana Solicitor General Elizabeth Murrill, who was defending Louisiana's restrictive abortion law, that by the end even Chief Justice John Roberts appeared uncomfortable with her arguments.... Murrill's performance was so weak, and the liberal justices successfully exposed so many flaws in her argument, that it raised questions about whether Roberts might join his liberal colleagues to strike down Louisiana's law."
Jeffrey Smith of Public Integrity: "When confronted by House lawmakers angered about ... Donald Trump's halt in aid to Ukraine last summer, Trump administration officials repeatedly said the hiatus was meant to allow them to conduct a policy review about the aid program. But the Pentagon's deputy general counsel [Edwin S. Castle] -- in an email kept secret by the administration during the House and Senate impeachment proceedings in December and January -- told his colleagues during the aid halt there was, in fact, no such policy review under way inside the administration."
Patricia Mazzei, et al., of the New York Times: "Michael R. Bloomberg dropped out of the presidential race on Wednesday, just over three months after he began a campaign that was fueled by his vast fortune and quickly grew to a sprawling political operation but failed to win the groundswell of moderate support he had sought. Mr. Bloomberg endorsed Joseph R. Biden Jr., saying that he had the best shot to beat President Trump.... In an unprecedented effort to self-finance a presidential campaign -- which some rivals derided as an attempt to buy the White House -- Mr. Bloomberg's bid cost him more than half a billion dollars in advertising alone. He also spent lavishly on robust on-the-ground operations, with more than 200 field offices across the country and thousands of paid staff. His operation dwarfed those of Democratic rivals who ultimately won states in which he had installed many dozens of employees and spent heavily on radio, television and direct mail ads." A Politico story is here.
Do not mess with Jill Biden's husband. She will slap you down:
~~~ Here's a WashPo story on Jill v. the Vegans.
Charles Pierce: "It's plain now that, for the moment, anyway, a large part of the Democratic primary electorate is hungering for a president that it can ignore for four or five days a week." Pierce cites a speech Warren Harding gave a hundred years ago (and does grant "that the Harding precedent doesn't bode well for a possible Biden presidency).:
America's present need is not heroics, but healing; not nostrums, but normalcy; not revolution, but restoration; not agitation, but adjustment; not surgery, but serenity; not the dramatic, but the dispassionate; not experiment, but equipoise; not submergence in internationality, but sustainment in triumphant nationality.
German Lopez of Vox: "When Sen. Bernie Sanders talks about his presidential campaign, he emphasizes that it's a movement -- the start of a 'political revolution,' which he says will drive typically apathetic voters, particularly the young, to turn out and vote. But if Super Tuesday was anything to go by, Sanders's political revolution isn't happening -- and it's former Vice President Joe Biden's campaign, or perhaps general opposition to President Donald Trump, that seems to be driving turnout."
~~~~~~~~~~
State Democratic presidential primary results appear in the right column. Related stories linked below.
Matt Viser & Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post: "Joe Biden powered to a dominating sweep of the South and surprisingly strong showings in New England and the Upper Midwest on Tuesday night, as he sought to seize control of the Democratic presidential race and overtake Sen. Bernie Sanders as the delegate leader. Sanders was holding on to a lead in California, the state with the biggest delegate haul of the Super Tuesday primaries, as votes were slowly counted there. But Biden's victories ... threatened to at minimum erase the lopsided delegate advantage Sanders hoped to gain from the day's voting. The results set up a more vigorous fight ahead that presents the party with divergent choices, between a pragmatist vowing a return to normalcy and a populist promising a revolution." Politico's story is here.
The Guardian has the latest delegate count.
Fred Imbert & Thomas Franck of CNBC: "U.S. stock index futures pointed to a sharply higher open on Wednesday as early results on Super Tuesday showed former Vice President Joe Biden notching key wins and reassuring investors of his place amid the top candidates in the Democratic pool. As of 7:35 a.m. ET on Wednesday, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 726 points and indicated a rise of 702 points at the open. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures also pointed to solid opening gains. Still, the implied open could change as markets remain volatile. Biden's success early into Super Tuesday voting appeared to buoy U.S. equity futures...."
Brian Schwartz of CNBC: "Former Vice President Joe Biden went into Super Tuesday with fewer financial resources than other candidates. But he will be in much better shape by the end of the night. Bundlers loyal to Biden are seeing dozens of new donors, several maxing out with the top allowable $2,800..., according to people with direct knowledge of the matter. These people declined to be named because these developments were yet to be announced. Biden fundraising events started to sell out early in the night, the people added."
Matt Flegenheimer of the New York Times: "Lifted by a hasty unity among center-left Democrats disinclined toward political revolution, Mr. Biden has propelled himself in the span of three days from electoral failure to would-be juggernaut.... Yet any suggestion that Mr. Biden is now a risk-free option would appear to contradict the available evidence. He is no safer with a microphone, no likelier to complete a thought without exaggeration or bewildering detour. He has not, as a 77-year-old man proudly set in his ways, acquired new powers of persuasion or management in the 72 hours since the first primary state victory of his three presidential campaigns. In fact, Mr. Biden has blundered this chance before -- the establishment front-runner; the last, best hope for moderates -- fumbling his initial 2020 advantages in a hail of disappointing fund-raising, feeble campaign organization and staggering underperformance. When it mattered most, though, the judgment came swiftly from Sanders-averse Democrats. All right, we'll take him."
Alexandra Petri of the Washington Post suddenly remembers (satire): "Joe Biden is fine! He is the best hope. I know I said something about how his is the politics of the past and how his rallies put me into a state of abject gloom, that when he opens his mouth and starts to say things, you never exactly relax until he has put the microphone down, but, well -- that was all malarkey, and I guess I was a lying dog-faced pony soldier. Which, it turns out, is a good thing!"
Today. Sally Goldenberg & Christopher Cadelago of Politico: "Mike Bloomberg is weighing dropping out as early as Wednesday after losing a string of Super Tuesday states where he invested a fortune in advertising, according to several people familiar with his plans. While the multi-billionaire former New York City mayor was on track to win delegates, he was roundly beaten by Joe Biden, on whose collapse Bloomberg had been counting." ~~~
~~~ Yesterday. The Washington Post's live updates of Tuesday's developments are here. Mike "Bloomberg struck a defiant tone Tuesday as polls opened in 14 states, saying he planned to stay in the race until the Democratic convention in July despite no expectation of winning any state in his first ballot test. 'I have shown that I have the management experience to do it,' Bloomberg said of the presidency during a stop at a campaign office in [Miami's] Little Havana neighborhood. 'And no other candidate in the race do I think could beat Donald Trump or could run the country.'" (Also linked yesterday.)
Tennessee. Adrian Sainz of the AP: "A judge has extended voting hours in Tennessee's second-largest county after four Democratic presidential candidates sued to keep Super Tuesday polls open after a tornado devastated the area, a Democratic party spokeswoman said Tuesday. A Davidson County Chancery Court judge ruled that polling locations in the county whose seat is Nashville must remain open until 8 p.m. Central time. Five so-called megasites, where anyone in the tornado-hit county can go to vote, will be open until 10 p.m. under the judge's ruling...."
The New York Times' liveblog of Super Tuesday developments is here. "In the Northern California county where a mysterious case of the coronavirus had been reported and dozens of people were quarantined, a top election official said the county bought gloves for poll workers and expanded curbside ballot drop-off points for Super Tuesday." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
All Girl Candidates Are Alike. Edward Moreno of the Hill: "Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg told a reporter Tuesday he 'didn't realize' that Sen. Elizabeth [Warren] (D-Mass.) was still in the primary race. His comments came in light of Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Peter Buttigieg dropping from the race and consolidating support behind former Vice President Joe Biden.... 'If there's only 3 candidates, you can't do worse than that,' Bloomberg said, when asked if he would accept a third-place finish. The reporter reminded him that Warren, who currently has eight delegates, is still in the race. 'I didn't realize she's still in, is she?' Bloomberg asked." (Also linked yesterday.)
Senate Races
Alabama. Jane Timm of NBC News: "Former Sen. Jeff Sessions and onetime Auburn University football coach Tommy Tuberville were neck and neck in the Republican primary race for the Senate on Tuesday night and will face off in a runoff election later this month, NBC News projects.... Tuberville had 33.4 percent and Sessions took 31.6 percent, with 99 percent reporting.... On Wednesday morning..., Donald Trump trashed Sessions ... on Twitter, blaming Sessions for recusing himself from the Russia investigation that wound up being led by former special counsel Robert Mueller. 'This is what happens to someone who loyally gets appointed Attorney General of the United States & then doesn't have the wisdom or courage to stare down & end the phony Russia Witch Hunt. Recuses himself on FIRST DAY in office, and the Mueller Scam begins!' [Trump tweeted.]"
North Carolina. Jordain Carney of the Hill: "Former state Sen. Cal Cunningham won the Democratic nomination for the Senate on Tuesday, setting him up to face off against Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) in November. Cunningham prevailed over three other Democrats who were running for the party's nomination in the North Carolina Senate primary. Cunningham was viewed as the front-runner and won the endorsement last year of national Democrats, including the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.... The Senate Leadership Fund (SLF), a super PAC with ties to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), poured money into TV ads during the primary to try to boost state Sen. Erica Smith (D)."
Fred Imbert, et al., of CNBC: "Stocks fell sharply in volatile trading on Tuesday as an emergency rate cut by the Federal Reserve failed to assuage concerns of slower economic growth due to the coronavirus outbreak.... The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 785.91 points lower, or nearly 3%, to 25,917.41; it rose more than 300 points earlier in the day. The 30-stock average gyrated between sharp gains and solid losses after the decision was announced. The S&P 500 fell 2.8% to 3,003.37 while the Nasdaq Composite pulled back 3% to 8,684.09. Investors, in turn, loaded up on U.S. Treasurys, pushing the benchmark 10-year yield below 1% for the first time ever. Gold, meanwhile, jumped 2.9% to settle at $1,644.40 per ounce." ~~~
~~~ Jeanna Smialek of the New York Times: "The Federal Reserve slashed interest rates on Tuesday as fears about the economic fallout of the coronavirus continued to mount, announcing its biggest single cut since the depths of the 2008 financial crisis.... The central bank said it would cut interest rates by half a percentage point.... 'As usual, Jay Powell and the Federal Reserve are slow to act,' [Donald Trump] wrote on Twitter Monday." CNBC's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Update. Morgan Chalfant of the Hill: "President Trump on Tuesday criticized the Federal Reserve's decision to cut interest rates by half a percentage point as insufficient, demanding 'more easing and cutting' in a tweet." (Also linked yesterday.)
Philip Rucker, et al., of the Washington Post: "One week after Trump returned home from India to confront an unfolding health crisis and tasked Pence with managing the government-wide response, the effort has been undermined by mixed messages, contradictions and falsehoods -- many of them emanating from the president himself, including this week when he repeatedly spread false information about just how soon a coronavirus vaccine would be available. The White House is handling the rapidly expanding coronavirus as a public relations problem as much as a public health crisis. Officials are insisting on message discipline among government scientists and political aides alike...." ~~~
~~~ You Cannot Teach Trump What He Doesn't Want to Know. Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "... on Monday when he held a coronavirus roundtable with his task force and the heads of several pharmaceutical companies..., [Trump] still appears rather clueless on the subject.... Trump peppered the drug companies with questions that were some variant of 'How fast can you get it done?' But despite this having been a focal point in recent weeks, he still didn't seem to process the fact that producing a vaccine means conducting months and months of trials before it can be deployed.... What's remarkable ... is that [Dr. Anthony] Fauci has explained all of this -- in front of Trump and publicly.... 'I don't think they know what the time will be,' Trump said [to a reporter later, ignoring everything he'd been told repeatedly]. 'I've heard very quick numbers -- a matter of months -- and I've heard pretty much a year would be an outside number.'... Fauci had said a year to 18 months." Mrs. McC: If you read Blake's full report, you'll wonder why no one in the meeting throttled that dumb lummox. His wilful ignorance is infuriating.
Do Not Upset Der Furor. Eric Schmitt & Helene Cooper of the New York Times: "Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper has urged American military commanders overseas not to make any decisions related to the coronavirus that might surprise the White House or run afoul of President Trump's messaging on the growing health challenge, American officials said. Mr. Esper's directive, delivered last week during a video teleconference call with combatant commanders around the world, is the latest iteration of Mr. Trump's efforts to manage public fears over the disease, even as it continues to spread around the world.... Mr. Esper told commanders deployed overseas that they should check in before making decisions related to protecting their troops." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Ellen Mitchell of the Hill: "The Pentagon issued a sharp rebuttal Tuesday to a New York Times article saying Defense Secretary Mark Esper directed commanders to notify the Department of Defense (DOD) of their coronavirus responses to avoid surprising the White House, calling it a 'dangerous and inaccurate mischaracterization.'... The DOD disputed [the Times'] account, saying Esper instead directed commanders to take all force health protection measures and then notify their chain of command when actions are taken 'so that DOD leadership can inform the interagency -- including [Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Homeland Security], the State Department, and the White House -- and the American people,' top Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said in a statement." (Also linked yesterday.)
Natasha Bertrand & Daniel Lippman of Politico: "A White House lawyer and former counsel to the House Intelligence Committee under Devin Nunes has been named senior director for intelligence on the National Security Council, the latest instance of ... Donald Trump elevating a trusted loyalist to control the intelligence community. Michael Ellis, a deputy to White House lawyer John Eisenberg, started in the role on Monday, according to a senior administration official and a former national security official. Ellis left the counsel's office so won't be dual-hatted with his new job." Mrs. McC: Lillis's primary job: Telling Trump those conspiracy theories he heard on Fox "News" are real. (Also linked yesterday.)
Josh Gerstein of Politico: "U.S. prosecutors say they have a witness who will directly implicate a Russian businessman known as 'Putin's chef' in schemes to carry out election interference overseas. The mystery witness is prepared to testify at a criminal trial set to open in Washington next month in a case ... Robert Mueller brought accusing three Russian companies and 13 Russian individuals of meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, a prosecutor declared at a recent court hearing. The anticipated testimony will focus on the most prominent Russian national charged in the indictment, Yevgeny Prigozhin, a St. Petersburg restaurateur who enjoys close ties to ... Vladimir Putin and who has expanded his business empire to become a key contractor for the Russian military. Prosecutors say Prigozhin ran the Internet Research Agency, a Russian firm that allegedly sponsored and coordinated online troll activity during the 2016 U.S. election."
Alexandra Svokos of ABC News: "The Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments for the latest landmark abortion case on Wednesday morning, which could change the landscape of abortion law in America -- and abortion access -- for years to come. June Medical Services v. Russo (previously v. Gee) is a challenge from Louisiana abortion providers to a 2014 state law that requires abortion providers to have admitting privileges with a nearby hospital, which allows a patient to go to that hospital if they need urgent care. Because abortion statistically has very low complication rates, the need for hospital care is extremely rare." The New York Times story is here.
Margaret Sullivan of the Washington Post: Chris Matthews' "casual sexism wasn't at the heart of why he had to go. One of the most prominent and well-paid hosts in the cable-news game didn't listen, didn't do his homework and treated politics as a game in which noisy confrontation was a necessity. The problem was less about greenroom boorishness and far more about what you could see and hear on the air.... Frequently described as 'bombastic,' and certainly an excitable yeller, Matthews had a tendency to ask a question, and then, just as his subject was beginning to answer, interrupt, asking it differently or inserting his own opinion. His interview with Elizabeth Warren last month was a memorable case in point. The topic was whether her rival presidential candidate, Mike Bloomberg, had really suggested to one of his employees that she 'kill it' when he found out she was going to have a baby.... But the 'Hardball' host apparently hadn't done the reading. He seemed to want a confrontational interview with Warren no matter what the underlying evidence might be."
Beyond the Beltway
Oklahoma. Christine Hauser of the New York Times: "A college recruiter from Oklahoma Christian University is no longer working for the school after he told a group of high school students to line up organized by their skin color and hair texture, officials said on Tuesday. The recruiter, Cedric Sunray, visited Harding Charter Preparatory High School in Oklahoma City on Feb. 24, and met with 110 juniors and four teachers in the gymnasium to talk about opportunities at the college, said the principal, Steven Stefanick. 'The recruiter asked the students to line up from darkest to lightest skin complexion, and then line up from nappiest to straightest hair,' Mr. Stefanick said in a telephone interview. As the students did as they were told, some of the teachers got up and left to report the request to school administrators, who intervened, he said.... [Sunray later] said the exercise was meant to be an 'icebreaker' and that he has made the same presentation dozens of times at other institutions.... He described himself ... as a member of a Native American tribe with a 'white racial phenotype.'"
Way Beyond
David Sanger & William Broad of the New York Times: "Iran's growing stockpile of nuclear fuel recently crossed a critical threshold, according to a report issued Tuesday by international inspectors: For the first time since President Trump abandoned the 2015 nuclear deal, Tehran appears to have enough enriched uranium to produce a single nuclear weapon, though it would take months or years to manufacture a warhead and deliver it over long distances. The International Atomic Energy Agency, which monitors nuclear capabilities and reports to the United Nations, also documented for the first time how Iran's leadership blocked its inspectors from visiting three critical sites where there was evidence of past nuclear activity."
News Lede
The New York Times' latest live updates on developments in the coronavirus epidemic are here. "The head of the World Health Organization said on Tuesday that the global mortality rate for Covid-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, was 3.4 percent. Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the organization's director general, said in a news conference in Geneva that Covid-19 was deadlier than the seasonal flu, but did not transmit as easily. 'Globally, about 3.4 percent of reported Covid-19 cases have died,' Dr. Tedros said. 'By comparison, seasonal flu generally kills far fewer than 1 percent of those infected.'"
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THE DEMOCRATIC ESTABLISHMENT MAY FEAR SANDERS MORE THAN THEY FEAR TRUMP: Jeff Cohen
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-democratic-establishment-may-fear-sanders-more-than-trump/
So–– so far Biden soars––looks like lots of voters want comfort and conservative measures coupled with "someone I know–-he'll bring us back on track."
What will the demented man at the helm do to Biden if indeed, Joe becomes the ONE; how will he try and pummel him to death? I dread the results.
And looks like Bloomberg learned that money can't buy love.
Just got a notice from Lee Gelernt, Deputy Director of the ACLU Immigrant's rights Project:
"I'm on my way to the Supreme Court to argue a landmark case that you might not have heard about. We're arguing to protect the right of judicial review for asylum seekers, whose fates are too often in the hands of ICE and CBP agents with unchecked power to make life-changing decisions with almost no oversight.
Our client is Vijayakumar Thuraissigiam, a Sri Lankan asylum seeker marked for a fast-track deportation process called "expedited removal." He came to the U.S. seeking asylum after being tortured for his political activities in Sri Lanka. Despite believing his story, a U.S. asylum officer erroneously marked him ineligible for protection, ordering his removal. Under the rules of expedited removal, a federal judge had no right to review his case – until we took his appeal and won at the Ninth Circuit.
Now, the government wants to strip Mr. Thuraissigiam of the right to have his day in court, and they're hoping the Supreme Court will help.
The stakes of this case are high. The outcome will determine whether ICE and CBP have virtually carte blanche ability to send asylum seekers back to the countries they fled with no federal judicial oversight, in a process that can take only a few days."
'... Trump peppered the drug companies with questions that were some variant of 'How fast can you get it done?' But despite this having been a focal point in recent weeks, he still didn’t seem to process the fact that producing a vaccine means conducting months and months of trials before it can be deployed..."
Marie referred to this as willful ignorance, and it certainly may be, involving acting ignorant in order to evade responsibility or a decision. But it is also a pretty standard tactic in the construction/development business, where the principal continually ignores responses from providers concerning costs or timelines, and tries to salami-slice the providers into committing to shortened critical paths and/or lower prices. The providers' response tactic should always be to ignore those efforts and just wave the PERT chart frequently -- which is what Fauci is doing to DiJiT.
But the drug companies (or any one of them) may get suckered into promising a shorter timeline, which would require short-circuiting the protections in human trials. A telltale sign would be if someone claims they can shorten the process by using prisoners or service members as human trial subjects. That's the stage at which the USG would be waiving laws and providing indemnity to developers to allow human rights violations -- trials on prisoners and/or servicemembers are illegal unless they meet all of the requirements that would apply to any population ... which gets you back to a long timeline.
Would DiJiT kill our soldiers for political gain?
Actually, as follow up to my post above, those illegal trials would probably be in a country like Thailand, where the US has done that kind of thing before.
Patrick asks: "Would DiJiT kill our soldiers for political gain?" I pondered and pondered over that question until my pondering blew a fuse. Sarcasm isn't nice, Phyllis, my mother often said to me and I would say, "but it prevents me from exploding."
I liked what Margaret Sullivan (see above) had to say about Chris Matthews (Jeff Cohen (my link above) also addresses Matthews. I recall when Hillary was last running for president, Chris criticized her for not covering the issues. Rachel, who was on the same panel shot back with "she DID cover the issues, Chris, and if you had gone to her website..." but he cut her off (as he usually does with most) and proceeded to another subject. But Rachel, who I think had Chris's number brought back the "issues" issue later in the program and laid down the gauntlet.
In his departing speech Monday night he acknowledged that, heck, that's how his generation dealt with women which of course is baloney–-it isn't a matter of generation, it's a matter of power play with a bit of that old misogyny sprinkled in for good measure. Good riddance to this old fashioned guy whose Hard Ball was certainly that.
@Patrick. I have been thinking all along that the Chinese have a population ripe for testing with the Uighurs.
Found this comment in a NYTimes report submitted by J. Albers of Cincinnati on last night's primary interesting:
"There are 2 problems with this assessment. First, Sanders was close to Biden in states that are likely to vote Democratic, while Biden win big in states that won't.
Second, it appears that more Democrats voted for Sanders than Biden, especially with California and close votes in Massachusetts."
More clouds in my crystal ball.
"I spent $500 million and all I got was American Samoa?"
Mike Bloomberg (who was stopped and frisked on Super Tuesday)
So, 500 million smackeroos and he gets 6 delegates from a place 6,000 miles from the US mainland where the inhabitants aren't even US citizens. Good job, Mike! He declared his candidacy in late November so that means...a little more than 100 days. $5 mill a day? Whoa. I'd have promised him my vote for a day's pay like that.
PD,
Not all guys of Matthews' generation were loudmouthed assholes who treated women like shit, just the loudmouthed assholes who treated women like shit. Like him. I never liked the guy, right from the get go. He would be purposefully antagonistic just to be a prick, not to elicit more revealing responses from guests.
Along with Loofah Boy O'Reilly, he helped usher in the screaming matches that now pass for political discourse, aiming for quick hit gotcha points rather than enlightenment, and developed a style that allowed him to quickly turn the channel whenever it looked like he might lose an argument.
O'Reilly's response to losing an argument was just to scream louder and shout "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!". Matthews wasn't that bad, but that just meant he wasn't the worst snake in the shithole. Another bigmouth bully. Like we don't have enough of those (their king is in the White House). Good riddance.
Akhilleus: Spot on.
And then there were three (okay, I'm not counting Gabbard; do you blame me?).
Very disappointed for Warren. I thought she'd be able to muster more of a showing, but that schoolmarm thing was a bridge too far for most voters, it appears (that, and really smart people scare the crap out of too many Americans. Obama is a smart guy but he could be funny AND he pumped in three point shots on command in high school gyms).
So what now? She might be angling for a veep spot or maybe she just wants to see what happens in the next big contest, next week, but it doesn't look like she'll have a lot of traction in places like Mississippi, Idaho, Missouri, or North Dakota. If one posits that a Warren voter might have gone for Bernie rather than Biden, if she wasn't in the race, several of those Super Tuesday contests would have turned out much differently. But when you lose your home state (coming in third! Yuck), you ain't going very far.
So we'll see what she decides. She's too smart to just be screwing around at this point so she must have a plan. If that plan involves dropping out, then it'll be a steel cage match between Fidel and Grandpa Malaprop.
I'm sure Fatty thinks he's got this thing wrapped up, what with Putin and Zuckerberg and his rubber stamps on the Supreme Court (just in case things get crazy), but voters will be the ones to decide this. I just hope whichever guy is left standing (sorry, Elizabeth), they don't shoot themselves in the foot. I can tell you one thing, at this point, I'd love to see a Fatty-Bernie debate. A Fatty-Biden debate, not so much. They'll both make gaffes (Trump will lie, lie, lie, Joe will go off on tangents), but only Biden will be held to account.
That curse about living in interesting times keeps popping into my head.
Warren has got to stay in the game (fingers crossed) because she is running against two old guys who could die from natural causes or be disqualified for health reasons at any time - one clearly on the cusp of dementia and the other with a history of heart disease. Let's hope she gets some sound strategic advice as she considers the race results today.
Periscope,
You got a point there. But it will be expensive for her to stay in all the way, especially once the money dries up.
But now I’m wondering if Bloomberg will follow through on his promise to back whichever Democrat takes on the Orange Menace and his Party of Traitors. He’s got a pretty sophisticated and well financed ground operation, so we’re told. Will he turn that over to Biden, or decide to stay active by helping to coordinate efforts in the primaries and again (crucially) in the general where he can stack his greenbacks up against Fatty’s filthy lucre and equally filthy lies.
We shall see.
Ask Doctor Donald!
I just read a question that Dr. Moron asked regarding a vaccine for Covfefe-19, which, he assures us, will be ready in a few days (as opposed to the 12-18 month estimate by people who have a fucking clue). This is really scary:
Fatty: "This would be a combination of a vaccine and also it will -- put it in a different way -- make you better, quicker?"
Clearly, the guy in charge of keeping us safe is an idiot who doesn’t have the first clue about how vaccines work. Vaccines don’t “make you better”, they help to prevent you from getting sick in the first place.
Researchers have worked on the idea of therapeutic vaccines for years but there are none available outside of test study groups. I will bet everything we RCers collectively own that Fatty has never heard of therapeutic vaccine research. He’s just a moron. But he’s also a moron in plain sight and he doesn’t care to look like a brainless dolt, likely because (as always) he believes he’s smarter than everyone else and can’t understand how so many others are not as smart as he is.
Make you better? Jesus, we’re screwed.
@Ak: Things from China don't last long. There's hope in that belief.
@periscope: Agreed! The three men running for president are 77 years old (Biden), 78 (Sanders) and 73 (Fatface von Clownstick). The chances that at least one of these three old farts will have a major health incident between now & early November is pretty high. Warren, on the other hand, is a kid of 70.
Yes, age is a real worry.
I'm nearly 74 and while I'm believe I'm still mostly compos mentis, I know my short term memory is not what it once was. It's worse.
To prove that to myself yet again, on our Florida jaunt went swimming with the rented car key in my swimming suit pocket and didn't remember I had left it there until I rose from the water, saw my hat on the beach with my glasses where I also had intended to leave the key and immediately thought oh, nuts, or something like that.
As I feared, the key was no longer in my pocket; I had consigned it to the deep blue.
There's more (much more) to the misadventure but those details aren't relevant to the illustration.
You don't want this aging fart running a country.
And, declining as I am, I haven't forgotten Reagan....or my reading about Woodrow Wilson, whose wife effectivly became president pro tem.
If the Pretender wins, think Melania can handle it?
@Ken Winkes: Oh, lordy, lordy, President Melanie. I hadn't thought of that. Oddly enough, most -- tho not all -- of recent wives of presidents would probably have been as good or better at the job than their husbands (or at least I'd have preferred them to be president than the misters). I wouldn't say that of Mamie Eisenhower or Pat Nixon, but Betty Ford, Nancy Reagan, Barbara Bush, Laura Bush -- all sharper than their husbands. Michelle Obama, Rosalynn Carter, Lady Bird Johnson, Jackie Kennedy -- they'd have been good presidents.
P.S. Did you know that if you put your right hand in the wrong place on the keyboard when typing "Ken," you just come up with "Jeb"? I write from very recent personal experience, Jeb.
Good to know, Bea. Thanks for the heads up.
I'm (my fingers are) given to changing my name to "Len," which all things considered, I prefer to "Jeb."
@Jeb: That would be "Lem".