The Commentariat -- May 3, 2020

Afternoon Update:

The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Sunday are here. The Washington Post's live updates Sunday are here.

It's not possible to convey what a petty, petulant peckerwood Trump is, but he's trying to let you know:

Justin Wise of the Hill: "President Trump on Sunday took aim at George W. Bush after the former Republican president issued a call to push partisanship aside amid the outbreak of the novel coronavirus. In a three-minute video shared on Twitter on Saturday, Bush urged Americans to remember 'how small our differences are in the face of this shared threat.'... In an early morning tweet on Sunday, Trump called out Bush for his failure to support him as he faced an impeachment trial earlier this year over his alleged dealings with Ukraine. He cited apparent comments from Fox News anchor Pete Hegseth, who asked why Bush didn't push for 'putting partisanship aside' amid the trial. 'He was nowhere to be found in speaking up against the greatest Hoax in American history,' Trump said." Thanks to Ken W. for the link. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Had the impeachment proceedings "put partisanship aside," we'd be complaining about President pence today.

Sarah Cammarata of Politico: "Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, said on Sunday she found it' devastatingly worrisome' that anti-quarantine protesters in Michigan had flocked in tight quarters to the state Capitol, defying social-distancing guidelines. Appearing on 'Fox News Sunday,' the doctor said the protesters at the rally were especially concerning because, 'if they go home and infect their grandmother or their grandfather who has a comorbid condition, and they have a serious or an unfortunate outcome, they will feel guilty for the rest of our lives.'" Mrs. McC: Gee, that's not what Donald said.

I Was Right within the Context of My Ignorance & Lack of Foresight. Jacob Knutson of Axios: "White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow defended his claim on Feb. 25 that the U.S. had "contained" the coronavirus 'pretty close to airtight,' arguing on CNN's 'State of the Union' Sunday that his comments were 'based on the actual facts' at the time.... At the time of Kudlow's comments, the country had 15 known coronavirus cases, according to Johns Hopkins University data. That same day, however, Nancy Messonnier, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, told reporters a coronavirus outbreak in the country was inevitable."

Sneeze on Me. Mike DeWine Falls in Line. Jack Arnholz of ABC News: "Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said Sunday that a statewide order mandating face masks be worn in stores went 'too far.' 'It became clear to me that that was just a bridge too far. People were not going to accept the government telling them what to do,' he said on ABC's 'This Week.'... 'Face masks are very important and our business group came back and said every employee, for example, should wear a face mask. So we're continuing that, whether it's retail or wholesale, whatever it is, manufacturing, every employee's going to have the face mask,' he said Sunday.'"

Erica Werner & Tom Hamburger of the Washington Post: "Congressional leaders are girding for a huge fight over the reentry of millions of Americans to the workplace, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) insisting that employers be shielded from liability if their workers contract the coronavirus. He appears to have the backing of top White House officials. Democratic leaders have declared they will oppose such blanket protections, putting Washington's power brokers on opposite sides of a major issue that could have sweeping implications for health care and the economy in the coming months. The battle has unleashed a frenzy of lobbying, with major industry groups, technology firms, insurers, manufacturers, labor unions, and plaintiffs lawyers all squaring off. The clash is a sharp departure from the past six weeks, when lawmakers from both parties came together to swiftly approve nearly $3 trillion in emergency funds as Americans hunkered down during the pandemic."

John Hanna of the AP: "Joe Biden has overwhelmingly won a Democratic presidential primary in Kansas that the state party conducted exclusively by mail because of the coronavirus pandemic.... Biden took 77% of the vote. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders was still in the race when the Kansas party began mailing ballots at the end of March, but he suspended his campaign and endorsed Biden. Biden won 29 delegates and Sanders got 10, inching Biden closer to the number of delegates he needs to clinch the Democratic nomination. He has a total of 1,435 delegates and needs 1,991 to win the nomination on the first ballot at the party's national convention this summer, a threshold Biden is likely to reach in June...."

Joe Biden & Elizabeth Warren in a Miami Herald/McClatchy op-ed: "Even the most ideological conservatives have been forced to acknowledge that government is an essential part of the COVID-19 solution. Government delivers best when its actions are fair, transparent and accountable. But ... Donald Trump's approach to this crisis doesn't reflect these values. Without change, more lives will be lost and more families will go broke.... As the price of their support for [relief legislation], Trump and the Republicans insisted on a $500 billion slush fund for big businesses with minimal conditions -- a fund Trump could use to reward his political friends and punish his political enemies. They also jammed in a tax cut that overwhelmingly benefits millionaires. This tax break will be particularly helpful to hedge funds and real estate investors like the president's friends and family -- on top of the $1 trillion in giveaways to the wealthy and big corporations Trump previously pushed through Congress.... The coronavirus rescue package imposed some oversight of these programs, but when he signed it, Trump saidhe'd ignore the law and prevent a new inspector general from communicating with Congress.... As we recover, we have the opportunity to create an economy that truly works for everyone. That begins with a government that is accountable to the people and that is what we will deliver."

~~~~~~~~~~

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

Oliver O'Connell of the U.K. Independent: "Donald Trump ... spent Saturday morning [at Camp David] tweeting about his poll numbers, Congress, presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden and Michael Flynn. The 'working weekend' in rural Maryland will also see the president meet with staff and conduct phone calls with other world leaders regarding the coronavirus pandemic, according to press secretary Kayleigh McEnany." Mrs. McC: Tweeting about yourself is not "working."

     ~~~ That's the late Harvey Korman playing the part of Donald Trump. ~~~

~~~ Philip Rucker, et al., of the Washington Post: Inside the White House, "A small team led by Kevin Hassett -- a former chairman of Trump's Council of Economic Advisers with no background in infectious diseases -- quietly built an econometric model to guide [coronavirus] response operations.... [Hassett's death-toll projection, much lower than other models predicted,] was embraced inside the West Wing by ... Jared Kushner and other powerful aides helping to oversee the government's pandemic response.... For Trump -- whose decision-making has been guided largely by his reelection prospects -- the analysis, coupled with Hassett's grim predictions of economic calamity, provided justification to pivot to where he preferred to be: cheering an economic revival rather than managing a catastrophic health crisis.... By the end of April ... it became clear that the Hassett model was too good to be true.... The president's course would not be changed, however. Trump and Kushner began to declare a great victory against the virus, while urging America to start reopening businesses and schools.... The span of 34 days between March 29 ... tells a story of desperation and dysfunction.... This story documenting Trump's month-long struggle to reopen America is based on interviews with 82 administration officials, outside advisers and experts with detailed knowledge of the White House's handling of the pandemic."

David Graham of the Atlantic: "Trump likes to say that one death is too many, but his seeming indifference to growing death tolls is reminiscent of the quip, sometimes attributed to Stalin, that one death is a tragedy and 1 million deaths is a statistic. For Trump, one death is a tragedy and 60,000 are a victory. As Steve Benen has chronicled, Trump has curiously kept touting the low death toll, but keeps having to adjust up the number as the count rises."

Ayesha Rascoe & Colin Dwyer of NPR: "President Trump twice received intelligence briefings on the coronavirus in January, according to a White House official. The official tells NPR the briefings occurred on Jan. 23 and Jan. 28. 'The president was told that the coronavirus was potentially going to "spread globally,'" the official said of the first briefing, which came two days after the first case of the virus was reported in the United States. 'But the "good news" was that it was not deadly for most people,' the official said the president was told. Five days after that initial briefing, the president was briefed again, according to the official. This time, he was told the virus 'was spreading outside of China, but that deaths from the disease were happening only in China,' the official said. 'He was also told that China was withholding data.'" Mrs. McC: This sounds fairly consistent with contemporaneous public information, but one would think intelligence agencies would know more.

Marianne Levine of Politico: "The Trump administration will send three rapid-results testing machines and 1,000 coronavirus tests to the Senate, according to Health and Human Services chief Alex Azar.... The new supply of machines and tests comes after the Capitol Hill physician informed top GOP officials Thursday that the Senate only had the capacity to test senators and staffers who were ill. The physician also said that test results would take two days or longer -- a contrast to the White House's testing capacity, where anyone who meets with ... Donald Trump or Vice President Mike Pence receives a rapid-results test." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) Levine's story has been updated to reflect Pelosi/McConnell's statement declining to accept the testing machines & tests. ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Respectfully, Fuck You, Your Highness. From Saturday's WashPo live updates, linked above: "In a rare joint statement, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Saturday they are' respectfully' declining the Trump administration's offer to deploy rapid coronavirus testing capabilities on Capitol Hill.... 'There is tremendous CoronaVirus testing capacity in Washington for the Senators returning to Capital (sic) Hill on Monday. Likewise the House, which should return but isn't because of Crazy Nancy P. The 5 minute Abbott Test will be used,' Trump tweeted.... 'Consistent with CDC guidelines, Congress will use the current testing protocols that the Office of the Attending Physician has put in place until these speedier technologies become more widely available,' Pelosi and McConnell's statement said."

What's Wrong with This Picture? William Feuer of CNBC: “The United States just had its deadliest day on record due to the coronavirus as states across the country begin to ease restrictions meant to curb the spread of the virus, according to data published by the World Health Organization. The U.S. saw 2,909 people die of Covid-19 in 24 hours, according to the data, which was collected as of 4 a.m. ET on Friday. That's the highest daily Covid-19 death toll in the U.S. yet, based on a CNBC analysis of the WHO's daily Covid-19 situation reports." Emphasis added. ~~~

David Wallace-Wells of New York: "Though the public narrative is that the country has turned the corner and gotten a handle on things, enough to begin slowly 'opening up,' the data tells a different story. A new daily peak means that even if deaths declined as rapidly now as they grew earlier this spring -- when in a month total deaths grew from 3,834 to 62,860 -- we would be due for at least as many more deaths as we've had to this point. In other words, another 60,000 people.... And even if we do assume that this week was the overall peak [which is not a given], there are many reasons to think the decline from that peak will be slower than the ascent -- meaning considerably more than 60,000 more deaths." However, that's an optimistic number because all of the models for the progress of the coronavirus have been created while most of the country was on lockdown. "... reopening is already starting, which means the conditions that have produced those elegant (and encouraging) curves are ending." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Obviously, the "reopenings" make things much harder for those of us who have tried to avoid exposure. They mean that more people will be walking virus vectors, so we will have more opportunities for exposure.

Emma Brown, et al., of the Washington Post: "The United States recorded an estimated 37,100 excess deaths as the novel coronavirus spread across the country in March and the first two weeks of April, nearly 13,500 more than are now attributed to covid-19 for that same period, according to an analysis of federal data conducted for The Washington Post by a research team led by the Yale School of Public Health. The Yale team's analysis suggests that the number of excess deaths accelerated as the pandemic took hold.... Though the team's estimate of the impact early in the outbreak already paints a picture of unusually high mortality, the number is certain to grow as more deaths are reported to the federal government on a rolling basis."

What's Wrong with This Picture? Minyvonne Burke of NBC News: "Crowds of people gathered at the National Mall in D.C. on Saturday to watch a Blue Angels and Thunderbirds flyover, with at least some at the scene appearing to ignore social distancing rules.... Many people were not wearing masks." The main photo accompanying the story is pretty disturbing. ~~~

~~~ There were more flyovers around the country honoring healthcare workers. Mrs. McC: If D.C. is any indication, the flyovers probably will mean more work for the medicos the gesture is supposed to recognize.

Alice Ollstein & Dan Goldberg of Politico: "States like Georgia, Texas and Colorado have begun lifting stay-at-home orders without a robust army of public health workers to quickly identify people who've come into contact with coronavirus patients, worrying health experts that the states could be at heightened risk for a new wave of infections. Members of ... Donald Trump's coronavirus task force have warned a reopening risks erasing weeks of progress in slowing the virus if states don't have an extensive system for identifying patients and tracing their contacts. The number of contact tracers states need depends on factors like infection rates, testing availability and population density. But those moving to relax restrictions have far fewer contact tracers per capita than many of those remaining locked down for at least a few more weeks."

Neil MacFarquhar of the New York Times: "America's extremists are attempting to turn the coronavirus pandemic into a potent recruiting tool both in the deep corners of the internet and on the streets of state capitals by twisting the public health crisis to bolster their white supremacist, anti-government agenda.... [This month] the coronavirus, and the disruption it wreaked on society..., became the extremists' battle cry. Embellishing Covid-19 developments to fit their usual agenda, extremists spread disinformation on the transmission of the virus and disparage stay-at-home orders as 'medical martial law' -- the long-anticipated advent of a totalitarian state.... The New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness said in March that white supremacists have encouraged followers to conduct attacks during the crisis to incite fear and target ethnic minorities and immigrants.... Last month, the Department of Homeland Security warned law enforcement officials throughout the United States of the mobilization of violent extremists in response to stay-at-home measures, according to a senior law enforcement official and a congressional staff member, who were not authorized to discuss the warning publicly." ~~~

~~~ Now let's find out what the President* of the United States thinks of these violent extremists: ~~~

Michigan. Kevin Liptak of CNN (May 1): "... Donald Trump sided with protesters -- some of whom were armed -- in Michigan on Friday, for their effort to reopen parts of the state after Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer extended her emergency declaration keeping some businesses shuttered amid the coronavirus pandemic.... 'The Governor of Michigan should give a little, and put out the fire,' Trump wrote on Friday. 'These are very good people, but they are angry. They want their lives back again, safely! See them, talk to them, make a deal.'" Emphasis added. ~~~

~~~ Jonathan Oosting in Bridge (May 1): "It happens at least once a year at the Michigan Capitol: Armed demonstrators openly carry firearms into the historic building and watch the Legislature from galleries overlooking the state House and Senate chambers. There are no metal detectors, no weapon checks and no policy to prohibit loaded weapons.... One reporter said she was 'slammed in the head' by a rifle while attempting to cover the chaos, and multiple lawmakers said armed demonstrators shouted at them from the Senate gallery as they worked below.... Visitors are, however, banned from bringing signs or posters inside...." Emphasis added. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I linked these stories, albeit a day late, because I heard a CNN guest point out the poster ban. It's embarrassing to live in this country, and not just because of Donald Trump.

Maryland. Tom Hamburger & Juliet Eilperin of the Washington Post: "The state of Maryland on Saturday terminated a $12.5 million contract for personal protective equipment with a firm started this spring by two well-connected Republican operatives. State officials said the company, Blue Flame Medical, failed to deliver masks and ventilators as promised and that the matter has been referred to Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh (D) for review.... Blue Flame was started in late March by Michael Gula, a Republican fundraising and lobbying consultant in Washington, and John Thomas, a California political consultant.... Gula contacted a staffer he knew in the administration of Gov. Larry Hogan (R) to make a pitch for the sale...."

Mississippi. Christina Carrega of ABC News: "The governor of Mississippi took a step back with continuing to slowly reopen the state after health officials said there was the largest increase of coronavirus diagnosis and deaths. Gov. Tate Reeves was to proceed with his plan to get people back to work, but announced the change of plans on Friday as 397 new coronavirus cases were confirmed and 20 more people died. '... We have to stay flexible. Today, I was prepared to announce further reopenings...,' Reeves said. "... I have come to the conclusion that I must hold on for now.'"

Capitalism Is Awesome, Especially When Threatened with Criminal Charges. Jeanna Smialek of the New York Times: "One of the biggest beneficiaries of the government's small business lending program said on Saturday that its companies will return at least $70 million in loans received through the Paycheck Protection Program. Ashford Inc., which oversees a tightly interwoven group of hotel and resorts, had seen its subsidiaries apply for $126 million in loans and the firm had previously said it planned to keep the money it received. On Saturday, citing new guidelines from the Small Business Administration that restrict who can receive funding, the company said its firms will return the loans. The decision came after media outlets, including The New York Times, detailed how Ashford had benefited from a program intended to help small businesses struggling to keep workers on payroll amid the coronavirus pandemic.... Last week, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said companies had until May 7 to voluntarily return the funds and that firms could be held 'criminally liable' if they did not meet the program's criteria. He said the United States would audit any company that received more than $2 million in loans." ~~~

~~~ Tom LoBianco of Business Insider: "The hotel conglomerate run by a major campaign donor to President Donald Trump, Monty Bennett, announced Saturday it would return all the money it received through the Paycheck Protection Program.... Bennett's decision came two hours after ... Joe Biden blasted Bennett, tweeting, 'Monty Bennett should return the tens of millions of dollars he received, and we should give it to the small businesses that need it.'"

You're Doin' Fine, Oklahoma, O.K.! Kaelan Deese of the Hill: "Measures requiring people to wear face coverings inside stores and restaurants to prevent the spread of coronavirus in Stillwater, Okla., were lifted by officials Friday after employees from these businesses said that they experienced threats of violence. Independent Mayor Will Joyce walked back an emergency order put in place until May 31, requiring the public to wear masks. The measure was amended the same day it was activated on Friday night, according to a news release published by the city. As it stands, the changed proclamation requires employees in retail establishments to wear masks, but face coverings are optional for customers. However, the proclamation still strongly advises that people wear masks for their own protection and the protection of others against the coronavirus."

The Method to Their Madness. Tina Nguyen of Politico: "Over three weeks ago, hydroxychloroquine was all the rage in MAGA world, despite flawed and scattered evidence about whether the drug could help cure coronavirus. Now there is another drug, remdesivir, with positive early scientific data. Much of MAGA world wants little to do with it ... even as the president expresses optimism.... The unexpected reaction appears to stem from the differences in how the two drugs came into the public spotlight. Hydroxychloroquine bubbled up through the MAGA grassroots -- little-known investors promoted it online, got on Fox News and suddenly the president was talking about it from the White House. Remdesivir's progress came through a government-funded trial that had the blessing of Dr. Anthony Fauci, the bête noire of Trump hardliners who blame the government's top infectious disease expert for undermining the president and causing unnecessary economic damage with his social-distancing guidelines." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Australia. Sky News: "The government says a shift away from Chinese manufacturing is inevitable as Australia begins to recover from the coronavirus pandemic. Industry Minister Karen Andrews said the COVID-19 crisis has given Australia the chance to boost its manufacturing sector which will increase sovereign capabilities and help the economy recover. Australia could soon begin making high tech devices, medical supplies, pharmaceuticals and food products as the nation begins to shift away from Chinese supply chains." --s

Dell Cameron of Gizmodo: "A Manhattan federal judge has ruled the Federal Communications Commission must provide two reporters access to server logs that may provide new insight into the allegations of fraud stemming from [the] agency's 2017 net neutrality rollback. A pair of New York Times reporters -- Nicholas Confessore and Gabriel Dance -- sued the FCC under the Freedom of Information Act after it refused their request to view copies of the logs. The logs will show, among other details, the originating IP addresses behind the millions of public comments sent to the agency ahead of the December 2017 net neutrality vote." --s

Presidential Race

David Axelrod in a CNN opinion piece: A team of lawyers working for Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign fully vetted contenders for the vice-presidential nominee, including of course Joe Biden. "The comprehensive vet certainly would have turned up any formal complaints filed against Biden during his 36-year career in the Senate. It did not. The team would have investigated any salacious rumors of the sort that travel far and wide in Washington. There were none.... Through that entire process, the name Tara Reade never came up. No formal complaint. No informal chatter. Certainly, no intimation of sexual harassment or assault from her or anyone else. The team of investigators, expert in their work, would not have missed it.... It is striking that when an experienced vetting team put Biden under a microscope before he was chosen to be second-in-line for the presidency, neither her allegations, nor anything resembling them in Biden's history, showed up." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Ali Vitali, et al., of NBC News: "Tara Reade, a former staffer accusing former Vice President Joe Biden of sexual assault, specified Saturday that she's 'not sure' what wording she might have used in the paper complaint she says she filed with a Senate personnel office in 1993.... Reade has said that the complaint, if it's found, would not include the sexual assault allegation that she came forward with in March. She told the Associated Press in an interview Friday: 'the main word I used -- and I know I didn't use sexual harassment -- I used "uncomfortable." And I remember "retaliation."'" Mrs. McC: IOW, Joe called her bluff & she backtracked. ~~~

~~~ Maureen Dowd of the New York Times: "... #MeToo ripped away the curtain on the murky transgressions and diminishments that women had endured in the droit du seigneur era. But as with any revolution, there was some overcorrection.... It was a strange acid flashback, seeing Biden having to defend himself three decades after he was the one who shut down the Thomas-Hill hearing without allowing the appearance of the three women waiting to come forward as corroborating witnesses for [Anita] Hill.... In the end, these moments highlight the hypocrisy of both parties."

Safari links this ad, which is just the type the Biden campaign & Democrats should be running:

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: As nearly as I can tell, the ad was independently produced by an activist group called Meidas Touch, which appears to be the work of -- or sponsored by -- California attorney Ben Meiselas.

Adam Raymond of New York: "According to The Wall Street Journal, President Trump's reelection campaign has placed an order for 'red, Trump-branded face masks for supporters.' The paper says, 'Campaign officials have discussed giving away the masks at events or in return for donations.' The WSJ links the production of the masks to a broader attempt by the Trump campaign to win back waning support from seniors, a stronghold for the president that has begun to abandon him amid his shaky leadership during the coronavirus outbreak." The WSJ story is here.

Comments

[safari]

Given Tang's total inability to feel empathy for anyone other than his narcissistic id, I really hope that reporters hound him mercilessly with statements of support and healing for the constantly mounting body bag toll amassing under his watch. Make him talk at length about the pain of others, about the lives of random Americans that have been lost to the virus. These statements need to be requested every day from now 'til the election, and especially during the Pres debates (if they take place).

The mammouth gap between Biden's ease of speaking to pain and empathy (given his life experience) and Drumpf's eternal whine could make a big difference come November as more and more people are directly affected by this virus. I don't think we've come to terms with this fact yet, but the death toll numbers we're all watching now in horror are going to be rising all the way through November. I don't see how Drumpf can ever seriously claim "victory" as the numbers continue to rise. Now that the virus is widespread, there's no avoiding this. Given that cold hearted conservatives often nary move a finger until an issue hurts them directly, this might be a key to moving a few deplorables into the Biden column, or at least stay home.

[Akhilleus]

The Dangerous Dealmaking Dunce

The Orange Menace demonstrates his frightening inability to grasp the essence of a pandemic when he blithely writes it out of his childish equations. He’s backing armed insurrectionists who strut around threatening deadly violence unless they get their way, Trump instructs the governor of Michigan to meet “these good people”. “See them, meet with them, talk to them, make a deal!”

To a hammer, everything is a nail; every problem is solved with a blow to the head. Trump, despite the mountain of evidence to the contrary, still considers himself the nonpareil deal maker. He is, of course, terrible at it.

First, a deal is an agreement between two or more parties for the mutual benefit of everyone. But what happens when one of the parties (the coronavirus) is insensible to your self professed dealmaking acumen? What if one party doesn’t give a shit about what you want? MAKE A DEAL, donnie, you brainless dolt? You can’t make a deal with a virus. And leaving the virus out of any potential “donnie deal” is the QED proving your complete unfitness for the job.

Okay, here’s the deal he’s demanding we make with childish thugs. You own a small plane. They propose to rent your plane and start up an aerial sight seeing business. IN THE MIDFLE OF A FUCKING HURRICANE!!

Sound like a deal that benefits everyone? You lose your plane, the idiots, and their passengers are dead. Who wins? The virus. The silent partner who doesn’t want, or need anything other than to replicate itself as quickly as it can in every warm body it can find. The partner you left out of the equation.

Trying to make “deals“ without understanding the entire picture, the contours of the proposed agreement, as opposed to your half blind happy-talk version of the very real outcome is why Fatty has continued to fail, why he goes into bankruptcy time and again, and why he continues to try to make “deals” while ignoring the single biggest factor in play: that he is a hopeless ignoramus whose narcissistic “dealmaking” gets people killed.

Business closed on account of the hurricane killed the proprietors.

Any other “deals”, donnie?

[Marie Burns]

@Akhilleus: You're not seeing the Tang Man's suggestion to Gov. Whitmer from his point of view.

(1) President* Tang (thanks, safari!) already has made deals with these violent, gun-toting, racist, xenophobic extremists. He carries out their policies, he employs them (Stephen Miller, etc.) he applauds them as "good people," he promotes their writings (especially when they promote him), and he doesn't denounce their extremist views until beaten down to briefly do so. So there's nothing wrong with making deals with violent, gun-toting, racist, xenophobic extremists. Trump has an ongoing contract with them.

(2) Tang would like nothing better than to see a Democratic governor who's trying to save lives in her state to have to back down to demands from his own deplorable supporters. "Reopening" Michigan is entirely in Tang's interest. If a lot more Michiganers get sick, that's Whitmer's fault: she made a bad deal. If Michigan's economy improves, Tang & his boy sidekick Jared will point to it as a "great success story." Their success story.

[PD Pepe]

Taking a brief break from news that infuriates and depresses:

“I remember driving down the Dublin roads, where the laburnum and lilac filled the verges with yellow and violet, and listening to my car radio. Something seemed to have happened that was not faith, and could not be called religion; that was short of hysteria and yet by no means rational,” wrote Eavan Boland in January 12th, 1995.

Boland described the summer of 1985, when a statue of the Virgin Mary appeared to move, and how an outpouring of belief challenged her preconceived notions of intellect.

Eavan Boland died this week at age 75, a great loss to the world of poetry and letters.

I discovered Boland many years ago and found her writing sensual and deeply moving.

As for Mary moving I'd like to think someone gave her a nudge or two but then again as we have witnessed over and over again the sheer tenancy to believe almost anything seems to be part of the human capacity to, indeed, believe almost anything.

It's another Sunday and the two videos above give it just the right amount of belly laughs. Thank you for that!

[Bobby Lee]

As Florida (despite 615 new cases and 15 deaths) and other states race to reopen, then need to remember that it only takes one asymptomatic carrier to blow the whole process sky high.

As a resident of a small rural county I can only hope.

[Ken Winkes]

The oh so brave man not behind the mask complains about W's call for unity in the midst of the covid pandemic and asks why W didn't put partisanship aside during the impeachment fiasco, apparently suggesting that he and the Senate minus one did.

It was just all those Democrats and those darn facts about his perfect call that were partisan, kinda like the mountain of facts in the Mueller report.

But we knew facts in this administration are very partisan.

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/495843-trump-rips-george-w-bush-after-he-issues-call-to-unite-amid

[RAS]

A slogan for the Trump face masks "We only have fifteen right now, but we will soon be down to zero. So order your Trump face mask today."

[Hattie]

Too Utopian While Dystopian?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nw5KQMXDiM4

Sent from a dear friend to cheer me.
And I did chuckle from the subtitles
(lest the “English” prove unintelligible).
Yet by the end, I was tearfully wishing
to be read from a storybook, too. LOL

a quiet mind & bloody good health to all

[citizen625]

Before we start feeling sorry for the Bushes, let's see what the other shrub had to say: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/05/03/jeb-bush-its-time-embrace-distance-learning-not-just-because-coronavirus/. The first words out of his mouth are mean and unconstructive teachers unions are in Oreeeegon. This whole family of entitled blowhards will NEVER have to suffer a pandemic like the rest of us. It doesn't matter how much the chirp and chime about unity. They all know Mr. Big butters their bread.
When was the last time Jeb took a college class? Or pursued any education for that matter? When was the last time he troubled himself to talk with an non-trustafarian student in an uncontrolled setting, i.e. without a cop over his shoulder? I am a college student and face time matters to students, educators, those who want science labs, and people who like people. Fuck him. What he dares not say now at this point in history, is how much he is alike with the Orange baboon. Monarchy is bad. Bushes and frump are pure monarchists. Next up, Liz Cheney.

[Ken Winkes]

Don't know if it could be called a game changer because the game is far (six months) from over but this news from the WAPO about counting ballots mailed on Election Day likely did make a difference in Wisconsin.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/unexpected-outcome-in-wisconsin-tens-of-thousands-of-ballots-that-arrived-after-voting-day-were-counted-thanks-to-court-decisions/2020/05/03/20c036f0-8a59-11ea-9dfd-990f9dcc71fc_story.html

Didn't seem that radical to me. Isn't that the IRS rule? I know it is for elections here in WA State, where we have voted by mail for some years now.

Postmarked by or on Election Day is good enough...except for Republicans..