The Commentariat -- March 22, 2020

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Erica Werner, et al., of the Washington Post: "Negotiations sputtered in the Senate on Sunday over an enormous stimulus bill to keep the economy afloat during the coronavirus crisis, threatening at times to devolve into all-out partisan warfare even as a desperate nation sought relief. But the sheer magnitude of the potential calamity kept lawmakers at the bargaining table as negotiators on both sides said they must deliver to slow the financial landslide that is disrupting millions of businesses and households by the day. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) delayed an initial procedural vote on a $1.8 trillion bill as it became clear it would fail due to Democratic opposition, moving the vote from mid-afternoon to evening to allow more time for talks." The article is free for nonsubscribers.

Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: I accidentally switched to a news station a while ago & there was Trump giving a "briefing." The only thing I heard him say to "reassure" us that all was well before I switched to another channel: "I've signed everything that needs to be signed so it's going to get done." (Probably a slight paraphrase.) What??? That ignoramus is so out of his depth. It's as if he thinks the president job is presiding over parades & signing papers an aide puts in front of him. Now that there won't be any parades, it's down to "signing everything that needs to be signed." If, like Trump, you think the presidency is a job for a moron, then Trump is qualified.

Sarah Ladd of the Louisville Courier Journal: "Sen. Rand Paul has tested positive for the coronavirus, he announced on Twitter Sunday. 'Senator Rand Paul has tested positive for COVID-19,' Paul wrote on Twitter. 'He is feeling fine and is in quarantine. He is asymptomatic and was tested out of an abundance of caution due to his extensive travel and events He was not aware of any direct contact with any infected person.'... According to the tweet, no staff has had contact with Paul since his D.C. office began working remotely 10 days ago." Mrs. McC: I wonder if this means Randy won't be able to vote against the trazillion-dollar stimulus package Congress is negotiating, as he did against the last relief bill, a vote he also delayed so he could grandstand a nonsense amendment. Also nice he could get a test even tho he's asymptomatic, while ordinary people with symptoms still cannot get the test in many parts of the country.

Mike Lillis of the Hill: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said on Sunday that House Democrats would draft their own coronavirus stimulus bill after all sides failed to reach a deal on a massive proposal being negotiated in the Senate."

Includes remarkable advice on how to avoid the Trumpinfluenza.

The New York Times live updates of coronavirus developments for Sunday are here. "Peter T. Gaynor, the administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency..., President Trump's top emergency management official, confronting growing cries from governors and other elected officials for more hospital masks, ventilators and other medical supplies, said on Sunday that localities not severely affected by the outbreak would simply have to wait.... [New York Gov. Andrew] Cuomo also said that FEMA would erect four hospitals inside the Jacob K. Javits Center in Midtown Manhattan.

"[American Dimwits.] As Americans clean and sterilize countertops, doorknobs, faucets and other frequently touched surfaces in their homes, many people are then tossing disinfectant wipes, paper towels and other paper products into the toilet. The result has been a surge in backed-up sewer lines and overflowing toilets, say plumbers and public officials, who have pleaded with people to spare the nation's pipes from further strain." ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Just saw another portion of Cuomo's daily briefing. That's presidential! And, in a way, entertaining. Cuomo is not taking any crap, either from irresponsible New Yorkers or from the useless President*. ~~~

~~~ The Washington Post's live updates are here. "President Trump last week claimed he is using the Defense Production Act to push companies to produce crucial medical equipment for hospitals.... 'I invoked the Defense Production Act, and last night, we put it into gear,' Trump said at Friday's coronavirus task force briefing. But two days later, his FEMA chief said that's not the case. 'No. We haven't yet,' FEMA Administrator Peter Gaynor said Sunday on CNN's 'State of the Union.' Not [long] after Gaynor's appearance on CNN, Trump on Sunday sent a tweet that added further confusion to the situation. 'Ford, General Motors and Tesla are being given the go ahead to make ventilators and other metal products, FAST! @fema Go for it auto execs, lets see how good you are?' Trump tweeted. [Mrs. McC: Congrats on that punctuation, Donnie.]

"D.C. officials are trying to thin crowds around the Tidal Basin, where cherry blossom trees nearing their peak bloom continue to draw many spectators in defiance of calls by officials to practice social distancing. Police will close major roads to traffic in the westernmost part of the Mall between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. and are urging pedestrians to keep their distance, too."

Sasha Pezenik of ABC News: "Critical medical gear is still in short supply as the nation grapples with new coronavirus, and while Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Peter Gaynor said masks are in the midst of shipping from the national stockpile, he could not provide details on a concrete timeline. 'They're shipping today, they shipped yesterday, they'll ship tomorrow,' Gaynor said on ABC's 'This Week' Sunday. 'When you say "they," how many? Which masks? The new masks?' Co-Anchor Martha Raddatz pressed. 'I mean, it is hundreds of thousands of millions of things that we're shipping from the stockpile. I can't give you the details about what every single state or what every single city is doing,' Gaynor said. 'But I'm telling you that we are shipping from our national stockpile, we're shipping from vendors, we're shipping from donations. It is happening. The demand is great.'" Read on. Mrs. McC: It doesn't get better. All we know for sure is that Trump has added another side-stepping shuffler to his bigsong-and-dance show.

Florida Republicans Are So Helpful in a Crisis. Miami Herald Editors: "With Florida's economy crashing under the weight of the coronavirus pandemic, Gov. Ron DeSantis is working overtime to preserve our status as the world's leading exporter of political comedy. Friday, DeSantis mounted the bully pulpit to present House Speaker Jose Oliva, with a baseball bat inscribed with the words 'Slayer of the healthcare industrial complex.' It was a sophomoric bit of messaging on any day. It was inexcusably tone-deaf when the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in Florida topped 500. At least 10 people had died since the crisis began.... Unfortunately, DeSantis, who despite trying to appear large and in charge in front the microphone and TV cameras..., has been a timid leader in the face of the growing scourge -- and growing number of deaths -- from the disease in his state." ~~~

~~~ Lake Okeechobee News: At the March 20 meeting of the Okeechobee County Commission, Commissioner Bryant Culpepper recommended blow-drying your nose to kill the coronavirus. Culpepper learned this excellent technique on the righty-right-wing One America News. Mrs. McC: I'm waiting for Trump -- and OAN fan -- to recommend the method in his next briefing. Good luck, Tony Fauci!

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Rachel Abrams, et al., of the New York Times: "President Trump on Saturday sought to assure an anxious American public that help was on the way to overwhelmed hospitals, and that private companies had agreed to provide desperately needed medical supplies to fight the fast-spreading coronavirus.... Mr. Trump on Saturday continued to resist calls to use the Defense Production Act, a Korean War era[*] law that empowers the federal government to exert control over the private sector to meet national defense needs and ensure that supplies get to where they are most needed, regardless of the business plans of the companies involved.... Neither Mr. Trump nor Mr. Pence would say when the masks would be ready.... Executives in the medical supply industry said that while they are rushing to accelerate their output of face masks, it could take months to ramp up.... Companies are struggling to quickly expand their mask-making capacities, in part because of broken overseas supply chains and some countries' restrictions on exporting protective gear during the crisis.... American companies are finding their supply chains frozen.... Industry officials have been warning for years about the perils of relying on foreign supply chains for essential medical supplies.... There have been scattered signs of progress at addressing the mask shortage. At a news conference on Saturday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York said the state was purchasing 2 million N-95 masks from American and foreign companies. He said the state was paying a rich price for the coveted masks: $4 apiece for products that normally go for 80 cents. 'It's price-gouging,[*] but we need them,' Mr. Cuomo said. 'And most of these are coming from overseas.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: As Patrick pointed out at the end of yesterday's thread, "references to the Defense Production Act (DPA) usually refer to it as the '1950 Korean War era law.' In fact, it was totally revised in 2015/16..., so is not really archaic and creaky." And, as I'll point out, the act prohibits price-gouging: "... no person or company shall accumulate designated material in excess of the reasonable demands of business, personal or home consumption, or for the purpose of resale at prices in excess of prevailing market prices." Maybe one reason Trump won't trigger the act is that he thinks price-gouging is a good business practice. And who better to gouge than ignorant taxpayers? ~~~

     ~~~ Plus, the NYT report suggests Trump & Pence either don't know what they're talking about or are purposely flim-flamming the public (yeah, I know you're surprised): "Speaking at a White House briefing with Mr. Trump, Vice President Mike Pence said the federal government had placed orders for 'hundreds of millions' of the N-95 face masks that can shield medical workers from the virus. Mr. Trump said the clothing company Hanes was among those that had been enlisted to start churning out masks, although the company said they would not be the N-95 masks that are most effective in protecting medical workers.... Mike Bowen, whose company, Prestige Ameritech, makes masks in a factory in North Richland Hills, Tex., said that he told officials in the Bush, Obama and Trump administrations that about 95 percent of surgical masks are manufactured outside the United States, including by American companies that moved factories overseas to reduce costs. Mr. Bowen said he had repeatedly told federal officials that American hospitals would be at the mercy of other countries in a pandemic. 'Aside from sitting in front of the White House and lighting myself on fire, I feel like I've done everything I can,' Mr. Bowen said." Standard surgical masks are ones you could make at home on your trusty sewing machine (and some Americans are doing just that), but the N-95 masks look more like fancy versions of the dust masks you buy at the paint store & you can't just knock them out in your craft room.

     ~~~ In addition, the report makes the Trump administration effort seem scattershot at best: &"Executives at Parkdale Mills, a company in Gastonia, N.C., that provides yarn to Hanes, received a call a few days ago from Peter Navarro, Mr. Trump's trade adviser. He wanted to know if the company could make masks." Since when does a high government official cold-call suppliers? I suppose Trump -- who has no idea of how the government should work in a crisis -- ordered Navarro to get out his phone & start calling around. There are procurement officers throughout the government who do this for a living, but who knows if they've received orders to procure masks, gowns, gloves, etc.? ~~~

~~~ ** Here's Dan Diamond of Politico with evidence to back up my suppositions: "After months of minimizing the threat to the United States..., Donald Trump jumped feet-first into the coronavirus fight this week with vows of quick fixes to the testing problem, claims about potential cures, and efforts to rope in agencies that had inexplicably been excluded, like FEMA. The show of action played well in the White House briefing room and with the public, but has had a different impact behind the scenes. Health-agency officials and outside advisers to the administration, speaking on the condition of anonymity, described a chaotic situation in which leaders rushed to address presidential requests that sometimes seem to come on a whim while losing focus on longer-term challenges. Trump's drive to announce unfinished initiatives created a 'need to make good on half-baked promises,' said one senior official -- who, like other Americans, learned about some initiatives only when the president announced them at the White House podium. For instance, no one in the White House had devised a national strategy for obtaining and distributing the necessary supplies in the likely months-long fight against the pandemic that lies ahead, said three people with knowledge of the planning efforts.... Inside the Trump administration, officials are continuing to sort out which teams are responsible for elements of coronavirus response, of an ever-shifting patchwork of alliances and strategy, while working to manage the president's unpredictable requests." Read on. ~~~

~~~ "For of All Sad Words of Tongue or Pen...." Max Boot of the Washington Post: "The coronavirus is the most foreseeable disaster in history -- and so is President Trump's inability to rise to the occasion.... Because of Trump's negligence, the United States lost two months of response time -- precious days that should have been used to test the population, produce more N95 masks and ventilators, and build new hospital beds.... I weep in anger and frustration imagining what might have been if Hillary Clinton -- a sane, sensible adult -- had won.... It was precisely because we were afraid of how Trump would mishandle his weighty responsibilities that some 'Never Trump' conservatives supported Clinton in 2016.... I blame the voters who elected him -- and the senators who refused to impeach him. They should have known better. Because they didn't, we will all pay a fearful price."

Veronica Stracqualursi & Jason Hoffman of CNN: "Vice President Mike Pence and second lady Karen Pence have both tested negative for coronavirus, his spokeswoman announced Saturday evening."

The New York Times' live updates on coronavirus developments for Saturday are here. The Washington Post's live updates are here. Both are free to nonsubscribers. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ "We Have Very Good Liquids." From the Times' updates: "The White House signaled Saturday that American companies were increasing efforts to restock hospitals with crucial supplies during the coronavirus pandemic, but it again stopped short of more assertive steps that some state and local leaders have been demanding.... On Saturday, [Trump] said that he had not used the Defense Production Act because companies were stepping up voluntarily, citing Hanes and General Motors, which will make masks.... Other companies the administration announced coordination with include Honeywell and 3M. Mr. Trump also said Pernod Ricard USA had repurposed production facilities in four states to manufacture hand sanitizer, with the first delivery expected on Tuesday. The president suggested that masks don't always need to be thrown away, but can be sanitized, saying, 'We have very good liquids for doing this.'... Under increasing pressure to detail exactly when he learned that the spread of coronavirus would be a problem, Mr. Trump claimed that he first knew about the virus around the time he ordered border closures in late January." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: If he knew about it on January 31 (and in fact, he began receiving briefings weeks earlier -- see Shane Harris's WashPo report, linked yesterday), why was Trump saying "as recently as Feb. 27: 'It's going to disappear. One day -- it's like a miracle -- it will disappear.'"

Jennifer Hausen of CNN: "North Korea said President Donald Trump sent Kim Jong Un a personal letter in which he expressed his willingness to help with 'anti-epidemic work,' according to North Korea state-run media KCNA early Sunday." --s

In Trump's "War," the Soldiers Have No Armor. Melissa Bender in & Ryan Goodman of Just Security: "On Wednesday..., Donald Trump said the United States is at 'war' with the coronavirus and that he's 'in a sense, a wartime president.' We agree. And that's even more reason to address the glaring fact that healthcare workers are serving on the coronavirus frontlines without sufficient armor to protect themselves. The safety of these men and women should rank among the top priorities in the campaign to stop the pandemic.... It would be good, to say the least, for a senior Trump administration official to have the confidence to hold a ... public meeting with the pandemic's frontline medical staff.... What aggravates the problem in the war against the coronavirus is that administration officials knew ahead of time of these shortages. Tim Morrison, John Bolton's former deputy at the National Security Council, has touted the work he did including a report titled the National Biodefense Strategy of 2018. What Morrison does not mention is that the 2018 report identified the need to 'establish manufacturing surge capacity' for PPE in anticipation of a pandemic -- a statement on paper that was never implemented by the administration." ~~~

~~~ From the WashPo's live updates: "Anthony S. Fauci ... was asked at the daily White House coronavirus news briefing about an hours-earlier tweet by Trump that claimed the FDA was working on a combination of an anti-malaria drug and an antibiotic that could treat the infection. 'I'm not totally sure what the president was referring to,' Fauci said, but said he believes Trump was referring to one anecdotal study that showed that combination could be effective.... Trump was no longer present when he said that.... 'I feel like, as the expression goes, what do we have to lose?,' Trump said [earlier in the briefing].... 'Because, you know, I feel very I feel very good about it. Tony would feel, you know, like he'd like samples done in a certain way. And I understand that many doctors agree with it. We don't have much time.'... Vice President Pence addressed the news that a member of his staff had tested positive for the coronavirus and said because of that he and his wife, Karen, would be tested later in the day." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Trump either has a financial interest in these drugs or he is controlled -- that is, "controlled," not "advised" -- by people who do. ~~~

~~~ Hannah Kuchler of the Financial Times: "The only US drugmaker that makes a potential treatment for the coronavirus that was touted by President Donald Trump raised the price by almost 100 per cent in January, as the virus caused havoc across China. Rising Pharmaceuticals ... increased the price of chloroquine -- an antimalarial, which is one of the drugs that is being tested against Covid-19 -- on January 23, according to data from research firm Elsevier. The drug price rose 97.86 per cent to $7.66 per 250mg pill and $19.88 per 500mg pill. But Rising said the price rise was 'coincidental' and it restored the old price once it realised that the drug might be in demand because of the outbreak." [Firewalled] --s ~~~

~~~ AFP: "Authorities in Nigerian megacity Lagos said on Friday that hospitals had seen cases of chloroquine poisoning after ... Donald Trump touted the drug as a treatment against the coronavirus.... The drug has recently been used to treat coronavirus patients in China and in France, where some researchers said it showed great promise, though scientists agree that only more trials would determine if it really works and is safe. Health officials in Lagos said that there had already been claims online pushing chloroquine as a treatment and that Trump's message had seen interest surge." ~~~

~~~ Maureen Dowd of the New York Times portrays Anthony Fauci as "a national treasure." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ BUT Kevin Drum of Mother Jones disputes the notion that Anthony Fauci is our "truthteller-in-chief." Mrs. McC: Drum's caution is worth heeding. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Lizzie Presser of ProPublica: "I spoke to a respiratory therapist [in New Orleans], whose job is to ensure that patients are breathing well.... Since last week, he's been running ventilators for the sickes COVID-19 patients. Many are relatively young, in their 40s and 50s, and have minimal, if any, preexisting conditions in their charts.... 'This is knocking out what should be perfectly fit, healthy people. Patients will be on minimal support, on a little bit of oxygen, and then all of a sudden, they go into complete respiratory arrest, shut down and can't breathe at all..." The full description is really scary. --s ~~~

~~~ Jessica Williams of the (New Orleans) Times-Picayune: "On March 10, Natasha Ott, 39, felt the beginnings of a cold coming on. She had a slight fever. Crescent Care, her employer, had only a handful of tests for the new strain of coronavirus on hand.... When her symptoms didn't shake, she did take the test on Monday. By Thursday, she felt 'something in her lungs,' she told longtime partner Josh Anderson.... On Friday, Anderson found Ott dead in her kitchen. Her test results have still not come back.... Anderson ... said the dearth of tests shows how ill-equipped New Orleans is to handle a pandemic that has already claimed 16 lives and infected nearly 600 people across the state." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) Mrs. McC: Odd. The veep & Mrs. veep got their test results back within hours. ~~~

~~~ Carolyn Johnson & Lena Sun of the Washington Post: "Health officials in New York, California and other hard-hit parts of the country are restricting coronavirus testing to health care workers and people who are hospitalized, saying the battle to contain the virus is lost and the country is moving into a new phase of the pandemic response. As cases spike sharply in those places, they are hunkering down for an onslaught, and directing scarce resources where they are needed most to save people's lives. Instead of encouraging broad testing of the public, they're focused on conserving masks, ventilators, intensive care beds -- and on getting still-limited tests to health care workers and the most vulnerable. The shift is further evidence that rising levels of infection and illness have begun to overwhelm the health care system." Access to this story is free. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: You could believe these health officials or you could believe Trump, who told a reporter Friday, 'I'm not hearing that.'" ~~~

~~~ Amy Goldstein of the Washington Post: "U.S. hospitals are warning that they are so strapped for cash that without some financial relief, they will be unable to meet their payrolls in a matter of weeks and some could be forced to close just as coronavirus cases are surging. The American Hospital Association and three hospital chief executives spanning the country said in a conference call Saturday that a federal directive this week to cancel elective procedures -- to conserve scarce resources for patients with covid19 -- is halting the type of services that produce the most revenue. And their ability to buy critically needed supplies -- from protective gear to more hospital beds -- is being stymied by the fact that private vendors are requiring hospitals to pay cash upon delivery, which they say they lack the money to do. The American Hospital Association, the American Medical Association and the American Nurses Association are jointly urging Congress to provide hospitals and health systems $100 billion in emergency aid. The Federation of American Hospitals, the trade group for for-profit hospitals, issued a call Friday night for at least $225 billion in aid." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

The Trump Coronavirus Propaganda Machine Tries to Involve All Top Officials. Erin Banco of the Daily Beast: "The White House is launching a communications plan across multiple federal agencies that focuses on accusing Beijing of orchestrating a 'cover-up' and creating a global pandemic, according to two U.S. officials and a government cable obtained by The Daily Beast. The cable, sent to State Department officials Friday, lays out in detail the circumstances on the ground in China, including data on coronavirus cases and deaths, the local business environment and transportation restrictions. But it also issues guidelines for how U.S. officials should answer questions on, or speak about, the coronavirus and the White House’s response in relation to China. The talking points appear to have originated in the National Security Council.... Two U.S. officials working on the administration's coronavirus response said the White House is pushing federal agencies to stick closely to the national security council';s talking points, especially when senior officials take to the podium, to ensure continuity with President Trump." ~~~

~~~ Adam Silverman of Balloon Juice suggests maybe pissing off China is not a good plan: "I cannot tell you how GALACTICALLY FUCKING STUPID THIS IS!!!!... What these geniuses on the National Security Staff on the National Security Council and others within the administration, including the President, who think this is a good fight to pick seem to have forgotten is THAT ALL OF THE PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT – GLOVES, MASKS, FACE SHIELDS, GOWNS -- AND THE PRECURSORS FOR ALMOST ALL OF OUR PHARMACEUTICALS COME FROM THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA!!!!! And that If you piss Xi off right now, he can destroy us just by shutting off the supply chain! Not one bit of this futile, stupid effort will do A DAMN THING TO HELP A SINGLE AMERICAN OR ANYONE ELSE ANYWHERE ELSE SURVIVE THE SARS-CoV2/COVID-19 PANDEMIC OR THE ECONOMIC DAMAGE THAT IS A RESULT!!!!!" Emphasis original.

Margaret Sullivan of the Washington Post Has Had Enough: "More and more each day, President Trump is using his daily briefings as a substitute for the campaign rallies that have been forced into extinction by the spread of the novel coronavirus. These White House sessions -- ostensibly meant to give the public critical and truthful information about this frightening crisis -- are in fact working against that end." Sullivan reprises some of Trump's most blatant lies & propganda lines. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Rachel Maddow Has Had Enough. Joseph Wulfsohn of Fox "News": "MSNBC host Rachel Maddow urged television networks not to air White House updates on the coronavirus outbreak, claiming 'misinformation' from President Trump will 'cost lives.' 'I know we ought to be getting used to this kind of thing by now, but I'm not,' Maddow began Friday night. 'President Trump today, again, just flat-out wrong in public about this malaria drug that has gotten stuck in his mind, quite some distance from the facts.'" Mrs. McC: Other than describing Maddow as a person "best known for promoting the Russia collusion narrative that tied the Trump 2016 campaign to the Kremlin," Wulfsohn mostly gets the story right. See also PD Pepe's commentary in yesterday's thread. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Annals of "Journalism," Ha Ha Ha. The Miraculous Conversion of Lou Dobbs. Matt Wilstein of the Daily Beast: "Friday night's edition of Lou Dobbs Tonight opened with a message from fill-in host David Asman. 'Lou is in self-quarantine tonight,' Asman told viewers. 'We just learned that one of his team members has tested positive for COVID-19.'... Dobbs appears to be taking the coronavirus threat to his own health seriously after weeks of following the Fox News line that appeared to claim the virus was an overblown 'hoax' perpetrated by the media. He only changed his tune to start praising President Trump's response to the crisis earlier this week when it was no longer possible to ignore the reality on the ground. Less than two weeks ago, even as he reported that the virus had infected 113,000 people in 111 countries and territories around the world, Dobbs was accusing the 'national left-wing media' of 'playing up fears of the coronavirus' in order to drive down the stock market."

Wesley Bruer & Kelly Mena of CNN: "The US Food and Drug Administration announced it has authorized the use of the first rapid diagnostic test that could detect the novel coronavirus in approximately 45 minutes. The authorization was made Friday and tests will begin shipping next week, according to a statement from California-based Cepheid, the company manufacturing the tests."

Surprise! Bill Barr Wants to Habeas Your Corpus. Betsy Swan of Politico: "The Justice Department has quietly asked Congress for the ability to ask chief judges to detain people indefinitely without trial during emergencies -- part of a push for new powers that comes as the coronavirus spreads through the United States. Documents reviewed by Politico detail the department's requests to lawmakers on a host of topics, including the statute of limitations, asylum and the way court hearings are conducted. Politico also reviewed and previously reported on documents seeking the authority to extend deadlines on merger reviews and prosecutions.... The DOJ requests -- which are unlikely to make it through a Democratic-led House -- span several stages of the legal process, from initial arrest to how cases are processed and investigated.... The move has tapped into a broader fear among civil liberties advocates and Donald Trump's critics -- that the president will use a moment of crisis to push for< controversial policy changes." ~~~

~~~ Peter Wade of Rolling Stone: "... the asks from the Department of Justice ... demonstrate how much this White House has a frightening disregard for rights enumerated in the Constitution.... Enacting legislation like the DOJ wants would essentially suspend habeas corpus indefinitely until the emergency ended.... As coronavirus spreads through the country, activists are calling on politicians in office to release prisoners and immigrants held in detention centers, both of which can be a hotbed of virus activity with so many people in close quarters and limited or non-existent supplies of soap, sanitizer, and protective equipment. Some states have already begun to do so. But with this, the Trump administration is taking steps to hold more people in prisons for an undetermined amount of time -- showing their priority is not saving lives but giving themselves more power."

Marianne Levine, et al., of Politico: "Senate negotiators and the White House on Saturday are scrambling to reach an accord on a stimulus package that's likely to exceed $1 trillion, staring down an aggressive timeline to deliver relief amid the rapidly worsening coronavirus outbreak.... Senate Republicans ... deliver[ed] their latest bid to Democrats on the biggest remaining sticking point: Unemployment insurance. The two sides huddled separately as Republicans and White House officials await the next steps from Democrats, who are seeking longer-term benefits for furloughed workers, rather than direct payments as GOP leaders have pushed. 'I had a very good conversation with [Treasury Secretary Steven] Mnuchin and we are making good progress on many of the issues Democrats care about,' Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Saturday." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Maggie Severns & Katy O'Donnell of Politico: "A Politico review of stock sales and purchases reported by members of Congress and senior aides found that while none had engaged in sales of the magnitude of [Sens. Richard] Burr [R-N.C.] and [Kelly] Loeffler [R-Ga.], several had traded shares at times or in industries that bore a relationship to the coronavirus threat. Previously unreported lawmakers who sold assets in the weeks leading up to the market crash include Rep. Susan Davis (D-Calif.), who unloaded thousands of dollars of stock in Alaska Air and Royal Caribbean cruises. A senior aide to Sen. Mitch McConnell made a mid-January purchase of Moderna, Inc., a biotechnology company that had four days earlier announced it would begin developing a coronavirus vaccine. And an aide to Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, sold off stock in companies including Delta Airlines in late January and later bought stock in Clorox, Inc., which makes bleach and sanitary wipes.... Lawmakers in both chambers were being briefed via both classified and non-classified meetings about the coronavirus in late January and February...." There's more. ~~~

~~~ Kevin Stankiewicz & Tucker Higgins of CNBC: "GOP Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., purchased between $100,000 and $250,000 of stock in a fund invested in health sciences companies in late January, just days after attending a briefing on the federal government's response to the coronavirus.... The fund, which owns shares in pharmaceutical developers and medical device manufacturers, has outperformed the broader market slightly since Hoeven's purchase.... Kami Capener, a spokesperson for the senator, said in a statement that ... Hoeven approved the purchase weeks beforehand. In response to a request for documentation that could substantiate that timeline, Capener forwarded an email sent to her by ... a financial advisor ... on Friday. Mayer did not respond to an emailed inquiry asking about when he made the recommendation to Hoeven and when Hoeven approved the purchase." --s

Becky Dernback of Mother Jones: "[W]orking from home isn't possible for emergency personnel like paramedics, nurses, and public health workers who are on the front lines of the fight against the virus. Some states and cities are providing child care for emergency workers so they can do their jobs. Minnesota and Vermont have now officially designated another group of workers as emergency personnel: grocery clerks. This means the workers hurrying to stock shelves and check out customers in those states will also receive free child care.... Grocery clerks are often underpaid and underappreciated. As they brave the daily crowds of people rushing to stock up their pantries, and risk infecting themselves through contact with so many customers, their essential role in a functioning society has become clearer than ever." --s

Leslie Josephs of CNBC: "Flights into major New York City-area airports were briefly halted on Saturday, as the coronavirus continues to cause staffing issues at air-traffic control facilities around the country, the Federal Aviation Administration said. An air traffic controller-trainee based at a control center on Long Island tested positive for the virus, COVID-19, the FAA said. The trainee hadn't been in the facility since March 17 but the agency is working with local health authorities to sanitize and clean affected areas. The center is operational, it said."

Hunter Walker & Jana Winter of Yahoo! News: "White supremacists discussed plans to weaponize coronavirus ... according to a weekly intelligence brief distributed by a federal law enforcement division on Feb. 17.... [O]n Telegram, an encrypted messaging app that has become popular with neo-Nazis..., the white supremacists suggested targeting law enforcement agents and 'nonwhite' people with attacks designed to infect them with the coronavirus.... [T]he extremists discussed a number of methods for coronavirus attacks, such [as] spending time in public with perceived enemies, leaving 'saliva on door handles' at local FBI offices, spitting on elevator buttons and spreading coronavirus germs in 'nonwhite neighborhoods.'" --s ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Gee, Donald, maybe they're not your friends, after all.

Iraq. Qassim Abdul-Zahra & Samya Kullab of AP: "The economic fallout from the coronavirus coupled with a sudden drop in oil prices is threatening to catapult Iraq into an unprecedented crisis." --s

The Commentariat -- March 21, 2020

Afternoon Update:

The New York Times' live updates on coronavirus developments for Saturday are here. The Washington Post's live updates are here. Both are free to nonsubscribers. ~~~

~~~ "We Have Very Good Liquids." From the Times' updates: "The White House signaled Saturday that American companies were increasing efforts to restock hospitals with crucial supplies during the coronavirus pandemic, but it again stopped short of more assertive steps that some state and local leaders have been demanding.... On Saturday, [Trump] said that he had not used the Defense Production Act because companies were stepping up voluntarily, citing Hanes and General Motors, which will make masks.... Other companies the administration announced coordination with include Honeywell and 3M. Mr. Trump also said Pernod Ricard USA had repurposed production facilities in four states to manufacture hand sanitizer, with the first delivery expected on Tuesday. The president suggested that masks don't always need to be thrown away, but can be sanitized, saying, 'We have very good liquids for doing this.'... Under increasing pressure to detail exactly when he learned that the spread of coronavirus would be a problem, Mr. Trump claimed that he first knew about the virus around the time he ordered border closures in late January." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: If he knew about it on January 31 (and in fact, he began receiving briefings weeks earlier -- see Shane Harris's WashPo report, linked below), why was Trump saying "as recently as Feb. 27: 'It's going to disappear. One day -- it's like a miracle -- it will disappear.'"

~~~ From the WashPo's live updates: "Anthony S. Fauci ... was asked at the daily White House coronavirus news briefing about an hours-earlier tweet by Trump that claimed the FDA was working on a combination of an anti-malaria drug and an antibiotic that could treat the infection. 'I'm not totally sure what the president was referring to,' Fauci said, but said he believes Trump was referring to one anecdotal study that showed that combination could be effective.... Trump was no longer present when he said that.... 'I feel like, as the expression goes, what do we have to lose?,' Trump said [earlier in the briefing].... 'Because, you know, I feel very I feel very good about it. Tony would feel, you know, like he' like samples done in a certain way. And I understand that many doctors agree with it. We don't have much time.'... Vice President Pence addressed the news that a member of his staff had tested positive for the coronavirus and said because of that he and his wife, Karen, would be tested later in the day." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Trump either has a financial interest in these drugs or he is controlled -- that is, "controlled," not "advised" -- by people who do. ~~~

~~~ Maureen Dowd of the New York Times portrays Anthony Fauci as "a national treasure." ~~~

~~~ BUT Kevin Drum of Mother Jones disputes the notion that Anthony Fauci is our "truthteller-in-chief." Mrs. McC: Drum's caution is worth heeding.

Jessica Williams of the (New Orleans) Times-Picayune: "On March 10, Natasha Ott, 39, felt the beginnings of a cold coming on. She had a slight fever. Crescent Care, her employer, had only a handful of tests for the new strain of coronavirus on hand.... When her symptoms didn't shake, she did take the test on Monday. By Thursday, she felt 'something in her lungs,' she told longtime partner Josh Anderson.... On Friday, Anderson found Ott dead in her kitchen. Her test results have still not come back.... Anderson ... said the dearth of tests shows how ill-equipped New Orleans is to handle a pandemic that has already claimed 16 lives and infected nearly 600 people across the state."

Carolyn Johnson & Lena Sun of the Washington Post: "Health officials in New York, California and other hard-hit parts of the country are restricting coronavirus testing to health care workers and people who are hospitalized, saying the battle to contain the virus is lost and the country is moving into a new phase of the pandemic response. As cases spike sharply in those places, they are hunkering down for an onslaught, and directing scarce resources where they are needed most to save people's lives. Instead of encouraging broad testing of the public, they're focused on conserving masks, ventilators, intensive care beds -- and on getting still-limited tests to health care workers and the most vulnerable. The shift is further evidence that rising levels of infection and illness have begun to overwhelm the health care system." Access to this story is free. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: You could believe these health officials or you could believe Trump, who told a reporter yesterday, 'I'm not hearing that.'" ~~~

~~~ Amy Goldstein of the Washington Post: "U.S. hospitals are warning that they are so strapped for cash that without some financial relief, they will be unable to meet their payrolls in a matter of weeks and some could be forced to close just as coronavirus cases are surging. The American Hospital Association and three hospital chief executives spanning the country said in a conference call Saturday that a federal directive this week to cancel elective procedures -- to conserve scarce resources for patients with covid19 -- is halting the type of services that produce the most revenue. And their ability to buy critically needed supplies -- from protective gear to more hospital beds -- is being stymied by the fact that private vendors are requiring hospitals to pay cash upon delivery, which they say they lack the money to do. The American Hospital Association, the American Medical Association and the American Nurses Association are jointly urging Congress to provide hospitals and health systems $100 billion in emergency aid. The Federation of American Hospitals, the trade group for for-profit hospitals, issued a call Friday night for at least $225 billion in aid."

Marianne Levine, et al., of Politico: "Senate negotiators and the White House on Saturday are scrambling to reach an accord on a stimulus package that's likely to exceed $1 trillion, staring down an aggressive timeline to deliver relief amid the rapidly worsening coronavirus outbreak.... Senate Republicans ... deliver[ed] their latest bid to Democrats on the biggest remaining sticking point: Unemployment insurance. The two sides huddled separately as Republicans and White House officials await the next steps from Democrats, who are seeking longer-term benefits for furloughed workers, rather than direct payments as GOP leaders have pushed. 'I had a very good conversation with [Treasury Secretary Steven] Mnuchin and we are making good progress on many of the issues Democrats care about,' Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Saturday."

Margaret Sullivan of the Washington Post Has Had Enough: "More and more each day, President Trump is using his daily briefings as a substitute for the campaign rallies that have been forced into extinction by the spread of the novel coronavirus. These White House sessions -- ostensibly meant to give the public critical and truthful information about this frightening crisis --; are in fact working against that end." Sullivan reprises some of Trump's most blatant lies & propaganda lines.

Rachel Maddow Has Had Enough. Joseph Wulfsohn of Fox "News": "MSNBC host Rachel Maddow urged television networks not to air White House updates on the coronavirus outbreak, claiming 'misinformation' from President Trump will 'cost lives.' 'I know we ought to be getting used to this kind of thing by now, but I'm not,' Maddow began Friday night. 'President Trump today, again, just flat-out wrong in public about this malaria drug that has gotten stuck in his mind, quite some distance from the facts.'" Mrs. McC: Other than describing Maddow as a person "best known for promoting the Russia collusion narrative that tied the Trump 2016 campaign to the Kremlin," Wulfsohn mostly gets the story right. See also PD Pepe's commentary in today's thread.

~~~~~~~~~

Julie Bosman & Jesse McKinley of the New York Times: "America plunged into a deeper state of disruption and paralysis on Friday as New York and Illinois announced a broad series of measures aimed at keeping tens of millions of residents cloistered in their homes, following similar actions by California and a patchwork of restrictions from coast to coast.... Forty-five states have closed all their schools and the other five have closed at least some of them.... New York State has become the center of the outbreak, as its confirmed coronavirus cases have jumped to more than 7,000 and health officials have flagged with urgency a looming shortage of hospital beds and equipment...."

Nobody knew there would be a pandemic or epidemic of this proportion. Nobody has ever seen anything like this before.... Nobody in their wildest dreams would think we need tens of thousands of ventilators. -- Donald Trump, press briefing Thursday

The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA. Stock Market starting to look very good to me! -- Donald Trump, in a tweet February 24, after receiving many daily briefings warning of an impending pandemic

China has been working very hard to contain the Coronavirus. The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency. It will all work out well. In particular, on behalf of the American People, I want to thank President Xi! -- Donald Trump, in a tweet January 24, after receiving briefings that China was lying about the number of people who will ill or had died ~~~

~~~ ** A Rough Draft of History. Shane Harris, et al., of the Washington Post: "U.S. intelligence agencies were issuing ominous, classified warnings in January and February about the global danger posed by the coronavirus while President Trump and lawmakers played down the threat and failed to take action that might have slowed the spread of the pathogen, according to U.S. officials familiar with spy agency reporting.... Intelligence agencies 'have been warning on this since January,' said a U.S. official who had access to intelligence reporting that was disseminated to members of Congress and their staffs as well as to officials in the Trump administration.... 'Donald Trump may not have been expecting this, but a lot of other people in the government were -- they just couldn't get him to do anything about it,' this official said. 'The system was blinking red.'... At a White House briefing Friday, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said officials had been alerted to the initial reports of the virus ... on Jan. 3. The warnings from U.S. intelligence agencies increased in volume toward the end of January and into early February.... The surge in warnings coincided with a move by Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) to sell dozens of stocks worth between $628,033 and $1.72 million.... Inside the White House, Trump's advisers struggled to get him to take the virus seriously.... But Trump resisted and continued to assure Americans that the coronavirus would never run rampant as it had in other countries." The Hill has a summary report here. ~~~

When the President of the United States refuses to read his intelligence reports, unfortunately lots and lots of people die. That is reality. This is not a reality tv show. And, to all those who have enabled him and placated him, you have blood on your hands. -- Former Education Secretary Arne Duncan, in a tweet

** Frank Rich of New York: "The president ... continues to lie to Americans daily about the most basic imperatives of a public-health catastrophe, and presides over an administration staffed with incompetent, third-tier bootlickers and grifters. And I am not just talking about Mike Pence, Jared Kushner, and Wilbur Ross. There are now three college seniors serving in White House positions, thanks to a new purge of ostensibly disloyal staffers being conducted by Trump's former body man, the 29-year-old John McEntee, recently installed as director of the Presidential Personnel Office.... If America rises to the occasion, it will be despite [Trump], not because of him. We're at the point where even if Trump were to start telling the truth, no one except the most mad-dog MAGA-ites would believe him.... Trump's nonstop lies -- and those of toadies like Pence -- are not just intended to cover up the many failures to prepare for the looming apocalypse ('I felt it was a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic'), or to blame those failures on China and Obama, or to luxuriate in unearned self-congratulation ('I'd rate it a 10'). What the lies are doing now is throwing gasoline on the gathering fire."

Brett Samuels of the Hill: "‪An official working for Vice President Mike Pence has tested positive for the coronavirus, his office announced Friday. 'This evening we were notified that a member of the Office of the Vice President tested positive for the Coronavirus,' Pence's press secretary, Katie Miller, said in a statement. 'Neither President Trump nor Vice President Pence had close contact with the individual. Further contact tracing is being conducted in accordance with CDC guidelines.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Nolan McCaskill of Politico: "Dozens of employees who work across the nation's federal agencies have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, adding to the surging count of well over 10,000 confirmed cases in the United States. Experts expect the number of cases to continue rising as more tests are made available -- and the federal government's millions of employees are just as exposed as the American public at large. Meanwhile, hundreds, if not thousands, of other government employees have quarantined themselves either out of precaution or because they are exhibiting symptoms of the disease. But if the Trump administration has a unified policy on how it is handling the grim march of the virus within its own ranks, it isn't sharing it.... The result is a confusing jumble of messages that has angered federal workers and those who represent them. There are no clear directions for reporting disclosures of coronavirus throughout the federal government, leaving each individual agency to determine how to share information about known cases -- who gets to know, how soon they should be informed and how often they require updates."

** David Lynch & Heather Long of the Washington Post: "The U.S. economy is deteriorating more quickly than was expected just days ago as extraordinary measures designed to curb the coronavirus keep 84 million Americans penned in their homes and cause the near-total shutdown of most businesses. In a single 24-hour period, governors of three of the largest states -- California, New York and Illinois -- ordered residents to stay home except to buy food and medicine, while the governor of Pennsylvania ordered the closure of nonessential businesses. Across the globe, health officials are struggling to cope with the growing number of patients, with the World Health Organization noting that while it required three months to reach 100,000 cases, it took only 12 days to hit another 100,000. The resulting economic meltdown, which is sending several million workers streaming into the unemployment line, is outpacing the federal government's efforts to respond." ~~~

~~~ Heather Long & Abha Bhattarai of the Washington Post (March 19): "U.S. workers are getting laid off at an unprecedented pace as the coronavirus outbreak shuts down much of the economy, and the government safety net to help the newly jobless appears ill-equipped to handle the surge in the unemployed. More than a million workers are expected to lose their jobs by the end of March, economists say, a dramatic turnaround from February, when the unemployment rate was near a record low. Ball State University economist Michael Hicks predicts this month could be the worst for layoffs in U.S. history.... On Monday, there were so many people trying to file for unemployment insurance in New York, Oregon and elsewhere that the websites crashed, workers say.... So far, the wave of coronavirus-related layoffs has disproportionately hit service workers in typically lower-paying jobs. Many lack adequate savings...." And many out-of-work people don't qualify for unemployment benefits.

Jordain Carney of the Hill: "Senators are racing the clock as they try to clinch a deal on a massive stimulus package to address fallout from the coronavirus outbreak rattling the nation. The Senate is holding a rare weekend session starting at noon on Saturday for lawmakers to attempt to hammer out an agreement on a bill that is expected to cost at least $1 trillion." ~~~

~~~ ** Paul Van de Water of the Center on Budget & Policy Priorities: "The Senate Republican proposal for a third bill to address the COVID-19 pandemic and economic crisis is woefully inadequate to meet the extraordinary challenges now facing the nation. Its centerpiece -- direct cash payments to households -- would miss the lowest-income households entirely and give millions of low- and moderate-income households much less than those who are better off. And the proposal ignores the dire need to expand health coverage, help those who have lost their jobs and are struggling to make ends meet, avert a rise in evictions and homelessness, and close the large state budget shortfalls that will soon emerge."

Fred Imbert & Pippa Stevens of CNBC: "Stocks attempted to rally on Friday, but failed, concluding one of the most volatile weeks on Wall Street ever as investors grapple with mounting fears over the coronavirus' economic blow. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 913.21 points lower, or more than 4%, at 19,173.98 after rallying more than 400 points earlier in the day. The S&P 500 slid 4.3% to 2,304.92. The Nasdaq Composite closed 3.8% lower at 6,879.52 after jumping more than 2%. The Dow dropped more than 17% for the week, its biggest one-week fall since October 2008, when it slid 18.2%. The S&P 500 lost more than 13% week to date after dropping another 11.5% last week. The Nasdaq fell 12.6%. Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq also had their worst weekly performances since the financial crisis in 2008. The 30-stock Dow is now 35.2% below its all-time high level from February, while the S&P 500 is 32.1% below its high." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ From Friday's New York Times coronavirus updates: "Friday's drop [in market values] meant that the Dow Jones industrial average closed below where it stood on the day before Mr. Trump was inaugurated, erasing the so-called 'Trump bump' that the president has cited as evidence of the success of his presidency. The S&P 500 isn't far from that mark as well....

"New York's governor told the state's residents to stay indoors and ordered nonessential businesses to keep workers home. The Federal Reserve moved to backstop some municipal money market funds, and the U.S. is extending the tax filing deadline to July 15.

Donald Trump held another press briefing, where everybody huddled together behind the podium. He & that dick Mike Pompeo both referred to the "Chinese virus." "During the hourlong briefing, Mr. Trump grew increasingly confrontational with reporters who asked him to detail his message to Americans who were shaken by their lives being upended and scared at the spread of the virus. 'It is a bad signal that you are putting out to the American people,' he admonished a reporter from NBC who asked what the president would say to frightened citizens. 'You want to get back to reporting instead of sensationalism. Let's see if it works. I happen to feel good about it....'... Mr. Trump signaled Friday that the federal government was mobilizing industry to provide urgently needed resources to help halt the spread of the virus, but he did not specify what steps he had taken.... Deborah Birx, who is leading the administration's coronavirus response, detailed a 'concerning trend' from Italy: the mortality rate in males is twice as high as females in every age group affected by the virus." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

Jonathan Chait lists what he rates the five "Scariest Moments From Trump's Coronavirus Briefing Today." No. 5: "Trump is unaware that people can't get tests. For weeks, coronavirus tests have been so difficult to come by that even patients with severe symptoms and proved contact with contagious people have been unable to get them. Stories about the testing failure are ubiquitous. Trump replied, 'I'm not hearing that.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Three things. (1) "I'm not hearing that" is a version of Trump's well-worn response to questions he doesn't want to answer: "I haven't heard that" is the usual form. (2) It's virtually impossible that "I'm not hearing that" is true. It's been a top headline in every major newspaper & a top subject of newscasts. He has had a couple of conference calls with governors & claims to have spoken to them individually many times over the past week. They told him their states were desperate for supplies, space for beds & staff. (3) "I'm not hearing that" should have been the moment mike pence passed a note to an aide to gather the Cabinet for the purpose of invoking the 25th Amendment. ~~~

~~~ Real-Time Fact-Checking. "The Answer Is No." Anthony Fauci responds to Trump's claim, made again Friday -- after having been corrected Thursday -- that an anti-malaria drug is "very effective" at mitigating Covid-19 symptoms: ~~~

~~~ Paul Farhi of the Washington Post: "It was the journalistic equivalent of a layup, an opportunity for President Trump to utter a sound bite to soothe an anxious nation's fears and concerns amid a pandemic. Instead, Trump turned an exchange at a news conference into something very different -- a jarring attack on the news media in general and the reporter who asked the question in particular. NBC News correspondent Peter Alexander started the exchange by asking Trump whether he 'may be giving Americas a false sense of hope' by touting drug therapies that health-care experts have said are unproved as treatments for the coronavirus. 'No, I don't think so,' Trump replied. 'It may work, it may not work.... I feel good about. That's all it is, it's a feeling.' Alexander shifted gears by citing the growing toll of the illness and asking Trump, 'What do you say to Americans who are watching you right now and are scared?' Rather than offering reassurance, Trump went after Alexander and his employer. I'd say that you're a terrible reporter, that's what I'd say,' he said.... 'I think it's a very nasty question, and I think it's a very bad signal that you're putting out to the American people,' he said, pointing accusatorily at Alexander. 'The American people are looking for answers, and they're looking for hope. And you're doing sensationalism. And the same with NBC and Concast -- I don't call it Comcast, I call it Concast.' He went on for several more moments in this vein, his voice rising steadily before concluding, 'You should be ashamed of yourself.'" ~~~

~~~ Aaron Blake of the Washington Post has a full rundown & analysis of the exchange between Peter Alexander and Donald Trump, with a Tony Fauci cameo: "... the exchange epitomized just how out of tune Trump is with actual developments and his top health officials." In a tweet, Alexander has a shorter version: "I offered both Pres Trump and VP Pence an opportunity to reassure Americans. Simple question: 'What do you say to Americans who are scared?' Trump, to me: 'I say, you're a terrible reporter.' Pence, an hour later: 'Don't be afraid. Be vigilant'." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Trump Finds More Americans Whose Health He Can Endanger. Katie Thomas & Denise Grady of the New York Times: "Mr. Trump's boosterish attitude toward the drugs has deepened worries among doctors and patients with lupus and other diseases who rely on the drugs, because the idea that the old malaria drugs could work against the coronavirus has circulated widely in recent weeks and fueled shortages that have already left people rushing to fill their prescriptions. 'Rheumatologists are furious about the hype going on over this drug,' said Dr. Michael Lockshin, of the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan. 'There is a run on it and we're getting calls every few minutes, literally, from patients who are trying to stay on the drug and finding it in short supply.' Th moment of discord between Mr. Trump and [Dr. Anthony Fauci,] one of the nation's most trusted authorities on the coronavirus was a clash between opinion and fact." Mrs. McC: It's likely Trump heard these rumors from one of his "advisors"; so, you know, fuck science. I'm the President* & Article II says I don't have to speak responsibly or truthfully. ~~~

~~~ ** Jennifer Senior of the New York Times: "It is ... time to call the president's news conferences for what they are: propaganda.... We're witnessing the falsification of history in real time.... If the public wants factual news briefings, they need to tune in to those who are giving them: Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, whose addresses appear with English subtitles on Deutsche Welle. They should start following the many civic-minded epidemiologists and virologists and contagion experts on Twitter, like Harvard's Marc Lipsitch and Yale's Nicholas Christakis, whose threads have been invaluable primers in a time of awful confusion." ~~~

~~~ Robert Mackey of the Intercept (March 19): "Deprived of rallies, Donald Trump has turned the daily White House briefings on the novel coronavirus pandemic sharply political in recent days, seizing the podium from health experts to air grievances, make false promises about drug treatments, and rile up his base." ~~~

~~~ Andy Kroll of Rolling Stone: " Instead of the Trump campaign rally, it is the president's daily press briefing about the pandemic that poses a unique threat to reliable information and public trust in the middle of a global and fast-spreading crisis.... It's time to stop carrying his coronavirus briefings live. Cover them, edit out the bad information, and give the American people only the essential information (such as Dr. Fauci's warnings and updates) that they need to deal with the crisis. To continue to air them in real-time, unedited, is to actively confuse and mislead the American public." ~~~

~~~ In Case You Think That's a Bad Call.... Eli Yokley of Morning Consult: "Perceptions of ... Donald Trump's handling of the U.S. response to the coronavirus pandemic jumped this week as his administration, Congress and state and local officials took more dramatic steps to contain the contagion presently spreading across the nation. A Morning Consult poll conducted Tuesday through Friday found 53 percent of voters approve of Trump's handling of the spread of coronavirus, compared with 39 percent who disapprove. Taken together, it marks an increase of 10 percentage points in net approval of his coronavirus response since polling conducted March 13-16."

Erik Ortiz of NBC News: "A longtime employee of NBC News died Thursday after testing positive for the coronavirus, NBC News Chairman Andy Lack said in an email to staff members. Larry Edgeworth, 61, who worked in an equipment room at NBC News' 30 Rockefeller Plaza headquarters in New York, also suffered from other health issues, according to his wife, Crystal.... Edgeworth previously spent 25 years at NBC News working as an audio technician, during which he was well-known to many network correspondents with whom he traveled around the world." Mrs. McC: NBC News' Katy Tur gave an on-air eulogy for Edgeworth, who she said often worked as her soundman. I'm guessing he worked with Peter Alexander, too. (Also linked yesterday.)

** Taylor Telford & Thomas Heath of the Washington Post (from the live market updates for Friday): "Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced Friday that the administration has moved the IRS deadline for filing taxes from April 15 to July 15 due to the disruption caused by the coronavirus. The new deadline will give millions of taxpayers more time to fill out their tax forms as coronavirus upends daily life across the country. Mnuchin made the announcement on twitter, citing President Trump's directive." Mrs. McC: This is a big deal for Mrs. Procrastinator here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Dareh Gregorian of NBC News on Sen. Richard Burr's amazing financial dealings. (Related stories linked yesterday.) "Disclosure records reviewed by NBC News show that three other senators sold major holdings around the same time, including Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga., and James Inhofe, R-Okla. Asked about the stock sales Friday..., Donald Trump singled out Feinstein, a Democrat, and then said he knew all the senators involved and 'I find them to be honorable people.' Feinstein and her husband shed up to $6 million worth of stock in Allogene Therapeutics, a biotech company, between the end of January and Feb. 18, disclosure records show. A Feinstein spokesman told NBC News on Friday that she 'did not sell any stock. The transactions you're referencing were made by her spouse. All of Senator Feinstein's assets are in a blind trust, as they have been since she came to the Senate. She has no involvement in any of her husband's financial decisions.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Kiss of death: Donald Trump calls you an honorable person. ~~~

~~~ David Leonhardt of the New York Times: "Several readers have asked about the other senators who sold stock during the same period, including Dianne Feinstein (a California Democrat), James Inhofe (an Oklahoma Republican) and Ron Johnson (a Wisconsin Republican). But none of their trades look particularly suspicious. Feinstein has said that she did not attend the Jan. 24 briefing; her stock was in a blind trust, which means she didn't make the decision to sell; and the transaction lost her money, because the trust was selling shares of a biotechnology stock, the value of which has since risen. Inhofe's transactions were part of a systematic selling of stocks that he started after he became chairman of the Armed Services Committee. Johnson sold stock in his family's plastic business, as part of a process that has been occurring for months; his sale also occurred well after stock market began falling." Emphasis added. ~~~

~~~ Update. Melanie Zanona of Politico: "Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) on Friday asked the Senate Ethics Committee to review stock sales he made weeks before the markets began to tank in response to the coronavirus pandemic --; a move designed to limit the fallout from an intensifying political crisis. Burr, who chairs the powerful Senate Intelligence Committee, defended the sales, saying he 'relied solely on public news reports to guide my decision regarding the sale of stocks' and disputed the notion he used information that he was privy to during classified briefings on the novel coronavirus.... Burr, who is retiring at the end of 2022, has faced calls to resign from across the ideological spectrum.... The Ethics Committee ... is notoriously slow and rarely takes punitive action against its peers, but with the Capitol focused on battling coronavirus..., the probe could move at even more of a snail's pace.... Burr has acknowledged making at least one financial decision based on what he's heard from federal officials: he said in 2009 that he encouraged his wife to withdraw cash from the ATM after hearing from Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson amid the 2008 financial crisis." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: If you still think it's a good idea to let the Senate Ethics Committee handle Burr's insider trading transgressions, you might want to read Akhilleus's commentary at the top of today's thread.

Abigail Abrams of Time: "Danni Askini started feeling chest pain, shortness of breath and a migraine all at once on a Saturday in late February.... Askini was given a final test on the seventh day of her illness, and once doctors helped manage her flu and pneumonia symptoms, they again sent her home to recover. She waited another three days for a lab to process her test, and at last she had a diagnosis: COVID-19. A few days later, Askini got the bills for her testing and treatment: $34,927.43.... Public health experts predict that tens of thousands and possibly millions of people across the United States will likely need to be hospitalized for COVID-19 in the foreseeable future.And Congress has yet to address the problem. On March 18, it passed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which covers testing costs..., but it doesn't do anything to address the cost of treatment." --s (Also linked yesterday.)

Kansas City Star Editors: "The chairman of the Riley County Commissioners [Republican Marvin Rodriguez] suggested this week that the global coronavirus pandemic is not a problem locally because unlike in Italy, there are not a lot of Chinese people living in central Kansas, according to two other officials who attended the meeting Wednesday night.... But, does he understand why it's dangerous to Asian Americans to talk like that, and that there has been an increase in reported attacks? 'Well, they say it came out of China,' he answered, 'and I'm not putting it past the Chinese government in communist China.... Normally, this kind of thing spreads slowly,' he answered, so 'I put two and two together. I've been around a long time, girl.'" --s (Also linked yesterday.)

Michael Levenson of the New York Times: "Craft distilleries, hearing the call of duty to respond to the coronavirus pandemic, are adding a new product to their lineup of gins, whiskeys and rums: hand sanitizer. Many are reporting extraordinary demand for the product, which has been hard, if not impossible, to find on store shelves. Yet many distilleries are giving away hand sanitizer for free, despite losing sales of their traditional spirits because of the closing of restaurants, bars and their own tasting rooms. Litchfield Distillery in Litchfield, Conn. said it had been inundated by hundreds of calls from people clamoring for a few of the roughly 2,000 bottles of hand sanitizer it produced this week using the same alcohol it typically uses to make gin, bourbon and vodka.... Jack Baker, an owner of the distillery..., said on Thursday night ... the calls had come from health care workers, police departments, soup kitchens and homeless shelters." Thanks to unwashed for the link.

Helpful Hint??? Ed Mazza of the Huffington Post: "Toilet paper is disappearing from store shelves as panicked shoppers stock up due to the coronavirus outbreak. But actor& Troy Evans, who plays Detective Barrel Johnson on 'Bosch' and has appeared on 'Veep' and 'ER,' says he can wipe out the problem. Evans, who served in Vietnam, posted a Facebook video that shared a trick he learned while in the service, one that can help people clean up after doing their business with just a single square of precious TP. Fair warning: This is an absolute last resort[.]" Mrs. McC: Uh, thanks to unwashed for the link. BTW, if you haven't seen "Bosch," it's a pretty good police procedural available on Amazon Prime, tho I can't stand the title character, played by Titus Welliver who keeps posing for profile shots as if he thinks he should be the emperor on a Roman coin.

AND the Locusts Are Coming. Kaamil Ahmed of the Guardian: "The locust crisis that has now reached 10 countries could carry on to endanger millions more people, forecasters have said. Climate change created unprecedented conditions for the locusts to breed in the usually barren desert of the Arabian gulf, according to experts, and the insects were then able to spread through Yemen, where civil war has devastated the ability to control locust populations."

Presidential Race

Reid Epstein, et al., of the New York Times: "Michael R. Bloomberg is abandoning plans to form a new super PAC for the presidential race and pay his field organizers through November, instead opting to give $18 million to the Democratic National Committee for the party's battleground states program.... The Bloomberg memo said new D.N.C. staffing would be 'drawing in part from our own incredibly experienced and talented organizing staff.'" Mrs. McC: I hope so, because we know for sure the DNC doesn't know WTF it's doing. ~~~

     ~~~ An AP story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

News Lede

New York Times: "Kenny Rogers, a prolific singer who played a major role in expanding the audience for country music in the 1970s and '80s, died on Friday at his home in Sandy Springs, Ga. He was 81." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Chet Huntley & David Brinkley played "Ruby" at the end of an NBC News evening broadcast in 1969. The implied statement probably helped erode middle-America's support for the Vietnam War.

The Commentariat -- March 20, 2020

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Brett Samuels of the Hill: "‪An official working for Vice President Mike Pence has tested positive for the coronavirus, his office announced Friday. 'This evening we were notified that a member of the Office of the Vice President tested positive for the Coronavirus,' Pence's press secretary, Katie Miller,said in a statement. 'Neither President Trump nor Vice President Pence had close contact with the individual. Further contact tracing is being conducted in accordance with CDC guidelines.'"

Fred Imbert & Pippa Stevens of CNBC: "Stocks attempted to rally on Friday, but failed, concluding one of the most volatile weeks on Wall Street ever as investors grapple with mounting fears over the coronavirus' economic blow. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 913.21 points lower, or more than 4%, at 19,173.98 after rallying more than 400 points earlier in the day. The S&P 500 slid 4.3% to 2,304.92. The Nasdaq Composite closed 3.8% lower at 6,879.52 after jumping more than 2%. The Dow dropped more than 17% for the week, its biggest one-week fall since October 2008, when it slid 18.2%. The S&P 500 lost more than 13% week to date after dropping another 11.5% last week. The Nasdaq fell 12.6%. Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq also had their worst weekly performances since the financial crisis in 2008. The 30-stock Dow is now 35.2% below its all-time high level from February, while the S&P 500 is 32.1% below its high." ~~~

~~~ From Friday's New York Times coronavirus updates: "Friday's drop [in market values] meant that the Dow Jones industrial average closed below where it stood on the day before Mr. Trump was inaugurated, erasing the so-called 'Trump bump' that the president has cited as evidence of the success of his presidency. The S&P 500 isn't far from that mark as well....

"New York's governor told the state's residents to stay indoors and ordered nonessential businesses to keep workers home. The Federal Reserve moved to backstop some municipal money market funds, and the U.S. is extending the tax filing deadline to July 15."

Donald Trump held another press briefing, where everybody huddled together behind the podium. He & that dick Mike Pompeo both referred to the "Chinese virus." "During the hourlong briefing, Mr. Trump grew increasingly confrontational with reporters who asked him to detail his message to Americans who were shaken by their lives being upended and scared at the spread of the virus. 'It is a bad signal that you are putting out to the American people,' he admonished a reporter from NBC who asked what the president would say to frightened citizens. 'You want to get back to reporting instead of sensationalism. Let's see if it works. I happen to feel good about it....'... Mr. Trump signaled Friday that the federal government was mobilizing industry to provide urgently needed resources to help halt the spread of the virus, but he did not specify what steps he had taken.... Deborah Birx, who is leading the administration's coronavirus response, detailed a 'concerning trend' from Italy: the mortality rate in males is twice as high as females in every age group affected by the virus."

~~~ Real-Time Fact-Checking. "The Answer Is No." Anthony Fauci responds to Trump's claim, made again Friday -- after having been corrected Thursday -- that an anti-malaria drug is "very effective" at mitigating Covid-19 symptoms: ~~~

~~~ Aaron Blake of the Washington Post has a full rundown & analysis of the exchange between the NBC reporter -- Peter Alexander -- and Donald Trump, with a Tony Fauci cameo: "... the exchange epitomized just how out of tune Trump is with actual developments and his top health officials." In a tweet, Alexander has a shorter version: "I offered both Pres Trump and VP Pence an opportunity to reassure Americans. Simple question: 'What do you say to Americans who are scared?' Trump, to me: 'I say, you're a terrible reporter.' Pence, an hour later: 'Don't be afraid. Be vigilant'." ~~~

~~~ Erik Ortiz of NBC News: "A longtime employee of NBC News died Thursday after testing positive for the coronavirus, NBC News Chairman Andy Lack said in an email to staff members. Larry Edgeworth, 61, who worked in an equipment room at NBC News' 30 Rockefeller Plaza headquarters in New York, also suffered from other health issues, according to his wife, Crystal.... Edgeworth previously spent 25 years at NBC News working as an audio technician, during which he was well-known to many network correspondents with whom he traveled around the world." Mrs. McC: NBC News' Katy Tur gave an on-air eulogy for Edgeworth, who she said often worked as her soundman. I'm guessing he worked with Peter Alexander, too.

Abigail Abrams of Time: "Danni Askini started feeling chest pain, shortness of breath and a migraine all at once on a Saturday in late February.... Askini was given a final test on the seventh day of her illness, and once doctors helped manage her flu and pneumonia symptoms, they again sent her home to recover. She waited another three days for a lab to process her test, and at last she had a diagnosis: COVID-19. A few days later, Askini got the bills for her testing and treatment: $34,927.43.... Public health experts predict that tens of thousands and possibly millions of people across the United States will likely need to be hospitalized for COVID-19 in the foreseeable future.And Congress has yet to address the problem. On March 18, it passed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which covers testing costs going forward, but it doesn't do anything to address the cost of treatment." --s

Kansas. The Kansas City Star: "The chairman of the Riley County Commissioners [Republican Marvin Rodriguez] suggested this week that the global coronavirus pandemic is not a problem locally because unlike in Italy, there are not a lot of Chinese people living in central Kansas, according to two other officials who attended the meeting Wednesday night.... But, does he understand why it's dangerous to Asian Americans to talk like that, and that there has been an increase in reported attacks? 'Well, they say it came out of China,' he answered, 'and I'm not putting it past the Chinese government in communist China.... Normally, this kind of thing spreads slowly,' he answered, so 'I put two and two together. I've been around a long time, girl.'" --s

Dareh Gregorian of NBC News on Sen. Richard Burr's amazing financial dealings. (Related stories linked below.) "Disclosure records reviewed by NBC News show that three other senators sold major holdings around the same time, including Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga., and James Inhofe, R-Okla. Asked about the stock sales Friday..., Donald Trump singled out Feinstein, a Democrat, and then said he knew all the senators involved and 'I find them to be honorable people.' Feinstein and her husband shed up to $6 million worth of stock in Allogene Therapeutics, a biotech company, between the end of January and Feb. 18, disclosure records show. A Feinstein spokesman told NBC News on Friday that she 'did not sell any stock. The transactions you're referencing were made by her spouse. All of Senator Feinstein's assets are in a blind trust, as they have been since she came to the Senate. She has no involvement in any of her husband's financial decisions.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Kiss of death: Donald Trump calls you an honorable person.

** Taylor Telford & Thomas Heath of the Washington Post (from the live market updates): "Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced Friday that the administration has moved the IRS deadline for filing taxes from April 15 to July 15 due to the disruption caused by the coronavirus. The new deadline will give millions of taxpayers more time to fill out their tax forms as coronavirus upends daily life across the country. Mnuchin made the announcement on twitter, citing President Trump's directive." Mrs. McC: This is a big deal for Mrs. Procrastinator here.

Reid Epstein, et al., of the New York Times: "Michael R. Bloomberg is abandoning plans to form a new super PAC for the presidential race and pay his field organizers through November, instead opting to give $18 million to the Democratic National Committee for the party's battleground states program.... The Bloomberg memo said new D.N.C. staffing would be 'drawing in part from our own incredibly experienced and talented organizing staff.'" Mrs. McC: I hope so, because we know for sure the DNC doesn't know WTF it's doing. ~~~

     ~~~ An AP story is here.

~~~~~~~~~~

Donald Trump Has Turned the U.S. into a Shithole Country. (Sorry about the language; it's Donald Trump's language.)

The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments for today are here. The Washington Post's live updates are here. Access to both is free.

The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments for Thursday are here. "The State Department recommended on Thursday that American citizens abroad either return home or stay in place as the new coronavirus pandemic grows. The department raised its global travel advisory to level four, the top-tier warning, usually reserved for nations with war zones or beset by serious disruptions....

"Italy passed a grim milestone on Thursday: Deaths linked to the virus there had soared to 3,405, exceeding the toll in China, where the virus first broke out.... Italy is increasingly turning to its military for help. Cemeteries in the northern city of Bergamo are so overwhelmed that troops were called in to transport bodies elsewhere to be cremated." As Chris Hayes of MSNBC pointed out, the epicenter of the outbreak is in Northern Italy, the richest part of the country, & a region that has a higher hospital-bed-per-capita ratio than the U.S....

"The Trump administration is asking state labor officials to delay releasing the precise number of unemployment claims they are fielding, an indication of how uneasy policymakers are about further roiling a stock market already plunging in response to the coronavirus outbreak. In an email sent Wednesday, the Labor Department instructed state officials to only 'provide information using generalities to describe claims levels (very high, large increase)' until the department releases the total number of national claims next Thursday. The email ... noted that the reports were monitored closely by financial markets and should therefore remain embargoed." ~~~

~~~ Quoctrung Bui & Justin Wolfers of the New York Times: "Numbers released on Thursday by the Labor Department -- as well as a preliminary analysis of even more recent data -- provide the first hard confirmation that the new coronavirus is bringing the United States economy to a shuddering halt. The government reported that the number of initial unemployment claims rose to 281,000 last week, a sharp rise from 211,000 the previous week. This rise in initial claims of 70,000 is larger than any week-to-week movement that occurred during (or since) the 2008 financial crisis. But even these numbers understate the economy's free fall, as they reflect the state of the economy last week. Based on preliminary news reports this week from 15 states, it's already clear that initial claims will skyrocket next week, most likely to levels never seen before."

Paul Campos in LG&$: "The first cases of COVID-19 were officially identified in the USA and the Republic of Korea on the same day (January 20th...). In the ROK, the epidemic appears to be ending, at least for the present. In the USA, it's just getting started. The primary explanation for these catastrophically different outcomes is that the government of the ROK immediately mobilized to stop the virus, while Donald Trump spent weeks -- the most critical possible weeks -- claiming that concern about the virus was a Democrat hoax." ~~~

     ~~~ Grady McGregor of Fortune: "South Korea has the highest rate of coronavirus testing in the world.... In late February and early March, South Korea reported the highest number of confirmed cases outside China, but in recent weeks the number of new cases has steadily declined, in part, because authorities have a grasp of who has the disease and who doesn't." ~~~

~~~ New York Times Editors: "A string of failures at the White House, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration have led to intractable delays in making diagnostic tests for coronavirus widely available in the United States.... Every region that has managed to get a coronavirus outbreak under control has succeeded thanks to a combination of social distancing and aggressive efforts to test as many people as possible.... Epidemiological testing -- where the contacts of infected people are identified, tested in turn and isolated as needed -- is the only way to fully break the chains of transmission, says Adhanom Ghebreyesus Tedros, head of the W.H.O.... American officials have not absorbed that lesson.... The federal government's mind-boggling failure has bred an apathy that's as virulent as any microbe." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: IOW, "sheltering in place" without being tested makes some kind of sense only if you live alone.

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

Nobody knew there would be a pandemic or epidemic of this proportion. Nobody has ever seen anything like this before. -- Donald Trump, press briefing Thursday ~~~

~~~ Actually, Your Own DHHS Knew. David Sanger, et al., of the New York Times: A simulation of a respiratory virus by the Department of Health & Human Services in 2019 produced "sobering results -- contained in a draft report dated October 2019 that has not previously been reported -- drove home just how underfunded, underprepared and uncoordinated the federal government would be for a life-or-death battle with a virus for which no treatment existed.... Many of the potentially deadly consequences of a failure to address the shortcomings are now playing out in all-too-real fashion across the country. And it was hardly the first warning for the nation's leaders. Three times over the past four years the U.S. government, across two administrations, had grappled in depth with what a pandemic would look like, identifying likely shortcomings and in some cases recommending specific action." Thanks to Patrick for the link. ~~~

(~~~ AND Sen. Richard Burr Knew, Too. NPR, ProPublica & Mother Jones stories linked below.) ~~~

(~~~ In fact, Quite a Few Senators Knew. Related stories linked below.) ~~~

~~~ Ignorant, Surly President 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.'" (Also linked yesterday.) As Anthony Fauci said on CNN Thursday night, there is only anecdotal evidence that chloroquine works to reduce flu symptoms. Mrs. McC: Trump's performance was a great example of snake-oil-salesmanship, though. ~~~

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

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

     ~~~ As former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said on MSNBC, after Trump made the announcement of the order, "he probably heard from some of his friends in industry" who urged him to walk it back. ~~~

~~~ Note to Generalissimo Donaldo: "We Are at War with No Ammo." Andrew Jacobs, et al., of the New York Times: "With coronavirus cases soaring, doctors, nurses and other front-line medical workers across the United States are confronting a dire shortage of masks, surgical gowns and eye gear to protect them from the virus.... [At his press briefing Thursday,] the president ... said there were no immediate plans to address medical equipment shortages by activating the Defense Production Act.... 'We hope we are not going to need it,' he said. The president's optimistic statements contrasted starkly with the situation on the ground, particularly in Washington and New York, the states with the largest number of coronavirus cases. Earlier this week, administrators informed doctors at Memorial Sloan Kettering in Manhattan that they were down to one-week's supply of respirator masks.... Rebecca Bartles ... [of] the Providence St. Joseph hospital chain based in Washington, said it was only a matter of days before some of the system's 51 hospitals and 800 clinics run out of personal protective equipment -- a situation that imperils the nation's ability to respond to a pandemic still in its early stages. 'We're on mile one of a marathon,' she said, adding, 'what does mile 25 look like?'... 'We are at war with no ammo,' said a surgeon in Fresno, Calif...." ~~~

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

Thanks to Akhilleus & Hattie. (See yesterday's Comments.)I view it as a, in a sense, a wartime President. We had the best economy we've ever had. And then, one day, you have to close it down in order to defeat this enemy. -- Donald Trump, Wednesday ~~~

~~~ Brian Bennett & Tessa Berenson of Time: "Trump's rhetorical shift to saying the country is at war reflects a strategy to blunt criticism and push blame onto a foreign power. By positioning the virus as an enemy, Trump can go on the attack at a moment when he's on the defensive about the sluggish government response to the virus so far. And by assigning blame to a foreign menace, Trump is attempting to justify why the tanking economy isn't his fault after spending much of his presidency crowing about and tying his own reelection bid to a booming economy.... 'He realized if he's painted in 2020 as a recession President who had a Herbert Hoover-like impulse to not act, then he was due to not be re-elected,' says Douglas Brinkley, an expert in U.S. political history at Rice University.... Instead, Brinkley says, 'he's trying to be FDR' -- Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the President who led the nation out of the Great Depression and through World War II."

Close-up of Trump's notes for his Thursday presser. Photo by the Washington Post. NOT Photoshopped.~~~ Trump Finds Prepared Remarks Too Racist-Neutral. Anne Gearan of the Washington Post: "President Trump took direct aim at China on Thursday for allowing the spread of the coronavirus.... The president dug in on his use of the term 'Chinese virus' to describe the novel coronavirus that was first detected in Wuhan, China, late last year and did not rule out directing economic retaliation toward Beijing.... Asked whether he is considering 'repercussions for China' or a realignment of the supply system in which some American manufacturers rely on Chinese labor or raw materials, Trump suggested he was open to the idea. 'I don't want to comment on that right now,' Trump said.... A Washington Post photographer captured an image of a printed copy of Trump's remarks that had the word 'corona,' a medical term for a family of viruses, crossed out and the word 'Chinese' put in its place with a black marker.... After appearing sobered by the scale of the crisis earlier in the week, Trump on Thursday bitterly attacked reporters and news organizations he said had failed to accurately report his accomplishments in confronting the virus." Emphasis added.

Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times: "It can become tedious to dwell on the fact that the president is a dangerous and ignorant narcissist who has utterly failed as an executive, leaving state governments on their own to confront a generational cataclysm. But no one should ever forget it. Soon even if the pandemic is still raging, there will be an election, and the public will be asked to render a verdict on Trump's leadership. Being clear that people are suffering and dying needlessly because the president can't do his job isn't looking backward. It's the only way to move forward."

Lena Sun of the Washington Post: "... the country's leading public health agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, appears to be on the sidelines, with its messages increasingly disrupted or overtaken by the White House.... The CDC, which has come under fire because of protracted delays in the rollout of agency-developed test kits, has not conducted its own telephone briefings for reporters in more than a week. Recent CDC recommendations on school closures and mass gatherings were overtaken by different guidelines issued by the coronavirus task force, creating confusion, experts and officials said."

Aaron Davis & Erin Cox of the Washington Post: "... after interviewing ... by phone [a coronavirus patient who had attended CPAC alongside Donald Trump and other top officials, Maryland] state health officials there announced March 7 that they would monitor only a handful of people, including the [man]'s immediate family members, for signs of the infection. Officials warned no CPAC attendees that they were particularly at risk, according to statements and interviews.... The handling of the potential exposure at CPAC, where Trump's then-chief of staff played down the threat of the virus, is a powerful example of the lack of urgency and poor coordination among agencies that has characterized the early U.S. response. The approach stands in stark contrast to aggressive actions taken by some countries that slowed the spread of the virus in its early days. In Singapore, for instance, public health officials not only interviewed the sick but also obtained patients' travel itineraries and used security camera footage to track their movements to help identify every person possible with whom they had incidental contact." After the man's CPAC contacts became public knowledge, "officials said public health workers had begun to locate and notify conference attendees.... In truth, no such effort was undertaken.... Political operatives who organized the conference undertook the responsibility themselves...."

Brett Samuels of the Hill: "This summer's Group of Seven (G-7) summit has been scrapped due to concerns over the coronavirus, the White House confirmed Thursday. World leaders will instead convene via videoconference. The annual summit was scheduled to take place from June 10-12 at the Camp David retreat.... The White House announced in October that the summit would be held at the Trump Organization's Doral property in Florida, triggering swift backlash from lawmakers and ethics experts who decried it as a conflict of interest given the president has not put his family company in a blind trust. President Trump gave into pressure a few days later, announcing that the summit would no longer take place at Doral."

Jeff Stein, et al., of the Washington Post: "Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) released a massive economic stimulus bill Thursday to fight the coronavirus's fallout, even as opposition emerged from some key Republicans to one of the central elements of the plan -- direct cash payments to many Americans.... The legislation would provide checks of $1,200 per adult for many families, as well as $500 for every child in those families. The size of the checks would diminish for those earning more than $75,000 and phase out completely for those earning more than $99,000. The poorest families, those with no federal income tax liability, would see smaller benefits, though the minimum would be set at $600.... About 22 million people earning under $40,000 a year would see no benefit under the GOP plan.... Democrats were working on their own proposals, which shun corporate loan programs being included by Republicans -- such as $50 billion for airlines -- suggesting that there will be difficulty in reaching bipartisan agreement." The Hill's story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Well, I won't get a nickel under Mitch's plan, but I won't say whether that because I make too much money or too little. But I will say that it makes zero sense to discriminate against people who earn less than $40K/year since these are the very people who would put the money right back into the economy. ~~~

~~~ Paul LeBlanc of CNN: "Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday defended the Senate Republicans coming up with a proposed $1 trillion economic stimulus plan to battle the coronavirus without any input from Democrats, saying bipartisan negotiations were skipped in favor of speed.... House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, in a joint statement, declared the proposal -- as written -- a nonstarter." ~~~

~~~ Caitlin Emma & Jennifer Scholtes of Politico: "The $1 trillion proposal Senate Republicans unveiled Thursday night represents one of the most dramatic bailouts in American history, picking winners and losers.... Airlines, financial markets, small businesses and hospitals would all get a boost under the nearly 250-page bill.... The bill would provide the battered [airline] industry with $58 billion in loans and loan guarantees, plus a holiday from paying fuel tax.... Those loans would come with some strings, including limits on compensation for executives. But Democrats had sought additional restrictions, like rules against stock buybacks.... A pot of $300 billion would be devoted to pumping cash to small businesses in the form of 'loans' employers wouldn't have to pay back as long as they maintain their payrolls during the emergency."

Tim Mak of NPR: "The chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee warned a small group of well-connected constituents three weeks ago to prepare for dire economic and societal effects of the coronavirus, according to a secret recording obtained by NPR. The remarks from U.S. Sen. Richard Burr were more stark than any he had delivered in more public forums. On Feb. 27, when the United States had 15 confirmed cases of COVID-19, President Trump was tamping down fears and suggesting that the virus could be seasonal. 'It's going to disappear. One day, it's like a miracle. It will disappear,' the president said then.... On that same day, Burr attended a luncheon held at a social club called the Capitol Hill Club. And he delivered a much more alarming message. 'There's one thing that I can tell you about this: It is much more aggressive in its transmission than anything that we have seen in recent history,' he said, according to a secret recording of the remarks obtained by NPR. 'It is probably more akin to the 1918 pandemic.'... One public health expert told NPR that early warnings about a coming health crisis and its effects could have made a difference just a few weeks ago." ~~~

No matter the outbreak or threat, Congress and the federal government have been vigilant in identifying gaps in its readiness efforts and improving its response capabilities. -- Richard Burr, in a February 7 Fox "News" opinion piece, co-authored by Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.)

     ~~~ BUT Burr Had 1.72 Million Reasons to Keep Mum. Robert Faturechi & Derek Willis of ProPublica: "Soon after he offered public assurances that the government was ready to battle the coronavirus, the powerful chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Richard Burr, sold off a significant percentage of his stocks, unloading between $628,000 and $1.72 million of his holdings on Feb. 13 in 33 separate transactions. As the head of the intelligence committee, Burr, a North Carolina Republican, has access to the government's most highly classified information about threats to America's security. His committee was receiving daily coronavirus briefings around this time, according to a Reuters story. A week after Burr's sales, the stock market began a sharp decline and has lost about 30% since.... Burr was one of just three senators who in 2012 opposed the bill that explicitly barred lawmakers and their staff from using nonpublic information for trades and required regular disclosure of those trades." ~~~

~~~ Russ Choma of Mother Jones: "Craig Holman, a government ethics expert for watchdog group Public Citizen, says that Burr's trades may have violated the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act of 2012. 'This has every appearance of insider trading and an egregious violation of the STOCK Act by Sen. Burr,' Holman says. Holman adds that the information that Burr was sharing with the constituents in the late February meeting included information that was not publicly available." ~~~

~~~ From the Daily Beast story linked immediately below: "Burr lashed out at National Public Radio on Thursday over its report revealing those private comments in a series of tweets that did not mention his stock trades."

~~~ Lachlan Markay, et al., of the Daily Beast: "The Senate's newest member sold off seven figures' worth of stock holdings in the days and weeks after a private, all-senators meeting on the novel coronavirus that subsequently hammered U.S. equities. Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) reported the first sale of stock jointly owned by her and her husband on Jan. 24, the very day that her committee, the Senate Health Committee, hosted a private, all-senators briefing from administration officials, including the CDC director and Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, on the coronavirus.... It was the first of 29 stock transactions that Loeffler and her husband made through mid-February, all but two of which were sales.... Late Thursday night," Loeffler tweeted, '... Investment decisions are made by multiple third-party advisors without my or my husband's knowledge or involvement. 'As confirmed in the periodic transaction report to Senate Ethics, I was informed of these purchases and sales on February 16, 2020 -- three weeks after they were made.'... In the weeks after her spate of stock trades, Loeffler sought to downplay the public health and financial threats posed by the coronavirus.... The 15 stocks that Loeffler reported selling have lost more than a third of their value, on average, since she reported offloading them.... When Loeffler assumed office she immediately became the wealthiest member of Congress. The Atlanta businesswoman, whose husband is the chairman and CEO of the New York Stock Exchange, is worth an estimated $500 million." ~~~

~~~ Tia Mitchell of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "Georgia's two U.S. senators bought and sold stocks during the same time they were receiving briefings on the coronavirus outbreak, leading to questions about whether they used inside information to guide their financial dealings. U.S. Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler both were wealthy before they arrived on Capitol Hill, but there is new scrutiny surrounding financial decisions they and other members have made during the coronavirus pandemic.... Perdue in nearly 100 transactions bought and sold in equal amounts, although exact figures cannot be determined.... A spokeswoman for Perdue said that ... he ... uses third-party money managers.... Perdue's sales fall anywhere between $148,050 to $995,000 and his purchases are in the range of $141,043 to $890,000.... Both senators have praised ... Donald Trump' handling of the coronavirus pandemic even as Democrats accused the White House of being slow to act and downplaying, at least initially, the severity of its spread. On Jan. 24, the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee -- Loeffler is a member -- and the Foreign Relations Committee -- Perdue is a member -- held a briefing on coronavirus that was open to the entire Senate." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Based on the AJC story, it would appear Perdue's trading was less virus-strategic than Burr's or Loeffler's. ~~~

~~~ Bob Brigham of RawStory: "The GOP Senate Caucus faced a massive scandal on Thursday after multiple GOP senators revealed in public filings that they had sold large stock holdings after private briefings on the coronavirus scandal. Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC), Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) have all be implicated in the scandal. Now conservative Oklahoma Sen. Jim Inhofe has also been caught up, after reporting he sold in late February." --s ~~~

~~~ Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: "Following the president's lead, Republican lawmakers, activists and officials have adopted the president's language about the virus while avoiding any discussion of his response to the outbreak. Senator John Cornyn of Texas told reporters that 'China is to blame because' of 'the culture where people eat bats and snakes and dogs and things like that.' Kevin McCarthy, the minority leader of the House, called the disease 'Chinese coronavirus.' And on Twitter, Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa wondered what all the commotion was about: 'I don't understand why China gets upset bc we refer to the virus that originated there the "Chinese virus" Spain never got upset when we referred to the Spanish flu in 1918&1919,' he wrote, in his typically hurried style.... The public needs to know that the Republican Party is culpable for the present crisis, just as it was culpable for the Great Recession, even if it did not originate either. It needs to know that in the face of a deadly pandemic, some Republican lawmakers appear to have looked to profit rather than to prepare. It needs to understand that the deadly incompetence of Republican governance is a feature, not a bug." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Yo, Chuck, there's a high probability that the "Spanish flu" did not originate in Spain. Indeed, there's some evidence the first cases cropped up in Kansas & U.S. military troops carried it to Europe.

Igor Derysch of Salon: "The Trump administration has used the public health crisis to impose new restrictions at the Southern border. The U.S. Embassy in Mexico announced Monday that 'all U.S. consulates in Mexico will suspend routine immigrant and nonimmigrant visa services starting March 18, 2020, and until further notice.'... The restrictions come as stores across the U.S. have been stripped bare by individuals stockpiling food as states and cities urge residents to stay inside as much as possible. The latest move could devastate farms that grow fruits and vegetables and rely on seasonal guest workers for their operations.... Dave Puglia, the president of the Western Growers Association, told Reuters that the restrictions will inevitably result in less food in the U.S. supply.... Puglia predicted that the supply of broccoli, cauliflower, celery, leafy greens, melons and radishes would be the hardest hit." --s

Fred Imbert & Thomas Franck of CNBC (@ ca. 10:20 am ET): "Stocks closed higher Thursday, erasing steep losses from earlier in the day as strong gains in big-tech shares led to a sharp turnaround. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 188.27 points, or nearly 1% to 20,087.19. The S&P 500 was up 0.5% at 2,409.39 while the Nasdaq Composite outperformed with a 2.3% surge to 7,150.58. Shares of Netflix and Facebook rose 5.3% and 4.2%, respectively. Amazon gained 2.8%. Earlier in the session, the Dow was down 721 points, or more than 3%. The S&P 500 briefly fell more than 3% as well." This is an update of a story linked earlier in the day. (Also linked yesterday.)

Faith Karimi & Sarah Moon of CNN: "The nation's most populous state is ordering its nearly 40 million residents to stay home to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. California Gov. Gavin Newsom's order marks the first statewide mandatory restrictions issued in the United States to help combat the outbreak.... The order will not be enforced by law enforcement, he added.... It goes into effect Thursday at midnight and includes exemptions for essential services such as public safety and medical care.... Under the order, essential services such as gas stations, pharmacies, grocery stores, farmers markets, food banks, convenience stores and delivery restaurants will remain open. So will banks, local government offices that provide services and law enforcement agencies."

Jeremy White of Politico: "More than half of California's population could contract coronavirus in the next eight weeks if the state isn't effective in curbing its spread, Gov. Gavin Newsom predicted Thursday in a letter to ... Donald Trump. That 56 percent rate of infection means that roughly 22.4 million Californians would come down with the virus. But a spokesperson for Newsom clarified that dramatic figure does not account for the types of aggressive 'mitigation efforts' that jurisdictions around California have adopted."

Annals of "Journalism," Ha Ha Ha. Hoax Porridge in the Pot Nine Days Old. J.M. Reiger of the Washington Post: “Sean Hannity denied calling coronavirus a hoax nine days after he called coronavirus a hoax. On Wednesday, Fox host Sean Hannity pushed back on criticism of his early coronavirus coverage. 'This program has always taken the coronavirus seriously and we’ve never called the virus a hoax,' Hannity said [Wednesday] night. But nine days earlier, Hannity did just that. 'They're scaring the living hell out of people and I see it again as like, "Oh, let's bludgeon Trump with this new hoax."'"

Forty Years of Service, No Gold Watch. Ellen Nakashima of the Washington Post: "The acting director of the National Counterterrorism Center was removed Wednesday in what insiders fear is a purge by the Trump administration of career professionals at an organization set up after 9/11 to protect the nation from further attacks, according to two former U.S. officials. Russell E. Travers, a highly regarded intelligence professional with more than 40 years of government service, told colleagues he was fired by acting director of national intelligence Richard Grenell.... Travers, who took up the acting position last August, had been resistant to pressure to make personnel cuts at the center.... Also removed at the NCTC was Travers's acting deputy, Peter W. Hall, who is returning to the National Security Agency, the former officials said. The surprise move came hours after President Trump announced his intent to nominate Pentagon Special Operations and counterterrorism official Christopher Miller to head the center."

Presidential Race

Quint Forgey of Politico: "Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard announced Thursday that she would end her presidential campaign, formally winnowing the 2020 Democratic field to a two-man race between former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders." She endorsed Biden.

Christina Wilkie of CNBC: "In just over a month, three pillars underpinning [Trump's] argument for reelection have all collapsed: The strong economy Trump planned to run on; the ['socialist'] Sanders campaign Trump had planned to run against; and the 'us vs. them' approach to Washington and the federal government, on which Trump has built his political brand. On Wednesday, the Dow fell below the level it closed at on Jan. 19, 2017, the day before Trump took office promising to 'make America wealthy again.'... Meanwhile..., Democratic primary voters ... are poised to nominate an experienced moderate, Biden, to run against Trump in the fall.... By spearheading a massive handout of federal money through big government programs, Trump undermines one of the central tenets of Trumpism: his belief that the federal government is a corrupt, bloated and broken institution, at that the 'unelected bureaucrats' who fill its ranks are not to be trusted."

Anthony Adragna of Politico: "Nikki Haley has resigned from Boeing's board of directors over the company's pursuit of federal assistance in response to the coronavirus pandemic, the company disclosed Thursday.... 'I cannot support a move to lean on the federal government for a stimulus or bailout that prioritizes our company over others and relies on taxpayers to guarantee our financial position,' Haley wrote in a resignation letter included in the filing." Mrs. McC: You might wonder why I placed the link to this news item about Madam Ambassador Ambitious under "Presidential Race." There is a reason.