The Commentariat -- April 2, 2020
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
Navy Brass Punishes Captain for Trying to Save U.S. Lives. Courtney Kube of NBC News: "The Navy announced it has relieved the captain who sounded the alarm about an outbreak of COVID-19 aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt. Capt. Brett Crozier, who commands the Roosevelt, an aircraft carrier with a crew of nearly 5,000, was relieved of his command on Thursday, but he will keep his rank and remain in the Navy."
Elizabeth Cohen of CNN: "A prestigious scientific panel told the White House Wednesday night that research shows coronavirus can be spread not just by sneezes or coughs, but also just by talking, or possibly even just breathing. 'While the current specific research is limited, the results of available studies are consistent with aerosolization of virus from normal breathing,' according to the letter, written by Dr. Harvey Fineberg, chairman of a committee with the National Academy of Sciences. Fineberg told CNN that he will wear start wearing a mask when he goes to the grocery store.... His letter explains that research at a hospital in China shows the virus can be suspended in the air when doctors and nurses remove protective gear, or when floors are cleaned, or when staff move around. Research by the University of Nebraska shows that genetic material from the virus was found in patients' rooms more than 6 feet away from the patients, according to the letter. Fineberg said it's possible that aerosolized coronavirus droplets can hang in the air and potentially infect someone who walks by later."
Reid Epstein of the New York Times: "The Democratic National Committee on Thursday postponed its national convention because of the coronavirus, moving it from mid-July to mid-August.... The convention will still be held in Milwaukee, as planned, the week of Aug. 17, officials said, a week before Republicans plan to gather in Charlotte, N.C., to renominate President Trump." A TPM story is here.
"A Textbook Propaganda Campaign. Jeremy Peters of the New York Times: "A review of hundreds of hours of programming and social media traffic from Jan. 1 through mid-March -- when the White House started urging people to stay home and limit their exposure to others -- shows that doubt, cynicism and misinformation about the virus took root among many of Mr. Trump's boosters in the right-wing media as the number of confirmed cases in the United States grew. It was during this lull -- before the human and economic toll became undeniable -- when the story of the coronavirus among the president's most stalwart defenders evolved into the kind of us-versus-them clash that Mr. Trump has waged for much of his life. Now, with the nation's economic and physical health in clear peril, Mr. Trump and many of his allies on the airwaves and online are blaming familiar enemies in the Democratic Party and the news media."
Maggie Haberman & Annie Karni of the New York Times: "President Trump’s campaign is demanding that Jeff Sessions, the former Attorney General, stop attaching himself to the president in his effort to win back his old Senate seat in Alabama, after Mr. Sessions distributed a campaign mailer that mentioned the president 22 times. In an unusual letter to the Sessions campaign, which was obtained by The New York Times, the Trump campaign called Mr. Sessions' claim that he is the president's top supporter 'delusional.'... Mr. Trump has endorsed Tommy Tuberville, a former football coach, over Mr. Sessions in the runoff to be the Republican nominee taking on the incumbent Democrat, Senator Doug Jones, in the fall. The runoff is currently scheduled for July 14." The Hill has a summary story here.
DeSantis Wins Pandering Prize. And It's a Killer. Sebastian Murdock of the Huffington Post: "Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) undercut his own stay-at-home order by exempting religious services from that necessary step to slow the spread of the coronavirus.... If the governor had finally decided to take the threat seriously, his order carved out a large exception for religious services conducted in churches, synagogues and other houses of worship, which are deemed to be 'essential business' and thus exempt from the stay-at-home mandate."
Anneken Tappe of CNN: "The last three weeks have marked one of the most devastating periods in history for the American job market, as first-time claims for unemployment benefits have surged more than 3,000% since early March.... 6.6 million US workers filed for their first week of unemployment benefits in the week ending March 28 -- a new historic high.That was far greater than economists had expected.... Unemployment claims at this level suggest a severe job market decline hardly any American alive has ever seen in their lifetimes." ~~~
~~~ The New York Times' business updates are here. "More than 6.6 million people filed new claims for unemployment benefits last week, the Labor Department said Thursday, setting a grim record for the second straight week. The latest claims brought the two-week total to nearly 10 million. The speed and scale of the job losses is without precedent. Until last month, the worst week for unemployment filings was 695,000 in 1982.
"Oil prices spiked, lifting shares of energy companies, after President Trump said on Thursday that he expected the leaders of Russia and Saudi Arabia to announce oil production cuts."
James Glanz, et al., of the New York Times: "Stay-at-home orders have nearly halted travel for most Americans, but people in Florida, the Southeast and other places that waited to enact such orders have continued to travel widely, potentially exposing more people as the coronavirus outbreak accelerates, according to an analysis of cellphone location data by The New York Times." Mrs. McC: The maps & charts that are part of this report paint a damning picture of bad behavior by people living in confederate states.
Mrs. McCrabbie: I believe it was safari who was wondering a few days ago whatever had happened to "presidential advisor" Ivanka Trump. Well, now we know. She is putting her valuable time to good use for the American people! ~~~
~~~ Tasos Kokkinidis of the Greek Reporter: "... Ivanka Trump said Tuesday she's mostly working from home during the coronavirus outbreak while also caring for her three children, learning to play guitar -- and now studying Greek mythology. Ms. Trump said she has been using the time 'to expand my own mind and explore things I normally wouldn't have prioritized.' That includes free online courses in Greek and Roman mythology, and learning to play the guitar."
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Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: It's always heartening when a big movie star takes time out to (write and) read a children's book filled with sage advice to help us out during these trying times. So gather the little kiddies around (or perhaps keep them at a distance of 6 feet), explain bleeps to them, and enjoy! Thanks to -- well, a lot of people -- for the link(s):
The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Thursday are here. ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for Thursday are here. "The global number of confirmed coronavirus cases edged toward 1 million and deaths neared 50,000 as the outbreak continued to hit the United States, Italy, France and Spain especially hard. Elsewhere, officials battled to maintain earlier successes in the fight against the novel coronavirus, weighing the desire to resume normal business operations against the risk of triggering new cases.... In China, a county of 600,000 people in Henan province has been placed on lockdown, illustrating the dangers of declaring victory too soon as authorities grow anxious to restart economic activity without unleashing a new wave of infections."
Mrs. McCrabbie: One central thing to remember about the coronavirus crisis is that Trump is not only incompetent to handle it, he also is actively & purposely obstructing mitigation of the disease. An ancillary thing to remember is that reporters can't get their heads around this. The writer who best conveys this today is ~~~
~~~ ** Ryan Cooper of the Week: "President Trump is finally starting to take the novel coronavirus pandemic seriously, America's top political reporters inform us.... Have these people been locked in a bunker for the past three years?... To begin with, Trump has still not taken the kind of sweeping action that would put force behind this new 'serious' pose. He has not demanded recalcitrant Republican governors implement lockdowns to keep the virus from spreading.... He has refused to re-open ObamaCare enrollment.... He has not used Defense Production Act powers to take control of the medical supply chain.... He has not demanded Congress set up remote voting measures so they can pass more vitally-needed legislation. In other words, Trump is continuing to botch the coronavirus response just as he has from the start.... And that is because of who Trump is: by far the most ignorant, deluded, shameless, and incompetent person ever to serve as president.... But the sheer enormity of the Trump presidency -- the world's most powerful office being filled by a gormless reality-TV halfwit -- clearly cannot fit into the minds of America's important political reporters."
Sky Palma of the Raw Story: "As state governors pleaded with the administration help them battle the outbreak, there was a race within the White House to convince Trump to back off his Easter deadline to reopen the economy, according to a report from Vanity Fair.... The aftermath of Trump's hasty deadline 'consumed the West Wing during the critical week that governors were pleading with the White House to deliver medical supplies before hospital systems began to collapse,' [Gabriel] Sherman [of Vanity Fair] writes. 'Dr. Fauci, Senator Lindsey Graham, and others raced to convince Trump that an Easter opening would be a cataclysmic error that could cost millions of lives.'... Read Sherman's report over at Vanity Fair." ~~~
~~~ Steve M. republishes another aspect of Sherman's report. Steve comments: "According to Vanity Fair's Gabriel Sherman, Donald Trump is so serious about being a 'wartime president' that he's ... replicated the backstabbing chaos of the 2017 White House.... We're in a once-in-a-century crisis and this is what's going on in the White House: battles for power, power vacuums where power should reside, duplicate and conflicting centers of power, and the president relying primarily on people who came to the job with exactly zero expertise relevant to the current crisis."
From the Washington Post's live coronavirus updates for Wednesday: "Vice President Pence issued a dire prediction of the spread of the coronavirus, saying Italy, one of the countries hardest hit by the pandemic, 'may be the most comparable area to the United States at this point.'... Italian officials on Wednesday reported 727 new deaths, with the fatality rate slowing but raising the nation's toll to 13,155, highest in the world." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Betsy Klein, et al., of CNN: "Vice President Mike Pence sought to cast blame on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and China Wednesday when asked why the US was so late in understanding the enormity of the coronavirus pandemic.... The vice president denied Trump had minimized the crisis early on, despite repeated statements casting the virus as a problem that would be easily solved. 'I don't believe the President has ever belittled the threat of the coronavirus,' Pence said.... US health officials from the CDC took active steps starting in January to prepare for the outbreak as information trickled out of China. Members of Trump's Cabinet also got involved and started briefing lawmakers. While public health officials and medical experts raised the alarm, Trump downplayed their concerns and injected controversial and unproven theories into the conversation." Emphasis added. ~~~
~~~ Jonathan Chait: "The term 'Orwellian' has been cheapened over the years, but this lie absolutely fits the tradition of 'we have always been at war with Eastasia.'... There's a pretty good chance Trump will start downplaying the virus again, when he grows impatient with waiting it out and decides to listen to Larry Kudlow again. And when the next turn happens, Pence will be there to shake his head vigorously and deny Trump ever took any positio other than the current party line."
Here's Another Reason We're Doomed. Adam Cancryn & Dan Diamond of Politico: "... Jared Kushner has emerged as perhaps the most pivotal figure in the national fight against the fast-growing pandemic. What started two-and-a-half weeks ago as an effort to utilize the private sector to fix early testing failures has become an all-encompassing portfolio for Kushner, who, alongside a kitchen cabinet of outside experts including his former roommate and a suite of McKinsey consultants, has taken charge of the most important challenges facing the federal government: Expanding test access, ramping up industry production of needed medical supplies, and figuring out how to get those supplies to key locations.... The crisis response team built by the president's son-in-law is distinct from the White House task force led by Pence, and has adopted an all-out, ad-hoc attitude toward beating back the coronavirus pandemic, heedless of normal government boundaries and, to some extent, conflicts of interest." Akhilleus has something to say about Kushner, et al., in today's Comments.
How Trumpbots Respond to Prudent Warnings. Katie Benner & Michael Shear of the New York Times: "Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the nation's leading expert on infectious diseases..., will receive enhanced personal security after receiving threats..., officials said on Wednesday. Dr. Fauci has been the Trump administration's most outspoken advocate of social distancing rules that have shuttered the nation's schools, forced businesses to close, kept people in their homes and battered the United States economy. That has made him a target of online conspiracy theorists who have accused Dr. Fauci, a longtime scientist and civil servant who has served presidents of both parties, of trying to undermine Mr. Trump during a year in which the president is fighting for re-election." ~~~
~~~ Kate Bennett & Evan Perez of CNN: "Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country's top medical expert on the coronavirus pandemic and a member of President Donald Trump's coronavirus task force, is facing threats to his personal safety and now requires personal security from law enforcement at all times, including at his home, a source confirms to CNN." --s
From the New York Times' live coronavirus updates for Wednesday: "Speaking at his near-daily White House coronavirus briefing, President Trump said on Wednesday that he still has no plans to institute a national 'stay at home' order that would apply in states whose governors have not mandated strict social distancing." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: So Wednesday, Trump lined up his AG, Defense Secretary, his National Security Advisor (I think) & a buncha brass to open his coronavirus briefing with an announcement having nothing to do with the coronavirus. Morgan Chalfant of the Hill: "Trump administration officials announced Wednesday that the U.S. military would send naval ships and aircraft to the Caribbean as part of an enhanced counternarcotics operation." ~~~
Reporter asks Trump a question about reports of increased domestic violence.
Trump: Mexican violence?
Reporter: Domestic violence.
Trump: Oh.
-- Geoff Bennett of NBC News, in a tweet
Jim Acosta of CNN: "Despite White House claims that ... Donald Trump and the administration did everything right in response to the coronavirus, a source close to the task force said tougher social distancing measures implemented earlier in the pandemic could have blunted the severity of the current crisis.... A Trump adviser working with White House officials on messaging for the pandemic response said Trump 'took a gamble' that warmer weather would cause the virus to dissipate, siding with aides who were pushing back on the dire warnings coming from doctors on the coronavirus task force....The adviser said the President took a gamble 'and got it wrong' in reference to Trump's decision to ignore the predictions from the administration's own experts. 'He analyzed the data and opinions of experts and sided with the one that said warm weather will likely slow the virus,' the adviser added." Mrs. McC: Trump "analyzed the data"? Ha ha ha.
Department of State Press Release: "The United States is committed to the global fight against COVID-19. We are a generous and reliable contributor to crisis response and humanitarian action across the world, but we cannot do it alone.... As a follow-up to the March 30 phone call between President Trump and President Putin, the United States has agreed to purchase needed medical supplies, including ventilators and personal protection equipment, from Russia, which were handed over to FEMA on April 1 in New York City." --s
Nick Miroff of the Washington Post: "The government's emergency stockpile of respirator masks, gloves and other medical supplies is running low and is nearly exhausted due to the coronavirus outbreak, leaving the Trump administration and the states to compete for personal protective equipment in a freewheeling global marketplace rife with profiteering and price-gouging, according to Department of Homeland Security officials involved in the frantic acquisition effort.... Two DHS officials said the stores kept in the Department of Health and Human Service's Strategic National Stockpile are nearly gone, despite assurances from the White House that there is availability.... President Trump said during Tuesday's White House briefing that the administration has nearly 10,000 ventilators on reserve and that authorities are ready to deploy the lifesaving equipment rapidly to coronavirus hotspots in coming weeks. He also said large amounts of PPE were being shipped directly from manufacturers to hospitals. But the DHS officials said the stockpile has not been able to handle the load.
"Forbes reported that U.S. vendors have sold 280 million masks -- mostly into the export market -- and that U.S. states and local governments were outbid in the frenzy. There are few signs the Trump administration is making efforts to stop the export shipments or seize the supplies for use in U.S. hospitals, despite statements from Attorney General William P. Barr last week that U.S. wholesalers hoarding masks and other supplies would get 'a knock on your door.'" Emphasis added. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ David Sanger, et al., of the New York Times: "President Trump has repeatedly assured Americans that the federal government is holding 10,000 ventilators in reserve to ship to the hardest-hit hospitals around the nation as they struggle to keep the most critically ill patients alive. But what federal officials have neglected to mention is that thousands more of the lifesaving devices are unavailable after the contract to maintain the government's stockpile lapsed late last summer, and a contracting dispute meant that a new firm did not begin its work until late January. By then, the coronavirus crisi was already underway.... Experts say ... they cannot be stored for lengthy periods without maintenance. So few are surprised that as the nation's hospitals scramble to pull together every usable ventilator they can find, some have come out of storage with depleted batteries, missing oxygen hoses and other issues. California recently discovered that 170 of its ventilators arrived broken, disputing the claim from the Department of Health and Human Services that all of the ventilators shipped by the Federal Emergency Management Agency were ready to use." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ MEANWHILE. Ellen Mitchell of the Hill (March 31): "The Pentagon has not shipped out any of the 2,000 ventilators it offered to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) earlier this month because HHS has not yet provided a shipping location, multiple outlets reported on Tuesday. Though the Defense Department had planned to deliver an initial 1,000 ventilators, HHS asked the department to wait, Lt. Gen. Giovanni Tuck, the Pentagon's top logistics official, told a small group of reporters.... Defense Secretary Mark Esper had announced two weeks ago that the Pentagon would give the deployable ventilators and 5 million respirator masks to HHS in response to the coronavirus pandemic." Mrs. McC: And who knows how many of those 2,000 ventilators are in good working order? ~~~
~~~ David Smith of the Guardian: "Donald Trump has admitted the US government's emergency stockpile of protective equipment is nearly exhausted because of the extraordinary demands of the coronavirus pandemic.... The president had urged states to 'make a deal' and buy personal protective equipment (PPE) directly from manufacturers.... But Andrew Cuomo, the governor of New York, has complained that Fema contributes to a bidding war between states for ventilators, likening the situation to eBay." --s
~~~ Toluse Olorunnipa, et al., of the Washington Post (March 31): "As states across the country have pleaded for critical medical equipment from a key national stockpile, Florida has promptly received 100 percent of its first two requests -- with President Trump and Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis both touting their close relationship. States including Oklahoma and Kentucky have received more of some equipment than they requested, while others such as Illinois, Massachusetts and Maine have secured only a fraction of their requests.... There's no direct evidence that Republican states are receiving more favorable treatment overall, and some GOP-led states such as Georgia have had trouble filling their requests. But Trump has contributed to the sense that politics could be a factor by publicly attacking Democratic governors who criticize his handling of the public health crisis."> Mrs. McC: "No direct evidence"?? What about this, from the same report?:
"'The president knows Florida is so important for his reelection...,' said [a White House] official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to be frank. 'He pays close attention to what Florida wants.'"
Turns Out the Trump Administration Can Plan for Some Covid-19 Supplies. Marty Johnson of the Hill: "The Pentagon is looking into providing an additional 100,000 military-style body bags for civilian use, as the expected death toll from the coronavirus outbreak continues to rise. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has requested 100,000 body bags, officially called human remains pouches, and the Pentagon is looking to buy more body bags, as it dips into its stockpile of 50,000, Bloomberg reports."
Fred Imbert & Maggie Fitzgerald of CNBC: "Stocks sank on Wednesday as Wall Street kicked off the second quarter on a sour note amid concerns the coronavirus will keep the economy shut down longer than expected. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 973.65 points lower, or 4.4%, at 20,943.51. The S&P 500 slid 4.4% to 2,470.50 along with the Nasdaq Composite, which closed at 7,360.58. The major averages hit their session lows in the final minutes of trading, with the Dow briefly falling more than 1,100 points." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Idrees Ali & Phil Stewart of Reuters: "The U.S. Navy on Wednesday declined to rule out punishing the captain of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt [Captain Brett Crozier], who wrote a scathing letter to Navy leadership asking for stronger measures to control a coronavirus outbreak onboard." --s
Joseph Gerth of the Louisville Courier Journal: "... Mitch McConnell made a stunning admission Tuesday when he went on the 'Hugh Hewitt Show' and acknowledged that ... Donald Trump has botched the federal government's response to the coronavirus. Oh, he didn't come right out and say, 'Trump has screwed this up.' Oh heavens no.... But here's what he said in explaining how Trump responded in the early days of the pandemic: 'It came up while we were tied down in the impeachment trial. And I think it diverted the attention of the government because everything every day was all about impeachment.'... People don't make excuses for their friends who have done nothing wrong. If, in fact, Trump's response had been 'perfect' or 'great' or '10 out of 10,' McConnell would have never, ever needed to cover for misstep after misstep that has led to a lack of sufficient testing, far too few masks, respirators, face shields and gowns to protect our doctors, nurses and first responders -- and far too few ventilators as the pandemic rages." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Fred Barbash of the Washington Post: Florida "has become a coronavirus hot spot.... The number of people testing positive for covid-19 has accelerated rapidly, nearly doubling in the past four days, with 3,274 new cases, bringing the statewide total to 6,741 as of Tuesday evening.The number of people testing positive for covid-19 has accelerated rapidly, nearly doubling in the past four days, with 3,274 new cases, bringing the statewide total to 6,741 as of Tuesday evening.... On Tuesday, [Gov. Ron] DeSantis [R] said at a news conference that he had no plans to issue a statewide order because the White House had not told him to do so.... For this, he won praise from President Trump who called him 'a great governor who knows exactly what he's doing.'" Mrs. McC: Worth noting: those models Trump was touting yesterday where "only" just less than a quarter-million Americans will die from Covid-19 are predicated on the supposition that all states are under stay-at-home orders by the end of this week. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ ** UPDATE. Julia Manchester of the Hill: "Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) announced Wednesday that he will sign an executive order requiring the state's residents to limit their movement outside of their homes in an effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus. DeSantis had faced mounting pressure to issue such a directive, as at least 30 other states have issued stay-at-home orders and a number of counties in Florida have implemented their own mandates seeking to limit nonessential activities." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Another GOP Governor Embarrassed into Not Killing off Residents. Rebecca Klar of the Hill: "Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) said Wednesday he will be issuing a shelter-in-place order in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Kemp said he will sign the order Thursday and it will go into effect Friday, running through April 13. Kemp also announced all k-12 public schools will be closed throughout the rest of the school year. 'I want to encourage my fellow Georgians to hang in there, I know you are tired of this. I know you want to return to business as usual, but we must first overcome the obstacles we have in our path,' Kemp said at his briefing. Kemp reported 4,638 cases and 139 deaths statewide." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Update. As Rachel Maddow pointed out, it's not really Kemp's fault that he didn't issue the order sooner because he just now found out "that individuals can be infected and begin to spread coronavirus earlier than previously thought -- even if they have no symptoms. From a public health standpoint, this is a revelation and a game changer." Maybe Kemp was preoccupied trying to stop Sherman's march to the sea. Or emancipated people from voting. Whatever.
Colorado. Ernest Luning of Colorado Politics: "The El Paso County Republican Party asked in a social media post Wednesday whether its followers believe the coronavirus is a hoax meant to manipulate the public -- a suggestion that drew swift and widespread condemnation from other Republicans. 'Hello El Paso County! Do you believe that the Coronavirus is a PSYOP (Psychological Operation)? Post your answer... the definition of (PSYOP) is below,' the post read.... The Facebook post remained online only briefly, until state GOP officials asked Vickie Tonkins, the El Paso County party's chairman, to take it down.... 'I posted a question. I'm sorry people couldn't answer it,' [Tonkins] said. 'Don't get all offended.'" --s
But What Does Devin Nunes Think? Zachary Petrizzo of Mediaite: "Congressman Devin Nunes (R-CA) stated that it is 'overkill' for schools in his home state of Califonia to be closed in light of the coronavirus pandemic on Laura Ingraham's Fox News program late Tuesday night -- further downplaying the severity of COVID-19." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Heather Long of the Washington Post: "The Treasury announced late Wednesday that Social Security beneficiaries who typically do not file a tax return will automatically get the $1,200 payment. The announcement is a reversal from earlier in the week when the Internal Revenue Service said everyone would need to file some sort of tax return in order to qualify for the payments. Democrats and some Republicans criticized the IRS for requiring so many extra hurdles for this vulnerable population to get aid when the government already has their information on file.... More than 15 million Americans on Social Security do not file an annual tax return because their income is so low, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.... Beyond the tax-filing hurdle, millions of other Americans are realizing that they don't qualify for a coronavirus relief check."
Jeanne Sahadi of CNN provides a primer on "what small businesses need to know about the government's new forgivable loan program."
Presidential Race
Reid Epstein of the New York Times: "Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. on Wednesday night called for moving the Democratic National Convention from mid-July to August, making him the most prominent member of his party to say the convention must be rescheduled because of the coronavirus outbreak. 'I doubt whether the Democratic convention is going to be able to be held in mid-July, early July,' Mr. Biden told Jimmy Fallon on 'The Tonight Show.' 'I think it's going to have to move into August.'... Senior Democratic officials believe Mr. Biden would much prefer to hold a traditional convention attended by thousands as opposed to a virtual convention in which he receives the party's presidential nomination without a made-for-television event. President Trump, who like Mr. Biden hopes to have his nomination be a televised coronation, has pushed Republicans to maintain plans for their convention, which is set to take place in August in Charlotte, N.C." The Hill's story is here.
This. Is. Stupid. Alex Seitz-Wald & Shaquille Brewster of NBC News: "Wisconsin has ordered residents to stay at home, shuttered non-essential businesses, and banned 'all public and private gatherings of any number of people' -- but is still planning to proceed with an election Tuesday amid the coronavirus crisis. Every other state that was supposed to hold a presidential primary contest in late March or April has postponed their elections or switched to vote-by-mail, leaving perhaps the most critical battleground state in the country alone in a now deserted stretch of the electoral calendar. Bernie Sanders, who is to face off against Joe Biden in the election, joined calls to delay the primary Wednesday, but the state's Democratic governor and Republican legislative leaders have resisted calls to move the election, prompting lawsuits, strains on election infrastructure and outcry that voters will have to choose between their health and their right to vote.... [Joe] Biden has not yet commented on whether he believes the election should proceed." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Joe vs. the Vocano. Joe 1. Volcano 0. Jonathan Chait: "President Trump, having stopped dismissing the threat of the coronavirus and calling criticism of his laggard response 'their new hoax,' has begun insisting everybody was shocked [link fixed]. 'It's something that nobody expected,' he has said. Conservative pundits have picked up this revisionist history.... 'Generalized "Trump didn't take this seriously enough!" stuff is ignoring the timeline, wherein every major Democrat didn't take it very seriously until early March either,' insists Ben Shapiro. One example of a major Democrat who took this seriously would be Joe Biden, who, as the party's presumptive presidential nominee, is arguably the major Democrat. Biden wrote an op-ed on January 27 warning that Trump had left the country unprepared to handle the coronavirus outbreak, and proposing steps to counter it. One of his main advisers, Ron Klain, wrote an op-ed making similar points five days before that."
EU. Jennnier Rankin of the Guardian: "The European Union has weathered the storms of eurozone bailouts, the migration crisis and Brexit, but some fear coronavirus could be even more destructive. In a rare intervention Jacques Delors, the former European commission president who helped build the modern EU, broke his silence last weekend to warn that lack of solidarity posed 'a mortal danger to the European Union'." --s Brazil. Dom Phillips of the Guardian: "Brazil's president Jair Bolsonaro is facing a growing backlash over his handling of the coronavirus crisis, with the state governors responsible for more than 200 million of the country's 210 million people refusing to follow his commands over the pandemic. Bolsonaro has repeatedly played down the dangers of Covid-19 and last week urged Brazilians to get back to work.... The president has argued the damage caused by shutting down Brazil's economy will be worse than that caused by the virus, and has also suggested state governors were inflating the numbers of coronavirus victims to justify restrictive lockdown measures. But as well as facing a rebellion from regional chiefs, Bolsonaro now also appears increasingly isolated from his own cabinet." --s Damian Carrington of the Guardian: "Through rampant overfishing, pollution and coastal destruction, humanity has inflicted severe damage on the oceans and its inhabitants for centuries. But conservation successes, while still isolated, demonstrate the remarkable resilience of the seas. The scientists [in a new major scientific review] say there is now the knowledge to create an ocean renaissance for wildlife by 2050 and with it bolster the services that the world's people rely on, from food to coastal protection to climate stability. The measures needed, including protecting large swathes of ocean, sustainable fishing and pollution controls, would cost billions of dollars a year, the scientists say, but would bring benefits 10 times as high." --s Way Beyond the Beltway Israel. Rosie Perper of Axios: "Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly shared a clip from the 2007 Hallmark mini-series 'Pandemic' and claimed it as evidence that Iran is concealing its real coronavirus death toll and is dumping dead bodies into trash piles.... Netanyahu discussed the clip during a conference call with his Cabinet ministers on Monday night, claiming that it showed Iranian soldiers loading coronavirus victims into garbage trucks and disposing of them in a ditch. Two ministers who were on the call [said] that Netanyahu claimed that his national security adviser, Meir Ben-Shabbat, had initially shown him the video." --s News Lede New York Times: "Ellis Marsalis, a pianist and educator who became the guiding force behind a late-20th-century resurgence in jazz, while putting four musician sons on a path to prominent careers, died on Wednesday. He was 85. The cause was complications of Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, his son Branford said in a statement, which did not specify where he died. Mr. Marsalis spent decades as a working musician and teacher in New Orleans before his eldest sons, Wynton and Branford, who embodied a fresh-faced revival of traditional jazz, gained national fame in the early 1980s."
Mrs. McCrabbie: Hospital administrators are often portrayed as heartless beancounters who care nothing for patients and everything for the bottom line. I'd like to think that's an unfair portrait of the majority of them. But then you read anecdotes like this one from Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times: Healthcare workers are "superheroes [who] are at risk partly because we sometimes send them into battle without adequate personal protective equipment, or P.P.E. This should be a national scandal, and now hospitals are compounding the outrage by punishing staff members who speak up or simply try to keep themselves safe. In Bellingham, Wash., an E.R. doctor, Ming Lin, pleaded on social media for better protections for patients and the staff at PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center, where he had worked for 17 years. 'I do fear for my staff,' Dr. Lin warned. 'Morally, I think when you see something wrong, you have to speak out.' The hospital responded by
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In a Nutshell
He can’t provide leadership, medical supplies, masks, testing kits, serious preventive measures, informed direction, or reassurance that he has the slimmest of clues about what’s going on or how to deal with this once in a century crisis that threatens to kill a million or more Americans because of his ignorance, indolence, and feeble minded ineptitude.
So what can he give us?
Body bags.
That says it all.
The Sherman piece in Vanity Fair (linked above), encapsulates the astounding clusterfuckiness of Dr. Fatty’s efforts to try to look like he’s in chahge.
And here’s what’s going on in the viper’s nest that is the Orange House. For the deadliest pandemic the country has faced since 1918, Trump is relying on three insiders to tell him what to do and say, none of whom is a medical professional and only one of whom has ever dealt with a medical crisis, which he fucked up royally:
The boy who made the stupidest real estate deal in New York history (at least since Fatty fucked up the west side land deal and screwed up the Park Plaza).
The girl who steams his trousers (so to speak).
The homophobic bobble head who let people die, because Jesus, and can’t talk to women without Mummy in the room.
So, there’s Fauci, but he seems like more of an annoyance to the monster at the top of this stinking pile of incompetence, infighting, and withering stupidity, and if he corrects one more Trump lie, he could be sent packing because what’s more important, saving lives or Fatty feeling good about himself? Don’t answer that.
Oh yeah, but what about the Chief of Staff who should be directing traffic and making sure everyone is pulling in the same direction? Oh, wait. There isn’t one.
Are we feeling more confidant now? It’s like Christian Barnard, before going in to perform the first heart transplant, consulting with Dennis the Menace, Beaver Cleaver, and Maynard G. Krebs about how best to proceed, and having no anesthesiologist because he can’t get along with any of them.
“Call it.”
“Patient died at 09:30.”
Donald j. Trump began, in his estimation, as the greatest guy who built towers to the sky, held a high seat in the "you're fired" fiasco, was the greatest lover to all the ladies, and best of all the smartest because as he told us many times "I have the best brain." Perhaps one day he will have to face the facts and come face to face with this truism:
"I began as a Bright Star in the Universe, went on to become a damp squib, and ended up a wet blanket––believe me."
That insight, I can bet your bippy, will never happen. I don't even have to explain why I think that; we all know why.
Someone who does have the chops to deal with this pandemic is Mario Cuomo who holds his Fireside Chats every day and answers questions from a few selected reporters. I am so impressed with his delivery––at times almost poetic– and with
his knowledge and his honesty.
And somewhere in Boston, ten year old Gaby Arair, has made 820 masks for the police dept. (her parents are both in that dept.) Talk about stepping up to the plate!
"My heart is sore pained within me; and the terrors of death are fallen upon me. Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me and horror hath overwhelmed me.
And I said, oh, that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest." Psalms:55
@Bea: I received an email with info from an Asst. Prof in
infectious diseases at Johns Hopkins University. It's the most
comprehensive info I've read so far.
Should I forward the email to you for publication here? It took me
half an hour to figure out how to print it (not computer literate I guess).
@Forrest Morris: I'd like to post it, but I would have to get permission from the professor to do so. If the professor has built a permission into the e-mail, I could post it, or if the professor has posted the same info on Facebook or some other public forum, I could link it.
LTTE:
"It’s hard not to be mesmerized by the near-daily Trump Corona Show.
But as we’re watching the president occupy center stage, delivering his standard stew of error, self-praise, and blame for his months-long denial of the virus’s threat while he golfed or held rallies fifteen times (snopes.com) ; and while we’re struggling to meet the challenges that accompany our eerie new shelter-in-place world, Trump’s own Deep State is hard at work attacking the environment, subverting justice, and targeting minorities.
Using the Show as a distraction, Trump’s honest-to-goodness Deep State is scurrying to eliminate even more environmental regulations. It is going ahead with plans to weaken automobile fuel efficiency standards, loosen controls on coal plant’s toxic ash, relax restrictions on mercury emissions, ignore climate change in environmental reviews, shield fossil fuel companies from fines for killing birds, and limit the kinds of scientific data the EPA can use in revising or promulgating regulations (nytimes.com).
Attorney General Barr’s Injustice Department has been hustling, too. Selectively. Under Barr’s leadership, white collar and corporate crime investigations are at an all-time low (prepublica.com), but he has hastened to interfere in matters that involve the president himself (nbcnews.com), like the Roger Stone and Michael Flynn sentencings. Last week he quietly dropped the prosecution of the Russian firm that financed Russia’s interference in the 2016 election (nytimes.com).
Meanwhile, Trump's Interior Department has discovered a peculiar distaste for the casinos Trump used to love--that is, when he owned them. Last week, his Interior Secretary disestablished the Mashpee-Wampaoag reservation (wbsm.com). No doubt, this ancient Massachusetts tribe’s intent to build an Indian casino is not coincidental.
We don’t have a Covid-19 or Trumpism cure yet, but if fortune prevails, we’ll have both by year’s end.
For now, as we’ve learned to say, stay healthy and please wash your hands."
@Forrest Morris: I tried a number of different ways to locate the source for this two-page paper, which you sent me in an e-mail, but no luck. Finally, I went to Snopes. According to Dan Evon of Snopes, the paper is "misattributed." He advises, "If you're looking for reliable COVID-19 information from Johns Hopkins University, please check the university's website."
This doesn't seem like a standard hoax, but it is something somebody wrote without putting his name on it, so it has no authoritative value.
So... given that Jared has basically led every single portfolio (not hyperbole) that this administration has taken up, he is basically the President*, is he not? I mean, yeah, sure, Drumpf ultimately says "yay" or "nay" on the final decision, but Jared "does" everything else, even if that includes doing research on Facebook and calling in his equally unqualified college buds.
And @AK: "The girl who steams his trousers (so to speak)" Thanks for that, it provoked a rare chuckle in these dark times.
I still can hardly believe the state of the modern GOP today. I can understand them being just stringent assholes pushing solely for their own partisan interests, but otherwise doing no harm. That's not the case. Their policies are actively harming and endangering Americans on a daily basis, with more stupidity leeching up through the floor boards. Only some of it gets printed up by journalists, the whole panorama has to be awe-inspiring in its surrealism.
@Ken: thanks for posting your Letter to the Editor to remind us of the other dirty dealings of this administration. It was either Chris or Rachel that dealt with this last night. It makes me sick with anger or as my Psalm quote says, "my heart is sore pained."
To PD Pepe & Psalms: 55
Extending a most heartfelt “Amen!” with thanks
as I continue to gratefully (if virtually) celebrate (s t r e t c h o u t)
my weekend’s entry into a (brave?) new decade.
NYC / 2020 / USA
Thanks, PD
Sent it off to the paper, which BTW is getting skinnier by the day. With the help of Anne, my editor, "coal plants'" now has the apostrophe in the right place.
And Safari,
If Jared has "led" (and I understand why you say he has), can anyone name one Jared accomplishment?
Opiods crisis over? Infrastructure program initiated and under way? Arab-Israeli peace ?
Besides a few self-dealing tax dodges in the recent rescue bill and the 2017 tax scam, what?
He's done no more good than the Pretender, but at least one could make the case he's done less harm and he's much quieter about doing nothing.
Rachel sounded so down and angry last night, what little I heard. My tv goes almost automatically to HGTV when the dump show comes on-- I can no longer trust myself to not heave something heavy through the screen.
I must say, someone should propose a new category for next year's "2020 Olympic Games"-- that of star bungling incompetence. The present regime would win handily. With hospital administration busily firing doctors a close silver. Pentagon bronze: Whu? Well, what is the address to which we need to send vents? Cain't do it with no address...maybe next week someone will tell us; meanwhile, let's march and preen... Dazzling 5-point stupidity.
So glad GA has finally heard about how infection spreads...duh... Kemp says it is a revelation.
And Floriduh: sheesh. I think the idiocy is spreading faster than the virus.
Last night I castigated our paper's editor for printing a letter saying flu is worse, it will go away when it warms up (uh, Spain? Italy?)and another saying people should be able to make up their own minds whether or where to shop, and whether to open businesses. Yeah. Because the people he mentions are so bright... No paper has to print lies and propaganda, also called "misinformation," I said... No answer.
“National Theater Live!”
I’ve attended several of these London simulcasts at an NYU auditorium. Fab! NT is now offering FREE streaming for those staying-the-fuk-at-home. If interested —
“We have another way to enjoy the theatre from home while Broadway remains dark! On April 2nd, catch the launch of National Theatre at Home, which will stream National Theatre Live productions for free on the National Theatre’s YouTube channel.
Each production will screen every Thursday at 7 PM GMT/2 PM Eastern, then remain available for seven days. Additionally, the series will include Q&As with cast and creative teams, post-screening talkbacks, and more.
Already announced productions include Sally Cookson’s adaptation of Jane Eyre (April 9), Bryony Lavery’s adaptation of Treasure Island (April 16), and Tamsin Greig in Twelfth Night (April 23). Additional titles will be announced at a later date.”
Break-A-Leg
I think the fact that Jared, Ivanka and Stephen Miller are people who have lasted the longest in this White House is an indication of why we are in the situation we are in. No one with any expertise has lasted around Donald or wanted to be around him for any length of time. Only one, Miller, has any "accomplishments," and every one of them is destructive. Jared's only claim comes from jumping on the criminal justice reform bandwagon right before it was passed with bipartisan support. And Ivanka has a famous daddy.
@Jeanne wrote, "Last night I castigated our paper's editor for printing a letter saying flu is worse, it will go away when it warms up...."
Uh, yeah. It's as warm in Florida now as it normally gets in other parts of the U.S. The virus should not be able to make it out of South Florida alive, according to the letter-writer's theory.
Like you, I find it appalling that a newspaper would publish a letter like that without at least appending an editor's note like, "Actually, that's all bullshit, you ignorant slut." Unless the letter's writer is a credentialed crackpot who can "back up" her claims with some scientific or pseudo-scientific research, the paper should not publish false information in letters to the editor, and then the paper should qualify the crackpot's opinion, especially when readers' lives are at stake. Your paper acted irresponsibly.
I'd keep on pressing the editorial page director. Maybe you could write a letter to the editor, demanding the page carry a banner disclaimer: "Reading this page may be dangerous to your health."
Last night "that woman from Michigan" was on w/ Trevor Noah:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9_-5j_pJn8
Wearing just the right t-shirt...
Now I'm truly convinced that Ivanka really is as stupid as she looks and is in no way the entrepreneur that she tries to portray herseld as. Rather than learn how to play guitar and about mythology (what about the myth about her father being a president*?), she should be learning how to sew. She could then charge a fortune for her exquisitely-designed, custom-made, limited-time-only TrumpVirus plague masks.
What a dolt. But, then, you plant beans - you get beans.
Hattie,
Twelfth Night streamed live from the National Theater? We’ll paint me yellow and cross my garters! I’m there. Also Jane Eyre? Methinks Grace Poole could get a job in the Fatty administration. She’s got exactly the right qualifications, an irresponsible drunken parasite who lets the crazy people run wild. For that matter Bertha Mason could get a job as well: completely nuts, cut off from the real world, with a penchant for burning things down.
Thanks for the tip. I’ve been enjoying the streaming events from the Metropolitan Opera, but can’t turn down a go at Twelfth Night.
Great T-shirt "That Woman From Michigan." She's got more
brains in her little finger than you-know-who has in his fat head.
Thanks, Marie. I sent your note to the editor. I still have not gotten a return email, but our online version or print version (not sure what husband saw this morning--) has some more complaints, according to him, so maybe they will be more careful now.
Akhilleus —
There’s an interview on this site with Tamsin Grieg, who portrays Malvoli*a*. A great admirer of Ms. Grieg’s work, I found the discussion - and the experience of her very being-ness - worthy of a fine performance.
James Cordon (spell?) appears in the NT production of “A Servant of Two Masters” (but under a different title). I’ve a friend who saw this production, live, and said he was brilliant.
https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/shows/twelfth-night