The Commentariat -- April 3, 2020
Late Morning Update:
The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Friday are here. "At least one million [coronavirus] infections have been detected worldwide, but experts suspect the true number is far larger because of asymptomatic cases and delays in widespread testing. The Australian medical chief estimated that there are between five million and 10 million cases. As Beijing and Washington declared a détente in their sniping, it emerged that the C.I.A. had been warning the White House since at least February that China was vastly underestimating the scale of the crisis, limiting the usefulness of its data in predictive models.
[Leader of the Free World Gets High Marks.] "Germany has been held up as a model across Europe as its laboratories work around the clock to process coronavirus tests, a key measure that has resulted in its relatively low number of casualties.... Chancellor Angela Merkel returned to her office on Friday, ending 14 days in quarantine after a doctor who administered a vaccine to her tested positive. The chancellor has seen her approval ratings jump over her government's handling of the crisis."
The Washington Post's live updates for coronavirus developments Friday are here. "China on Thursday named Li Wenliang -- the Wuhan doctor killed by covid-19 after warning about the deadly new disease -- a 'martyr,' the highest honor Beijing bestows on citizens who die in service of the country. The announcement comes as Beijing and Washington wrestle over Li's legacy, with both sides trying to own the narrative. U.S. lawmakers are planning to introduce a bill named for Li that will empower the Trump administration to sanction foreign officials who spread misinformation about the coronavirus. In China, alarms raised by Li and other doctors about the new virus in Wuhan were initially suppressed by local officials. As the death toll rose, the official line changed, and Li was praised as a hero at the national level."
This is happening daily in New York City (and in other hard-hit cities around the world:
Jennifer Valentino-DeVries, et al., of the New York Times: "In cities across America, many lower-income workers continue to move around, while those who make more money are staying home and limiting their exposure to the coronavirus, according to smartphone location data analyzed by The New York Times. Although people in all income groups are moving less than they did before the crisis, wealthier people are staying home the most, especially during the workweek. Not only that, but in nearly every state, they began doing so days before the poor, giving them a head start on social distancing as the virus spread, according to aggregated data from the location analysis company Cuebiq, which tracks about 15 million cellphone users nationwide daily."
Abby Goodnough & Margot Sanger-Katz of the New York Times: "The Trump administration is close to recommending that all Americans wear cloth masks if they go out in public, a change in position that reflects new concerns that the coronavirus is being spread by infected people who have no symptoms and new data suggesting the United States is not yet slowing the rate of infections."
Nancy Cook & Dan Diamond of Politico: "The Trump White House is doubling down on a strategy to govern the coronavirus pandemic: pushing authority and responsibility for the response onto the states.... The approach could give the White House an opportunity to extract Trump from future criticism as the virus spreads throughout the nation and threatens to kill hundreds of thousands of Americans." --s
Rachana Pradham of Kaiser Health News: "A coronavirus test made by Abbott Laboratories and introduced with considerable fanfare by President Donald Trump in a Rose Garden news conference this week is giving state and local health officials very little added capacity to perform speedy tests needed to control the COVID-19 pandemic.... Yet a document circulated among officials at the Department of Health and Human Services and the Federal Emergency Management Agency this week shows that state and local public health labs were set to receive a total of only 5,500 coronavirus tests." --s
Nepotism Normalized. Maggie Severns of Politico: "Jared Kushner's family business could be a prime beneficiary of a provision in the federal recovery bill that allows owners of apartment buildings to freeze federal mortgage payments on low- and moderate-income properties. Kushner Companies, the real estate firm started in 1985 by Kushner's father, Charles, controls thousands of low- and moderate-housing units across the country, some of which are funded through an $800 million federally backed loan the firm received in 2019." --s
Dara Lind of ProPublica: "For the first time since the enactment of the Refugee Act in 1980, people who come to the U.S. saying they fear persecution in their home countries are being turned away by Border Patrol agents with no chance to make a legal case for asylum. The shift, confirmed in internal Border Patrol guidance obtained by ProPublica [is] the biggest step the administration has taken to limit humanitarian protection for people entering the U.S. without papers..., [allowing] Border Patrol agents to simply expel migrants with no process whatsoever for hearing their claims. The administration gave the Border Patrol unchallengeable authority over migrants seeking asylum by invoking a little-known power given to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. public health agency, to ban the entry of people or things that might spread 'infectious disease' in the U.S." --s
Chad Garland of Stars & Stripes reports on Capt. Brett Crozier's sendoff after the Navy relieved him of his command of the USS Theodore Roosevelt. More on Crozier's removal linked below.
Mark Niquette & Michael Sasso of Bloomberg: "The Small Business Administration has bumped up to 1% the interest rate lenders may charge small businesses under a $350 billion U.S. relief program after lenders complained that the previous approved rate of 0.5% was below even their own cost of funds.... Banks and other lenders that are key to carrying it out had said they lacked guidance on how to complete the loans, including what documentation is required from borrowers and how to verify it.... The program, part of the $2 trillion stimulus package signed by President Donald Trump on March 27, is central to help small businesses survive the devastating impact of the coronavirus outbreak..." --s (Firewalled.)
Daniel Lippman, et al., of Politico: "The White House is close to selecting a nominee to be the Pentagon's policy chief, following the ouster of John Rood in February as part of President Donald Trump's loyalty purge. Douglas Macgregor, a retired Army colonel and frequent Fox News commentator, and Anthony Tata, a retired Army brigadier general, former state bureaucrat and also a Fox News regular, are the leading candidates for the job of undersecretary of defense for policy[.]" --s
Andrew Desiderio & Besty Woodruf Swan of Politico: "A key Senate committee is vowing to press forward with its investigation targeting former Vice President Joe Biden's son Hunter, despite logistical challenges posed by the global coronavirus pandemic. The probe, which Democrats vigorously oppose, has fueled tension among the Senate's ranks, even breaking out into a rare and previously unreported verbal altercation between senators during a classified briefing.... Democrats have said the investigation targeting Hunter Biden threatens the integrity of the 2020 election and undermines U.S. national security, saying it could aid Russian intelligence.... Meanwhile, the delayed timeline for the investigation makes it likely that any information related to Hunter Biden could be released closer to Election Day." --s
Florida's 'Sh!t Sandwich'. Gary Fineout & Marc Caputo of Politico: "Already anxious about Trump's chances in the nation's biggest swing state, Republicans now are dealing with thousands of unemployed workers unable to navigate the Florida system to apply for help. And the blowback is directed straight at Trump's top allies in the state, Gov. Ron DeSantis and Sen. Rick Scott.... Privately, Republicans admit that the $77.9 million system that is now failing Florida workers is doing exactly what Scott designed it to do -- lower the state's reported number of jobless claims after the great recession. 'It's a sh-- sandwich, and it was designed that way by Scott,' said one DeSantis advisor.... 'It was about making it harder for people to get benefits or keep benefits so that the unemployment numbers were low to give the governor something to brag about.'" --s
~~~~~~~~~~~
Lena Sun & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "The White House is expected to urge Americans to begin wearing cloth masks or face coverings in public to help prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, in a reversal of its earlier recommendations. President Trump said Thursday at a coronavirus task force briefing that 'a recommendation is coming out' but 'I don't think it will be mandatory. If people want to wear them, they can.' Vice President Pence, who heads the task force, confirmed the guidance would be released in 'coming days.' However, a White House official said the administration is considering guidance that it is 'narrowly targeted to areas with high community transmission' and the matter remains under discussion." The article is free to nonsubscribers.
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 [coronavirus] 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." (Also linked yesterday.)
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 areas of the country. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Orion Rummier of Axios: "Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Anthony Fauci recommended on Thursday that all states across the U.S. implement stay-at-home orders, at a CNN town hall.... The recommendation stands in contrast to President Trump's calls for 'flexibility.' Nearly 4o states have issued stay-at-home orders to promote social distancing as a way to combat the novel coronavirus — but the orders vary in strictness and duration.... 'I don't understand why that's not happening," Fauci said ... of a nation-wide stay-at-home order. '... We really should be.'"
Jeff Cox of CNBC: "Nonfarm payrolls dropped by 701,000 in March, according to Labor Department numbers released Friday that only begin to show the economic damage wrought by the coronavirus crisis. It was the first decline in payrolls since September 2010 and came close to the May 2009 financial crisis peak of 800,000. Some two-thirds of the drop came in the hospitality industry, particularly bars and restaurants forced to close during the economic shutdown. That headline number reflects the count from establishments the government surveyed for its report. The household survey, which asks individual residences about their employment situation, showed a plunge of nearly 3 million. The unemployment rate rose to 4.4% -- from 3.5% -- its highest level since August 2017 as employers just began to cut payrolls ahead of social distancing practices...."
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." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ 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.... Mr. Trump said in a tweet that he had spoken with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who had spoken with President Vladimir V. Putin.... The Kremlin denied that Mr. Putin had spoken to the Saudi crown prince, as Mr. Trump had said in his Twitter message. 'No, there was no conversation,' Dmitri S. Peskov, spokesman for Mr. Putin, told the Interfax news agency." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I find it a-mazing that "the stock market" continues to respond to Trump's fake news. And, sure enough ...,
~~~ Michael Crowley, et al., of the New York Times: "Leaning on two authoritarian leaders he has befriended as president, Mr. Trump spoke this week with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, urging them to bolster prices by cutting their domestic oil production. In two tweets on Thursday, Mr. Trump said that he expected they would jointly cut output by as much as 15 million barrels in a move that he said would 'be GREAT for the oil & gas industry!'" But there's no evidence such a deal is actually in the offing. "The picture emerged of a president eager to find some good economic news amid the pain of a largely shuttered domestic economy, and of an embattled Saudi leadership feeling financial strain of its own, perhaps seeking the favor of Mr. Trump. Analysts said the major outstanding question was how Moscow, which has been waging a price war with Riyadh, will respond." ~~~
~~~ Fred Imbert & Pippa Stevens of CNBC: "Stocks rose Thursday as oil's biggest one-day rally on record eased concern about financial and job losses in the energy sector. It was a volatile session as investors weighed a massive spike in unemployment claims that showed the growing negative impact shutdowns to stop the spread of the coronavirus are having on the economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 469.93 points higher, or 2.2%, at 21,413.44. The S&P 500 was up 2.3% at 2,526.90 while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.7% to 7,487.31. At its session high, the Dow was up 534 points, or more than 2%. At its low of the day it was down more than 200 points."
Finally. Maegan Vazquez of CNN: "The White House announced Thursday that ... Donald Trump is invoking the Defense Production Act to clear up supply-chain issues encountered in the manufacturing of ventilators and to ensure the production of additional N95 face masks. Thursday's orders come amid increased fears of ventilator shortages and personal protective equipment around the country.... The order, which came in the form of a presidential memorandum, directs the supply of materials to make ventilators to six companies: General Electric Co., Hill-Rom Holdings Inc., Medtronic Public Limited Co., ResMed Inc., Royal Philips N.V. and Vyaire Medical Inc. It also directs acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf and Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar to 'use any and all authority available under the Act to facilitate the supply of materials' to these companies. A second order invokes the Defense Production Act to authorize Azar and Pete Gaynor, the administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, to 'use any and all authority available under the Act to acquire' N95 respirators from 3M." Mrs. McC: Of course Trump & Kushner think hospitals don't really need the life-saving equipment. ~~~
Massive amounts of medical supplies, even hospitals and medical centers, are being delivered directly to states and hospitals by the Federal Government. Some have insatiable appetites & are never satisfied (politics?). Remember, we are a backup for them. The complainers should have been stocked up and ready long before this crisis hit. -- Donald Trump, in tweets Thursday
"Long before the crisis hit"?? You mean when you were saying you had the disease under control & soon the number of victims would be down to zero? That's when the "complainers should have stocked up"? -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie ~~~
~~~ James E. Baker, a former NSC advisor, in a New York Times op-ed, castigates Trump for not using the full force of the Defense Production Act & other tools in his arsenel "to close the supply gap, allocate resources among states, and prepare for the production and distribution of the vaccine to come.... Its use is not as extraordinary as some suggest.... The Defense Department alone uses the prioritization authority some 300,000 times a year, while the government uses Title III incentives 20 to 30 times per year."
Philip Rucker & Robert Costa of the Washington Post: "In the three weeks since declaring the novel coronavirus outbreak a national emergency, President Trump has delivered a dizzying array of rhetorical contortions, sowed confusion and repeatedly sought to cast blame on others. History has never known a crisis response as strong as his own, Trump says -- yet the self-described wartime president claims he is merely backup. He has faulted governors for acting too slowly and, as he did Thursday, has accused overwhelmed state and hospital officials of complaining too much and of hoarding supplies. America is winning its war with the coronavirus, the president says -- yet the death toll rises still, and in the best-case scenario more Americans will die than in the wars in Vietnam, Korea, Afghanistan and Iraq combined. The economy is the strongest ever and will rebound in no time, he says -- yet stock markets have cratered and in the past two weeks a record 10 million people filed for unemployment insurance.... He sometimes scolds reporters who question his version of events. The result is chaotic." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Trump relies on Trumpbots not to have the "first-rate intelligence ... to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function," as F. Scott Fitzgerald posited, but to have no memory whatsoever & to accept whatever Trump says at the moment as the true thing -- until it changes. Consistency is not a hobgoblin that unsettles their little minds.
Caroline Kelly & Jason Hoffman of CNN: "The White House released a letter from ... Donald Trump attacking Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer in starkly personal terms on Thursday -- just moments after the President said that 'this is not the time for politics' ... at the White House daily coronavirus briefing.... 'I've known you for many years but I never knew how bad a Senator you are for the state of New York, until I became President,' Trump wrote to Schumer, disparaging his request as 'Democrat public relations letter and incorrect soundbites, which are wrong in every way.'... Trump claimed that if Schumer had spent less time on impeachment, New York might not have been 'so completely unprepared for the invisible enemy.'... Trump had attempted to keep the letter from being sent out after speaking with Schumer on the phone Thursday afternoon.... [Schumer had] called on the administration to select "one person, a military person, a general who knows how to deal with logistics and order mastering, who knows command and control.'" ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Let's look at that sequence. (1) Deranged Prez* dictates an insane letter to a high government official. (2) Prez* speaks to official; official peels deranged Prez* off wall. (3) Prez* tells staff to hold back insane letter. (4) Prez* goes to press briefing. (5) Staff releases insane letter. Conclusion: Prez* has no control over himself or his staff.
"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." (Also linked yesterday.)
David Enrich, et al., of the New York Times: "With some of its golf courses and hotels closed amid the economic lockdown, the Trump Organization has been exploring whether it can delay payments on some of its loans and other financial obligations, according to people familiar with the matter and documents reviewed by The New York Times. Representatives of Mr. Trump's company have recently spoken with Deutsche Bank, the president's largest creditor, about the possibility of postponing payments on at least some of its loans from the bank. And in Florida, the Trump Organization sought guidance last week from Palm Beach County about whether it expected the company to continue making monthly payments on county land that it leases for a 27-hole golf club.... The company ... has opted to keep some of its properties open absent government orders to close, in contrast with the widespread shutdowns by some larger hotel chains."
Peter Baker & others at the New York Times take a stab at analyzing Jared Kushner's contributions to the White House's coronavirus response chaos. "At one of the most perilous moments in modern American history, Mr. Kushner is trying in a disjointed White House to marshal the forces of government for the war his father-in-law says he is waging. A real estate developer with none of the medical expertise of a public health official nor the mobilization experience of a general, Mr. Kushner has nonetheless become a key player in the response to the pandemic.... Mr. Kushner has embedded dozens of political appointees and recruits from the private sector in critical spots like FEMA. His 'impact team,' as he calls it, has been nicknamed the Slim Suit Crowd for its sartorial preferences by khaki-wearing FEMA veterans.... [A] senior official described the Kushner team as a 'frat party' that descended from a U.F.O. and invaded the federal government." ~~~
~~~ "Jared Kushner Is Going to Get Us All Killed." Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times seems a little skeptical that Jared is helping. According to Gabriel Sherman of Vanity Fair, Kushner said, "'I'm doing my own projections, and I've gotten a lot smarter about this. New York doesn't need all the ventilators.' (Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country's top expert on infectious diseases, has said he trusts Cuomo's estimate.) Even now, it's hard to believe that someone with as little expertise as Kushner could be so arrogant, but he said something similar on Thursday, when he made his debut at the White House's daily coronavirus briefing[.]... It's hard to overstate the extent to which this confidence is unearned.... Now, in our hour of existential horror, Kushner is making life-or-death decisions for all Americans, showing all the wisdom we've come to expect from him. 'Mr. Kushner's early involvement with dealing with the virus was in advising the president that the media's coverage exaggerated the threat,' reported The Times." Thanks to Ken W. for the link. ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: To be clear, "Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Thursday [said that] ... at the rate the state was using ventilators for coronavirus patients, it would run out in just six days." As Cuomo said during his Thursday presser, ventilators are expensive & New York State is broke. Therefore, it makes no sense that he would be begging to purchase ventilators the state & New York City don't need. But that punk Jared has the gall to accuse Cuomo of exaggerating.
What a lot of the voters are seeing now is that when you elect somebody to be a mayor or governor or president, you're trying think about who will be a competent manager during the time of crisis. This is a time of crisis, and you're seeing certain people are better managers than others. -- Jared Kushner, at Thursday's White House coronavirus briefing
Finally, Kushner says one true thing. Of course, his point was that Trump was doing a better than governors, but an AP poll shows that the majority of Americans know better. -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie
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." (Also linked yesterday.)
William Wan, et al., of the Washington Post: "Leading disease forecasters, whose research the White House used to conclude 100,000 to 240,000 people will die nationwide from the coronavirus, were mystified when they saw the administration's projection this week.... White House officials have refused to explain how they generated the figure.... They have not provided the underlying data so others can assess its reliability or provided long-term strategies to lower that death count. Some of President Trump's top advisers have expressed doubts about the estimate.... Anthony S. Fauci ... told others there are too many variables at play in the pandemic to make the models reliable.... Jeffrey Shaman, a Columbia University epidemiologist whose models were cited by the White House, said his own work on the pandemic doesn't go far enough into the future to make predictions akin to the White House fatality forecast."
Lara Seligman & Bryan Bender of Politico: "Defense Secretary Mark Esper is under fire for the Pentagon's response to the coronavirus pandemic as lawmakers, national security experts and people throughout the Defense Department's ranks fault him for a slow and uneven approach to the outbreak. Esper is coming under scrutiny for punting tough choices over how to slow the virus to local commanders, resulting in a hodgepodge of rules driven more by concerns over readiness than the need to contain the virus. Several military officials expressed frustration with a lack of top-down planning and guidance on decisions from buying equipment to social distancing."
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." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Update. Quint Forgey of Politico: "Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly said Friday ... that Crozier did not follow the proper chain of command in reporting his concerns, which Modly claimed were already being addressed at the time [Capt. Brett] Crozier sent his letter. Modly also faulted Crozier for sending the letter, which contained no classified information, over 'non-secure, unclassified email' and copying 'a broad array of people' on the correspondence. Crozier should have instead conveyed his warning via the 'direct line' Modly said he established between them 'way before his letter was written.' The remarks from the acting secretary came shortly after several videos began circulating on social media Friday morning showing Crozier disembarking from the carrier while a throng of crew members cheered his name and offered loud applause for their former commanding officer." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Just guessing here, but I suspect Crozier did "follow the proper chain of command" before he sent his letter, but got no satisfactory response. The fact that Modly said the problem was "already being addressed" suggests this is true: the brass would not be "addressing a problem" if they didn't know it existed.
PLAN AHea. Catherine Garcia of the Week: "In September, the Trump administration ended a $200 million pandemic early-warning program called PREDICT that trained scientists in laboratories around the world on how to find and respond to viruses that could spread from wild animals to humans. The program was launched by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in 2009, in response to the 2005 global spread of the H5N1 bird flu.... Over the course of the project [scientists] identified 1,200 viruses that had the ability to turn into pandemics, including more than 160 novel coronaviruses. Nearly 7,000 people in 30 countries were trained through PREDICT, including employees of the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China. That lab went on to identify SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19.... PREDICT was funded twice, each time for five years, and although it ended in September, USAID on Wednesday granted an emergency extension to the program; experts will spend the next six months assisting foreign labs working to combat COVID-19."
"Utter Chaos." Stephanie Ruhle, et al., of NBC News: "Millions of small businesses are anxiously awaiting their slices of a $350 billion relief program that forms part of the government's $2 trillion economic support package. However, with just hours to go before launch, it wasn't until Thursday night that banks received their 31 pages of guidance from the Treasury Department on how to lend the money -- and some haven't even decided whether they can participate on the opening day. In a strongly worded statement, one of the nation's biggest lenders [Chase Bank] said the much-touted relief program for small business owners wasn't ready for prime time.... At a White House news briefing Thursday afternoon, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin maintained that the program is ready to go, and said he wasn't aware of the complaints." Mrs. McC: "I haven't heard that" seems to be the go-to answer by Trump & the Trumpets when reporters ask obvious questions about well-reported administration missteps. ~~~
~~~ MEANWHILE. The Check Is Not in the Mail. Kasie Hunt & Alex Moe of NBC News: "The first Americans to get relief payments from the government under the coronavirus legislation signed into law last month won't see the money until at least the week of April 13, according to new estimates from the Trump administration provided to House Democrats. Many people who don't have direct deposit information on file with the IRS might have to wait months to get the money."
Sheryl Stolberg & Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi, moving aggressively to scrutinize the Trump administration's handling of the coronavirus pandemic, said Thursday that she would seek to create a special bipartisan committee to oversee all aspects of the government's response, including how it distributes more than $2 trillion in emergency aid. The announcement, which drew immediate objections from President Trump and the top House Republican, came as leaders were struggling to determine how Congress could perform its most basic functions -- both legislating and acting as a check on a president who has consistently stonewalled attempts at oversight -- when lawmakers were scattered around the country with the Capitol shuttered. The plan to create a select committee, which would require a House vote, reflects a particular sense of urgency among Democrats.... Ms. Pelosi said the panel would have subpoena power, meaning it could demand testimony and documents from the Trump administration. That raised the prospect of a new round of constitutional showdowns between Mr. Trump and the Democrat-led House...."
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." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Steve Contorno of the Tampa Bay Times: "Hours after Gov. Ron DeSantis issued a statewide stay-at-home order Wednesday, he quietly signed another one that appeared to override restrictions put in place by local governments to halt the spread of coronavirus. However, DeSantis on Thursday said the amendment he signed does the reverse, instigating another round of confusion over the intent of his directives. The second order, first reported by the Tampa Bay Times, said that new state guidelines taking effect Friday morning 'supersede any conflicting official action or order issued by local officials in response to COVID-19.' It seemed to suggest that counties and cities could not place limitations that would be more strict than the statewide guidelines.... But then DeSantis said late Thursday that this was not the case. 'If (local governments) want to do more, they can do more in certain situations, he told reporters.... His office didn't respond to multiple requests for clarification." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: This confusion -- "certain situations"??? -- is surprising, of course, because Donald Trump certified that DeSantis is a "great governor who knows exactly what he's doing."
~~~ Also. Joseph Fried of the New York Times: "Kevin Thomas Duffy, a federal judge who presided over decades of high-profile trials in Manhattan, including those of mob bosses, radical revolutionaries and the terrorists who bombed the World Trade Center in 1993, died on Wednesday in Greenwich, Conn. He was 87. A longtime colleague and friend, P. Kevin Castel, said the cause was Covid-19...."
Capitalism Is Awesome, Ctd. Paul Blest of Vice: "Leaked notes from an internal meeting of Amazon leadership ... reveal company executives discussed a plan to smear fired warehouse employee Christian Smalls, calling him 'not smart or articulate' as part of a PR strategy to make him 'the face of the entire union/organizing movement.'... The discussion took place at a daily meeting, which included CEO Jeff Bezos, to update each other on the coronavirus situation.... They discussed encouraging Amazon executives to use Smalls to discredit the wider labor movement at Amazon.... Amazon fired the warehouse worker Smalls on Monday, after he led a walkout of a number of employees at a Staten Island distribution warehouse.... Smalls ... claims he was singled out after pleading with management to sanitize the warehouse and be more transparent about the number of workers who were sick." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I heard an interview of Smalls on cable news, and he seemed "good enough, smart enough" and articulate enough to me. But it is inspiring to know that the richest man in the world is sitting around with the suits thinking up ways to trash an employee who wants to save the lives of workers who break their backs for Amazon -- for as little as $15/hour.
Presidential Race
Amy Gardner of the Washington Post: "A federal judge on Thursday declined to postpone Wisconsin's scheduled April 7 presidential primaries amid widespread worries that holding elections during the coronavirus pandemic could risk public health and curtail access to the polls. The ruling from U.S. District Judge William M. Conley means Wisconsin will remain the only one of 11 states originally scheduled to hold contests in April that has not postponed or dramatically altered voting amid the pandemic. However, in a 53-page ruling, Conley extended the deadline for absentee ballots to be requested by voters from Thursday to Friday, and extended the deadline for completed ballots to be received by local election officials by six days: from 8 p.m. on April 7 to 4 p.m. on April 13. He also prohibited the state from enforcing the requirement that absentee ballot envelopes bear a witness signature when voters include a statement that they were unable to obtain one safely. Conley made clear that he disagreed with the state's decision to go forward with the election, but he explained that he was constrained to consider only the constitutional rights of voters -- not public health."
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. (Also linked yesterday.)
Senate Race. 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. (Also linked yesterday.)
News Ledes
Washington Post: "Authorities continued searching Friday for two members of the Kennedy family who disappeared in the Chesapeake Bay after they had set out in a canoe to retrieve a ball in the water -- a mission that family said 'turned from rescue to recovery.' Maeve Kennedy Townsend McKean, 40, and her 8-year-old son Gideon Joseph Kennedy McKean went missing near Annapolis on Thursday evening while the family had gathered at a waterfront house owned by McKean's mother, family and authorities said."
AP: "Bill Withers, who wrote and sang a string of soulful songs in the 1970s that have stood the test of time, including 'Lean On Me,' 'Lovely Day' and 'Ain't No Sunshine,' has died from heart complications, his family said in a statement to The Associated Press. He was 81. The three-time Grammy Award winner, who withdrew from making music in the mid-1980s, died on Monday in Los Angeles, the statement said. His death comes as the public has drawn inspiration from his music during the coronavirus pandemic, with health care workers, choirs, artists and more posting their own renditions on 'Lean on Me' to help get through the difficult times."
Share Article
Reader Comments (18)
I'm trying to map out the near future as I kind of feel like I've fallen into some sort of time warp.
Just to get my head straight: So this administration is going to proceed to fumble and bungle every possible aspect of the emergency response, making the situation critically worse for our health, our economy, and our livelihoods while the entire GOP sits silently by as their leader completely wrecks our country and then Trump will go before the cameras every day for his daily show and tell us that everything is great and wonderful and he is #1 on Facebook while the bodycount ticker in the corner of the screen reaches into the ten, heaven forbid hundred, of thousands, all the while self-congratulating himself for keeping the numbers so low, moving the goalposts every few weeks, before finally declaring himself the savior of America.
Then, fall will roll around, and at least 45% of America is going to vote for this crackpot fraudster, all instilled with the same talking point like robots that he saved millions of lives and is going to bring the economy "raring" back to heights never seen before and Keep Make America Great Again.
Safari,
Yup.
unaware if this was already posted —
Elizabeth Warren: How John Bolton Blew Off Senators Who Asked About Global Pandemics – Mother Jones
“Bolton has claimed that global health “remained a top NSC priority” after he restructured the NSC and that it included an “expert team.” But Beth Cameron, who ran the NSC Directorate for Global Health Security and Biodefense, the unit that was dismantled by Bolton, recently wrote, “I was mystified when the White House dissolved the office, leaving the country less prepared for pandemics like covid-19.”
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/04/elizabeth-warren-how-john-bolton-blew-off-senators-who-asked-about-global-pandemics/
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/02/opinion/jared-kushner-coronavirus.html?
What we all said.
Since the media insists on presenting live, unchecked, unedited Trump Virus “updates” by Dr. Fatty and the sycophants, replete with his lies, willful misinformation, narcissistic braggadocio, dangerous, mendacious blame-gaming, and history rewrites of the last few months, now with the terribly toxic addition of Jared (I dood my own resurch) Kushner, they can provide a real public service and some scintilla of balance by taking time out of each newscast AND directly after each of these marathon lie-a-thons to list all the Americans who died that day, many of whose deaths will have been directly caused by The indolence, ignorance, and stunning incompetence of president* Its All About Me.
You may recall that this type of daily commemorative segment was done during Bush’s War of Choice (at least for a little while). And since we’re now supposed be “at war” under the direction of General Fat Fuck, we should be able to see the direct results of his battlefield command acumen.
Of course, such truth telling balance will be ripped by the general and his command staff of the Three Stooges, Dumb and Dumber, and the Congressional caucus of Confederate Village Idiots and their adjuncts in red state governors’ abattoirs as politicizing their murdering of Americans, during their supremely politicized press briefings, but too fucking bad.
They should also include video reminders of Fatty’s earlier lies about the Trump Virus, as a useful and necessary corrective to the day’s lies.
Will it happen? Can Ivanka play “Stairway to Heaven”?
Quote of the day by the Clown Prince.
How does one do faster what's never been done before?
After further thought I think I figured it out. As with his father-in-law, in order to arrive at the truth you have to reverse their words.
Therefore, "We've done nothing slower than it's ever been done before."
In yesterdays' "marathon lie-a-thons" (thanks Ak) Mikey swiftly took the mike and assured us that thousands of masks were on their way to a warehouse in N.Y. city–-not to worry, folks, we are up to snuff on this stuff. But wait! All those thousands of masks were not going directly to the hospitals as expected but to a private company that will then SELL them to whomever and the bidding war begins. This operation is pathetic and outrageous and typical of what to expect from thems that are fucking up this system and causing more deaths on a daily basis.
And then we have Mr. Wonderful who claims:
"Massive amounts of medical supplies, [NOT Happening] even hospitals and medical centers [ who knew hospitals and medical centers could be delivered like medical equipment] are being delivered directly to states and hospitals by the Federal Government. [NO] Some have insatiable appetites [ yeah–-it's called saving lives, you fucking idiot!] & are never satisfied (politics?). [Really? you're going to go there??] Remember, we are a backup for them.[ Up your ass, you demented prick–-a backup? But then you don't know how to lead even your cabinet much less a whole nation] The complainers should have been stocked up and ready long before this crisis hit. [If I were a governor hearing those words the urge to go after Fatty with fury and a verbal pitchfork would be overwhelming. Here again he's doing his quid pro quo shit–-be nice to me and I'll give you what you want.
And then there's Jared–-he of the Dorian Gray pretty boy look whose portrait hangs somewhere in an attic growing grotesque and faded revealing the reality behind this tailor's dummy. His arrogance is not surprising; "he can't help it," as Ann Richards once said of Bush, "he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth," only here we have someone whose Daddy-in-law doles out those spoons to those who dine in agreement with the courses on his menu.
"Our concern be peace of mind: Some old crone
let us seek,
To spit on us for luck and keep unlovely things
afar." Theocritus
A little repetitive but I think overall a good summary of where we are and where we will be:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/4/3/1933902/-How-Long-Will-We-Shelter-in-Place?
Some food for thought here. Burnett's analysis would have the Covid disruption last into the fall and beyond, which causes me to wonder, not for the first time, how the Pretender and his autocratic party will use that disruption to their electoral advantage.
The virus is not the only source of my paranoia.
I heighten my chances of ducking the virus by staying at home, but that doesn't keep the Pretender or his evil crew at bay.
So some Pentagon position will now be filled (see link, above) after the previous guy was ousted in the Orange Menace’s latest loyalty putsch. This means, of course, that yet another position will be handed to yet another dangerously unqualified schmoe.
Because when you think of it, what smart, accomplished, experienced, competent person would pass a loyalty test given by the clown king? Who would be loyal to a narcissistic moron but a sycophantic moron.
We’re already seeing the fatal results of a government run, at the top, by incompetent ignoramuses loyal to the fat clown. As time goes on, all positions will finally be filled by other incompetent clowns.
QED.
Loony-Tunes Priorities?
https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2020/04/02/crews-still-hard-at-work-on-trumps-border-wall-despite-stay-home-orders-and-coronavirus-pandemic/
Last night into the night I was chastised by the editor of our paper, to whom I had complained when the two letters aired contained false statistics and complaints about losing their free-dumbs to go to and open businesses as they pleased...she said they edited every letter for truth and that opinion was still allowed even if it skated on the edge of truth. I told her to get a grip and she informed me she was too busy and that I should be "civil." I live in a blue area of a red county-- the city, naturally-- and I'm sure she has been inundated by letters that are lies or damn lies, but I still think she has an obligation to err on the side of truth rather than opinion. She said I took a cheap shot on a blog-- this one. What is cheap about demanding truth be aired rather than lies? Well, I guess if the nightly lie-a-rama goes on and on, lies in letters are nuthin'... I did flip through it just in time to hear the admiral (that schmuck is an admiral? Do tell--) tell us about the thousands of masks etc that will BE FOR SALE SOON, courtesy of the worst regime in American history.
To safari: what AK said...
@Jeanne: Good for you. I hope the editor learned a lesson. At least you got under her skin. Her response to you, as you describe it, is itself full of errors.
First, if the letter to the editor really said that "flu is worse, & it will go away when it warms up," or words to that effect, neither or those things is true, and neither is "opinion." The flu isn't "worse": preliminary studies suggest the flu's death rate in significantly lower than this novel coronavirus, some strains of the flu are less contagious, and there are vaccines to prevent most flu strains (which, thanks to Obamacare, are now available to most Americans). And experts agree that there's no evidence that the novel coronavirus will "go away" when the weather warms up. (As people spend more time outside, so have less close interpersonal contact in stale air, experts suggest incidences may wane, but the virus is liable to come back when people move back inside in the fall.) As Daniel Patrick Moynihan famously said, "You're entitled to your own opinions, not your own facts."
Second, you didn't "take a cheap shot on a blog." You did not report the name of the newspaper or even the name of the city where the paper is published. A reader would have to do a lot of research to find out what paper published the letters you mentioned, and I doubt anyone will do that research. Your point was not to knock the specific paper but the general practice. (And I can tell you that serious newspaper editors at papers with large & small circulations double-check facts asserted in letters to the editor -- I've had the NYTimes editorial page editors as well as an editor at a small Pennsylvania paper phone me to verify facts I'd asserted in letters to the editor. I've provided them with published evidence, which they required before publishing my letter).
You did the right thing, and that editor is fortunate that you did.
Jeanne,
Understand and sympathize with your frustration. Bea has it right. You did the right thing. The editor was wrong.
I've encountered some of the same up here in rural Washington. Our local paper runs LTTE's five days a week and I've noticed it tends to print the wacko letters on TH or F, maybe to isolate the contagion.
I've also noticed the editor (whom I have gotten to know) doesn't hold the wacko's to the same standards as she once held me, requesting a citation for something I knew to be true and though to be common knowledge. Now I always cite sources, but suspect that if the same were required of the wacko's, or if the few citations they do incluede were themselves checked, most of their letters would disappear--along with that portion of the paper's readership.
The "Skagit Valley Herald" does present a Debate Corner, though, which I have found to be a fine place to work out some of the frustration felt by fact-philiacs like us.
Last week it printed this, which I called "Department of Corrections."
"A recent writer disputes an earlier letter to the editor that said the Trump administration dismantled the National Security Council global health unit. The writer said it had not and referenced Factcheck.com to substantiate his claim.
When we have a president who lies habitually, consulting Factcheck is always a good place to start. In this instance, though, the writer missed his mark by asking Factcheck the wrong question. The Factcheck quotation he provided as support concerned the Center for Disease Control’s pandemic response capability, but the letter he was “correcting” was about the National Security Council’s pandemic response team. That previous letter was wholly accurate (foreignpolicycom).
The writer also counters claims that Mr. Trump has cut funding for CDC by supplying Factcheck figures that appear to show that he has not. What the writer does not say is that the Trump budgets have called for steep cuts to CDC funding every year, including this one. It was Congress that restored the cuts and even increased funding. Another missed mark (abcnews.go.com).
The letter concludes by criticizing Mr. Biden for saying that Mr. Trump’s evident xenophobia might have influenced the ban he imposed on travel to and from China. While I don’t live in Mr. Trump’s head, it would be hard to miss the wide xenophobic strain displayed in the first three years of his presidency, where instances of his xenophobia abound (vox.com).
I’m all for evenhandedness. Presenting both sides is only fair, but when Republican Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan said, “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion but not to his own facts,” his distinction between the value of fact and opinion may have been too kind.
I’d go with Mark Twain, who defined vagrant opinions as those without visible means of support.
Those means of support would be verifiable facts."
I felt better, Jeanne. Don't know if your paper provides the same opportunity. If so, this suggestion:
As I think Twain also (unoriginally and smilingly) said, "Go thou and do likewise."
At the beginning of this rollercoaster Trump told us "I Alone Can Fix It." Putting that into @unwashed's handy translator you find out Trump was really saying "I will break everything." Promise kept.
@RAS
Lol, great translation work.
I was initially thinking the "free money check in the mail" was going to enamor a lot of Americans with false impressions of good will and could end up actually buying (literally) a good number of votes come November.
This hypothesis still probably holds true for some. However, if the checks come months after they were needed (seems inevitable with the college interns running the government) and the paltry sums hardly make a dent in the bills piling up, I'm thinking it might even motivate a good chunk of the population to go storm off to the polls and flush this fat turd for good. Let us lend thoughts and prayers for the latter.
Have seen some articles here and elsewhere featuring the economic class war that is bubbling close to the surface of life here in corona- land. Here’s one from “The Nation:
https://www.thenation.com/article/society/coronavirus-class-war-labor/
How aware of it am I? I don’t have to look far. No longer working, I have the luxury of staying at home, as are most retired and working professionals-- doctors, nurses and other medical specialists excepted. In our immediate family of six adults, that's four out of six, I’d guess a rough average for those most would say land in the professional class.
The majority, who are far less likely to have good medical insurance and savings to draw on are not so lucky. In addition to the greater health risks they are running by continuing to work as simple necessity demands and opportunity allows, I’d predict that the survivors or the families of this immense number will also be clogging the bankruptcy courts for years to come.
How this grouping will coincide with the apparent obliviousness of those red state folks cited in the article above, I don’t know, but hope that down the road when "Vox" maps the connections between money and mortality, their graphers will also take a look at the likely coincidence of geography and sense.
Orwellian indeed.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/03/politics/stockpile-website-edited-kushner-claim/index.html
Even Colorado's embattled Cory Gardner smells a rat....