The Commentariat -- March 7, 2020
Afternoon Update:
How Low Will They Go? So Low, Can't Get Under It. Mark Mazzetti & Adam Goldman of the New York Times: "Erik Prince, the security contractor with close ties to the Trump administration, has in recent years helped recruit former American and British spies for secretive intelligence-gathering operations that included infiltrating Democratic congressional campaigns, labor organizations and other groups considered hostile to the Trump agenda, according to interviews and documents. One of the former spies, an ex-MI6 officer named Richard Seddon, helped run a 2017 operation to copy files and record conversations in a Michigan office of the American Federation of Teachers.... [Prince's sister Betsy] DeVos has been a vocal critic of teachers' unions.... Using a different alias the next year, the same undercover operative infiltrated the congressional campaign of Abigail Spanberger, then a former C.I.A. officer who went on to win an important House seat in Virginia as a Democrat. The campaign discovered the operative and fired her. Both operations were run by Project Veritas.... The Trump Foundation gave $20,000 to Project Veritas in 2015, the year that Mr. Trump began his bid for the presidency."
Michael Shear, et al., of the New York Times: "From the beginning, the Trump administration's attempts to forestall an outbreak of a virus now spreading rapidly across the globe was marked by a raging internal debate about how far to go in telling Americans the truth. Even as the government's scientists and leading health experts raised the alarm early and pushed for aggressive action, they faced resistance and doubt at the White House -- especially from the president -- about spooking financial markets and inciting panic."
David Nakamura of the Washington Post assesses Trump's performance at his CDC Atlanta visit Friday. Nakamura doesn't grade Trump, but his review reads like a "D-", at best. ~~~
~~~ Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "Do you have a nagging medical concern?... Well, fret no more. America now has a leading medical expert -- some say the best -- who will dispense diagnoses and prognoses to all -- for free! This bold new telemedicine initiative, 'Ask Dr. Trump,' will be offered on an unpredictable but highly frequent basis to all Americans (whether they like it or not). Dr. Donald J. Trump, of course, is the pioneering scientist who first determined that climate change is a hoax and, more recently, discovered that windmills cause cancer. In between, he proved that forest fires could be contained by 'raking' and identified a previously unrecognized tropical cyclone pattern targeting Alabama. Dr. Trump acquired what he calls 'a natural instinct for science' not through formal education but because 'my uncle was a great professor at MIT for many years.' Sadly, the elder Trump didn't live to see his nephew's greatest discoveries in the medical field: The flu shot is basically 'injecting bad stuff into your body' and exercise can shorten your life. Dr. Trump used his instinctive grasp of medicine to become 'the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency' with an innate life expectancy of 200 years." Read on.
Sharon LaFraniere of the New York Times: "Attorney General William P. Barr ... increasingly appears to be chiseling away at [Robert Mueller's investigation]. The attorney general's handling of the results of the Russia inquiry came under fire when a federal judge questioned this week whether Mr. Barr had sought to create a 'one-sided narrative' clearing Mr. Trump of misconduct.... In fact, Mr. Barr's comments then were but the first in a series of actions in which he cast doubt not just on the findings of the inquiry by the special counsel ... and some of the resulting prosecutions, but on its very premise.... Mr. Barr has assigned a federal prosecutor to investigate the [investigation] further and has suggested that the inquiry might conclude that the F.B.I. acted in bad faith.... Last month, Mr. Barr appointed another outside prosecutor to review a case that Mr. Mueller brought against the president's former national security adviser Michael T. Flynn for lying to the F.B.I. And in a second case that the Mueller team brought against Roger J. Stone Jr., Mr. Trump's longtime friend, the attorney general overruled career prosecutors to seek a more lenient prison sentence...."
A PBS Network Even Trump Would Like. Vanessa Gera of the AP: "Poland's president has signed a bill earmarking nearly 2 billion zlotys ($510 million) to fund public television and radio, broadcast outlets that have become mouthpieces for the country's right-wing government and given the president positive coverage as he campaigns for reelection. President Andrzej Duda, who hails from the ruling Law and Justice party, signed the funding bill late Friday as he campaigns for a second five-year term in a May election.... In [signing the bill], he allowed a large injection of money to go into broadcasters that were already helping his campaign." ~~~
~~~ I am excited to announce the introduction of "Fifth Avenue," an educational entertainment show for the kiddies featuring Big Eagle, Barack the Grouch & a cast of beautiful, rich white people. Today's show stars the Letter "A" for "Abercrombie." Tune in tomorrow to meet the letter "B" for "Bergdorf." And the kids won't want to miss "C" for "Cartier" -- they'll all enjoy learning to tell time the old-fashioned way with this beautiful Cartier watch with fuchsia alligator strap for only $70,800.00 (free shipping!).
Mrs. McCrabbie: AND I guess we'll have to mention Melanie's Covfefe-19 Memorial White House Tennis Pavillion, since Anonymous raises the matter in today's Comments: ~~~
~~~ Eliza Relman & Ellen Cramley of Business Insider: "... Melania Trump tweeted on Thursday about the construction of a new private White House tennis pavilion amid concern that the Trump administration isn't doing enough to contain the coronavirus outbreak. 'I am excited to share the progress of the Tennis Pavillion at @WhiteHouse,' she tweeted alongside photos of herself in a hard hat at the construction site. 'Thank you to the talented team for their hard work and dedication.' Critics were quick to condemn Trump's announcement.... The first lady pushed back against her critics in a tweet on Saturday morning.... 'I encourage everyone who chooses to be negative & question my work at the @WhiteHouse to take time and contribute something good & productive in their own communities,' she tweeted, adding the hashtag for her childhood wellness campaign, #BeBest."
~~~~~~~~~~
** Your Friday Night News Dump. Morgan Chalfant of the Hill: "President Trump on Friday announced [in a tweet] that Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) would replace Mick Mulvaney as his chief of staff. Trump announced the news in a tweet, saying he would appoint Mulvaney as U.S. special envoy for Northern Ireland." This is a developing story. ~~~
~~~ Update. The New York Times story, by Peter Baker, is here. Mrs. McC: It's surprising the Times first posted its story at 9:49 pm ET, an hour-and-a-half after Trump's tweet. NYT reporter Annie Karni said on MSNBC the other day that every time Trump announces a new hire, the paper mocks up a story about that person's dismissal (as they do for prominent, elderly people), inasmuch as it won't be long till Trump axes him. Mulvaney lasted 14 months, but only because, as Baker notes, "The president soured on Mr. Mulvaney long ago but was warned by advisers not to get rid of him until after his [impeachment] trial in the Senate...." Anyway, I hope Mulvaney enjoys Northern Ireland. I guess positions in Greenland and Mongolia were unavailable.
Thanks to Ken W. for the lead.Jonathan Lemire, et al., of the AP: "... Donald Trump's visit to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday turned into a scattershot defense of his administration's handling of the coronavirus outbreak, veering into political score-settling, exaggerations and talk harking back to his impeachment.... Trump called Washington state's governor [Jay Inslee (D)], who is dealing with the most serious outbreak in the nation, a 'snake.' He said he'd prefer that people exposed to the virus on a cruise ship be left aboard so they wouldn't be added to the count for the nation's total number of infections. And he falsely claimed that a test for the virus was available immediately to all who want it. He also suggested the accuracy of the coronavirus test was 'perfect -- like the letter was perfect.' With that, Trump was making a comparison to the July phone call with Ukraine's president that led to his impeachment.... Trump touted the ratings of his town hall this week on Fox News and mocked a CNN reporter. He cut off Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar as he tried to counsel Americans to be patient.... The president, while touring the CDC, talked up his ability to understand the virus, although he has repeatedly misstated how long it would take for a vaccine to be developed and available. 'I like this stuff. I really get it,' Trump said. 'People are surprised that I understand it.... Maybe I have a natural ability.'" ~~~
~~~ Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Yes, if the Stable Genius would have just one more chat with Ben Carson, I'd feel safe having Trump cut into my skull & operate on my brain. He has a natural ability. ~~~
This video in which Trump repeatedly claims that "anybody who wants a test gets a test" is remarkable, not just because it isn't true but because of the way Trump keeps repeating the lie: ~~~
~~~ BUT the lie works, at least as far as spreading disinformation goes. The "news" team at Atlanta's Channel 11, an NBC affiliate, reported Friday that "the agency [CDC] is expected to ship out about a million tests by tomorrow." That isn't even marginally true, as Steve Kornacki of MSNBC makes clear in his report embedded above. ~~~
~~~ MEANWHILE, in the Real World. Katie Thomas, et al., of the New York Times: "President Trump claimed again on Friday that anyone who needed a coronavirus test 'gets a test.' But from Washington State to Florida to New York, doctors and patients are clamoring for tests that they say are in woefully short supply, and their frustration is mounting alongside the growing number of cases around the country. In California, where thousands are being monitored for the virus, only 516 tests had been conducted by the state as of Thursday. Washington health officials have more cases than they can currently process. And in New York, where cases have quadrupled this week, a New York City official pleaded for more test kits from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 'The slow federal action on this matter has impeded our ability to beat back this epidemic,' the official said in a letter Friday. More than 300 cases have been confirmed, at least 17 have died, and thousands are in self-quarantine. Public health officials are warning that no one knows how deeply the virus will spread, in part because the federal government's flawed rollout of tests three weeks ago has snowballed into an embarrassing fiasco of national proportions."
Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Trump signed an $8.3 billion emergency spending bill to confront the coronavirus outbreak on Friday morning and decided to visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, reversing his decision hours earlier to skip touring the nerve center of the government's response to the health crisis." Mrs. McC: The reason Trump's visit to the CDC was on-again/off-again was because of a suspected case of coronavirus at the Atlanta center. But then it turned out the person had tested negative for the virus. Everything is going very smoothly. A Politico story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~
~~~ Guardian (from the liveblog @9:50 am ET): "Trump ... reiterated his lack of worry about the spread of [coronavirus] in the US. Perhaps problematic, though is that, to many, he's coming across as casually dismissive and posturing, not measured, and reassuringly presidential. 'You have to be calm,' he said, at the White House this morning before departing to tour the tornado damage in Tennessee and just after signing an $8.3 billion emergency spending bill to deal with the virus. 'It will go away,' he said. 'We have very low numbers [of confirmed cases] compared to many countries throughout the world, our numbers are lower than almost anyone ... deaths, is it 11?' It is. 'In terms of cases, it's very very few because we have been very strong at the borders.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ John Harwood of CNN: "... Donald Trump sent a message Friday to anyone expecting major economic aid to head off a coronavirus recession: Don't hold your breath. With financial markets reeling, some economists back direct bailouts for affected workers and businesses to prevent a contraction of the already-slowing American economy. But as he signed the $8.3-billion emergency coronavirus spending bill passed by Congress -- more than triple the amount the White House had requested -- Trump waved off the idea of a new fiscal stimulus to protect America's record-breaking economic expansion, again calling on the Federal Reserve to use its monetary policy tools. 'The Fed should cut and the Fed should stimulate,' Trump told me before leaving the White House to tour tornado damage in Tennessee. And he evinced little concern about the chance of recession anytime soon, declaring, 'I think we're in great shape.'... 'We're not looking at these massive, federal, throw-money-at-people plans,' National Economic Council director Larry Kudlow told reporters. 'We are looking at timely and targeted (efforts) where we can do the most good.'"
Jonathan Chait enjoys ragging Donald Trump & Larry Kudlow for their wildly incorrect claims & prognostications on the coronavirus & its impact on the markets. (Also linked yesterday.)
Morgan Chalfant, et al., of the Hill: "Vice President Pence said Friday that 21 individuals on a cruise ship off the coast of California tested positive for the coronavirus and that the Trump administration would bring the passengers stateside this weekend. The cruise ship will be brought into a noncommercial port. Passengers will be tested for the coronavirus and then officials will quarantine and offer medical attention to those who need it. The vice president said 46 people aboard the Grand Princess cruise ship were tested for the virus. Of the 21 who tested positive, 19 are crewmembers and two are passengers, Pence said. He said 24 tests came back negative and one inconclusive. There are 3,500 people on the ship.... [Donald Trump] said he preferred those who tested positive for the virus remain on the ship in part because he didn't want the number of confirmed cases in the U.S. to spike.... 'I like the numbers being where they are,' he said. 'I don't need to have the numbers double because of one ship that wasn't our fault.'"
KGO San Francisco: "Stanford University is canceling all in-person courses for the remainder of the winter quarter due to coronavirus concerns. The school's website states, those classes will not meet in person but will move to online formats. It also says that large-group events are being canceled or adjusted." This is a live update of coronavirus-related developments in the San Francisco area. It gives you a good idea of how life is changing for residents of an area directly affected by the virus. Here's the Seattle Times' liveblog; the University of Washington & other local colleges also have cancelled in-person classes.
David Enrich, et al., of the New York Times: "The spiraling fears [of the coronavirus outbreak] have caused financial carnage. The S&P 500 index has dropped 12 percent since Feb. 19, the sharpest dive in nine years. The plunge has obliterated roughly $3 trillion in wealth. In the past two weeks, even decent days have been tinted with a scary aura. On Friday afternoon, the S&P was poised to lose more than 2 percent, before the index pared its losses amid a blizzard of buying in the moments before the closing bell."
If you don't think Trump's lies are a danger to your health, there's this: ~~~
~~~ Brad Heath of Reuters: "Democrats are about twice as likely as Republicans to say the coronavirus poses an imminent threat to the United States, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted this week. And more Democrats than Republicans say they are taking steps to be prepared, including washing their hands more often or limiting their travel plans."
Aaron Rupar of Vox: "During his Fox News town hall on Thursday night..., Donald Trump said he planned to propose cuts to government benefit programs like Medicare and Social Security in his second term. The White House spent the hours that followed trying to walk those comments back.... Host Martha MacCallum pointed out that 'if you don't cut something in entitlements, you'll never really deal with the debt.'... Oh, we'll be cutting,' [Trump] said.... Press secretary Stephanie Grisham responded on Twitter to a story from the Daily Beast about how Democrats like Joe Biden were already messaging on Trump's entitlement comments.... 'Fake news -- POTUS was taking about cutting deficits, NOT entitlements,' Grisham tweeted. On Friday morning, Trump himself weighed in. 'I will protect your Social Security and Medicare, just as I have for the past 3 years. Sleepy Joe Biden will destroy both in very short order, and he won't even know he's doing it!' he tweeted. Around that same time, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway was on Fox News denying that Trump said what he said...."
** Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the New York Times: "A union representing federal asylum officers said on Friday that a Trump administration policy that diverts migrants at the southwestern border to Guatemala unlawfully sends a vulnerable population to a country 'in which their lives and freedom directly threatened.' In an amicus brief filed in Federal District Court in Washington, a union representing 700 asylum and refugee officers with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services said the deal with Guatemala violates international treaty obligations by deporting migrants to a country where they are likely to face persecution. Under the asylum deal, initially described as a 'safe third country agreement,' the administration can deport migrants at the southwestern border seeking safety in the United States to Guatemala to seek refuge there.... In the brief, the asylum officers said enforcing the policy violated their oath. The State Department's own country condition reports on Guatemala warn about rampant gang activity and high levels of violence."
Spencer Hsu & Ann Marimow of the Washington Post: "House Democrats asked a federal appeals court in Washington on Friday to reconsider enforcing a congressional subpoena for President Trump's former White House counsel Donald McGahn. The request comes after a divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit found that the courts have no authority to resolve the separation-of-powers dispute between the White House and Democrats in Congress. Lawyers for ... Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) want a full complement of judges on the appeals court to overturn the ruling from a three-judge panel of the same court. If last week's ruling stands, it means McGahn can defy the subpoena from the House Judiciary Committee."
Josh Gerstein of Politico: "A federal judge in Washington has ordered the National Security Agency to turn over to her a memo that details an unusual conversation in which ... Donald Trump pleaded with former NSA chief Adm. Mike Rogers to take action to rebut news reports about collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly said in a ruling Friday that she needs to read the memorandum -- written by Rogers’ deputy, Rick Ledgett -- in order to decide whether it can be entirely blocked from release in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit.... The Justice Department has argued that the entire memo is classified and exempt from disclosure under a form of executive privilege, because the document describes a confidential conversation between the president and a top adviser. The watchdog group pressing for the memo's release, the Protect Democracy project, contends that the privilege was waived after special counsel Robert Mueller included a summary of the conversation in his report that was published last year. Kollar-Kotelly said it is simply too hard for her to resolve those issues without seeing the memo herself."
Presidential Race
Misogynist-in-Chief Says Warren Is "Mean," Lacks Talent. Caitlin Oprysko of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Friday shot down questions about whether sexism grounded the presidential campaign of Elizabeth Warren.... 'I think lack of talent was her problem,' Trump told reporters at the White House when asked about the role sexism played in her demise. 'She had a tremendous lack of talent. She was a good debater. She destroyed Mike Bloomberg very quickly like it was nothing. That was easy for her but people don't like her.' But Trump then employed language likely to strike Warren's defenders as an example of the very gender-coded criticism her male opponents have not faced. 'She is a very mean person and people don't like her. People don't want that,' the president argued. Trump then claimed that 'people like a person like me, who is not mean.'" (Also linked yesterday.)
Jordain Carney of the Hill: "Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) will vote to subpoena a former consultant linked to Burisma Holdings, as part of a GOP probe into Hunter Biden and the Ukraine gas company." (Also linked yesterday.) Update: A Washington Post story is here.
Veronica Stracqualursi & Annie Grayer of CNN: "A man was kicked out of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders' rally in Arizona after he unfurled a Nazi flag during the Democratic presidential candidate's speech. The appearance of a Nazi flag at the Sanders campaign event Thursday night was widely denounced on social media, sparked outcry and prompted calls for security.... Sanders communications director Mike Casca told CNN that the Vermont senator did not see the flag.... Later in the night, the crowd wrestled away 'Trump' banners from protesters, who were also escorted out of the rally, according to footage from CNN affiliate KNXV.... Sanders addressed the flag incident on Friday, telling reporters, 'I will simply say this, and I speak not only as a Jewish American, I think I can speak for the families of some 400,000 American troops who died fighting Nazism, fighting fascism. That is, it is horrific. It is beyond disgusting to see that in the United States of America. There are people who would show the emblem of Hitler and Nazism.'"
"Warren's Exit Interview Was a Warning for the Dirtbag Left." Zack Beauchamp of Vox: In "Sen. Elizabeth Warren's campaign exit interview with Rachel Maddow, aired Thursday night..., Warren showed palpable anger with the online Sanders army's treatment of her and other progressives.... Maddow asked about Sanders's disavowal of his supporters' attacks on her, and Warren seemed not to find it very persuasive.... From Warren's point of view, it might seem like Sanders is speaking out of both sides of his mouth: vaguely disavowing online anger in public statements while his campaign reaches out and appeals directly to the people purveying it.... Online anger and abuse may not filter down to the ordinary voter directly, but it shapes the way Democratic Party elites see the Sanders campaign.... If Sanders's fans are really serious about helping their guy, they need to think carefully about whether what they're doing is actually working." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: There's no reason to think Sanders' dirtbag brigade gives a flying fuck about effective governance and issues. Their point is to show off their "power" with crude insults & bullying. Many fascist movements have been at least theoretically left-wing or populist. This is something Bernie has refused always to understand.
Sarah Smarsh in a New York Times op-ed: "Consider every moment, since the dawn of woman, when a female aspired but to no avail. She asked to attend school but was denied. She raised her hand but wasn't called on. She applied but wasn't hired. She enlisted but wasn't deployed. She created but wasn't credited. She ran but wasn't elected. Imagine the sadness and frustration of every such instance as a spark, their combined energy the size of many suns. That is the measure of grief and fury I felt rise inside me as I watched Elizabeth Warren's bid for the Democratic nomination wane."
Mrs. McCrabbie: As Joy Reid pointed out in a discussion on MSNBC Thursday night, it's not entirely surprising that Americans elected a black male president before they elected a female president: as Reid said, "Black men got the vote in the U.S. 50 years before women did." (Paraphrase. It was 55 years, but you get the point.)
Trump Campaign Brings Another Frivolous Lawsuit. Matt Shuham of TPM: "The Trump campaign's lawsuit spree against major media outlets continued Friday, with a third suit in 10 days alleging unfair coverage. After suing The New York Times last week and The Washington Post on Tuesday -- both over pieces from opinion writers -- the President's reelection organization sued CNN Friday in federal court in Georgia, alleging 'a systematic pattern of bias against the Campaign.'... CNN's libel against the Trump campaign, the suit alleged, came from a a nine-month-old op-ed from Larry Noble, the law professor and former Federal Election Commission general counsel who's a vocal critic of President Trump."
Bill & Hillary Decide This Is a Good Time to Remind Voters Democratic Men Treat Women Badly, Get Impeached, Too. Neil Vigdor has the New York Times' story. Dan Merica writes CNN's story. Thanks, Billary! Stay relevant! Whacha got planned for late October? (Also linked yesterday.)
News Lede
The New York Times' live updates of developments in the coronavirus epidemic are here. "Officials across the United States reported 308 cases of coronavirus and 17 deaths as of Friday, with Florida reporting the first deaths on the East Coast. The number of infections does not count the 21 people who have tested positive aboard a cruise ship off California, the Grand Princess. Florida officials reported on Friday night that there had been two deaths in the state related to the coronavirus. Both of the people who died had traveled internationally, they said. More tests are planned after 21 cases are found on the cruise ship. On the East Coast, a cluster has emerged in New York State. All but a few of its 33 confirmed cases as of Friday were linked to a New Rochelle man. More than 2,700 people are under some form of quarantine in New York City."
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Reader Comments (18)
Doctor Donald has everything under control. Nothing to worry about. Coronoveyerus, or however it’s spelled (don’t worry, he knows everything about it even if he can’t spell it; he “gets it”) is no big deal. No worse than a cold. But OOPS! as soon as he hears that someone at the CDC might be infected it’s Head for the Hills! Aieeeee! Run away! What’s that? Not infected? Oh, well, see? I told you, nothing to worry about.
Thus courageous Sir Donald sallies forth to the CDC to lecture everyone on what a brave (not a coward at all) genius he is.
Could this clown be any more laughable? Or craven? Or hypocritical?
I said before, if Washington becomes the site of rampant sickness in the coming spread of this virus, Fatty and his rapacious, pompous, self-absorbed brood would step over bodies in the street to save their own asses.
After watching Trump in Nashville and Atlanta yesterday I seriously doubt the man could take a dump and not get up and praise his "perfect performance".
As an aside I'm sure the Atlanta police appreciated his off again, on again appearance schedule. Just another of his "Look at me, me, me!" moments.
@Bobby Lee: Good thought there on the Trump Dump. I wouldn't be surprised if, before flushing 15 times, Trump paraded a few Cabinet members into the loo to examine his "perfect performance."
And any who pointed out that the shape of said turd (the one in the bowl, not the other one) was not entirely perfect would be subject to lawsuits, investigations, and ritual calumny.
Bill Barr would step in to praise the absolute wonder that was the Trump Turd. Fox and Friends would do a special hour show on a it, bringing in experts on shit, like Devin Nunes and Rudy Giuliani.
Lindsay Graham would offer to eat it (he does that so often anyway) to prove its worthiness. Junior would show at CPAC with a slideshow of shitty offerings from dear old dad. MAGA droolers would switch to Make America Shitty Again hats. Fatty would, at long last, hold out hope that he would finally get his Nobel. The Nobel Prize for Feculence.
The Trump administration. Perfect in its turdiness.
All this turd talk reminds me of this scene from The Last Emperor. I wouldn't be surprised that similar activities take place with our Wanna-be Emperor as Ak describes.
Also, too, given the current virus risk it's important to be able to tell the difference between an oral and rectal thermometer. How? By their taste.
Over the years, have often asked:
Where is our Jonathan Swift when we need him? Certainly never more often than during the reign of the patently absurd Pretender, when the nation I loved placed an obviously arrant fool in the highest office in the land and eagerly bowed and scraped at his feet.
And here here is in RC this morning, not exactly a breakfast treat but a wish come true, in all his remembered scatological glory.
@unwashed: Perfect!
HATS OFF FOR THE PERFECT TURD:
I was wondering––seriously–-whether said Turd otherwise known as that Stable Genius has been playing us all this time. Before he became president he proudly claimed that he lied all the time and people believed him as did the newspapers who actually printed those lies. So could he have concocted a plan to use the role of president to prove how easy it is to screw up the works, fool a lot of people (and make a lot of money on the side) but make it look like he's actually performing presidentially? How else to explain his blatantly crazy utterances and poor performances that border on mental disturbances. This virus has put him in a bind––( that he would actually want to keep U.S. citizens who have the virus on that ship because he doesn't want the number to go up here–-"it's not our fault" is beyond shocking–-it's evil! but typical of his number one concern which is with no one except himself. I'm rambling here but I simply cannot get my mind around the fact that this man is getting away with murder!
Last night Hayes had three black notables discussing the Biden resurgence. I loved what one of the men said re: Uncle Joe––it went something like this:
"Joe Biden might think he 'knows me' but what I want to know is his policies! Hugs and presses of flesh don't impress."
Joy Reid left out the fact that when women were fighting for the right to vote and black men were given that right first, there were a few states that did allow their women to vote–-I think about three or four. When Hillary was running against Obama I thought then that if he won we would be back to square one–-even though I wanted him to win. It was more important to have our first black president and family in the White House. I still think so. But now enough is enough and our experiment of white men taking over the reins needs to stop.
First virus case cited here in CT. in Danbury–-an hour away from this vicinity.
The Mark Meadows "fix." It's been a long time a coming...
https://www.politico.com/news/2019/12/30/mark-meadows-retirement-elect-wife-friend-090838
Here's Jacob Bacharach, who expresses his frustration and disgust much better than I:
"The abject incapacity of any government, least of all the feds, to offer, even simple, sensible guidance, much less mobilize national resources to examine, investigate, and ameliorate the potential threat to human health and well-being is astonishing––even to a tired, old cynic like me."
And––"On the eve of the French Revolution, the Swiss-born theorist, journalist, and politician Jean-Paul Marat wrote, “No, liberty is not made for us: we are too ignorant, too vain, too presumptuous, too cowardly, too vile, too corrupt, too attached to rest and to pleasure, too much slaves to fortune to ever know the true price of liberty. We boast of being free! To show how much we have become slaves, it is enough just to cast a glance on the capital and examine the morals of its inhabitants.”
I do not describe myself as a tired, old cynic but I feel myself reaching that point.
This is one of the best things I've read about voting in a long time.
PD,
And look at what happened to Marat...
~AK: Yeah–-your "katy bar the door" when taking a bath might have saved his life, but he would have "gotten it" sooner or later.
On covfefe-19 from daughter-in-law doc:
More interesting facts:
“China can now produce 1.6 million test kits for the novel coronavirus per week. The test delivers a result on the same day. Across the country, anyone who goes to the doctor with a fever is screened for the virus” ** this is key - our inability to do same day testing on thousands of people per day will make this pandemic worse
“When a cluster of several infected people occurred in China, it was most often (78-85%) caused by an infection within the family by droplets and other carriers of infection in close contact with an infected person. Transmission by fine aerosols in the air over long distances is not one of the main causes of spread”
”1-5% of close contacts of documented cases were infected”
“The fatality rate was 5.8% in Wuhan but 0.7% in other areas of China, which China explained with the lack of critical care beds in Wuhan” - I’ve been trying to explain this to people - Wuhan did not have the hospital/healthcare resources to deal with The numbers of infections they were seeing, so people were sicker than they might otherwise have been had they gotten the care they needed, therefore raising mortality rates.
She adds:
“One of the important reasons for containing the outbreak is that China is interviewing all infected people nationwide about their contact persons and then tests those. There are 1,800 teams in Wuhan to do this, each with at least 5 people.” - we need to do this!!!
If we can keep sick people home we can contain it!"
https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/who-china-joint-mission-on-covid-19-final-report.pdf
My just-submitted comment on the Mazzetti and Goldman piece in response to an idiot who wrapped himself in the both sides do it blanket and suggested that anyone who didn't know that was naive.
"Sure, Alan.
But this kind of slimy espionage mounted by the monied class against whomever it doesn't like?
Stack up the heirs of Nixon's plumbers against scurrilous actions taken by the Dems (and yes, I'd guess there have been some), though, and I'd bet what we have here is another false equivalency.
It's that false equivalency that is naive.
I'd also note that Mr. O'Keefe's operations, while occasionally successful politically (Acorn bit the dust), have most often proved to present lies and distortions as fact, eagerly swallowed whole, of course, by the credulous Right.
Think of Project Veritas (wink, wink) as a sub rosa counterpart to the interminable Republican hearings that come up with little or no wrongdoing, as they did with Fast and Furious, the IRS and Benghazi.
And we're about to have another: HunterBidenGate."
"I encourage everyone who chooses to be negative & question my work at the @WhiteHouse to take time and contribute something good & productive in their own communities. #BeBest"
@Flotus this morning on twitter, after the hardhat / tennis pavilion debacle yesterday. A bottomless pit for comments, too little time.
OK, so now Bill Clinton is claiming that his affair with Monica Lewinsky helped him deal with his anxiety. Well, I have anxiety, too, about a lot of things. Can I go to my doctor to get a prescription for a blowjob? Who will be my "provider"? Will my healthcare insurance cover the cost or will I be responsible for the deductible? Curious minds want to know.
It is impossible to measure the hatred I feel for, first of all, the despicable old man lying his flabby lips off in his stupid red hat, and his nasty little idiot wifey, their moronic children, and their disgusting friends, and then, last, but maybe not the least, hatred for the entire Greedy Old Party, including the righty-right supremolds, and the utterly ignorant cabinet "officials." Doesn't it feel great to be bested by EVERYONE these days? This country is in such steep decline that we will be hitting the middle of the earth any day now. "Perfect test(ing,)" my hind foot. Sometimes I just read junk to get away from the tv. I am preferring listening to my ringing ears instead.