The Commentariat -- May 25, 2020
Afternoon Update:
The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Monday are here. The Washington Post's live updates for Monday are here.
Today's great vampire squid is the Trump administration, & the giant sucking sound you hear is the vampire squid hosing up your money & tossing it with all eight arms to the rich. ~~~
~~~ ** Jesse Drucker, et al., of the New York Times: "The Department of Health and Human Services has disbursed $72 billion in grants since April to hospitals and other health care providers through the bailout program, which was part of the CARES Act economic stimulus package. The department plans to eventually distribute more than $100 billion more. So far, the riches are flowing in large part to hospitals that had already built up deep financial reserves to help them withstand an economic storm. Smaller, poorer hospitals are receiving tiny amounts of federal aid by comparison. Twenty large recipients ... have received a total of more than $5 billion in recent weeks, according to an analysis of federal data by Good Jobs First, a research group. Those hospital chains were already sitting on more than $108 billion in cash, according to regulatory filings and the bond-rating firms S&P Global and Fitch.... After the CARES Act was passed in March, hospital industry lobbyists reached out to senior Health and Human Services officials to discuss how the money would be distributed.... The department then devised formulas to quickly dispense tens of billions of dollars to thousands of hospitals -- and those formulas favored large, wealthy institutions.... Hospitals that serve a greater proportion of wealthier, privately insured patients got twice as much relief as those focused on low-income patients with Medicaid or no coverage at all...."
Axios: "The World Health Organization is temporarily pausing tests of the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine as a coronavirus treatment in order to review safety concerns, the agency's director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesu said Monday.... The decision comes after a retrospective review published in The Lancet found that coronavirus patients who took hydroxychloroquine or its related drug chloroquine were more likely to die or develop an irregular heart rhythm that can lead to sudden cardiac death, compared to those who did nothing.... President Trump has touted the drug as a 'game-changer' and revealed last week that he had been taking it as a preventative against the coronavirus after consulting with the White House doctor."
Will Weissert of the AP: “Joe Biden made his first in-person appearance in more than two months on Monday as he marked Memorial Day by laying a wreath at a veterans park near his Delaware home.... Biden and his wife, Jill, laid a wreath of white flowers tied with a white bow, and bowed their heads in silence at the park. He saluted. 'Never forget the sacrifices that these men and women made,' he said after.... 'I feel great to be out here.' Biden told reporters, his words muffled through his black cloth mask. His visit to the park was unannounced and there was no crowd waiting for him. But Biden briefly greeted a county official and another man, both wearing face masks and standing a few feet away. Biden also yelled to another, larger group standing nearby, 'Thank you for your service.' His campaign says Biden has gone to the park for Memorial Day often in the past, though services were canceled Monday in the pandemic."
Darlene Superville of the AP: "... Donald Trump honored America's fallen service members on Monday as he commemorated Memorial Day in back-to-back appearances in the midst of the pandemic. 'Together we will vanquish the virus and America will rise from this crisis to new and even greater heights,' Trump said during a ceremony at Baltimore's historic Fort McHenry.... [At Arlington National Cemetery,] Trump, maskless as always in public, gave no remarks. He approached a wreath already in place, touching it and giving a salute. Trump then traveled to Baltimore, to the chagrin of the city's mayor, and noted that tens of thousands of service members and national guard personnel are currently 'on the front lines of our war against this terrible virus.... No obstacle, no challenge and no threat is a match for the sheer determination of the American people.'" Mrs. McC: Trump accidentally forgot to remember any of the 100,000 Americans who have died from Covid-19. Not even medical personnel & others who contracted the virus & died performing their essential jobs during the pandemic. On Memorial Day. ~~~
~~~ AND that's how Donald Trump spent his Memorial Day. So far. Plus this: ~~~
~~~ Alex Isenstadt & David Cohen of Politico: In a series of four tweets, "Donald Trump on Monday morning threatened to move August's Republican National Convention out of [Charlotte,] North Carolina unless there are guarantees the state will let everyone attend.... The tweet[s] amounted to a threat. The GOP convention is expected to draw tens of millions of dollars to North Carolina's economy, which has been devastated by the coronavirus. [Gov. Roy] Cooper [D] is facing reelection this fall, and his handling of the pandemic -- and his ability to bolster the state's economy -- is likely to be a key issue. Monday morning's tweets fit with the president's trend of attacking states governed by Democrats via Twitter over restrictions in those states and requests for federal assistance.... Mecklenberg County, which encompasses Charlotte, has emerged as a hot spot for the virus and the area has been reporting a growing number of cases." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Trump wrote that "@RoyCooperNC is still in Shutdown mood." Either he can't spell "mode" or he was thinking "MOOM."
"Much Very Good Information." Valerie Strauss of the Washington Post: "After a morning of golf, President Trump was up late Sunday night tweeting, this time about the reopening of America's schools.... At 10:41 p.m., Trump tweeted: 'Schools in our country should be opened ASAP. Much very good information now available. @SteveHiltonx @FoxNews'... Shortly before Trump tweeted, Steve Hilton of Fox News [was] urging schools to reopen 'schools now before you do even more needless damage.' He said wearing masks was 'fine' but compulsory temperature checks were 'unscientific nonsense' and 'totally pointless,' and social distancing rules were 'over-prescriptive' and 'arbitrary.'" A Daily Beast item is here. Mrs. McC: As far as I can tell from the Googles Hilton is not an epidemiologist or an educator or anything but a former British political hack. But much very good information.
AND contributor RAS came across this commentary on Trump's Memorial Weekend response to the nation's losses of life (see yesterday's Commentariat for context):
Via AZ Spot on Tumbler.
Simon Murphy of the Guardian: "Boris Johnson should sack Dominic Cummings over his 264-mile lockdown Durham trip, according to the chair of a leading doctors' association who has highlighted that medics are outraged at the actions of the prim minister's top aide. Dr Rinesh Parmar ... said Johnson's defence of his adviser risked undermining public trust and prompting people to use it as an excuse to break the rules themselves.... Downing Street is coming under increasing pressure over Cummings's behaviour, first revealed by a joint Guardian and Daily Mirror investigation, as the adviser now faces a possible police investigation.... One NHS doctor who works in a Covid-19 ward has pledged to resign by the end of the week if Cummings does not -- warning that others may follow suit."
~~~~~~~~~~~
New York Times Editors: There are "10 United States military installations across the South that were named for Confederate Army officers during the first half of the 20th century.... The namings reflect a federal embrace of white supremacy that found its most poisonous expression in military installations where black servicemen were deliberately placed under the command of white Southerners.... As the military opened more and more such bases across the country, the history notes, it 'actually spread federally sponsored segregation into areas where it had never before existed with the force of law.' In other words, the base names were part of a broad federal sellout to white supremacy that poisoned the whole of the United States.... Bases named for men who sought to destroy the Union in the name of racial injustice are an insult to the ideals servicemen and women are sworn to uphold -- and an embarrassing artifact of the time when the military itself embraced anti-American values. It is long past time for those bases to be renamed." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Ellen Berry of the New York Times on veterans who survived World War II but died at the Holyoke Soldiers' Home in Massachusetts. "With scarce protective gear and a shortage of staff, the facility's administrators combined wards of infected and uninfected men, and the virus spread quickly through a fragile population. Of the 210 veterans who were living in the facility in late March, 89 are now dead, 74 having tested positive for the virus. Almost three-quarters of the veterans inside were infected. It is one of the highest death tolls of any end-of-life facility in the country."
The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Sunday are here. The Washington Post's live updates for Sunday are here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Jennifer Medina & Robert Gebeloff of the New York Times: "The [coronavirus] devastation ... has been disproportionately felt in blue America, which helps explain why people on opposing sides of a partisan divide that has intensified in the past two decades are thinking about the virus differently. Democrats are far more likely to live in counties where the virus has ravaged the community, while Republicans are more likely to live in counties that have been relatively unscathed by the illness, though they are paying an economic price. Counties won by President Trump in 2016 have reported just 27 percent of the virus infections and 21 percent of the deaths -- even though 45 percent of Americans live in these communities...."~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: So if you're wondering why Trump doesn't care about Covid-19, other than assuring that he himself doesn't get it, it's because the virus is killing more Democrats than Republicans. I wish I were kidding.
Justin Wise of the Hill: "Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Stephen Hahn on Sunday warned that the U.S. has to yet to contain the novel coronavirus, as states gradually reopen and people flock to parks and beaches during Memorial Day weekend.... 'It is up to every individual to protect themselves and their community,' he [said]. 'Social distancing, hand washing and wearing masks protect us all.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Adam Kelsey of ABC News: "As Americans continue to emerge from quarantines and stay-at-home orders amid the coronavirus pandemic, ... Donald Trump declared this week that 'we are not closing our country' if the United States is hit by a second wave of infections. But in an interview on ABC's "This Week" Sunday..., [Dr. Deborah Birx] said it is 'difficult to tell' whether such a step may be necessary." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Eleanor Mueller of Politico: "Places of worship 'may not be safe for those with preexisting conditions' despite orders from ... Donald Trump that they be allowed to reopen immediately, White House coronavirus coordinator Deborah Birx said Sunday. 'Although it may be safe for some to go to churches and social distance, it may not be safe for those with pre-existing conditions," Birx told Chris Wallace on 'Fox News Sunday.' 'That's why in "phase one" and "phase two," we've asked for those individuals with vulnerabilities to really ensure that they are protected and sheltering in place while we open up America.'" Mrs. McC: Doctor Debbie is still trying to find a balance between reality & trumpity. It's not working very well. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Mariel Padilla of the New York Times: "Environmental health and rodent control programs may see an increase in service requests related to 'unusual or aggressive' rodent behavior, the agency said on its website on Thursday. 'The rats are not becoming aggressive toward people, but toward each other,' Bobby Corrigan, an urban rodentologist who has both a master's degree and Ph.D. in rodent pest management, said on Sunday. 'They're simply turning on each other.'" Akhilleus was surprised to discover this story was not about the Trump Family Vermin.
Alan Suderman of the AP: "Nearly two weeks ago the White House urged governors to ensure that every nursing home resident and staff member be tested for the coronavirus within 14 days. It's not going to happen. A review by The Associated Press found that at least half of the states are not going to meet White House's deadline and some aren't even bothering to try. Only a handful of states, including West Virginia and Rhode Island, have said they've already tested every nursing home resident."
Arkansas. Zack Budryk of the Hill: “Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) defended the steps his state has taken to reopen even as it saw its largest single-day increase in coronavirus cases Thursday. 'We have to manage the risk,' Hutchinson said on 'Fox News Sunday.' 'We take the virus very seriously, it's a risk, it causes death, but you can't cloister yourself at home, that is just contrary to the American spirit.'" Mrs. McC: Huh. Apparently a shrug qualified as a defense. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
North Carolina. Jordan Green in the Raw Story: "The husband of the woman who leads the Reopen NC movement says people should be willing to kill, if necessary, to resist the 'New World Order' and emergency orders imposed by state government to contain the coronavirus pandemic.... [Adam] Smith said in ... videos [he posted to Facebook] that he feels called by God and by his understanding of the Constitution to prepare for a violent showdown.... Ashley Smith, the cofounder of Reopen NC and the movement's most visible leader, is organizing simultaneous rallies in five cities -- Raleigh, Charlotte, Greensboro, Asheville and Wilmington -- on Monday to commemorate Memorial Day and protest Gov. Roy Cooper's [D] handling of the coronavirus response. The rallies have attracted considerable support from Republican politicians...." (Also linked yesterday.)
More "Unusual & Aggressive" Rodent Behavior: ~~~
~~~ Annie Karni of the New York Times: "On a weekend when the nation was bracing for the approaching toll of 100,000 lives lost to the coronavirus and honoring the many more people who have died in wars, President Trump amplified a series of demeaning personal attacks from a supporter with a history of racist and sexist online commentary. Mr. Trump reposted eight tweets from John K. Stahl, a conservative former political candidate, including attacks on Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Stacey Abrams.... Among the posts Mr. Trump retweeted on Saturday, one accused Ms. Pelosi of wearing dentures and drinking 'booze on the job.' Another mocked Ms. Abrams's appearance by saying that she 'visited every buffet restaurant in the State' during her unsuccessful campaign for Georgia governor, and that [Joe] Biden would be 'a racist if he doesn't pick her' as his running mate. Mr. Trump also retweeted another post from Mr. Stahl that referred to Mr. Biden as 'Malarkey the Racist' and called Hillary Clinton ... 'HRC the Skank.'" ~~~
~~~ Anne Gearan of the Washington Post: "As the death toll in the coronavirus pandemic neared 100,000 Americans this Memorial Day weekend, President Trump derided and insulted perceived enemies and promoted a baseless conspiracy theory, in between rounds of golf.... He made little mention of the sacrifice Americans honor on Memorial Day or the grim toll of the virus.... Although Trump on Friday had called for worshipers to return to church in person this holiday weekend, the president did not. He played golf on Sunday morning.... A few protesters gathered at the golf club's exit on Sunday, chanting 'Stop killing us!' and holding up the arresting image of the front page of Sunday's New York Times: Rows of names of the coronavirus dead. Trump had also played golf at the club Saturday, the first time he had done so since early in the pandemic. During that outing, Trump was photographed without a mask and standing closer to golfing partners than recommended by health officials." A Vox story is here. ~~~
~~~ Craig Pittman of the Washington Post: The 2001 accidental death of Lori Kaye Klausutis "has captured the attention of the country's most prominent purveyor of conspiracy theories -- the president of the United States -- who has without evidence speculated that she might have been murdered and that the case should be reopened. The reason for President Trump's fixation: At the time of her death, Klausutis was working for ... [Then Rep.] Joe Scarborough [R-Fla.] ... who today, as host of MSNBC's Morning Joe, is a fierce critic of Trump.... 'A lot of interest in this story about Psycho Joe Scarborough,' Trump tweeted Sunday, the latest in a string of recent tweets on the matter in which the president has unleashed a torrent of false allegations, mischaracterizations and baseless rumors.... As with many such eruptions from the White House, there will probably be little if any consequence beyond, in this case, the collateral suffering of a private family...." ~~~
~~~ Justine Coleman of the Hill: "Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) called on President Trump to stop promoting the 'completely unfounded conspiracy' theory regarding the death of an intern for MSNBC 'Morning Joe' anchor Joe Scarborough, a former Republican congressman from Florida. The president on Sunday morning urged his followers in a tweet to read an article from conservative website True Pundit, which claimed that evidence showed foul play in the death of Lori Klausutis, 28, in 2001. 'Just stop,' Kinzinger responded.... 'Stop spreading it, stop creating paranoia. It will destroy us.'... Scarborough's wife and co-host, Mika Brzezinski, tweeted last week that she was going to speak to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey about getting the president banned from the platform in an apparent reaction to Trump's tweets about her husband."
Lapdogs, Not Watchdogs. Lisa Rein & Tom Hamburger of the Washington Post: Five times in the past two months, "Trump, chafing from oversight he perceived as criticism, replaced a career investigator with an appointee considered more loyal to the president. In three of the cases, Trump has installed new leadership drawn from the senior ranks of the agencies the inspectors general oversee. For the first time since the system was created in the aftermath of the Watergate scandal, inspectors general find themselves under systematic attack from the president, putting independent oversight of federal spending and operations at risk as over $2 trillion in coronavirus relief spending courses through the government."
Back to Fox "News"? Thibault Larger of Politico: "Richard Grenell will step down as U.S. ambassador to Berlin in a few weeks, according to a report from German outlet Die Welt based on information from the German Press Agency.... Donald Trump in February called Grenell back to Washington to take over as head of U.S. intelligence on an interim basis, replacing former acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire. Grenell's term as Trump's top intelligence official is coming to an end. Last week, the U.S. Senate confirmed Texas Rep. John Ratcliffe to succeed Grenell in the job. In early March, the Daily Wire reported that Grenell had informed the White House that he did not wish to return to Berlin once his interim role in Washington was over." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Scott Stedman & Eric Levai of Forensic News: "According to documents exclusively obtained by Forensic News, a US government agency board member [David Zolet] working on a state-of-the-art communications network with Trump administration officials simultaneously served as a US Director for NSO Group, the infamous Israeli spyware company whose surveillance tools have been used by governments across the world to spy on dissidents and journalists.... NSO Group's tools include Pegasus, the most advanced mobile spyware in the world, as well as Phantom, a virtually identical tool built for the United States market.... [There has been] no available explanation why one of the directors of a foreign cyber-intelligence firm whose primary product is the most effective spyware tool in the world, would simultaneously be serving at a US government agency building a nationwide encrypted communication network, without disclosing that potential counterintelligence issue to the American public." --s ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: So is Zolet a spy for the U.S. or for Israel? For both, in a kind of economy-of-spies savings plan?
Elections 2020
Déjà vu All Over Again. Holly Otterbein of Politico: "Pennsylvania could determine the presidency. But it might not be clear for days who won the state on Nov. 3. Election officials throughout the critical battleground, which is implementing no-excuse mail-in voting for the first time ever amid a pandemic, say they are unlikely to finish counting those ballots the night of the general election.... Less than two weeks away from the state's [June 2] primary, some election officials in the state said they lack the needed funding and staff to handle the massive influx of mail-in ballots they've received for that race. They also said the fact that they legally can't start counting those ballots until the morning of Election Day is complicating matters. In addition to delaying a final tally, the chaos and confusion could sow distrust ahead of the general election and give fodder to those seeking to discredit its results." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: The odds are high that we won't know the presidential (and many other) election results the day after the election. And if you think the Florida vote count in 2000 was crooked (it was), we ain't seen nothin' like what we can expect from Trump & his team of rabid acolytes (Supremes included) during the time between the polls' closing & results being announced.
Senate Race. Alabama. Trump Projects Again. Justine Coleman of the Hill: "President Trump said in a new interview that Jeff Sessions wasn't 'mentally qualified' to be attorney general, and was a 'disaster' while in office." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Speaking of stuff named after famous confederates, it seems Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III is named after not one but two prominent traitors: confederate president Jefferson Davis & confederate general Pierre (P.G.T.) Beauregard. Luckily, Jeffbo has a vice of reason & rectitude to support him: ~~~
~~~ Rosemary Rossi of the Wrap: "Ann Coulter went on an early Sunday morning Twitter tear, calling ... Donald Trump 'the most disloyal actual retard that has ever set foot in the Oval Office.' The far-right media pundit and former Trump defender was triggered by the president's Friday tweet in which he called for Alabama voters to 'not trust Jeff Sessions' and instead put their support behind Sessions' Republican Senate seat challenger, football coach Tommy Tuberville.... And that set off Coulter, who called Trump a 'moron,' 'retard' and 'lout,' who was incapable of 'pretending to be' a 'decent, compassionate human being.'"
Florida. Amy Gardner of the Washington Post: "A federal judge has gutted a Florida state law requiring felons to pay all court fines and fees before they can register to vote, clearing the way for thousands of Floridians to register in time for the November presidential election. Republican lawmakers and Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) pushed the measure after Florida voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment in 2018 to expand voting rights to felons who have completed 'all terms of their sentence including probation and parole.'... The law, critics said, had made it virtually impossible for most felons to register, either because of an inability to pay or because the state offered no way for them to know what they owed or whether they had already paid. U.S. District Judge Robert L. Hinkle agreed, likening the restrictive legislation to a tax and concluding that the state had not created a system that would allow felons to identify their financial obligations."
Way Beyond the Beltway
Hong Kong/China. Zen Soo of the AP: "Hong Kong police fired tear gas and a water cannon at protesters in a popular shopping district Sunday, as thousands took to the streets to march against China's move to impose national security legislation on the city. Pro-democracy supporters have sharply criticized a proposal, set to be approved by China's rubber-stamp parliament this week, that would ban secessionist and subversive activity, as well as foreign interference, in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory. The pro-democracy camp says the proposal goes against the 'one country, two systems' framework that promises Hong Kong freedoms not found in mainland China." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Jacob Knutson of Axios: "White House national security adviser Robert O'Brien said on NBC's 'Meet the Press' Sunday that the U.S. government will likely impose economic sanctions on Hong Kong and China if Beijing moves ahead with a proposed national security law for Hong Kong that could constrain the special region's autonomy." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Anna Fifield of the Washington Post: "The United States should abandon its 'wishful thinking about changing China' and stop pushing the two countries 'to the brink of a new Cold War,' Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Sunday, trying to position Beijing as the grown-up in an increasingly fractious relationship.As tensions between the world's two largest economies mount by the day, Wang used a news conference during the annual piece of political theater known as the National People's Congress to send a direct message to Washington.... In a nod toward President Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who have repeatedly suggested that the ruling Chinese Communist Party is a threat to the world, Wang said American politicians 'are taking China-U.S. relations hostage and pushing our two countries to the brink of a new Cold War.'"
Israel. David Halbfinger of the New York Times: "The long-awaited opening of proceedings in the matter of the State of Israel v. Benjamin Netanyahu took the prime minister and the country into uncharted and dangerous territory. Few sitting national leaders since Charles I of England have stood trial on criminal charges brought over their official acts. Mr. Netanyahu, who broke with tradition by not resigning to defend himself, is Israel's first. He is charged with bribery, breach of trust and fraud, accused of performing official favors worth a great deal to wealthy businessmen in exchange for two kinds of gifts. The material ones, including expensive cigars and Champagne, ran to hundreds of thousands of dollars in value, prosecutors said. The less-tangible ones -- control over how he was covered by two leading news outlets -- were, to a polarizing and image-conscious politician, priceless. The trial is expected to last a year or more, with the first witnesses not expected to testify for months."
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Reader Comments (13)
I don't think there is anything a civilized person can say about the monster in the White House. He soils the very air he breathes. These reports make me sick to my stomach at the things he says about people. He is a disgusting pig. Sorry, unkind to pigs...
Dr. Debbie needs to be throttled. She is a pretzel, trying to twist anything she says so it turns into something sounding good about trumpist evil deeds or words We are really in a perfect storm, where we could have gotten through all of this in one piece, had we had the proper personnel to handle it. Instead, because we have a government, including most of the agencies we used to trust at least a little, full of addicted puppets dancing to the tune of a completely inept, corrupt "monarch", the slaves tasked with running the country are no longer any brighter or highly advanced than the average second grader, and dumber and more ugly than most.
Is it even possible to hate these people more? I don't think so.
I noticed a headline in The NY Times about a CDC Report saying that “aggressive rats“ may increase during the current pandemic. Ya think? You mean rats like Trump, Javanka, Pompouseo, McConnell, et al.? And maybe more? Too much winning.
Thanks.
I occasionally compare Trump to the angry guy at the end of the bar shouting at the TV, but insulting a former First Lady, senator, Secretary of State, and winner of the popular vote in the last presidential election by calling her a skank puts him below that angry guy who wouldn’t be above saying such things, but probably only after five or six drinks (unless he was a Trump voter...). What’s Trump’s excuse?
Career asshole.
The WAPO piece above on the newly appoointed and conflicted inspectors general reminds me of the Pretender's “I’ll be the oversight,” remark, certainly the funniest among the many funny things he’s said in the last four years.
The man is such a card.
Perhaps his interminable pandemic pressers, complete with absurdist medical advice delivered with a straight face, were intended as rehearsals for a post-presidential career in stand-up.
So according to the "people" news of the day we have, besides the usual "rodent in the White House" other similar creatures that have been outed as "ratting" on the principles of morality, honesty, and just plain decency. Perhaps, they, too, are hungry, not for food, but for their place, their position, in that political dark ally of good and plenty.
First is our new press secretary, the lovely Kayleigh with the flowing blond tresses, who dared to question the religious fervor of the reporters to whom she was busy dishing out the daily palaver. How people like her manage to present in robotic fashion the desires of a failed and corrupt administration is an amazing feat and if you can stand it, such fun to watch.
Second is John Stahl who evidently is infested with the type of viral pathogen that smacks of filth and fury, spreading his evil smack-downs in tweets and vitriolic screeds. I bet my buffalo nickel this guy hates women––a lot!
Third is that always smiling Asa Hutchinson who I heard telling Judy Woodruff during an interview several weeks ago how he felt perfectly comfortable opening up his state, Arkansas, since they had a low number of deaths and viral cases. But, said Judy, aren't you fearful of an upsurge once you open up? Shucks, no, was the reply–-he was sure luck would be by his side if people abided by the guidelines. Judy, who has gotten a wee bit more aggressive lately, pushed him further saying how can people keep a distance in restaurants, bars, churches, etc. Never you fear, says Asa, still smiling, "I'm confident we'll be fine." We now learn how "fine" that went––cases in Ark. climbing every day.
Meanwhile the golf game continues unhindered by deaths, by disease, by floods, and soon the courses will be covered with black pellets from all those rodents who are searching for something to sustain them for just awhile longer. Shit happens, even on those grassy greens.
@PD Pepe: The one thing I liked about Asa's latest "yeah, people will die" "justification" is that he used the word "cloister" to describe what was horrible about stay-at-home orders. I found "cloister" kind of helpful. When you think monks & nuns did/do it for decades -- sometimes with the added burden of silence -- & many of them are very happy to do so, it made a few more months at home seem all the more bearable. I realize sheltering-in-place is much, much harder for most younger people than it is for me, but the idea that I am cloistering myself is more appealing than the sneaking suspicion I am hunkering down in catatonic fear! My little stone cottage has become a Nunnery of One.
Bea,
Though not surprised, I 'm pleased to hear you are content in your nunnery.
If I remember correctly, your predecessor The Constant Weader prepared for the role by casting herself as an acerbic Sister from time to time. I kinda miss her.
And:
https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/25/politics/trump-threatens-charlotte-republican-convention/index.html
If not North Carolina, how about Guantanamo? Hate to see that major investment go to waste.
While out and about over the weekend buying supplies for the business, saw a lot of yard signs "We luv our guv", referring to
Gretchen, or as trump says "that woman from Michigan."
If I were a tweeter I would have sent him a picture.
At least she's not out golfing on the taxpayers dime. She's in
Lansing looking out for the people of Michigan.
This is the perfect image of Trump's disdain for the American people
The Traitor in Chief, his Party of Traitors, and Traitor TV are all salting the grounds of democracy. The fix is in, if he succeeds, with the help of Russians, hackers, traitors, quacks, the ultra-rich, and the courts packed with unqualified Trump lackeys, in stealing the upcoming election, it will be full speed ahead to near complete authoritarianism, a true dictatorship. If he loses, they all have their marching orders. Election results will be disqualified. The R kangaroo Court will install him as de facto king. The slightest protests will be met with martial law and chaos.
This is the end result of the Powell Memo. An idea for increased organization and control has, in the hands of such as Dubya, Cheney, McConnell, the Federalists, R hacks, sleazy apparatchiks, and the Trump Crime Family, become a blueprint for fascism, authoritarian rule, and the end of democracy.
We shouldn’t forget what this country once meant and how the dead we honor on this Memorial Day gave their lives, not so Trump could piss on their graves, but to defend the American ideal and to keep a Fascist maniac like Trump out of power.
The Republican Party had other ideas. And they’re getting ready for the final act of treason, come November. After that it won’t be treason anymore. The United States will have ceased to exist.
Ann Colter: a Kardashian of news media attention. And just as shallow as the Orange Menace she criticizes. I liked this one more: https://www.yahoo.com/huffpost/seattle-coronavirus-sex-workers-hand-sanitizer-factory-120000778.html. Most people, do most of the right things most of the time, IMHO. That includes sex workers. Perhaps, the caveat to that is when there exists a modicum of peer pressure people will do the right thing. Colter, Hutchinson, and the 32 year old press secretary have all risen to the top by flauting conventions of peer pressure and consequences. It would be a wonderful day when there was a national clearinghouse database of who gives mean, racists money and power. All three of those disgusting people know how to leverage a mile when given an inch. The wonder is that as a society we put up with behavior from these adults we would never tolerate from a tottler.
As Akhilleus says, it's a good day to remember what we had and what we're on the edge of losing.
Would add that the Powell memo originated in corporate America's desire to take back the country from all those bothersome little people who were taking too much of the nation's wealth for themselves; and since they were using the levers of democracy to do that, democracy had to go.
A small price to pay.
Democrats should be piling $$$ resources into Florida to sign up the million+ ex-felons that just got the green light to be able to vote. This is literally a potential bombshell "election tipping moment".
We need an army of GOTV drives in Florida starting next week.
Online, inline, offline, any f#cking which way.
Get your shit together Florida Dems!