;)
The Commentariat -- March 10, 2020
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "The House has a right to see secret grand-jury evidence gathered in the Russia investigation, an appeals court ruled on Tuesday in a victory for Congress's power to gather information for an impeachment inquiry. In a 2-to-1 decision, a panel on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld a lower-court ruling that the House had a right to gain access to the information, which was gathered by the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, using a grand jury and blacked out in the report on his investigation released last year. The Trump administration had appealed that ruling." ~~~
~~~ Politico's story, by Josh Gerstein & Kyle Cheney, is here. "Appeals from the Justice Department are all but certain, and the case could still face Supreme Court review."
Erica Werner, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump's meeting with Senate Republicans on Tuesday ended without any concrete plan for crafting an economic package that might address the turmoil caused by the coronavirus epidemic, sparking fears that policy makers are far apart on how to deal with growing concerns that the U.S. could enter a recession. At the meeting, Trump discussed his proposal to extend a temporary payroll tax cut for a period of months. Some lawmakers also discussed the idea of targeted infrastructure spending. Both ideas could be used to try and lood the economy with more cash, but there was not a consensus over how to proceed.... Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has privately told several allies in recent days he personally opposes the payroll tax cut idea Trump has endorsed.... And House Democrats are busily assembling their own package.... House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) have also been dismissive of the payroll tax cut idea, saying they were focused on addressing the coronavirus specifically. Top House Democrats said Tuesday they planned to move as soon as this week on a relief package that narrowly targeted individuals and families affected by the coronavirus outbreak. The measures floated by Pelosi and other leaders included an expansion of unemployment insurance, food stamps and other public assistance programs as well as allowing for greater sick and family leave."
Alex Isenstadt of Politico: "With Biden emerging as the likely Democratic nominee, Trump has launched a concerted, near-daily campaign to raise doubts about the 77-year-old's mental acuity. The president has been bolstered by a conservative echo chamber flooding social media with video clips highlighting Biden's gaffes. The effort provides a window into how Trump -- who's been dogged by questions about his own mental fitness -- regularly picks apart his political opponents. He has an unmatched ability to zero in on his foe'’s biggest vulnerability or insecurity, and through sheer repetition bake it into the public consciousness. Unfortunately for Biden, his performance on the campaign trail has given Trump plenty to work with."
Unfuckingbelievable. Monique Madan of the Miami Herald: "Immigration court staff nationwide were ordered by the Trump administration to take down all coronavirus posters from courtrooms and waiting areas. The Executive Office for Immigration Review, which falls under the Department of Justice, told all judges and staff members in an email Monday that all coronavirus posters, which explain in English and Spanish how to prevent catching and spreading the virus, had to be removed immediately.... 'Per our leadership, the CDC flyer is not authorized for posting in the immigration courts. If you see one (attached), please remove it....' However on Tuesday morning -- just four hours after the Miami Herald published this story -- a Department of Justice spokesman contacted the Herald to say that the 'the signs shouldn't have been removed. It's now being rectified.'"
Dawn Kopecki, et al., of CNBC: "... a top CDC official ... Monday recommend[ed] that people over 60 and anyone with chronic medical conditions buckle down for a lengthy stay home. 'This virus is capable of spreading easily and sustainably from person to person ... and there's essentially no immunity against this virus in the population,' Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, told reporters on a conference call, citing World Health Organization data that studied more than 70,000 cases in China.... Most people won't develop serious symptoms, but 15% to 20% of the people who are exposed to the virus get severely sick, she said.... The odds of developing COVID-19 increase with age, starting at age 60. It's especially lethal for people over 80.... The CDC is recommending people with underlying conditions or who are over 60 to stock up on medications, household items and groceries to stay at home 'for a period of time,' she said." Emphasis added.
Fred Imbert, et al., of CNBC: "Stocks rallied on Tuesday as Wall Street clawed back some of the massive losses suffered in the previous session. Bets on government intervention to stem the economic downturn from the coronavirus lifted equities. The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded 600 points higher, or 2.6%. The S&P 500 climbed 2.4% while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 2.6%." This is an update of a story linked below.
New York Times live market updates: "Buyers moved back into the markets on Tuesday, a day after the coronavirus and a battle among the world's biggest oil producers shook the global financial scene. On Wall Street, the S&P 500 rose more than 2 percent, rebounding from its steepest decline in more than a decade. European stocks also climbed, with many indexes more than 2 percent higher and Asian markets rose as well. Stocks were somewhat buoyed after President Trump on Monday night said he would work with Congress on measures to help the economy amid signs of a worsening outbreak in the United States, including a potential payroll tax cut." ~~~
~~~ Yes, but what if Trump made an empty promise about taking substantive measures to mitigate the economic impact of the virus? ~~~
~~~ Eamon Javers & Mike Calia of CNBC: “The White House is not ready to roll out specific economic proposals in its response to the widening impact of the coronavirus outbreak, administration officials told CNBC. The revelation comes as U.S. stock futures pointed toward a sharp rebound at the open Tuesday following the Dow's 2,013-point drop Monday and ... Donald Trump's suggestion that a payroll tax cut and other stimulus measures may be in the works to mitigate economic damage from the virus' spread. Trump has also invited Wall Street executives to meet at the White House on Wednesday to discuss the response. However, inside the administration, some officials were stunned by Trump's claim Monday that he would hold a press conference Tuesday to announce an economic plan. 'That was news to everyone on the inside,' one official said. The actual details of any plan remain up in the air. 'It's not there right now,' an official said.... The president's schedule for Tuesday includes a 5:30 p.m. ET media briefing for his coronavirus task force."
Philip Rucker, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump confronted one of the most perilous days of his presidency Monday by first erupting in a barrage of commentary that failed to calm the cratering financial markets, struggling to inspire confidence that his administration could stop the spread of the novel coronavirus. But by the time the sun set in Washington, Trump sounded momentarily chastened by the turbulence and previewed a raft of emergency measures to shore up the economy. 'We have a very strong economy,' the president told reporters, 'but this blindsided the world.'... Trump's overall handling of the converging crises -- while spreading misinformation and blaming others -- has unsettled many of his Republican allies on Capitol Hill and even inside the White House, where some aides acknowledged that the president is compounding problems with his grievances and conspiratorial mind-set."
Quinta Jurecic & Benjamin Wittes of Lawfare in the Atlantic: "Throughout the many disasters that have befallen the Trump administration, one theme has remained a constant: malevolence tempered by incompetence.... Now, however, the disease known as COVID-19 has upended this theme altogether. As the former Justice Department official Carrie Cordero declared on Twitter: 'To invert a @benjaminwittes formulation, the Trump administration #COVID19 response might be characterized as incompetence exacerbated by malevolence.'... The president can't pretend the virus does not exist. He can't suppress news of it, unlike the Chinese Communist Party [re: the severity of the coronavirus outbreak] or the Soviet government in 1986 [on Chernobyl]. But he can berate those who report on it honestly. He can deny its severity. He can lie about it -- all until the moment at which he can't anymore, the moment at which the malevolence no longer covers up the incompetence but amplifies it, at great human cost."
~~~~~~~~~~~
Six States Are Holding Democratic Presidential Primaries Today. Domenico Montenaro of NPR: "What we're calling 'Big Tuesday' offers 352 delegates among six states. That's about a quarter of the delegates that were at stake on Super Tuesday. Michigan is the biggest prize, with 125 delegates, followed by Washington (89), Missouri (68), Mississippi (36), Idaho (20) and North Dakota (14). Michigan, Washington and Missouri -- and their combined 282 delegates — make up 80% of the delegates at stake Tuesday." The article has brief descriptions of factors in each state and voting hours.
Todd Spangler of the Detroit Free Press: "Former Vice President Joe Biden, riding a wave of momentum from& primaries in South Carolina and Super Tuesday states, comes into Tuesday's Michigan primary with a 24-point lead over Sen. Bernie Sanders in a new Free Press poll. If Biden's 51%-27% lead in the poll, done by EPIC-MRA for the Free Press and its media partners, holds, it would guarantee him a signature victory in Michigan -- a battleground state that helped ... Donald Trump win the White House four years ago. It could also starve Sanders' formerly front-running campaign of delegates needed for the nomination and call into question how long his effort can remain viable." Mrs. McC: Looks like the primary race will be officially over by tomorrow night. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
But Can He Do Standup? Pete Buttigieg is hosting "Jimmy Kimmel Live" Thursday night. (Link is to a Vulture item; open in private window). (Also linked yesterday.)
Everything Is Going Very Smoothly. Brian Schwartz of CNBC: "... Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence sought to reassure top Republican donors over the weekend that they have everything under control when it comes to the coronavirus outbreak. Trump, who attended a Republican National Committee donor retreat at his private resort at Mar-a-Lago in Florida, told financiers Friday that his administration is making public health and safety a No. 1 priority, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter." ~~~
~~~ Alex Isenstadt of Politico: "First lady Melania Trump has cancelled a California fundraiser she was to hold next week, the White House confirmed. White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said in a text message that the first lady would not be holding a previously scheduled March 18 fundraiser in Beverly Hills. She said the decision was due to a 'scheduling conflict.' The move comes amid mounting concerns about the coronavirus. Los Angeles County, where the event was to be held, has declared a state of emergency over the outbreak." ~~~
~~~ Travis Gettys of the Raw Story: Donald Trump's "re-election campaign canceled a 'Women for Trump' bus tour featuring his daughter-in-law [Lara Trump] and two top surrogates over concerns about coronavirus exposure related to the Conservative Political Action Conference. Trump has insisted he won't cancel his large campaign rallies, but none are currently scheduled, for the first time in months." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: According to the NYT report by Peter Baker & others, linked below, the White House cited "scheduling conflicts" as the reason for cancelling the bus tour & issued a non-denial denial when numerous reports cited coronavirus as the cause. So t's pretty fair to translate "scheduling conflict" as "prudent fear of contracting coronavirus, but we keep that secret to please the Dear Leader."
Danny Hakim & Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "President Trump's campaign manager and a circle of allies have seized control of the Republican Party's voter data and fund-raising apparatus, using a network of private businesses whose operations and ownership are cloaked in secrecy, largely exempt from federal disclosure. Working under the aegis of Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law, with the cooperation of Trump appointees at the Republican National Committee, the operatives have consolidated power -- and made money -- in a way not possible in an earlier, more transparent analog era.... By commanding the party's repository of voter data and creating a powerful pipeline for small donations, the Trump campaign and key party officials have made it increasingly difficult for Republicans to mount modern, digital campaigns without the president's support." ~~~
~~~ The Trump Campaign Is a Scam, Ctd. Peter Stone of the Guardian: "According to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics (CRP), Trump-allied political committees and the Republican party have spent a whopping $18.1m at Trump properties since he launched his 2016 campaign. Republican candidates, elected officials and Pacs have ponied up another $1.2m in the same period. Donald J Trump for President leads the pack, having spent a total of $14.5m since he began his 2016 campaign, with the Republican National Committee in second place at $1.8m and Trump Victory ranking third at $1.6m...." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Trump's 2016 campaign was a scam which put money in Trump's pocket, but the re-election campaign -- as the Times & Guardian stories make clear -- is a mega-scam. Part of the rubes' contribution to Trump's re-election campaign are really just contributions to his & some of his friends' personal fortunes. It's Trump University on steroids.
"The GOP's Hunterghazi Probe Is about to Get Much Worse. Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: "By shocking coincidence, Senate Republicans are set to take a huge step forward with their efforts to investigate Hunter Biden -- at exactly the moment when Joe Biden is likely to cement his hold on the Democratic nomination.... On Wednesday, the Senate Homeland Security Committee will vote to subpoena someone Republicans view as a crucial witness against Hunter Biden: Andrii Telizhenko, a political consultant who represented Burisma in the United States.... Telizhenko has long played an active role in spreading the debunked conspiracy theory that Ukraine colluded with Democrats in 2016. Our intelligence services have told senators that this is central to Russian disinformation efforts. So Homeland Security Committee Democrats want all senators on the committee to get a classified briefing from the intelligence community on Telizhenko -- to demonstrate that intelligence officials don't view him as credible." GOP senators are not interested in that.
Senate Race. Zack Budryk of the Hill: "Montana Gov. Steve Bullock (D) formally announced his 2020 Senate run on Monday, tweeting his first campaign ad.... The governor, who will challenge Sen. Steve Daines (R), announced his run on the filing deadline." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Yun Li & Silvia Amaro of CNBC: "Stock futures rallied back early Tuesday morning after the S&P 500′s worst day since the financial crisis. Around 6:15 a.m. ET Tuesday, futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average indicated an opening surge of 1,100 points on Tuesday. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq-100 futures also pointed to a sharply higher open for the two indexes on Tuesday. Stock futures erased big losses in after-hours trading Monday and turned positive after ... Donald Trump floated the idea of 'a payroll tax cut or relief' to offset the negative impact from the coronavirus."
Dow's Biggest One-Day Drop Ever. New York Times liveblog of market developments: "It was Wall Street's worst day in more than a decade: Stocks plunged on Monday as a panic that began in the oil market made its way through the global financial system, adding to concerns from already rattled investors about the state of the global economy. The S&P 500, already down 12 percent from its late February high, fell more than 7 percent on Monday. The sudden downdraft meant that trading in the United States was automatically halted early in the day -- a rare occurrence meant to prevent stocks from crashing --; but it resumed after a 15-minute delay. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 2,000 points." (An earlier version of this was linked yesterday.) The CNBC story is here.
Brian Sullivan of CNBC: "Vladimir Putin just sparked what could end up being one of the ugliest oil price wars in modern history, and American oil and gas companies may be the victims. This weekend Saudi Arabia dropped the oil bomb. It not only cut its forward crude price to Chinese customers by as much as $6 or $7 per barrel, but is also reportedly looking to raise its daily crude output by as many as 2 million barrels per day.... OPEC members laid out a proposal to further cut oil output quotas by as much as 1.5 million barrels per day..., but non-OPEC member Russia said 'nyet,' effectively killing it.... It was only three weeks ago that the Trump administration imposed sanctions on Russian oil giant Rosneft for transporting Venezuelan oil.... Connect the dots. Putin reacting to Trump. The Saudis, led by Energy Minister and son of the king Abdulaziz bin Salman, reacting to Putin. And American oil and gas workers and investors are caught in the middle of this epic ego battle. It couldn't occur at a worse time."
Saudi Arabia and Russia are arguing over the price and flow of oil. That, and the Fake News, is the reason for the market drop! -- Donald Trump, in a tweet Monday morning
Shorter Donald: What pandemic? -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie
Jeff Stein & Erica Werner of the Washington Post: "White House advisers on Monday presented President Trump with a list of policy changes they hope could stem the economic fallout of the coronavirus, including paid sick leave and emergency help for small businesses, according to two senior administration officials. The meeting came on a day when the Dow Jones industrial average fell more than 2,000 points and pressure rapidly builds on federal policymakers to address the growing economic impact of the outbreak. It was also not immediately clear if Trump had decided to act on any of the potential policy options.... The discussions have accelerated as congressional leaders said they are considering their own legislative remedies to address the economic turmoil. Congressional Democrats are discussing how to propose paid sick leave as part of new legislation, and a key Senate Republican is looking at changes to tax policy that could seek to address the heightened fears." An NBC News story is here.
Kevin Liptak of CNN: "Fissures between the White House and national health agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, have begun to expand as the coronavirus pandemic spreads to more American states, creating dissonance between ... Donald Trump and the professionals tasked with containing the virus further. The two sides have grown increasingly distrustful of one another, people inside both the CDC and the White House say, as officials on each side question decisions that either appear designed to downplay the growing crisis or to generate further concern.... While health officials have sought to present a realistic and cautious picture of the national situation, Trump and his political allies are hoping to relay an altogether different message: that the virus is contained, Americans face little risk, and life should proceed as normal." (Also linked yesterday.)
Tom Sykes of the Daily Beast: "Donald Trump hasn't been tested for the coronavirus, the White House said late Monday. The admission came hours after the similarly untested Vice President Mike Pence, who is leading the administration's coronavirus task force, said in a press briefing that he had no idea if Trump had been tested or not."
Justine Coleman of the Hill: "Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) returned to Congress on Monday, despite potentially being exposed to the coronavirus, saying he was advised by a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) physician that going into self-quarantine isn't necessary. Gohmert said a House physician informed him that he could have been exposed to the virus at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), in a Twitter statement posted Monday. The Texas representative said he was then contacted by a CDC physician who said he could go back to Washington." ~~~
~~~ Justin Wise of the Hill: "Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), President Trump's newest acting chief of staff, will self-quarantine at his home after learning that he may have come into contact with a person who later tested positive for the novel coronavirus, his office said. 'Out of an abundance of caution, Meadows received testing which came back negative,' Meadows spokesperson Ben Williamson said. 'While he's experiencing zero symptoms, under doctors' standard precautionary recommendations, he'll remain at home until the 14 day period expires this Wednesday.'" ~~~
~~~ Peter Baker, et al., of the New York Times: "Two Republican members of Congress who have spent time with President Trump in the last few days ... put themselves into self-quarantine on Monday because of concern over exposure to coronavirus. Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida, who attended a party with Mr. Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate over the weekend and traveled with him from Florida to the capital on Monday afternoon, announced an hour after getting off the president's plane that he would remain out of contact with other people for two weeks.... Shortly after takeoff, Mr. Gaetz learned that he had been in touch with an infected person at the Conservative Political Action Conference late last month, according to two people informed about the situation. He then essentially quarantined himself, sitting in a section of the plane alone.... Representative Doug Collins, Republican of Georgia, who toured the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta with Mr. Trump on Friday, likewise went into isolation on Monday after being told by the C.D.C. that it had found a photograph of him with the infected person at the conservative conference. Mr. Collins was on the tarmac when Mr. Trump landed in Atlanta on Friday and shook the president's hand before joining him on the tour of the C.D.C." ~~~
~~~ New Lede: "President Trump moved on Monday to curb widening fear over the spread of the coronavirus by announcing that he would work with Congress to bolster the economy through tax cuts and other measures.... Mr. Trump said he would meet on Tuesday with congressional leaders to discuss a 'very substantial' payroll tax cut and legislation intended to protect hourly wage earners who may have to miss work because of the spread of the virus. He said he would also discuss expanding loans by the Small Business Administration." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Wearing that gas mask for the House vote on coronavirus funding is looking less & less funny, isn't it, Matt? ~~~
~~~ Ryan Bort of Rolling Stone: "... Gaetz's office claimed the congressman donned the gas mask as a sincere precautionary measure rather than as a stunt to get headlines, writing that he was simply 'demonstrating his concern.'... The idea that Gaetz brought out a mask out of a genuine concern about COVID-19 spreading through Congress is hard to believe, not only because of his penchant for publicity stunts and the ludicrousness of wearing a freaking gas mask on the House floor, but also because of an interview with Vanity Fair conducted at CPAC in which Gaetz joked about coronavirus. He even lamented how it was taking his name out of the news and that his office might need to find a way to get him infected[.]" ~~~
~~~ Nancy Cook of Politico: "During a rare appearance at the White House briefing room podium on Monday night, Trump said he intended to ask lawmakers for a 'big number' to give Americans relief.... Yet over the course of the day, top Republican senators indicated that they thought it was too early for these types of measures and some White House aides remained cool to the idea." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: It's worth noting that after Trump gave a short spiel about the good job he'd done & how he would work with Congress to come up with a "big number" of tax cuts & SBA loans, he turned the podium over to mike pence and left the room.
Matt Novak of Gizmodo: "When the U.S. House passed an emergency $8.3 billion spending bill to battle the coronavirus epidemic last week, Republican Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona questioned the tremendous cost. But Gosar announced last night that he and his staff are going into self-quarantine after it was revealed that Gosar recently spent an extended period of time at last month's Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) with someone who's now hospitalized with COVID-19." Mrs. McC: Gosar is such a jerk, in 2018 six of his siblings cut an ad opposing his re-election & endorsing his Democratic opponent. ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Also probably worth noting: the right-wing event where these Congressmen came in contact with someone infected with the Covid-19 is the same right-wing event at which Mick Mulvaney, our new special envoy to Northern Ireland, said that the intent of the "exaggerated" media coverage of the virus was the result of the fake news' hope that they would "will bring down the president, that's what this is all about." Great plot, media! It seems to be working. ~~~
~~~ Confederates Surprised to Discover Their Leaders Don't Care about Them. Ben Schreckinger of Politico: "A CPAC attendee infected with coronavirus attended multiple days of the conference on a gold-level VIP ticket as well as a Friday night Shabbat dinner associated with the event, according to people familiar with the situation. The infected attendee was a CPAC regular who made a hobby of meeting high-profile conference speakers and taking photographs with them. His gold-level ticket gave him access to a private lounge directly outside the green room for speakers on the conference's main stage. As of early Monday evening, event organizers have contacted 'just over a dozen' people who they have identified as having direct contact with the infected attendee, according to Ian Walters, spokesman for the American Conservative Union, which organizes the annual Conservative Political Action Conference. The ACU's handling of the case has led to grumbling from some conferencegoers, who have complained of a two-tiered system: VIPs have been notified directly even to be told they did not interact with the infected man, while ordinary rank-and-file attendees have by and large been left to wonder, receiving only vaguer information in mass emails."
John Walcott of Time: "An annual intelligence report that has been postponed without explanation by ... Donald Trump's administration warns that the U.S. remains unprepared for a global pandemic, two senior government officials who have reviewed a draft of the report tell Time. The office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) was scheduled to deliver the Worldwide Threat Assessment to the House Intelligence Committee on Feb. 12 and the hearing has not been rescheduled, according to staffers and members of the House and Senate intelligence committees.... The final draft of the report remains classified but the two officials who have read it say it contains warnings similar to those in the last installment, which was published on January 29, 2019. The 2019 report warns on page 29 that, 'The United States will remain vulnerable to the next flu pandemic or large-scale outbreak of a contagious disease that could lead to massive rates of death and disability, severely affect the world economy, strain international resources, and increase calls on the United States for support.'"
Kylie Atwood, et al., of CNN: "The US aviation industry and the Trump administration are in a pitched battle over the response to the coronavirus pandemic, three sources familiar with recent calls between officials from several government agencies and US airlines have told CNN. In a series of contentious conversations, agency officials and aviation executives have clashed over the administration's demand that airlines collect new kinds of data from passengers to help officials track potential virus carriers. Airlines say they can't meet that demand right away -- a claim some administration officials say they don't believe...."
Paul Krugman: "... like so much of what is happening in America right now, the coronavirus crisis isn't just about Trump. His intellectual and emotional inadequacy, his combination of megalomania and insecurity, are certainly contributing to the problem; has there ever been a president so obviously not up to the job? But in refusing to face uncomfortable facts, in attributing all bad news to sinister conspiracies, he's actually just being a normal man of his faction. In 2020 we're relearning the lessons of 2008 -- namely, that America's right-wingers can't handle the truth."
A few things Preet Bharara (& others) find slightly wanting in Donald Trump. Mrs. McC: Clean up the list a bit & make it about a third of the ad buy for the Democratic nominee (Joe Biden). Is James Earl Jones still available for voiceovers? Thanks to PD Pepe for the link. (Also linked yesterday.)
AND Nero has a twitter account:
Who knows what this means, but it sounds good to me! https://t.co/rQVA4ER0PV
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 8, 2020
~~~ As Akhilleus mentioned in yesterday's Comments, Trump hasn't let Covfefe-19 interfere with his golf game: ~~~
~~~ Daniel Politi of Slate: "Around the world, leaders and health authorities were struggling to try to get a handle on the rapidly spreading coronavirus. But in the United States..., Donald Trump seems to have thought it would be a great time to hit the links with professional baseball players. On Sunday, the commander in chief played golf with current and former Washington Nationals players at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach. The White House doesn't normally release details about the president's golf outings, but on Sunday, pitcher Patrick Corbin posted a series of photos on his Instagram of the game with the president." Maybe a golf club is the new fiddle bow. (Also linked yesterday.)
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Reader Comments (22)
@Hat, thanks for your kind words yesterday. It's going on six years of my wife being declared cancer-free which is good news. However, she may beg to differ with you about her degree of luckiness.
Also, yesterday I mentioned about concern for the virus in places such as Skid Row. It appears I'm not alone. Here's a piece from The Guardian about this very subject.
Things are getting closer to home. My sister-in-law is self-quarantining as a result of a conference held in Boston late-Feb.
@Unwashed
Likewise. Our local community college closed its doors today for an undetermined stretch.
It will begin remote learning classes later this week, so some form of schooling will continue. Hands-on classes, though, will be hard hit and our small group of rabble rousers will not have access to the campus radio studio to record new segments of our proudly left wing radio show.
From what I understand we can post the recorded shows remotely but we can't create them off-site. Might have to dip into the files for golden oldies before Covfefe-19 has run its course. I've heard 18 months, and I don't think we have than much gold.
I mention the radio thing (very small potatoes indeed) as an example of what must be thousands of enterprises and activities that most of us (I, anyway) don't know or think about now coming to a sudden halt. There's no money directly involved in what we do, but I'm guessing our volunteer enterprise is the exception to a vast number of enterprises and activities that operate out of sight and mind that nonetheless contribute more directly to the overall economy with their production and distribution of dollars and cents.
On Krugman: Sent this last night before going to bed.
"The one truth Republican legislators, judges and Presidents don't deny (to themselves, tho' they will publicly) is that that they are running the country for themselves, corporate profit and their big money donors.
Period. End of sentence, and all principle and sanity.
The rest of us (along with facts, sense and science) can go hang."
A re-re-re definition of the Greedy Old Party.
And RAS mentioned last night the irony behind the Pretender's sudden press availability, a sign that even he knows he's facing some kind of crisis that can't be tweeted away.
I notice, though, he still doesn't have the courage to face reporters and answer real questions. That would call on a store of knowlege and vocabulary he clearly doesn't possess. He makes barely coherent statements (lots of embarassing descriptives like "super" and "really big number"--Gawd, it's painful to listen to the man talk!-- and then turns his back and flees.
The turned tail is not good optics. I'm thinking the image would fit neatly into a campaign ad--for the other side.
I find it stunning that Brian Sullivan of CNBC has the chutzpah to blame Vladimir Putin for an action taken by Muhammed bin Salman. In the first sentence he says Putin "sparked" an oil price war, and in the second sentence he says (accurately) that Saudi Arabia cut prices. Does not compute. They (who is 'they'?) won't be satisfied until we are in a hot war with the Federation of Russian States.
The Lesson of the Rain
Trump is like a boulder. Big, hard, seemingly impenetrable, alive only to his own strength and grandeur, haughty, vainglorious, and dismissive of all around him. The ants crawling over him warn him that the rains are coming and to protect himself from the waters. The boulder ignores them and returns to admiring his own greatness. Then it starts to rain. No mere drops of water, thinks the boulder, no stream, no river can hope to diminish his glory. Those ants don’t know what they’re talking about.
Some time later the boulder is gone. Vanished without a trace. Mere grains of sand now. Where he stood is now a great canyon, a mile wide and a mile deep. And through it flows the water, still there, still doing its work. And if the tiny grains of sand that once comprised the boulder can still think, they must wonder what conspiracy of lesser things had robbed him of his rightful place in nature.
He should have listened to the ants. Not that he could have changed his fate, but he would have at least understood that nature does what it wants and doesn’t care what a thick boulder thinks.
Fatty is about to feel the water. And it doesn’t give a damn about his narcissism or his wants. It does what it does and doesn’t, like his obsequious toadies, ask his permission.
Trump's vague BS over reducing payroll taxes and some nebulous statement about sick leave served to jack up the market, for a minute. In terms of the real problems of working people with families, nothing actually responsive to their needs is going to happen. I can see Trump attempting another con for the 1% that will add to the overwhelming debt and result in more campaign donations.
The title "Leader of the Free World" explains itself. Trump has more than likely been tested for COVID-19 multiple times. If that leaked out, the outcry over the appalling lack of tests would result in the villagers with pitchforks storming the castle (or maybe the tennis pavilion).
Ken,
We're seeing now What Matters to the Trumpies. It's what's always mattered most to these people: money.
You mention the closing of a community college in your area. This is happening all over. My brother, a VP at a college in Connecticut, tells me that the students there are being sent home to finish out the year through online coursework.
You're absolutely right that the ripples of the coming (here already in many places) pandemic can/will have drastic effects on the economy. Wall Street already gets it, despite Fatty trying to order it back to its position as the eternal mirror of his greatness. It's been a year or two (heh-heh) since I was a college student, but I'm guessing that kids in school today aren't a whole lot different than back in those days. They still go out to clubs, restaurants, pizza joints, still haunt 7-11's and convenience stores, still buy gas, beer, chips, tacos, still spend mom and dad's (and some of them, their own) money.
But not now. And businesses in college towns rely on all nine and a half months of kids coming and going and spending money. Losing three or four months of business has to hurt.
My wife told me this morning that people are complaining that local grocery stores are running out of water and toilet paper. The madness is starting to set in. Even if we don't become Italy, the reality of this thing is swiftly becoming part of people's everyday thinking. I hadn't thought of running to the grocery to stock up on toilet paper, but if a couple thousand other families are doing it, it might not be there when we need it. In my backpacking days, TP was called "mountain money", for good reason. Wiping your ass with leaves does not guarantee an optimal experience (not to mention the possible rash...ouch!). Once staples start disappearing from stores things are already way past the hypothetical stage.
But the only thing that matters to Fatty and his brood is still THE MONEY. Does little mikey pence talk to the American people about what their plans are to stave off the coming pandemic? No. Who does he talk to? "Big money donors", that's who. The panderers and haters and droolers and wingnut climbers who storm CPAC are now all worrying that they might have this thing their Glorious Leader tells them not to worry about. Who gets the calls? Not the little people. The big money bundlers, the string pullers, the big shots. That's who. The ones who bring in the money.
It's beyond special (in the old SNL Church Lady sense) that the trolls and true believers at CPAC are scurrying about like ants in a flooded colony, these storm troopers for Trump lies who are now on the verge and are running around with their hair on fire.
I saw This meme recently. It's Nancy Reagan saying "I'm a Republican. I fought against the LGBT community until my daughter came out. I'm a Republican. I fought against stem cell research until Ronnie got Alzheimer's. I'm a Republican. Republicans don't give a shit about you until it happens to them."
This isn't exactly true. Think of the blue collar types who voted for Fatty who have lost everything but will happily vote for him again...that's more dementia than it is standard right-wing sociopathy, but it's close enough.
So now we see Ted Cruz self-quarantining, we see that insufferable asshole Matt Gaetz whining that he really didn't mean to make fun of Covid-19 victims, because waaaaah...now he might be one! We see Fatty's White House canceling events because of...what is it now? Oh yeah, "scheduling conflicts". Sure.
Can you just imagine a germophobe like Trump in the midst of a plague that can be transmitted by the tiniest bit of contact? He must be a mess.
It couldn't be more perfect.
Unfortunately, while these douchebags and criminals were diddling around, lying to the American public, people were dying and will now continue to do so.
But, but, but....THE MONEY! Don't say anything that will stop the flow of our MONEEEeeeeeyyyyy...What's that doctor? Quarantine? Hospital? But the MONEY!
@Anonymous: Good point about the White House's likely lie about Trump not being tested. Speaking of lies, see the report I just linked by Eamon Javers & Mike Calia of CNBC. If the "stock market" is so smart, how come the "stock market" moves based on any assertion coming out of Trump's mouth?
In a (self-servingly) generous mood, I’m dedicating this tune (Roy Hawkins & Rick Darnell / 1951) to all the Trumpskyites I’m hoping might groove on these soulful Blues, thus finding themselves ‘free from [the] spell’ of their fearless leaders, Boris и Natasha.
“Go Trumpskyites!”
RC-ers might (?) also enjoy. The late, great B.B. King immortalized “Thrill”. And this duet, with the incomparable Tracy Chapman, is one of my fave arrangements.
Music and Movement (the latter greatly modified by “wear ‘n tear”) are my Meds (along with pharmaceuticals that yearn to “cross the blood/brain barrier”). Just tappin’ yer hands on yer laps or gently boppin’ yer noggins will suffice.
Why not give it a go?
And enjoy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVxCtt3s_1M
Hattie,
Thanks for the blues (the good kind). I doubt the Trumpbots feel like the thrill is gone for them. Not as long as there are brown people to be degraded and immigrants to be imprisoned and tortured and lies to be told about everyone they hate.
But a great cover of a spectacular song. BB (with Lucille) has one of those tones it's impossible to mistake. You can tell it's him within the first note or two. And Chapman still has those amazing chops. I heard her singing on the street in Harvard Square years ago. In a place where there were at least a dozen street musicians performing in doorways and on corners, her voice made everyone stop and turn their heads. She's still got it. Great stuff. Nothing like music to put you right.
(I was happy to hear that this arrangement retained that great bass track, those cellos playing that rhythmic figure underneath. Sweet.)
So, take down signs informing people in a Florida immigration office how to stay healthy and keep from picking up a deadly virus, huh? Don't know about you kids, but I'm gonna guess this was the brainchild of Stephen Miller, Fatty's obergruppenführer for torturing immigrants. And the Orange Menace might not want that plague ship in Oakland to dock, upping the Trumpen Dead quotient, but who's gonna count a few dozen (or hundred) brown murderers and rapists if they contract coronavirus and die?
I can just see this fucking piece of shit sitting in his office (in his SS uniform) giggling maniacally thinking of horrific shit like this.
I sometimes get the best (be best?) ideas.
I'm guessing we haven't heard details of the Pretender's contra-covfefe-19 economic stimulus plans because he's getting a ton of flak from the R's on the Hill who want to impose an emergency capital gains hike and let the poor working people's payroll tax alone.
I was thinking myself that today might be a good day to send in my 2019 IRA contribution, not based on the hot gas coming out of orange orifices, just basic long vision investing. Today's "surge" seems pretty logical to me.
Akhilleus -
Re: << heard [Chapman] singing on the street in Harvard Square years ago . . . her voice made everyone stop and turn their heads. >>
Such good fortune! Love B.B & his Lucille. (Mega-music ears, yours, re: <>)
“Flack’s The Ripper!”
Think you’re onto Miller as sign-destroying architect. So utterly repellent, even blood relatives distance themselves. And wifey’s truly his (pence-bot) soul-less mate. (The vomit bag - tout de suite!)
@Akhilleus: Stephen Miller was my immediate guess, too. According to the Herald story, nobody would cop to whose idea it was to order courts to take down government-produced posters meant to inform people on ways to stay healthy. But we know.
Yesterday Akhilleus posted "Dover Beach"–-a long time favorite of mine–-and today the NYT had a piece about "How Poetry Shakes the National Desk's Morning Meetings:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/05/reader-center/poetry-national-news.html
If ever we needed this kind of thing–- words put together to thrill, to inspire, to reflect, to devour––we need it now. When the barbarians are at the gate and a deadly virus is nipping at our heels love in its many guises helps enormously.
And here's everything you'd want to know about the Snake in the grassy grossness of the W.H.:
HOW STEPHEN MILLER MANIPULATES DONALD TRUMP TO FURTHER HIS IMMIGRATION OBSESSION: ( from the New Yorker)
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/03/02/how-stephen-miller-manipulates-donald-trump-to-further-his-immigration-obsession
Favorite Freudian slip of the day. A local radio host invited listeners to stay tuned for an interview with health scare officials. Um...okay.
At least I hope it was a slip.
PD,
It was Ken, our resident English teacher, who did yesterday's Arnolding. I merely commented on it. But it's a given that those, like the Illiterate Monster in the Wite Howse, bereft of (and largely hating, or merely indifferent to--even worse) the benefits of the lit'ry life, or any appreciation thereof, lack access to the central essence of what make us human, the necessity of humanity, and are completely removed from the stories, poems, and philosophies that have inspired us as a species, that have helped explain the universe, our place in it, our loves, loathings, aspirations, needs, and desires.
The creation and development of language (another human skill which consistently daunts the Orange Monster) and the use of that system of communication to tell each other origin myths, family histories, jokes, dirty stories, dreams, hopes, horrors, embedded in literature like blood pumped out of our hearts, is perhaps the singularly most important aspect of our humanity. The fact that Fatty and, likely, most of his adherents, look askance at this gift, except to use it to spread lies and hatred, points to yet another reason why his brief tenure in the White House has been so incredibly toxic.
Literature is a signal aspect of civilization. Books, reading, writing.
And now recall the anecdote related by the writer who ghosted Fatty's (now ridiculously titled) "Art of the Deal", Tony Schwartz. Schwartz pointed out that in all the many months he spent in Trump's company and in his many abodes, he never once saw a book or saw Trump reading anything besides obsequious tabloid articles touting his greatness.
I don't want to run anyone down, but I'm sure you guys have, at some time in your lives, visited someone and noticed that there wasn't a single book in sight. Me? I've always immediately thought "What the fuck?" Okay, so they don't read Dickens or Shakespeare or Wordsworth. But bloody hell, not even a biography of Bobby Orr or a cheap novelization of some bullshit movie or TV show, or a lousy cook book?
Jesus.
And now, a guy like this is in the White House.
Matthew Arnold would need one of Hattie's vomit bags. Toot sweet. If not sooner.
Gotta love @RepValDemings:
"If the president wants to join us to pass tangible help for working Americans affected by the coronavirus, I will gladly work with him.
But we will not allow the use of his public health mismanagement as an excuse for yet another cash grab by himself & his friends at Mar-a-Lago."
Don't know if others have had the same experience, but at the grocery store today, I had much the same feeling when I looked at other customers that I had in the months following the Pretender's election.
I wondered if THAT one or was it THAT one who voted for him.
Today the same feeling--this time about Covfefe-19. Was it him or was it her?
Little difference between then and how in the feelings of suspicion and dread.
Taking care of your friends (and no one else):
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/10/trump-expected-to-seek-aid-for-shale-companies-hit-by-oil-rout.html
As if the fracking industry is not already sufficiently subsidized...
PD Pepe -
Thank you for posting The Times’ workplace poetry piece.
And also for this:
“If ever we needed this kind of thing–- words put together to thrill, to inspire, to reflect, to devour––we need it now. When the barbarians are at the gate and a deadly virus is nipping at our heels love in its many guises helps enormously.”
So very lovely.