;)
Friday
Mar132020
The Commentariat -- March 14, 2020
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
The New York Times' coronavirus live updates for Saturday are here. The page is open to nonsubscribers. Among the highlights: "Spain and France announced drastic, countrywide restrictions on Saturday to contain the spread of the coronavirus.... The virus has been reported in more than 2,100 people in 49 [U.S.] states, as well as Washington and Puerto Rico, and has killed at least 48.... It was unclear if Mr. Pence, who interacted with some of the infected Mar-a-Lago visitors, had known that the president was tested. Answering a reporter's question about his own status, Mr. Pence said, 'I'm going to speak immediately after this news conference with the White House physician's office,' which he said had previously advised him that neither he nor his wife needed to be tested.... Despite being pressed repeatedly at the White House news conference on Saturday, Mr. Pence did not share substantive new details about Mr. Trump's earlier claim that Google was developing a website to help people decide whether a test for the coronavirus was warranted and where they could get one.... As thousands of Americans flee from Europe and other centers of the coronavirus outbreak, many travelers are reporting no health screenings upon departure and few impediments at U.S. airports."
Jessie Hellmann & Morgan Chalfant of the Hill: "President Trump has ordered for travel to be suspended from the United Kingdom and Ireland as the United States seeks to stem the spread of the coronavirus domestically. The restrictions, which take effect Monday night at midnight, don't apply to American travelers returning to the U.S., Vice President Pence said during a White House briefing on Saturday.... Trump said Saturday his administration is also considering domestic travel restrictions. 'If you don't have to travel, I wouldn't do it. We want this thing to end. We don't want a lot of people getting infected,' he said." ~~~
~~~ Trump Unaware of His Own "Decisions." Here's Trump saying that "we're looking very seriously at" extending the European travel ban to the U.K. & Ireland (begins about 34 sec. in):
About 15 minutes later, in the same press briefing, mike pence said, "The President* has made a decision to suspend and travel to the United Kingdom & Ireland":
Susannah Luthi of Politico: "... Donald Trump said on Saturday that he has been tested for coronavirus after being questioned about it Friday. 'I also took the test last night,' Trump said during a briefing at the White House. 'And I decided I should, based on the press conference yesterday. People were asking, "Did I take the test?"' Asked when test results would be returned, he said: 'A day, two days. They send it to a lab.'... Late Friday, press secretary Stephanie Grisham released a memo from the White House physician saying Trump had dined at Mar-a-Lago with a person who has since tested positive for coronavirus. However, Navy Cdr. Sean Conley did not recommend testing the president as a necessity." Mrs. McC: So testing an old man who has been around three known virus carriers is unnecessary? I don't get it. It's almost as if you can't believe a single word that comes out of this White House.
Spitballing a National Crisis. Ashley Parker, et al., of the Washington Post: "The administration's struggle to mitigate the coronavirus outbreak has been marked by infighting and blame-shifting, misinformation and missteps, and a slow recognition of the danger. Warring factions have wrestled for control internally and for approval from a president who has been preoccupied with the beating his image is taking.... Jared Kushner ... -- who has zero expertise in infectious diseases and little experience marshaling the full bureaucracy behind a cause -- saw the administration floundering and inserted himself at the helm, believing he could break the logjam of internal dysfunction.... 'People just show up in the Oval and spout off ideas,' said a former senior administration official briefed on the coronavirus discussions. 'He'll either shoot down ideas or embrace ideas quickly. It's an ad hoc free-for-all with different advisers just spitballing.'"
Maureen Dowd: Trump "can't cover up his lack of empathy, his instinct to mislead, his refusal to do his homework and his blame-shifting.... Even when the president stopped being so blithe about the virus, even after his error-ridden national address and his press conference Friday declaring a national emergency -- 'two very big words' -- his attempt at maturity was crystallized in one sound bite. 'No, I don't take responsibility at all,' Trump said, when asked about the egregious lag in testing. It was far from his tweet in 2013, when he loved trolling Obama: 'Leadership: Whatever happens, you're responsible. If it doesn't happen, you're responsible.'"
AP: "The U.S. Defense Department is planning to halt all domestic travel for military members after ... Donald Trump declared the coronavirus pandemic a national emergency. The Pentagon says Deputy Defense Secretary David Norquist has approved new travel restrictions on service members and Defense Department civilians assigned to military installations and surrounding areas within the United States and its territories." Mrs. McC: Could be partly because "a financial document obtained by The Daily Beast found massive shortfalls for detecting, treating, and preventing COVID-19 from spreading throughout 1.2 million soldiers and Army employees, as well as roughly 3 million dependent family members." (Daily Beast story linked below.)
Linda Qiu of the New York Times lists the major false claims Trump made during his news conference yesterday & summarizes the actual facts: "I don't take responsibility at all because we were given a set of circumstances and we were given rules, regulations, and specifications from a different time." "If you go back to the swine flu, it was nothing like this. They didn't do testing like this, and actually they lost approximately 14,000 people, and they didn't do the testing. They started thinking about testing when it was far too late." This is blatantly wrong. Diagnostic tests for the swine flu were approved and shipped out less than two weeks after the H1N1 virus was identified and a day before the first death in the United States. "... Google is helping to develop a website, it's going to be very quickly done, unlike websites of the past, to determine whether a test is warranted and to facilitate testing at a nearby convenient location." "As you know, Europe was just designated as the hot spot right now and we closed that border a while ago." "This includes the following critical authorities -- the ability to waive laws to enable telehealth, a fairly new and incredible thing that has happened in the not-so-distant past." It's been used for decades. "When you say me, I didn't do it [disband the White House's pandemic team]. We have a group of people I could ask -- perhaps my administration -- but I could perhaps ask Tony about that because I don't know anything about it." "To help our students and their families, I have waived interest that all student loans held by federal government agencies, and that will be until further notice." This needs context. Mrs. McC: Quite a list.
Grace Panetta & Lauren Frias of Business Insider: "A third person who visited Mar-a-Lago ... has tested positive for the novel coronavirus on Friday. 'Brazil's Chargé d'Affaires Ambassador Nestor Forster has learned tonight that he has tested positive for Covid-19,' the Brazilian embassy in the US announced Friday. 'Following medical advice, Amb. Forster will extend his self-quarantine, which he had already placed himself into as a precautionary measure, for another two weeks.' The Washington Post reported that the second infected person was present at a Sunday fundraising lunch 'hosted by Trump Victory, a committee that raises money for the Trump campaign and the Republican Party.'"
Joanne Kenen of Politico: "Local officials from around the country are worried about the readiness of the U.S. public health system, citing a sharply limited number of ventilators to help some of the sickest coronavirus patients and an inadequate supply of critical care beds in a hospital industry that has gone through years of cutbacks in inpatient beds. As they prepare for an expected influx of patients, local public health officials painted a picture of a system with only a limited 'surge' capacity, and stressed the importance of social distancing as a crucial way to keep the numbers of patients at a level the system can handle."
The Twitter Monster is busy this morning touting yesterday's market surge (hmm, nothing about the previous day's plunge), and promising a "full report latter" on his meetings today.
Oh, and today is Pi Day on account of 3/14 -- 3.14.
~~~~~~~~~~
Jim Tankersley & Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "... early Saturday, the House passed a bill reflecting a deal with [the Trump] administration to provide billions of dollars to help sick workers and to prop up a slumping economy.... The relief deal, whose cost is unclear, would allow for two weeks of paid sick leave and up to three months of family and medical leave for those affected by the crisis. It provides tax credits to help small- and medium-size businesses finance the new benefit. It does not include the payroll tax suspension that Mr. Trump wants. Any such suspension could cost more than $800 billion and would not provide help to workers who lose their jobs or stop drawing salaries in the outbreak." The Hill's story, which is more comprehensive, is here: "The measure ... passed 363-40...." ~~~
~~~ Erica Werner, et al., of the Washington Post: "The White House and House Democrats reached agreement Friday on a coronavirus relief package to spend tens of billions of dollars on sick leave, unemployment insurance, food stamps and other measures to address the unfolding crisis. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced the agreement in a letter to fellow House Democrats.... A vote to pass the legislation was expected later Friday in the House, and in the Senate next week. The development came after a roller-coaster day that started with a deal seeming imminent, beforefcolli it looked like it was unraveling over successive hours. House Republicans indicated concerns and Trump himself voiced opposition, complaining at an afternoon news conference that Democrats were 'not doing what's right for the country.'" ~~~
~~~ Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: MSNBC is reporting that House Republicans are waiting for Trump to tweet about the package before they'll waive the rules to allow for a vote on it. Bear in mind that this is a deal Pelosi worked out with Trump lackey Steve Mnuchin. You might suspect House Republicans can't think for themselves. I could put this more crudely, but so can you. ~~~
~~~ Update. Sarah Ferris, et al., of Politico: "Key Republicans said Friday that Speaker Nancy Pelosi spoke prematurely when she declared an agreement with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on a large-scale coronavirus package, cautioning that there are still lingering issues to resolve. Mnuchin huddled with ... Donald Trump on Friday evening, more than an hour after Pelosi announced to her members that she and the White House had reached an agreement. Senior House Republicans said Trump has not yet given final sign-off on the package, and there are outstanding problems related to the tax credits to help pay for the sick leave provisions." ~~~
~~~ Update: Evidently this is the tweet we've been waiting for:
I fully support H.R. 6201: Families First CoronaVirus Response Act, which will be voted on in the House this evening. This Bill will follow my direction for free CoronaVirus tests, and paid sick leave for our impacted American workers. -- Donald Trump, in a tweet, 8:42 pm ET Friday
This is a farcical way to run a government. -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie
The New York Times, in its live updates on coronavirus, reports on Donald Trump's announcement of a national emergency. Also linked in the page above.
~~~The Washington Post's report, from the live updates, is here. Also linked in the page above.
~~~ Anita Kumar of Politico has a report here. Also linked in the page above. ~~~
~~~ J.M. Rieger of the Washington Post: "Trump shook hands, patted backs and touched the microphone at the White House lectern at least 31 times Friday, the sort of behaviors health experts and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have advised against to prevent the spread of the virus.... In total, Trump shook hands four times and patted the backs of officials five times.... When the last executive had finished speaking, Trump offered him a handshake. 'We'll practice that,' LHC Group Executive Vice President Bruce Greenstein said, offering Trump an elbow bump instead.... Over the past week, Trump has interacted with or been close to at least three people who were infected with the virus or who themselves interacted with virus-infected individuals." ~~~
I want to thank Google. Google is helping to develop a website. It's gonna be very quickly done -- unlike websites of the past -- to determine whether a test is warranted and to facilitate testing at a nearby convenient location. We have many, many locations behind us, by the way. We cover this country and large parts of the world, by the way. We're not gonna be talking about the world right now, but we cover very, very strongly our country. Stores in virtually every location. Google has 1,700 engineers working on this right now. They have made tremendous progress. -- Donald Trump, during his press conference Friday ~~~
~~~ Frederic Lardinois of Tech Crunch: "In a press conference at the White House, President Trump [Friday] announced that 1,700 Google engineers were working on a coronavirus screening site. That site was supposedly the first step in a new screening process that would lead people from figuring out if their symptoms warranted more testing to the location of new 'drive through' testing stations. But Trump was wrong. This screening site isn't being developed by Google. Instead, it's being built by Verily, Alphabet's life science division -- and it's not ready to launch yet either. While both share the same parent company in Alphabet, these are two very different companies. In addition, as Verily noted in a statement it provided almost three hours after Trump made the announcement, this site isn't quite ready yet. 'Verily is developing a tool to help triage individuals for COVID-19 testing. We are in the early stages of development, and planning to roll testing out in the Bay Area, with the hope of expanding more broadly over time,' the company said in its statement. 'We appreciate the support of government officials and industry partners and thank the Google engineers who have volunteered to be part of this effort.'" ~~~
~~~ Dieter Bohn of the Verge: "Google is not working with the US government in building a nationwide website to help people determine whether and how to get a novel coronavirus test, despite what ... Donald Trump said in the course of issuing an emergency declaration for the coronavirus pandemic. Instead, a much smaller trial website made by another division of Alphabet, Google's parent company, is going up. It will only be able to direct people to testing facilities in the Bay Area.... Carolyn Wang, communications lead for Verily, told The Verge that the 'triage website' was initially only going to be made available to health care workers instead of the general public. Now that it has been announced the way it was, however, anybody will be able to visit it, she said. But the tool will only be able to direct people to 'pilot sites' for testing in the Bay Area, though Wang says Verily hopes to expand it beyond California 'over time.'" ~~~
~~~ Brian Barrett & Louise Matsakis of Wired: "There is no nationwide site like the one Trump described. And Google had no idea the president was going to mention one.... That the White House is finally treating testing with any kind of urgency is a welcome if belated push. But the apparent miscommunication -- or outright misrepresentation -- may bode poorly for the administration's broader efforts."
Fred Imbert, et al., of CNBC: "Stocks soared Friday as Wall Street rebounded from the sharp losses suffered in the previous session -- the worst since the 'Black Monday' market crash in 1987. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 1,985 points higher, or 9.4%, at 23,185.62. Friday marked the Dow's biggest-ever point gain. The S&P 500 climbed 9.2% to 2,711.02 while the Nasdaq Composite surged 9.3% to 7,874.23. The averages posted their biggest one-day gain since October 2008.... Equities rallied to their session highs into the close after ... Donald Trump also said 50,000 new coronavirus tests will be available next week. Trump also said he asked the Energy Department to purchase oil for the U.S. strategic petroleum reserve, boosting crude prices.... House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said U.S. lawmakers and the White House were close to a deal on economic relief amid the coronavirus outbreak. 'We've resolved most of our differences,' Pelosi told reporters Thursday evening, noting it's about 'testing, testing, testing.'" (An earlier version of this report was linked yesterday afternoon.)
Maggie Haberman & Noah Weiland of the New York Times: "President Trump on Friday again [falsely] claimed that his response to the coronavirus was hindered by the Obama administration, which left office three years ago. Mr. Trump attacked Mr. Obama, who served with Mr. Trump's likely Democratic challenger, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., in two posts on Twitter. 'For decades the @CDCgov looked at, and studied, its testing system, but did nothing about it,' Mr. Trump wrote. 'It would always be inadequate and slow for a large scale pandemic, but a pandemic would never happen, they hoped. President Obama made changes that only complicated things further. Their response to H1N1 Swine Flu was a full scale disaster, with thousands dying, and nothing meaningful done to fix the testing problem, until now,' he continued. 'The changes have been made and testing will soon happen on a very large scale basis. All Red Tape has been cut, ready to go!' he wrote. Mr. Trump was not specific about what changes President Barack Obama made to 'complicate things further.'... The F.D.A. took the position that during a public health emergency, nongovernment labs should come to it before doing tests. But at any time, the agency was prepared to suspend that practice, as it did in recently when it gave laboratories and hospitals around the country the go-ahead to conduct tests that had been limited to those analyzed by the C.D.C." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Weirdly, the report never specifically uses the word "falsely" or a word like it, yet the headline is "Trump Falsely Tries to Tie Obama to C.D.C.'s 'Inadequate' Testing System." ~~~
~~~ Lauran Neergaard & Calvin Woodward of the AP: "One day..., Donald Trump boasted of 'smooth' coronavirus testing across the country. The next day, he pronounced the testing system inadequate, and assailed the public-health bureaucracy, Barack Obama and Joe Biden for not fixing it before he became president. But nothing changed in that system over those two days -- Thursday and Friday -- except Trump's stated opinion of it. Trump has been saying inaccurately for days that the public health system was up and ready to give access to diagnostic tests for COVID-19 for everyone who needed them. He said a week ago the 'beautiful' tests were there for all in need. That's not true. But after the government's top infection expert told lawmakers Thursday that the testing system has been a failure, Trump's boasts about preparedness became even less tenable. In tweets Friday, he switched to blaming the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Obama administration, and seemed to hold them responsible for needless deaths in another pandemic. His account is inaccurate." Read on for the explanation.
Another Czar. Jake Sherman & Lauren Morello of Politico: "The administration ... tapped a new 'czar' housed at the Department of Health and Human Services, putting Adm. Brett Giroir in charge of coordinating testing efforts among public health service agencies. Giroir, a medical doctor, is the assistant secretary for health and head of the Public Health Service within HHS and briefly served as acting chief of the FDA last year. HHS Secretary Alex Azar has specifically tasked Giroir with improving coordination between the CDC and the FDA, 'as well as state and local public health authorities and private or public clinical laboratories,' according to an HHS official."
Spencer Ackerman & James LaPorta of the Daily Beast: "As the novel coronavirus threatens to overwhelm the U.S. public health systems, the Pentagon is withholding more than $104 million from the military's most important chemical and biological research facilities -- including a lab that conducts cutting-edge work on infectious diseases -- according to a senior Pentagon official. And that's only one aspect of the military's financial shortfall in the unfolding crisis. A document briefed to the top brass of the Army on Thursday and obtained by The Daily Beast from a second Defense Department official reveals that the service's response to the coronavirus outbreak is short of funding by almost $1 billion.... For the Army more broadly, a financial document obtained by The Daily Beast found massive shortfalls for detecting, treating, and preventing COVID-19 from spreading throughout 1.2 million soldiers and Army employees, as well as roughly 3 million dependent family members."
David Fahrenthold, et al., of the Washington Post: "In one televised event [-- Friday's press conference --], Trump seemed to defy two basic practices that the rest of his government has been urging Americans to follow to prevent the spread of the virus. People who were exposed to an infected person are urged to quarantine themselves and seek testing. And everyone -- exposed or not -- should stop shaking hands.... Trump also said he will not self-quarantine, as members of Congress and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have chosen to do after known exposures. 'No. We have no symptoms whatsoever,' Trump said.... Late Friday, the White House issued a memo from Trump's White House physician, Navy Cmdr. Sean P. Conley, that said the president does not need to be either tested or quarantined.... It was not clear early Saturday whether than meant that Trump had decided not to be tested after all. Trump's words and behavior seemed to signal that he still may be underestimating the diseases's threat to the country -- and even to his own health." ~~~
~~~ Rachel Olding of the Daily Beast: "Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who met with several U.S. officials including ... Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence during an official visit over the weekend, has denied that he tested positive for the 2019 novel coronavirus. Brazilian news outlet Jornal O Dia and Fox News, citing Bolsonaro's son Eduardo, reported Friday that Bolsonaro had the flu-like virus. He was tested Thursday after his press secretary Fabio Wajngarten, who was part of the visiting Brazilian delegation, tested positive for the virus in a diagnosis confirmed by the president's office.... Bolsonaro's son, Eduardo, had earlier confirmed his father's test result to Fox News and said secondary testing was being done on Friday." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Joey Flechas of the Miami Herald: "Miami Mayor Francis Suarez has tested positive for COVID-19 ... four days after the mayor attended a Miami event with a Brazilian government official who later tested positive for the virus.... The mayor was present at Thursday's commission meeting, seated on the dais between City Attorney Victoria Méndez and City Manager Art Noriega for much of the morning. Top-level city administrators who were in close contact with the mayor have been told to self-isolate. Government workers who do not need to be physically present at city offices are being told to work from home. Suarez was one of several politicians, including Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez, Sen. Rick Scott and ... Donald Trump, who interacted with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and his staff during a visit to South Florida last week. The mayor went into isolation Thursday after learning that one of Boslonaro's staffers tested positive." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
In a statement, Minister Peter Dutton said that he woke up on Friday morning 'with a temperature and sore throat' and was 'subsequently tested for COVID-19.' Dutton was advised by Queensland Health that his tests returned positive on Friday afternoon. Dutton had met with Trump, Barr, Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway and Director of the Domestic Policy Council Joe Grogan in the US less than a week ago." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Zahra Hirji & Katie Baker of BuzzFeed News have mapped out the "growing number of people in ... Donald Trump's orbit have been in contact with someone known to be infected with COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus -- with a few testing positive themselves."
Yeah, That Was a Hostage Video. Shannon Pettypiece of NBC News: "As ... Donald Trump jetted back to Washington on Monday after a weekend of golfing and fundraising in Florida, an intervention was awaiting him at the White House. Administration officials, increasingly concerned about the messaging on and response to the coronavirus, had spent the weekend scrambling to craft a strategy to shift the president's response, which had been focused on downplaying the threat and accusing the media of creating undue concern, according to people involved in the effort. So, as Trump stepped off Marine One and walked straight to the West Wing just after 3 p.m. Monday, his top economic and health officials were waiting to make their case for why a more serious fiscal and public health response was urgently needed. Those at the meeting included economic adviser Larry Kudlow, Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin." (Also linked yesterday.)
Collins to Trump: STFU. Jordain Carney of the Hill: "Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said public health officials, not President Trump, should lead the administration's messaging on the coronavirus. Collins, speaking to reporters in Maine, said the president should 'step back' from the administration's public coronavirus messaging, which she characterized as 'inconsistent' so far.... Collins's comments on Friday came before a Rose Garden press conference in which Trump declared a national emergency that allows the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to tap into billions of dollars and mobilize personnel more quickly to help state and local agencies and leaders respond."
Terry Gross of NPR interviews Politico reporter Dan Diamond where he reports that the Trump administration knew about the need for testing kits back in January. --s (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Here's a major report, dated March 7, by Diamond on Trump's mismanagement of the coronavirus crisis: "For six weeks behind the scenes, and now increasingly in public, Trump has undermined his administration's own efforts to fight the coronavirus outbreak -- resisting attempts to plan for worst-case scenarios, overturning a public-health plan upon request from political allies and repeating only the warnings that he chose to hear. Members of Congress have grilled top officials like Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and Centers for Disease Control Director Robert Redfield over the government's biggest mistake: failing to secure enough testing to head off a coronavirus outbreak in the United States. But many current and former Trump administration officials say the true management failure was Trump's."(Previously linked in the March 8 Commentariat.)
Now, This Isn't Funny. John Koblin of the New York Times: "'The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,' 'The Late Show With Stephen Colbert' and 'Late Night With Seth Meyers' are all suspending production next week, NBC and CBS said Thursday, making them the biggest daily American television series to go off the air because of concerns surrounding the coronavirus pandemic. The earliest date that the three shows would return with new episodes is March 30, the networks said. 'Saturday Night Live,' which like 'The Tonight Show' and 'Late Night' tapes at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, is on hiatus until March 28. Its immediate future could be in doubt as well." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Presidential Race
Jacob Pramuk of CNBC: "Louisiana will postpone its presidential primaries set for next month, becoming the first state to take the step as fears about the coronavirus outbreak spread. The state will push its presidential nominating contests back to June 20 from the planned date of April 4, Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin announced Friday. It has also delayed its municipal elections until July 25." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
John Kruzel of the Hill: "A full federal appeals court bench will reconsider a Democratic bid for the testimony of former White House counsel Don McGahn, after a three-judge panel said he could defy a congressional subpoena. The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday said a majority of judges had voted to vacate the panel's ruling and hold a rehearing, which will take place April 28. The review by the full bench, a relatively rare procedural allowance, gives the Democratic-led House Judiciary Committee another chance to persuade the court to enforce its subpoena against McGahn, whom lawmakers consider an eyewitness to wrongdoing by Trump."
Dahlia Lithwick of Slate: A former Hawaii state judge, James Dannenberg, has resigned from the prestigious Supreme Court Bar. "On Wednesday, Dannenberg tendered a letter of resignation from the Supreme Court Bar to Chief Justice John Roberts. He has been a member of that bar since 1972. In his letter, reprinted in full below, Dannenberg compares the current Supreme Court, with its boundless solicitude for the rights of the wealthy, the privileged, and the comfortable, to the court that ushered in the Lochner era in the early 20th century, a period of profound judicial activism that put a heavy thumb on the scale for big business, banking, and insurance interests, and ruled consistently against child labor, fair wages, and labor regulations."
Cristiano Lima of Politico: "Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has stepped down from the company's board of directors to devote more time to his philanthropic projects, the firm announced Friday. Gates, who oversaw the software giant's meteoric rise through the late 20th and early 21st century before stepping back from day-to-day operations, will continue to serve as technology adviser to CEO Satya Nadella and others, Microsoft announced in a press release."
Sarah Burris of the Raw Story: "The National Geographic revealed in a story on Friday that what the Museum of the Bible has claimed are fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls are a complete fraud. The museum, founded by Hobby Lobby CEO Steve Green, already faced problems when they were 'forced to forfeit thousands of cuneiform texts from Iraq, and pay a $3 million fine for illicit importation,' reported Politico.... [Re: the fake scroll fragments,] the museum says that they were duped by the collector and Green, as well as biblical scholars. 'The new findings don't cast doubt on the 100,000 real Dead Sea Scroll fragments, most of which lie in the Shrine of the Book, part of the Israel Museum, Jerusalem,' said National Geographic."
Beyond the Beltway
Florida. David Smiley & David Ovalle of the Tampa Bay Times: "Andrew Gillum, who in 2018 came within 34,000 votes of becoming Florida's governor, was discovered by police at a South Beach hotel early Friday morning in a room with bags of possible methamphetamine and in the company of a man who appeared to have overdosed on drugs, according to a Miami Beach police report. Police say they were called to the Mondrian South Beach early Friday morning and found paramedics treating Travis Dyson, a 30-year-old Miami man, for an apparent heart attack. They say two other men were in the room: Aldo Mejias and Gillum. Police say Gillum, who was not arrested, was too intoxicated to answer questions. An offense incident report says that officers found three clear plastic baggies of suspected crystal meth on the bed and floor. Gillum, a former Tallahassee mayor and Democrat, issued a statement Friday afternoon in which he denied using drugs. 'I was in Miami last night for a wedding celebration when first responders were called to assist one of my friends. While I had too much to drink, I want to be clear that I have never used methamphetamines,' he said. 'I apologize to the people of Florida for the distraction this has caused our movement.'"
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TRUMP MEETS NEMESIS, PUNISHER OF HUBRIS
Yesterday Bret Stephens, in a NYT's opinion piece, reminded us that the word "nemesis" is often misused––a tenancy to think of it as a "powerful, nefarious, but ultimately conquerable enemy." Nemesis (Bret offers up a drawing) was a goddess––"an implacable agent of justice who gives the arrogant, insolent and wicked their due."
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/13/opinion/trump-coronavirus-emergency.html?referringSource=articleShare
@PD Pepe: The common definition of "nemesis" is "the inescapable agent of someone's or something's downfall" or "a long-standing rival; an archenemy." A "nemesis" -- as opposed to the goddess Nemesis -- isn't necessarily an "agent of justice." Your nemesis could be a neighbor who holds loud parties into the wee hours, steals your newspaper, has turned his lawn into a "wildflower garden," & invites his dog to defecate on your nicely-mowed lawn. Not exactly an agent of justice, unless you started the battle by doing a lot of mean things to him.
Stephens may make that clear, but I'm not going to read his column to find out. Kudos to you for having the stomach to read his stuff.
Our lawn has never achieved “wildflower garden” status, mainly because I mow it from time to time. I prefer to think of it as my “biodiversity patch.”
This on the unsubstantiated Google claim. (You would have thought one of the 1700--100 more than the 1600 in his address-- would have known..)
Yes, the Pretender lies and lies again, but he's also delusional.
His mind is so disjointed, so undisciplined, so scattershot, so damaged? that the walls between fact and fantasy, if they ever existed, have long since disappeared, and during his time in office there has been no evidence that such walls ever existed.
Think of him as the spoiled rich child he is. He wants something, he takes it. How about Greenland? That looks like fun. Let's buy it. And all that oil and timber on public lands, just there for the taking. So let's take it.
And why should a stable genius listen to detailed briefings? He already knows everything and what he doesn't know exactly, he has a natural instinct for. There's no need to learn more, particularly when he knows his supporters like him for his attitudes and poses, not for what he knows.
Neither his candidacy nor his presidency has been knowledge-based. In fact, the contrary. It's been an attack on competence and expertise. Get those scientists out of the Department of Agriculture. Disband the national security pandemic team. Cut funding to the NIH and the CDC.
That's why no real press conferences, where reporters ask questions that demand real answers, a press secretary whose job it is to avoid the press and the musical chairs White House and administration whose comings and goings have over three years descended the ladder of competence to the present state, where loyalty is all that matters.
And now the Child in Charge is being forced by a foreign virus to very reluctantly, very slowly, take the stage in a role he is wholly unable to fulfill. Not on a stage in front of thousands of adoring fans, who have no interest in what he knows, only in the feelings and attitudes he represents and conveys, but as the leader of a nation that needs and wants competent leadership in a crisis that demands expertise.
So what does a spoiled child do when confronted with an overwheming problem? With something too big, too complicated for him to handle?
Sometimes he lies (knowing nothing about disbanding the national security pandemic preparation group). Sometimes he runs away (Mara-lago).
And sometimes he just pretends.
Think of Google as the Pretender's newest imaginary friend.
I’m 100% positive that the decision to restrict military travel, at least in that wiggly block of gelatinous crap that passes for the Trump brain, considered history as an indicator.
The 1918 Influenza pandemic was aided immensely by service members moving around the globe as the war wound down. Some stories have traced its origin to army bases in Texas and Kentucky. Soldiers traveling to Europe carried it with them then brought it back home with them. “Look, Ma, I brought back a Prussian helmet and a deadly disease! Ma? Ma?”
I doubt that even the Decider, incurious dolt that was (still is), had less of an interest in or knowledge of vital historical facts than Fatty. If his “administration” ever does the right thing, it’s because some outside agency forced it on them, or they made a mistake. It’s the stopped clock thing.
@Ken: Yes to all that. And he doesn't care. Millions of rapt Trumpbots will believe Trump got 1,700 Google programmers to drop everything & develop a program that allows them to do a drive-by at their local Walmart & get a coronavirus test kit next week. When they find out their Walmart doesn't have such a facility, they'll probably blame local "Democrat officials" or the "deep state" for not following through on the Dear Leader's excellent program.
With the continuing appearance of guests of Mar A Lago showing up positive for the C19 virus I find myself wondering what is the status for testing employees there and at other Trump properties.
@Marie: I sometimes like to peek into Bret's psyche just for fun. He obviously thought he could take the lower case"n" and somehow connect it to the higher Nemesis, who would be miffed that he confused the two. He, did, however, do a good job of ranking on Fatty so there's that.
Here's a much better piece by Joel Christensen whose "In Ancient Greek thought, Plaques Follow on Bad Leaders."
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/in-ancient-greek-thought-plagues-follow-on-bad-leadership/
The current COVID-19 testing debacle, and our unpreparedness in the US, may have been foretold in the transformations of our civil defense organizations over the years. Is anyone talking about FEMA being activated to set up quarantine centers or field hospitals? Has the office of Homeland Security been summoned to at least assist in screening and decontamination of public spaces? Check out the Wikipedia entries on Civil Defense.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_defense
Since the late seventies the cold war strategy of mutual assured destruction pretty much put the kibosh on government run sheltering in a nuclear attack. Since 9/11 the emphasis has been on protection against terrorists, possibly involving chemical or biological weapons. So where is this preparedness against biological weapons evident today? How is this pandemic not like a biological weapon attack? Where is the rapid response by federal and military service members, and community organizations organized under a common civil defense emergency action plan?
The post WWII civil defense lessons that were learned and incorporated in management plans in the 1950s seem to have been partitioned off into separate organizations to the point that coordinated efforts among the branches of Homeland security are, at best, too slow in coming. Contemporary hurricane disaster relief being prime examples.
I hope we take a lesson from this dark episode in our history and re-imagine our civil defense system - maybe practice it from time to time.
@Bobby Lee The 200K membership fee includes free testing for yourself and a guest for a variety of viruses, STD's and food poisoning(beware the Howard Johnson redux omelette bar)
Ronna McDaniel (don't call me Romney) has symptoms and is in isolation. It's unfortunate that doesn't include immobilization of the hands, a gag and removal of any device used for tweeting as well as an extended isolation period for asshats.
The Hill has Trump digning and distributing a chart showing the market jump on his declaring a national emergency. https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/487588-trump-signs-chart-showing-stock-market-rally-after-he-declared
What a sad "Look at me, Mommy!" moment.
I have to wonder how big a jump would occur if he were taken to Walter Reed CCU with a prognosis that he'd be there long enough to learn the names of all the nurses kids?
This is a farcical way to run a government. -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie
Just learned what the Senate is doing with the bill.
Nothing. They're on a thee day break. Won't consider it until Monday.
Farce, yes. But not funny.