;)
The Commentariat -- March 5, 2020
Afternoon Update:
** No Country for Women. Astead Herndon & Shane Goldmacher of the New York Times: "Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts told her staff she was dropping out of the presidential race on Thursday, ending a run defined by an avalanche of policy plans that aimed to pull the Democratic Party to the left and appealed to enough voters to make her briefly a front-runner last fall." The NBC News story is here.
Every time I get introduced as the most powerful woman, I almost cry, because I wish that were not true. I so wish that we had a woman president of the United States, and we came so close to doing that... I do think there's a certain element of misogyny. -- Speaker Nancy Pelosi, at her weekly press conference Thursday
This Is Going to Be Painful:
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: If you think a debate between Joe Biden & Bernie Sanders is going to make Democrats look like the Party of the Future, you have another think coming. Also too, aren't these the two people in America most likely to get the coronavirus and get it bad?
Mistakes Were Made. Matt Yglesias of Vox, who is sympathetic to Bernie Sanders, assesses the Sanders campaign. ~~~
~~~ Bernie Suddenly Feels the Barack:
On the teevee, they're calling this "officially a two-man race." But Tulsi Gabbard!
Jordain Carney of the Hill: "The Senate on Thursday easily passed more than $8 billion in funding to fight the coronavirus, sending the measure to President Trump, who is expected to sign it. Senators voted 96-1 on the bill, which was finalized and cleared the House the day before.... [Sen. Rand] Paul [R-Ky.] was the lone senator to vote against the final measure Thursday." Mrs. McC: Of course.
Farah Stockman & Mike Baker of the New York Times: "Nurses in two states who are responding to the onslaught of novel coronavirus cases said in interviews this week that they lack protective equipment, training on how to use whatever equipment they have been given, and clear protocols to keep themselves and their patients safe. Some nurses in the two states, Washington State and California, said they have been asked to watch online videos -- rather than have in-person training -- about how to spot the virus and how to put on and take off hazmat suits. Others said they have had to beg for N95 masks, which are thicker and block out much smaller particles than surgical masks do. And still others said they have faced ridicule when expressing concerns about catching the highly contagious virus."
Tony Romm of the Washington Post: "A top State Department official said Thursday that Russia is behind 'swarms of online, false personas' that sought to spread misinformation about coronavirus on social-media sites, stressing the 'entire ecosystem of Russian disinformation is at play.' The latest warning came from Lea Gabrielle, the coordinator of the government's Global Engagement Center, in testimony to Congress.... The Kremlin, in particular, 'seeks to weaken its adversaries by manipulating the information environment in nefarious ways, by polarizing political conversations, and attempting to destroy the public's faith in good governance, independent media, and democratic principles,' she said." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: As I was posting this link, I was listening to an MSNBC report about Trump's spreading misinformation about coronavirus. In addition, Romm writes that the State Department has added to the confusion of who's behind the misinformation inasmuch as "the State Department report on coronavirus ... did not mention Russia." So I guess I'd put it down to Trump, Trump toadies & Russia. It's one of those conspiracies where the actors don't necessarily speak to each another but reinforce one another as they work toward the same end.
~~~~~~~~~~
Patricia Mazzei, et al., of the New York Times: "Michael R. Bloomberg dropped out of the presidential race on Wednesday, just over three months after he began a campaign that was fueled by his vast fortune and quickly grew to a sprawling political operation but failed to win the groundswell of moderate support he had sought. Mr. Bloomberg endorsed Joseph R. Biden Jr., saying that he had the best shot to beat President Trump.... In an unprecedented effort to self-finance a presidential campaign -- which some rivals derided as an attempt to buy the White House -- Mr. Bloomberg's bid cost him more than half a billion dollars in advertising alone. He also spent lavishly on robust on-the-ground operations, with more than 200 field offices across the country and thousands of paid staff. His operation dwarfed those of Democratic rivals who ultimately won states in which he had installed many dozens of employees and spent heavily on radio, television and direct mail ads." A Politico story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)
Do not mess with Jill Biden's husband. She will slap you down:
~~~ Here's a WashPo story on Jill versus the Vegans. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Update. Amber Jamieson of BuzzFeed News: "A vegan protester storming the stage of Joe Biden's victory speech on Super Tuesday got tackled by two unlikely linebackers: the candidate's wife, Jill Biden, and his senior adviser, Symone Sanders.... A security guard stopped the protester (Biden does not have Secret Service protection) and pulled her away as she chanted 'let dairy die.' Jill Biden immediately blocked her husband with her body. But then a second protester stormed the stage, and the women of the Biden campaign fought back.... Jill physically grabbed the protester by the wrists and pushed her away. Sanders ... ran after the protester, tackling her and dragging her offstage.... Another angle showed traveling press secretary Remi Yamamoto also helping Sanders drag the protester offstage."
~~~ Jeff Zeleny, et al., of CNN: "The Secret Service is scrambling plans to provide protection to presidential candidates after protesters stormed the stage of former Vice President Joe Biden's victory rally in Los Angeles late Tuesday in a harrowing scene. According to a Secret Service official, the agency is reconsidering the timetable for rolling out campaign bodyguards after the Los Angeles incident, which saw Biden's wife, a private security guard and several senior campaign staffers rush in to defend the candidate. On Wednesday, the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee [Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.)] urged Chad Wolf, the acting Homeland Security secretary, and four congressional leaders who compose the Candidate Protection Advisory Committee to begin considering dispatching the Secret Service protection, citing the protesters Tuesday night.... A candidate must typically ask for the protection to initiate an approval process that includes sign-off from congressional leaders and the Homeland Security chief, although federal guidelines allow the process to begin absent a candidate's request. As of Tuesday, the Biden campaign had not yet asked the government for the security, a law enforcement official said."
Stephen Colbert noticed what bothered me, Mrs. Bea McCrabbie, the most about Biden's victory speech: he can't speak any more clearly than Trump can (not to mention, he mixed up his wife & his sister). This is going to be painful:
Fred Imbert, et al., of CNBC: "Stocks surged on Wednesday as major victories from former Vice President Joe Biden during Super Tuesday sparked a massive rally within the health-care sector. The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared 1,173.45 points higher, or 4.5%, to 27,090.86. The S&P 500 jumped 4.2% to 3,130.12, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 3.8% to 9,018.09. The Dow posted its second-highest point gain ever, and it was the second time in three days that the 30-stock average swung 1,000 points or higher."
Charles Pierce: "It's plain now that, for the moment, anyway, a large part of the Democratic primary electorate is hungering for a president that it can ignore for four or five days a week." Pierce cites a speech Warren Harding gave a hundred years ago (and does grant "that the Harding precedent doesn't bode well for a possible Biden presidency):
America's present need is not heroics, but healing; not nostrums, but normalcy; not revolution, but restoration; not agitation, but adjustment; not surgery, but serenity; not the dramatic, but the dispassionate; not experiment, but equipoise; not submergence in internationality, but sustainment in triumphant nationality. (Also linked yesterday.)
How Do You Spell "Benghazi"? B-U-R-I-S-M-A. ~~~
~~~ Morgan Chalfant of the Hill: "President Trump signaled Wednesday that he would make the dealings of former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter in Ukraine a 'major issue' during the presidential campaign should Biden win the Democratic nomination. 'That will be a major issue in the campaign. I will bring that up all the time because I don't see any way out,' Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity in an interview that aired Wednesday night. 'I don't believe they'll be able to answer those questions.'... Trump and his allies have amplified discredited allegations that Biden, as vice president, pushed for the removal of a Ukrainian prosecutor in order to help shield his son, who at the time was working for a Ukrainian gas company Burisma, from scrutiny." ~~~
~~~ Benghaaazi! 2.0, Ctd. Andrew Desiderio, et al., of Politico: "Just hours after Joe Biden surged to the top of the Democratic presidential pack, Senate Republicans announced a new phase of their investigation targeting the former vice president and his son Hunter. Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) told reporters on Wednesday that he is likely to release an interim report within one to two months on his panel's probe of Hunter Biden's ties to a Ukrainian gas company, Burisma.... Johnson's current posture marks a sharp departure from his position in 2016 when he and a bipartisan team of senators signed a letter supporting Biden's efforts in Ukraine to crack down on corrupt prosecutor Viktor Shokin.... Johnson insisted that the timing of his probe has nothing to do with the election calendar.... 'I am concerned to see that in the Senate there seems to be a renewed interest in furthering these bogus Russian narratives through the use of their investigative powers,' said House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.). 'I just think it's so deeply destructive to be effectively working in a concert with Russian propaganda artists.'"
Sydney Ember of the New York Times (from Wednesday's live updates): "... Bernie Sanders delivered a striking assessment of his campaign, admitting he was 'disappointed' with the results and acknowledging that he was falling short in inspiring young people to vote.... On the subject of young people, he said: 'Have we been as successful as I would hope in bringing young people in? And the answer is no.' Mr. Sanders said he had spoken with Elizabeth Warren, his chief ideological rival, several hours ago by phone and that she told him she was 'assessing her campaign.'... He declined to call on Ms. Warren to drop out, and pronounced himself 'disgusted' by the vitriol directed at her by some of his supporters." ~~~
~~~ German Lopez of Vox: "When Sen. Bernie Sanders talks about his presidential campaign, he emphasizes that it's a movement -- the start of a 'political revolution,' which he says will drive typically apathetic voters, particularly the young, to turn out and vote. But if Super Tuesday was anything to go by, Sanders's political revolution isn't happening -- and it's former Vice President Joe Biden's campaign, or perhaps general opposition to ... Donald Trump, that seems to be driving turnout." (Also linked yesterday.)
Annie Linskey & Sean Sullivan of the Washington Post: "Top surrogates and allies of Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders are discussing ways for their two camps to unite and push a common liberal agenda, with the expectation that Warren is likely to leave the presidential campaign soon, according to two people familiar with the talks. The conversations, which are in an early phase, largely involve members of Congress who back Sanders (I-Vt.) reaching out to those in Warren's camp to explore the prospect that Warren (D-Mass.) might endorse him. They are also appealing to Warren's supporters to switch their allegiance to Sanders, according two people with direct knowledge of the conversations who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss delicate discussions that are supposed to be confidential." ~~~
~~~ Astead Herndon & Shane Goldmacher of the New York Times: "Senator Elizabeth Warren faced an uncertain path forward on Wednesday after a Super Tuesday performance that fell below her campaign's already lowered expectations, with her chances at the Democratic presidential nomination now a mathematical anomaly. Ms. Warren finished third in her home state, Massachusetts, and failed to crack the top two in any contest, leaving any possibility that she could win the nomination reliant on party chaos and not her own electoral prowess. Her campaign manager, Roger Lau, wrote in an email to staff members on Wednesday morning that Ms. Warren was assessing her options." ~~~
~~~ Jessica Valenti in Medium: "It's enough to make me feel, well, despairing: that we had the candidate of a lifetime -- someone with the energy, vision, and follow-through to lead the country out of our nightmarish era -- and that the media and voters basically outright erased and ignored her. Pundits will all have their theories; fears over 'electability' will likely be their #1 explanation. Don't tell me this isn't about sexism. I've been around too long for that." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: There is no doubt that the serious female candidates in this year's race -- Warren, Klobuchar, Harris & Gillibrand -- each had some flaws. But none of them had flaws any worse than, or even as bad as, Sanders', Biden's & Bloomberg's. Yet the women were dismissed to such an extent that Mike Bloomberg pretended that Warren was out, or really didn't know that she was still a candidate (see yesterday's Commentariat), even though she had bested him in several states. ~~~
~~~ Michelle Cottle of the New York Times: "And so, after all the tumult, the Democratic race has come down to this: two straight white septuagenarian men fighting over the soul of the party -- whatever that turns out to be.... For the party of progress, youth and diversity, a final face-off between two lifelong politicians born during World War II leaves much to be desired. And it says something depressing about the challenges women candidates still confront in their quest to shatter the presidential glass ceiling.... Last summer, a poll on perceived electability by Avalanche Strategies found that gender appeared to be a bigger issue than 'age, race, ideology, or sexual orientation.' When voters were asked whom they'd pick if the primaries were held today, Mr. Biden came out ahead. When asked whom they would make president with the wave of a magic wand, without the candidate needing to win an election, voters went with Ms. Warren. Women were more likely than men to cite gender as a concern."
Senate Race. Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "Gov. Steve Bullock of Montana is poised to reverse himself and run for the Senate, according to three Democratic officials, a decision that would hand the party a coveted recruit who could help reclaim a majority in the chamber. After months of insisting he would not challenge Senator Steve Daines [R], Mr. Bullock, who ran for president last year, has told Democrats in the last week he is now inclined to run in what would immediately become one of the marquee Senate races of 2020. Mr. Bullock has only a few days to finalize his decision: The filing deadline to run in Montana is Monday."
Caitlin Emma & Jennifer Scholtes of Politico: "The House on Wednesday passed an $8.3 billion emergency coronavirus package, just hours after congressional negotiators clinched a bipartisan deal to tackle the epidemic. The lower chamber approved the measure with an overwhelming 415-2 vote. It now heads to the Senate, which could clear the bill as soon as Thursday and send it to ... Donald Trump for his signature. The two nay votes were from Republican Reps. Andy Biggs of Arizona and Ken Buck of Colorado." Mrs. McC: Both Biggs & Buck are right-wing loons. ~~~
~~~ Gaetz Makes a Joke of a Deadly-serious Crisis. Caroline Kelly of CNN: "Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz donned a gas mask Wednesday while he voted on a bill that would dedicate billions of dollars to combating coronavirus as concerns rise over the spread of the disease. 'Reviewing the coronavirus supplemental appropriation and preparing to go vote,' Gaetz tweeted with a picture of himself wearing a gas mask while looking at a piece of paper before the vote.... Gaetz later wore the mask onto the House floor, according to a photo tweeted by Rep. Jim Himes, a Connecticut Democrat.... Health officials have urged Americans to stop buying masks out of concern of a shortage for health care workers, and Vice President Mike Pence, whose office is in charge of coronavirus-related messaging, reiterated the point during a press briefing earlier Wednesday...."
Trump Continues to Lie about Coronavirus. Brian Stelter of CNN: "In a phoner with Hannity on Wednesday night, Trump reacted to the World Health Organization's data-driven assessment of the global death rate for the novel coronavirus -- 3.4% -- by saying 'I think the 3.4% is really a false number.... Trump continued by discarding his own administration's advice to stay home if you're feeling sick.'... Also on Wednesday: 'Trump falsely claimed that Obama administration slowed down diagnostic testing, experts say.'... Big picture from the NYT: 'He has dealt with the coronavirus, the first external crisis of his administration, by repeating a string of falsehoods rather than delivering reassurance....'" Mrs. McC: You kinda have to read Stelter's post to get how completely irresponsible Trump's freelancing is. "Message control"? Ha ha.
Roni Rabin & Katie Thomas of the New York Times: "Federal health officials announced on Wednesday that anyone who wants a coronavirus test may get one if a doctor agrees. But the nation's testing capacity is still so limited that experts feared clinics and hospitals could be overwhelmed by an avalanche of requests. Under the new criteria, patients who have fevers, coughs or difficulty breathing qualify for diagnostic testing, depending on their doctor's judgment. But with flu season in full swing, tens of millions of Americans already have respiratory symptoms, and doctors have no quick way to discern who should be tested. The Trump administration has repeatedly promised to expand the nation's testing capabilities by Friday, even as state laboratories estimated that it would be weeks before millions of American could be tested.... In the new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, doctors were encouraged to rule out other causes of respiratory illness and to take into consideration whether there are other local coronavirus cases before ordering a test.... The C.D.C.'s new criteria essentially relegate the decision to test to individual physicians who have little experience with, and scant scientific evidence about, coronavirus." ~~~
~~~ Erika Edwards of NBC News: "After a weekslong delay, thousands of coronavirus test kits are headed to state and local laboratories, Vice President Mike Pence said Wednesday. But questions remain about when, exactly, those promised test kits will arrive and how well they will work.... Federal health officials have been scrambling to increase access to coronavirus testing following a series of initial blunders, including limiting testing strictly to those with symptoms and those who had either come into contact with a known patient or had traveled from China. What's more, the test kits the CDC first sent labs in January proved to be faulty, giving inconclusive results. Such a large-scale snafu appears to be unprecedented." ~~~
~~~ Alexis Madrigal of the Atlantic (March 3): "We know, irrefutably, one thing about the coronavirus in the United States: The number of cases reported in every chart and table is far too low. The data are untrustworthy because the processes we used to get them were flawed. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's testing procedures missed the bulk of the cases. They focused exclusively on travelers, rather than testing more broadly, because that seemed like the best way to catch cases entering the country." ~~~
~~~ Farah Stockman of the New York Times: "When an employee of the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire showed signs of possible coronavirus last week, a medical worker who had examined him told him to avoid contact with others, pending further tests. Instead, he went to a mixer at a crowded music venue. Three days later, he was confirmed as the state's first coronavirus case. And now a second case has been confirmed -- a 'close contact' of the patient's -- raising new questions about what should happen when suspected coronavirus patients ignore requests to self-quarantine. The man, who had come down with flu-like symptoms after a trip to Italy, has now been officially ordered by New Hampshire's health commissioner to isolate himself at home.... New Hampshire officials have made clear in their public statements that they feel the patient acted irresponsibly. But he does not appear to have broken the law." Mrs. McC: IOW, your health is dependent upon how responsibly your neighbors behave. ~~~
~~~ Rebecca Klar of the Hill: "A medical professional conducting coronavirus screenings at Los Angeles International Airport has tested positive for the virus, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said Wednesday. The person began to exhibit coldlike symptoms on Feb. 29 and visited their primary care doctor for a COVID-19 test the next day. The test came back positive, DHS said in a statement."
According to Brian Williams of MSNBC, Donald Trump walked out of a coronavirus meeting Wednesday to go tweet about Democrats. No link.
Zack Budryk of the Hill: "California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Wednesday declared a state of emergency after the first death from coronavirus in the Golden State.... The man, an elderly resident of Placer County with other underlying health conditions, died in isolation at a hospital in Roseville Wednesday morning after likely being exposed to the virus on a cruise from San Francisco to Mexico in February. The emergency proclamation includes anti-price gouging provisions as well as provisions allowing for health care workers to travel from out of state to provide assistance in health care facilities. It comes the day after Newsom announced the release of millions of N95 masks amid shortages caused by the virus. California has confirmed 53 cases of the virus as of Wednesday afternoon."
Josh Marshall of TPM: "There's a huge, huge story unfolding [with the coronavirus] -- many communities are already shifting behavior in major ways -- and yet we hear little of it from the federal government or to a significant degree even from the news media. One of the big things is restrictions on travel mandated by big companies.... We've seen news reports of many conventions and big public meetings being canceled.... When you put together the number of big companies drastically limiting business travel and many people canceling leisure travel, it seems certain that the travel and hospitality industries are already entering what can only be called a steep, steep recession." --s ~~~
~~~ From the Guardian coronavirus news blog: "Southwest [airlines], which basically created the budget airline model in the early 1970s, says customers demand has declined. It fears the crisis will wipe $200m-$300m off its operating revenues this quarter.... The global coronavirus outbreak could be as severe a blow to the airline industry as the global financial crisis a decade ago ... set to cost the airline industry at least $63bn of lost revenue -- or $113bn if the virus spreads 'extensively' across more countries.... Investment bank Goldman Sachs has warned that the coronavirus will push the UK economy to the 'brink of recession'.... Flybe, Europe's largest regional airline, has collapsed into administration this morning as the economic damage caused by the ongoing coronavirus crisis escalated...." --s
Dan Friedman of Mother Jones: "When Khalifa Haftar launched an offensive last spring to oust Libya's internationally recognized government in Tripoli, he sought US support.... Within days, President Donald Trump placed a supportive call to Haftar. But overall, the US administration has remained largely cool to the warlord.... One of the most prominent [supporters] is Walid Phares, a right-wing pundit and adviser to the 2016 Trump campaign, who for years has spoken favorably about Haftar in public remarks and social media posts.... What Phares has not mentioned while touting Haftar is that Phares has explored business opportunities involving Haftar's son, Okba Haftar. The younger Haftar lives in Northern Virginia and works in real estate. According to people involved in US-Libya relations, Okba Haftar has also helped his father advance his interests in the United States." --s
Jeffrey Smith of Public Integrity: "When confronted by House lawmakers angered about ... Donald Trump's halt in aid to Ukraine last summer, Trump administration officials repeatedly said the hiatus was meant to allow them to conduct a policy review about the aid program. But the Pentagon's deputy general counsel [Edwin S. Castle] -- in an email kept secret by the administration during the House and Senate impeachment proceedings in December and January -- told his colleagues during the aid halt there was, in fact, no such policy review under way inside the administration." (Also linked yesterday.)
Colby Itkowitz & Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "In a rare rebuke of a sitting member of Congress, Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. criticized Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D) over remarks made from the steps outside the high court Wednesday that Justices Brett M. Kavanaugh and Neil M. Gorsuch would 'pay the price' for a vote against reproductive rights. 'Justices know that criticism comes with the territory, but threatening statements of this sort from the highest levels of government are not only inappropriate, they are dangerous,' Roberts said in a statement.... Schumer, speaking at a rally as the Supreme Court heard a pivotal abortion rights case over the legality of a Louisiana law that creates additional barriers for doctors who perform abortions, singled out President Trump's appointees by name. 'I want to tell you Gorsuch, I want to tell you Kavanaugh, you have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price,' Schumer said. 'You won't know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.'... Last week, Trump said that liberal Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg should 'recuse themselves' from any cases involving him or his administration. Roberts did not comment after Trump made those remarks." ~~~
~~~ Pete Williams of NBC News: "Schumer's spokesman said his remarks about Gorsuch and Kavanaugh referred to the political price Republicans 'will pay for putting them on the court.' It was a warning, the spokesman said, 'that the justices will unleash major grassroots movement on the issue of reproductive rights against the decision.' Schumer's office later issued a second statement in which the senator criticized Roberts. 'For Justice Roberts to follow the right wing's deliberate misinterpretation of what Sen. Schumer said, while remaining silent when President Trump attacked Justices Sotomayor and Ginsburg last week, shows Justice Roberts does not just call balls and strikes,' said Schumer spokesman Justin Goodman, referring to Trump's criticism of the two liberal justices and his call for them not to participate in any rulings involving him." ~~~
~~~ Ian Millhiser of Vox: "Wednesday morning's arguments in the biggest threat to abortion rights to reach the Supreme Court in nearly 30 years went so badly for Louisiana Solicitor General Elizabeth Murrill, who was defending Louisiana's restrictive abortion law, that by the end even Chief Justice John Roberts appeared uncomfortable with her arguments.... Murrill's performance was so weak, and the liberal justices successfully exposed so many flaws in her argument, that it raised questions about whether Roberts might join his liberal colleagues to strike down Louisiana's law." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Steve M.: "Are the defenders of the law genuinely incompetent? Or is Roberts doing precisely what I predicted he'd do last fall when the Court agreed to take the case? I wrote at the time: '... does John Roberts really want GOP-appointed Supreme Court justices blamed for a sudden massive decrease in abortion availability a few months before a presidential election? I think this raises the possibility that Roberts will join with the Court's liberals to say, "Hey, this is just like the Texas law, so I'm going to shock you by upholding precedent and striking it down."'"
Robert McFadden of the New York Times: "Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, a reluctant compromise choice for United Nations secretary general, who astonished the diplomatic world by brokering peace agreements in Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America as the Cold War thawed in the late 1980s and early '90s, died on Wednesday, according to the Peruvian Foreign Ministry. He was 100." An AP obituary is here.
Way Beyond the Beltway
Iceland. Andie Sophia Fontaine of The Reykjavík Grapevine: "There are now nine confirmed cases in Iceland of COVID-19 ... and 300 people remain in home quarantine.... Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir told RÚV that the government, management and labour unions have been in negotiations as to who will be paying who while under quarantine, but the main detail is that everyone agrees that no one should miss revenue on account of being under quarantine -- especially as such a quarantine is to protect the health of the general public." --s
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Reader Comments (21)
So Senator (and I use the term loosely) Ron Johnson is digging further into the Bidens and Burisma furthering Russian disinformation. This is the same "Senator" who joined seven other goper self-professed "patriots" to send July 4th in Moscow. Fuck. Them. All.
Driving across Massachusetts Tuesday afternoon, NPR repeatedly talked about the Super Tuesday race naming Biden and Sanders, then a sentence about Bloomberg. Maybe every five times, they would mention Warren in relation to Massachusetts. The local stations mentioned her more, in a "Can she hold on?" way.
All Things Considered did a several minute long piece about the Warren campaign, but that was a completely separate thing, and the tone was about how I feel about lima beans, good for you but I really don't like them.
Much as I love Colbert, (I stood in line for hours a week and a bit ago to see the show) his rundown of a debate, I think the most recent one, did not mention Warren at all, only to go on to a feature of the two of them in South Carolina.
She has been getting the Separate But Equal treatment.
I guess I have to support Bloomberg's desire to spend mountains of his own cash if it is truly designed to undercut the formidable GOP digital propaganda operation they're building. However, the obscene amount of money he spent (reportedly half a billion total) to capture the key territory of Samoa provokes a few thoughts: (1) With the digital revolution, the power of money in political campaigns has been completely turned on its head. Biden only had a few small operations in some of the states he won. It's a data-driven Brave New World where information is the most precious currency. (2) "Buying" a national election appears nearly impossible. Buying local/state elections are a different story (see: Koch brothers). (3) If some really philanthropic multi-billionaire really wanted to transform America, they could single-handedly pay off hundreds of millions of dollars of debt of everyday Americans. Bloomberg could have literally wired $1 million to EVERY American for less money than what he just infused into corporate media orgs. for basically a branding exercise. And it would hardly affect his bank account. That's insane.
@NiskyGuy: I think the lesson of Barack Obama is that the first woman who wins the U.S. presidency will have to be someone -- like Obama -- who is nearly above reproach. Obama spent a lifetime accommodating everybody's prejudices, and as painful as that must have been, it paid off. Pioneers have to be better than the rest of us, at the same time they have to show us they are "like" us, or at least like our better selves.
I recall watching a videoclip of Obama that was taped during his first inauguration extravaganza. After the Lincoln Memorial concert, the Obamas greeted a crowded line of those who had performed at the concert. As it happened, the first large groups Obama greeted were white, and Obama was both polite and friendly. Then he got to a gaggle of black performers, and though the difference was subtle, I sensed that he was more relaxed and "connected" more closely with the black performers. But the bottom line was that he gave both groups what they expected: more apparent "respect" for the white performers & more closeness to the black performers. I don't think this was an act on his part; I think it was what he was conditioned to do -- and what made him and the performers most comfortable. It's a talent.
An effective female candidate, of whatever color, will have to do that, too: show a certain, if subtle, deference to powerful, "entitled" men and a solidarity with women. I think some women in politics have that talent. I don't know who they are.
Little Johnny Sez!
So the Chief Justice of the Trump Rubber Stamp Supreme Court has spoken. And what he sez is that Demycraps better shut up about him and his righty-right pals on the court being rubber stamps for the right.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer made (what I think is) a somewhat stupid comment about how the latest Trump rubber stamps, Neil (You should die for your boss) Gorsuch and Bart (Lets drink a case of beer and rape women) O'Kavanaugh might be straining at the leash to chloroform Roe v Wade. So Johnny comes out and lectures Schumer about his comment saying it was dangerous and "a threat". Johnny wants everyone to know that ""All members of the Court will continue to do their job, without fear or favor, from whatever quarter" (*cough-cough*). Sure, Johnny. ALL the members do their jobs without favoring one side over the other. Right. Except if it affects their side. Just like...well, just like rubber stamps!
So hey, if that was true, that the Court shows no fear or favor, how come Roberts shut his mouth when his Dear Leader demanded that two members of his court recuse themselves whenever any case about Trump's crimes or treason show up in their docket? How come he didn't lecture Fatty same as he smacked Schumer?
Rub-Ber Stamp. That's why.
And now the entirety of the Party of Traitors is up in arms. Turtle Man is outraged...OUTRAGED, I tells ya, that anyone dares to screw with the Court. Ya know, like maybe telling a president he can't even nominate anyone for an open seat on the Court.
Goddam hypocrites.
But back to Schumer. That was a stupid thing to say, to name check specific judges. Are you an idiot? That's something a greenhorn backbencher aching for some ink and fifteen seconds on the nightly news does, not the minority leader. Is it true? Of course it is. Anyone even vaguely concerned with allowing women, not Trump and his fucking Savonarolas, to make decisions about their lives, understands that the legality of choice is in grave danger with these jamokes making the decision. But if it was a dumbass move for Fatty to namecheck justices, it's no different for Schumer.
So there's that. But still, the fact that only one of them got the finger wagging lecture proves the opposite of what Little Johnny claims: that they treat everyone the same.
They don't. There's one law for the traitors and the wealthy and one law for everyone else.
Akhilleus sez so.
@safari, what's insane is that Bloomberg could give all of US 330MM $1MM each year for a 180 years. And he's not even the richest guy.
I wonder what the economic and societal impacts would be for such a measly annual expenditure. Zero debt, zero interest? Commercial boost? Hyperinflation? Maybe Krugman reads RC and will answer.
Akhilleus,
Don't know how we got here, but here we are.
Yes, indeedy, Schumer did make a stupid remark. Fair enough for him to be called on it, though I'm not sure I would appointed the CJ as the messenger, as that mouthpiece, when the court will be deciding a half dozen very contentious issues in this session, is rife with its own political implications.
But....the nation seems to have developed and is content with two sets of standards here too: one for D's and the other for R's, similar it seems to me to the accepted standards for women and for men.
We simply expect better behavior from D's (and women) and we call them out when they disappoint our expectations. R's on the other hand, Nunes comes immediately to mind, can exhibit what would be outrageous boorishness in a Dem--and nary a murmer.
Thought this last night when I heard the Pretender say in the upcoming campaign he'd be attacking Biden for his family's corruption and thought, here we are in a nation half of which took the Benghazi charade seriously and we can expect that a remark like that coming from the most corrupt president ever is being treated and will be taken with equal gravity, and not met with the guffaw it deserves.
This obvious contrast is captured in IOKIYAR, a truism which could be modified to IOKIYAM to reflect that other familiar double standard.
So how did we get here? Can't all be Fox News, can it?
The other night I devoured the most amazing short story I've set eyes on in many a moon. "A Visit", by the disquieting (and disturbed) British writer Anna Kavan, is a wild, weird, uneasy in a barely describable way, and ultimately troubling, tale.
A description can't possibly suffice, but I'll give you the bones so you can see how weird and wonderful it is. A woman living by herself in a tropical setting near the sea awakens one night as a huge leopard enters her bedroom and lies down next to her. The woman and the leopard bond in a strange way. The leopard beckons her to follow him into the jungle. She declines and too late, realizes that the leopard is gone. The power and majesty of his wild nature disappear from her life (you have to read the story to see how she accomplishes this literary magic trick). She looks for his return for years, realizing that what she had was transcendent. But he's gone forever. The story ends like this:
"...very occasionally he still enters my dreams, which disturbs me and makes me feel restless and sad. [The dreams] weigh me down with the obscure bitterness for a loss which should have been prevented, and for which I am myself to blame."
As the tsunami of treason and anti-American, anti-democratic swill overwhelms us, abetted by greed, hatred, foreign obstruction, and media complacency, I've been feeling a combination of dread, horror, and loss. Loss of something I thought, from childhood, could never be destroyed, chased away, or scared off, and that is the United States I grew up in. Of course, the US has been remade dozens and dozens of times since the revolution, but the essence of the thing, its inner leopard, had seemed inviolable.
Not anymore. Like the woman in the story, I feel like we're losing something that may never come back, and for which we are ourselves to blame. People don't vote, evil men skulk into the jungle with their insidious weapons, kill the leopard and hang its skin over the fireplace in their clubhouse.
A repulsive fat man breaks out the cigars and they all laugh.
The leopard is still out there somewhere.
I hope.
Ken,
Complete agreement here. I've been saying for some time that Fatty and Mitch McConnell could rob a bank, shoot innocent passersby as they run out for their getaway, meanwhile, across the way, Joe Biden crosses the street against the lights. Next day, the headlines scream "Biden Jaywalker! "Investigate" Cry Repubs". On page 42 there's a two paragraph story about a bank robbery. Eight people dead. No leads.
So Fatty and the traitors scream about Hunter Biden. In the next breath, Trump congratulates his daughter on all her new Chinese patents and announces that Junior and Little Dracula have inked a hundred million dollar deal to develop Trump properties around the world, having spent tens of millions of taxpayer dollars on travel, luxury accommodations, limos, food and drink, and secret service protection while doing so. Oh yes, and his son-in-law Jared gets a sweetheart deal from foreigners looking to do business with Trump. But ho-hum, business as usual. Instead, half the nation is riveted by a completely bullshit story about Joe Biden's kid, told by guys who are now under arrest, running a company with "Fraud" in the title.
????
It IS okay if you're a Republican. And if you're a Trump, it's required. And how dare anyone say anything about it. In fact, Fatty demands that anyone on the Supreme Court not already in his pocket be disallowed from weighing in on any of his slimy, illegal, and treasonous deals.
And no, it's not all Fox, but a lot of it is. The rest is a supine media and dense Democrats too wrapped up in internal squabbles to see that Republicans have been living in their basement for years, reading their mail, making crank calls on their phone, setting land mines in the back yard, planting C4 charges around the boiler, and leaking E. coli into the fridge.
"Message control": Trumps definition is "I control the message!"
Akhilleus,
The question I'm asking myself is whether the Fox-Republican meme is causative or reflective. I'm thinking its more reflective, but in either case it's certainly a reinforcing feed-back loop.
But there has to be something deeper going on, a product of the war between the sexes that didn't even emerge in the western world until the nineteenth century, maybe, and very likely the model of predatory capitalism we still adhere to, both of which convey the immoral sense that it is might that makes right.
The revolution promised in the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights is arrayed against that generally accepted and powerful point of view, but has never vanquished it in part because it began with a very limited definition of who counted in the Founders' proposed democracy and because our economic system is based on the same powerful metaphor of winners and losers.
Democracy depends on the belief that all men and women are truly created equal....but the institutions that govern our lives (many churches, the business world and even the government we rely on to protect democracy itself) act in ways that flatly contradict that principle.
From this old teacher's perspective, we say one thing, then spend most of our behavioral energy teaching one another the wrong lessons.
No wonder we're confused.
I have nothing to say–-you all have said it for me today and after reading Ak's rendering of the leopard story I teared up. I, too, have such a feeling of loss along with that underlying fury, and to top it off read an opinion piece from the WSJ that popped up in my in-box–-by a Daniel Henninger: SOCIALISM JUST BOMBED. It's a look into the Republican mindset that doesn't want this system to change one little bit and views that the "America of yesteryear" with all its corruption and inequality as "The America we know and love." Take a look:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/socialism-just-bombed-11583367223
Kara Swisher in NYT. An opinion piece "Brace Yourself for What’s Coming at Twitter." Since its Swisher, I paid attention.
https://nyti.ms/2Tr4MJZ
Biden is a hot mess. He must have a great female VP. He will have a buttload of money and people behind him now. Fully 1/2 that cash will have to buy mountains of duck tape to hold him together and get Trump out of the WH. Unlike the intransigent Sanders, he will likely let that happen and happily so.
In 2016, the two major parties gave us a choice between two of the worst candidates ever. Hillary Clinton, however, was highly competent and would have been a decent president. This year, the parties outdid themselves and will give us a choice between two candidates who are worse than those of the 2016 campaign, when it wasn't 100% clear Trump would be the worst president ever. Now we know.
We're Americans. We have been paying close attention, and we have let this situation happen. What can we do? Really. What can we do?
I'm not sure I really have a handle on what we can do, but I do know we can't give up, sit out, and let this madness continue. I said when the campaigns started to multiply like rabbits that while I didn't know who I'd cast a vote for in November I had no doubt who I'd cast one against. That determination still stands firm.
@Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: "What can we do?" We can encourage
Biden to choose Barrack Obama as his running mate. The 22nd
amendment hasn't been tested to my knowledge. But of course,
the Supreme Court might get involved and we all know how that
would turn out.
How about Michelle Obama? I’d be down with that.
It has to be a woman and it can’t be for window dressing. Ideally it’d be great to choose someone who could pick up the reins and step into the presidency and/or run on her own in four or eight years. Kamala Harris? Whatever happens, this will be the last hurrah for the Biden-Sanders age group.
If the Democratic Party is going to thrive, we need the next generation to come on strong. The Party of Traitors will do whatever it can to lock itself in despite changing demographics so Democrats have to find a way to energize younger voters, to keep them from turning to the dark side, and showing them the truth of the traitors’ party, that it is a party dedicated to itself and its power. Nothing else. No room for women, minorities, equality, economic justice, or facts.
What can we do? Other than voting for one of the two week-old ham sandwiches over the OM, hope like hell that there is a young brilliant vice president selected that has some leadership chops and progressive leanings that can step up and be influential when (if) one of these old geezers start to break down. Sorry. Nothing more from me as I watch the last wisp of smoke trail off my candle of hope this morning.
I'm all in for Jill Biden. Have her take care of a couple more misguided protesters (Really!? Disrupt the candidate who will at least give you a sympathetic ear rather than face the people who pour milk onto you just to spite you?) and Bernie may hand over all his delegates.
As we used to say back in the day: One tough mutha!
Sally Yates for VP. (Unless Stacey Abrams could forgive Biden.)
I think we're losing some digits in our calculations.
If we say that Bloomberg spent $500,000,000 ($500 Million) and we divide that by 3,300,000 Americans, that's $151.52 per person.
If he were to give away his entire fortune, let's round his fortune up to $66 Billion for computational ease.
$66,000,000,000 / $3,300,000 = $20,000
That is lots of money, but not the mind-blowing figures, giving every American $1Million every year for 180 years stated above.