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The Commentariat -- October 5, 2020
Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Reality Chex is still bobbing up & down, but the "down" doesn't last long. However, be sure to save your comments because this also happens when you're trying to post them.
Afternoon Update:
From Monday's Washington Post live elections updates: "Trump was discharged from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center early Monday evening and arrived back at the White House after being diagnosed last week with covid-19, experiencing a fever and being given supplemental oxygen treatments. As he left Walter Reed, Trump gave a thumbs up to reporters and ignored questions about how many White House staffers are sick and whether he is a 'superspreader.' 'Thank you very much, everybody,' Trump said, giving a slight wave before heading into his motorcade and taking off for the White House in Marine One. After arriving back at the White House, Trump stood on the Truman Balcony, the second-floor balcony facing the South Lawn, took off his face mask, gave a double thumbs-up and saluted the soldiers down below. He then stood at the balcony for a few minutes before entering the White House." Mrs. McC: Sadly, no Bible to hold aloft or protesters to tear-gas.
From Monday's New York Times live updates of Covid-19 developments: "President strong> Trump's physician, Dr. Sean P. Conley, said on Monday that the president would return to the White House after having spent three nights at the Walter Reed medical center, although he was not 'out of the woods yet' in his fight against Covid-19. 'Over the past 24 hours, the president has continued to improve,' Dr. Conley said. 'He's met or exceeded all standard hospital discharge criteria.' The president's doctors evaded some key questions about the president's condition, including his lung function and the date of his last negative coronavirus test."
I will be leaving the great Walter Reed Medical Center today at 6:30 P.M. Feeling really good! Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don't let it dominate your life. We have developed, under the Trump Administration, some really great drugs & knowledge. I feel better than I did 20 years ago! -- Most Irresponsible Person in the U.S., in a tweet Monday afternoon
The Washington Post's live updates of Covid-19 developments Monday are here: "About two-thirds of U.S. states reported an increase in new coronavirus cases in the past week, according to data tracked by The Washington Post, indicating that colder temperatures in much of the country may be driving people indoors and helping to spread the virus. Several states in the once hard-hit Northeast were among those posting their largest new-case counts in months. But many of the sharpest increases per capita came in the Midwest and Mountain West, including Wisconsin, Iowa, Utah and the Dakotas."
News from the White House Hot Zone. Brett Samuels & Morgan Chalfant of the Hill: "White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany tested positive for COVID-19, she said Monday, making her the latest person in President Trump's orbit to contract the virus. 'After testing negative consistently, including every day since Thursday, I tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday morning while experiencing no symptoms. No reporters, producers or members of the press are listed as close contacts by the White House Medical Unit,' she said in a statement." Mrs. McC: According to CNN, two people on McEnany's staff also tested positive. ~~~
~~~ From the Washington Post's live election updates: "Less than a day before she tested positive for the coronavirus, McEnany declined to wear a mask while talking with reporters outside the White House."= ~~~
~~~ "En route to campaign stops in South Florida, [Joe] Biden said he would listen to experts to gauge whether it would be safe for him and Trump to participate in the second presidential debate next week. Trump was hospitalized Friday night after testing positive for the coronavirus. Biden so far has tested negative but shared the stage with Trump for a prolonged period during the first presidential debate last Tuesday, when the president may have already been infected.'I'll do whatever the experts say,' Biden said before boarding his campaign plane Monday morning in Delaware. 'I think we should be very cautious.'"
David Edwards of the Raw Story: "Trump campaign aide Erin Perrine on Monday suggested that ... Donald Trump is a better leader than Democratic candidate Joe Biden because he has the 'firsthand experience' of being infected with COVID-19." Mrs. McC: Perrine did not address the fact that Biden has firsthand experience being a human being while Trump does not. Anyway, this is the dumbest candidate's argument I've heard in a while.
Dan Diamond of Politico: "In early September, as many school districts were still deciding whether to hold in-person classes, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention altered the title of a scientific report on the coronavirus and removed words like 'pediatric' from its text, days after a Trump administration appointee requested similar changes, according to emails obtained by Politico. That request -- issued by then-public affairs official Paul Alexander -- came amid ... Donald Trump's broader push to reopen schools, with the president issuing demands on Twitter the prior day that 'Democrats, OPEN THE SCHOOLS ( SAFELY),' and holding a press conference that touted data on the relatively low risk of Covid-19 for children."
Buh-bye to a Bigot. Pete Williams of NBC News: "The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal from Kim Davis, the former Kentucky county clerk who gained national attention five years ago when she cited her religious beliefs in refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Although the court was apparently unanimous in refusing to hear her appeal, two of the conservative justices said the 2015 ruling making same-sex marriage the law of the land amounted to a 'cavalier treatment of religion.' Davis 'may have been one of the first victims' of the decision, 'but she will not be the last,' wrote Clarence Thomas for himself and Samuel Alito."
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The Trumpidemic, Ctd.
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Monday are here: "... the number of new cases reported each day across the United States has been slowly rising. The country is at a key moment in the pandemic, and spread of the virus could worsen significantly through the autumn, experts fear, as colder weather forces people indoors. Every day, some 43,000 new cases are being reported -- far fewer than during the surge in the summer, but still an uncomfortably large number. Some of the country's least populous states are now seeing their highest infection rates." ~~~
~~~ Natasha Korecki & David Lim of Politico: Joe Biden "is facing the prospect that the president of the United States himself might have posed the biggest Covid-19 risk to his health since the pandemic began. It could be days before the 77-year-old Biden will be in the clear, despite recent negative tests. The virus can incubate for up to 14 days. Donald Trump was quite likely infectious at the Tuesday debate, medical professionals say, considering the severity of the symptoms on Friday, in which he necessitated oxygen before being transported to Walter Reed Military Medical Center. 'A person is at their peak infectiousness in the 48-hour period before they start showing symptoms,' said Leana Wen, a former health commissioner for Baltimore and ER physician. 'If that timeline is correct, then [Trump] would actually be at the peak of contagion on Tuesday night.'... Among those inside the debate hall or who traveled with Trump that night who announced positive tests later in the week: former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who had helped Trump with debate prep, First Lady Melania Trump, senior adviser Hope Hicks and Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien." They did not wear masks.
Thomas Kaplan, et al., of the New York Times: "For months, Joseph R. Biden Jr. has gone to great lengths to model responsible behavior in the coronavirus era.... These actions have so far helped keep Mr. Biden healthy and able to continue campaigning while President Trump, who mocked masks and held large events, is now hospitalized with Covid-19. But beyond the public examples of safety precautions, Mr. Biden's health protocols have remained largely under wraps, with his campaign saying little about what steps it is taking to protect the 77-year-old Democratic nominee. His aides will not answer questions about whether Mr. Biden is tested daily; they say simply that he is tested 'regularly.' Until this weekend, they had promised to inform the public only if he had a confirmed positive case. Then, on Saturday night..., the campaign committed to releasing the results of all of his tests. He tested negative on Sunday, the campaign said. Transparency has taken on new significance in the presidential race given the conflicting information about Mr. Trump's health and the fact that his Democratic rival, who is also in an age group that is particularly susceptible to Covid-19, was exposed to the president during their 90-minute debate on Tuesday. Mr. Biden, who is ahead in national polls and many battleground state surveys, still faces the possibility of a positive test...."
The New York Times' main article on Donald Trump's condition, by Peter Baker & Maggie Haberman, is here.
Brett Samuels of the Hill: "President Trump on Sunday greeted supporters outside Walter Reed Medical Center from his motorcade, leaving his hospital suite for a 'surprise' visit as he undergoes treatment for COVID-19. The president tweeted a video in which he said he planned to go say hello to the dozens of supporters who had gathered across the street, waving Trump flags as the president was hospitalized. Moments later, video emerged of the president's motorcade passing by, with a masked Trump visible waving in the backseat. The decision raised immediate safety concerns, as the president is infected with a highly contagious virus...." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Of course Trump got up out of his sickbed, risking his own health as well as the health of a couple of Secret Service agents & the driver. According to reporters, some of the well-wishers were chanting QAnon conspiracy memes & holding QAnon signs. (Guardian @ 16:44 Sunday) ~~~
~~~ Update. A doctor who is an expert on the matter has harsher words for Trump than I ~~~
~~~ Brooke Seipel of the Hill: "An attending physician at Walter Reed Medical Center swiped at President Trump for leaving his hospital room and waving to supporters gathered outside from his motorcade, saying it puts those in the vehicle at risk. 'That Presidential SUV is not only bulletproof, but hermetically sealed against chemical attack. The risk of COVID19 transmission inside is as high as it gets outside of medical procedures. The irresponsibility is astounding. My thoughts are with the Secret Service forced to play,' Dr. James P. Phillips, who is also the Chief of Disaster Medicine at George Washington University Emergency Medicine. 'Every single person in the vehicle during that completely unnecessary Presidential "drive-by" just now has to be quarantined for 14 days. They might get sick. They may die. For political theater. Commanded by Trump to put their lives at risk for theater. This is insanity,' he continued." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ AND Now This. Josh Dawsey, et al., of the Washington Post: "Current and former Secret Service agents and medical professionals were aghast Sunday night at President Trump's trip outside the hospital where he is being treated for the coronavirus, saying the president endangered those inside his SUV for a publicity stunt. As the backlash grew, multiple aides who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal deliberations also called Trump's evening outing an unnecessary risk — but said it was not surprising. Trump had said he was bored in the hospital, advisers said. He wanted to show strength after his chief of staff offered a grimmer assessment of his health than doctors, according to campaign and White House officials. A growing number of Secret Service agents have been concerned about the president's seeming indifference to the health risks they face when traveling with him in public, and a few reacted with outrage to the trip, asking how Trump's desire to be seen outside his hospital suite justified the jeopardy to agents protecting him. 'He's not even pretending to care now,' one agent said...." ~~~
~~~ AND This. Patricia Yeo of the Daily Beast: "After teasing a 'little surprise visit' via video on Twitter, President Trump left the hospital on Sunday afternoon to wave to supporters from the back seat of an SUV. 'It's been a very interesting journey. I learned a lot about COVID,' Trump, who is still suffering from the coronavirus, said in the video. 'I learned it by really going to school, this is the real school, this isn't the "let's read the book" school, and I get it, and I understand it,' he added. Then, contradicting his own words and the advice of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the president left Walter Reed National Military Medical Center's presidential suite to wave to supporters from a car -- a decision that forced at least two Secret Service agents to don personal protective equipment as they shared the same air and enclosed space of the vehicle.... Dr. Irwin Redlener, a Columbia University expert on pandemic readiness..., said it was an awful spectacle. 'If I was his physician, I would not have approved of that. If I were the Secret Service agents' physicians, I wouldn't have approved of that either,' he said. 'The president and his entourage have been creating, almost daily, potentially superspreader events,' Redlener added." ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Obviously, Trump is surrounded by flunkies who won't stand up to him even when he needlessly endangers their own health & safety. This might not be the best time to remind you that accompanying Trump into the hospital was an aide carrying the nuclear football, a briefcase that allows him to authorize a nuclear attack. Who will say "no" when Trump says, "Bring me the black box"?
Katie Thomas & Roni Rabin of the New York Times: "President Trump's doctors offered rosy assessments of his condition on Sunday, but the few medical details they disclosed -- including his fluctuating oxygen levels and a decision to begin treatment with a steroid drug -- suggested to many infectious disease experts that he is suffering a more severe case of Covid-19 than the physicians acknowledged.... Some experts raised an additional possibility: that the president is directing his own care, and demanding intense treatment despite risks he may not fully understand."
From a Guardian elections liveblog Sunday: @17:24: "The White House did not disclose that Donald Trump received a positive test result from a Covid-19 rapid test on Thursday, opting to carry on business-as-usual until the more thorough Covid-19 screening confirmed the president has Covid-19. The Wall Street Journal is reporting this afternoon from anonymous sources familiar with the matter that the president attempted to keep the positive test result from the rapid test mum, saying on Fox News Thursday night that he was awaiting test results when the president already knew about his positive rapid test result. Trump tweeted at 1 am that morning that he tested positive for Covid-19."Also, according to Political Wire, The WSJ reported that "As the virus spread among the people closest to him, Mr. Trump also asked one adviser not to disclose results of their own positive test:'Don't tell anyone.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: It appears, according to the WSJ report, that Trump was trying to keep his own positive results secret until (a) he was feeling too sick to fake it, or (b) he wasn't feeling too bad & thought he could show how strong he was by easily beating the virus. That is, Trump would either hide his illness, thus infecting more people, or -- if that failed -- follow a "Cat on the Roof" strategy. ~~~
~~~ OR, as Scott Lemiuex puts it in LG&$: "The President of the United States is a remorseless sociopath."
The New York Times' live Covid-19 updates Sunday are here: "President Trump's medical team acknowledged delivering an overly rosy description of the president's illness on Saturday. 'I didn't want to give any information that might steer the course of illness in another direction, and in doing so, you know, it came off that we were trying to hide something, which wasn't necessarily true,' Dr. Sean P. Conley, the White House physician, said in a briefing with reporters Sunday. The doctors said [Mrs. McC: admitted] that Mr. Trump had a 'high fever' on Friday, and that there had been two incidents when his oxygen levels dropped -- one on Friday and one on Saturday. They said Mr. Trump received oxygen at the White House on Friday; they were not clear about whether it was administered again on Saturday.... Dr. Conley said that the president had been given the steroid dexamethasone on Saturday. The drug has been shown to help patients who are severely ill with Covid-19, but it is typically not used in mild or moderate cases of the disease, and in fact could be harmful early in the course of the illness...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Conley's excuse for dissembling is a wonder to behold: "I admit I lied & covered up the truth about the status of Patient No. 1's health, but if I hadn't lied & covered up, the patient might have turned purple with rage & died because he can't handle the truth & he sure as hell doesn't want voters to know it." ~~~
~~~ Also from the Times Covid-19 updates: "Two members of the White House residence staff tested positive for the coronavirus roughly three weeks ago, according to two people familiar with the diagnoses. The people who tested positive were not employees who come in direct contact with the president and the first lady, one of the people familiar with the diagnoses said. But the positive results again raise questions about how and when President Trump may have been exposed to the virus."
None of Your Beeswax, Nosy Nancy. Axios: "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said on Sunday she is receiving health updates on President Trump, who is in the hospital with the coronavirus, through the media and not through official briefings or contact with the White House.... Pelosi is second in the line of succession behind Vice President Mike Pence." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Philip Bump of the Washington Post shows how the Trump campaign faked some video footage of Trump which they falsely claimed was "all one take" & staged some photos of Trump, a Sharpie & some papers a few minutes apart to give the impression Trump was working all day Saturday. (Mrs. McC: Looks to me like the same set of folders & binder in both photos.) (Also linked yesterday afternoon.
Doubling Down on Irresponsibility. Fred Hiatt of the Washington Post: "... you might have thought that President Trump's infection at least could have offered a learning moment for his supporters. If so, you would have underestimated the cynicism and amorality of the Trump campaign. So far, although it wouldn't have seemed possible, the Trump team is using this occasion to peddle even more dangerous misinformation and advice than before.... His irresponsibility in the past days, as in the past weeks and months, is beyond dispute.... Now that so many people who attended ... events [Trump held] are falling ill, the humane response would be, first, to apologize for having put people at risk -- particularly people who have no choice about the danger being imposed on them, such as security officers and servers. Then you'd hope to hear an apology for having put millions more people indirectly at risk by discouraging mask-wearing, encouraging reckless opening and undermining governors who have tried to find the right balance.... Instead, National security adviser Robert C. O'Brien ... [said on 'Face the Nation,'] 'I think the president made this very clear, he's going to continue to run this government. And we have to face this virus. We have to open up the country... It's very hard no matter what precautions you take.'" ~~~
MEANWHILE, from the "You Can't Make Up This Stuff" red file:
The White House Gift Shop is selling a “Donald J. Trump defeats Covid” commemorative coin. You can pre-order it now for $100. https://t.co/aPQ0vNRHB3
— Christina Wilkie (@christinawilkie) October 4, 2020
Michigan. Beth LeBlanc of the Detroit News: "Attorney General Dana Nessel will no longer enforce Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's executive orders after the Michigan Supreme Court ruled Friday that one of the laws underpinning the orders was unconstitutional. Nessel's decision comes as Whitmer's team has argued that her orders would stay in effect for 21 days after the ruling, a reference to a 21-day period in which parties can ask for reconsideration. But opponents have said the 21-day rule doesn't apply to rulings issued in response to a federal certified question as was the case in Friday's Supreme Court decision. Further, the language of the order, clearly calling all orders issued after April 30 to be unconstitutional seems to support immediate effect."
Presidential Race, Etc.
Mark Murray of NBC News: "Joe Biden's national lead over ... Donald Trump nearly doubled after Tuesday's presidential debate, with voters saying by a 2-to-1 margin that Biden has the better temperament to be president, according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll. The poll was conducted in the two days after the unruly and insult-filled Sept. 29 debate, but before Trump tested positive for Covid-19 and was hospitalized Friday at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. The Democratic nominee is now ahead of Trump by 14 points among registered voters, 53 percent to 39 percent -- up from his 8-point lead in the previous poll before the debate." Mrs. McC: Other polls have Biden up, but not by as much as 14 points. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Jason Wilson of the Guardian: "A militia-promoting father and son duo of fake news publishers and a Trump-connected social media consultant are linked to pages which promote the idea of an American civil war with material presented in a way that appears to be an effort to sidestep Facebook's fact-checking system.... The network is comprised of websites owned and operated by Dino Porrazzo Sr and Dino Porrazzo Jr, whose company, AFF Media, is headquartered in Pinon Hills in California. The pair have been running rightwing websites since at latest 2013.... AFF Media was incorporated on Donald Trump's inauguration day, 20 January 2017.... A Guardian review of that site's content shows ... warnings of civil war stretching back to the lead-up to the 2018 midterm elections.... The Vici Media Group [a partner company], meanwhile, is run by Patrick Mauldin, who is a social media consultant for the Trump campaign and other Republican politicians, and his brother, Ryan. The company was hired in 2016 by one-time Trump campaign manager and recently-resigned campaign consultant, Brad Parscale, to be part of the team that was widely credited with winning Trump the election.... Facebook Media did not immediately respond to a request for comment." --s ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Of course these are Trump's people, just like those QAnon doofuses standing outside Walter Reed that Trump jumped in an SUV to acknowledge. And for Trump, this alliance is not a temporary marriage of convenience or a pact with the devil, as many have presumed. While he may think the people themselves are "disgusting," he likes their ideas & he's counting on them to rise up if Joe Biden whups him in November.
South Carolina Senate Race. Sarah Rumpf of Mediaite: "Jaime Harrison, the former South Carolina Democratic Party Chairman who is challenging incumbent Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), brought his own plexiglass barrier to Saturday's debate to separate him from his Republican opponent.... 'We shouldn't blame the president for the inception of this disease. We shouldn't blame anybody for the inception of this disease, but where blame should come is how we handle this disease, whether or not we take it seriously.... You know, tonight, I am taking it seriously.... That's why I put this plexiglass up.'... Polls have shown the race to be a virtual tie for several months...." Mrs. McC: When Lindsey gets sick next week from palling around with Covid carriers, Harrison will be doubly thankful for that plexiglass. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "A short-handed Supreme Court -- driven from its courtroom by the pandemic, grieving over the loss of a colleague and awaiting the outcome of a divisive confirmation battle -- will return to the virtual bench on Monday to start a term that will present Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. with a daunting test. 'The chief's leadership of the court, which just a few weeks ago appeared to be at its zenith, is now in peril,' said Richard J. Lazarus, a law professor at Harvard who has taught courses on the Supreme Court with Chief Justice Roberts. 'An addition of yet another very conservative justice could quickly eliminate the chief's ability to steer the court toward moderation.' The court will again hear arguments by telephone, starting with a timely case on the role of partisanship in judging, a subject that will also figure in Senate hearings on the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett, which are scheduled to start a week from Monday."
Beyond the Beltway
Texas. Rick Rojas of the New York Times has picked up a story linked here yesterday: "Seven members of the staff of Ken Paxton, the Texas attorney general, including some of his top aides, wrote a letter that surfaced over the weekend saying he should be investigated in connection with offenses including improper influence, abuse of office, bribery and other potential criminal acts.... Mr. Paxton, one of the state's highest-profile elected officials, casts himself as a conservative warrior. He appears often on Fox News and boasts of close ties to the president. Texas is leading the latest major challenge to the Affordable Care Act to reach the Supreme Court."
News Lede
New York Times: "The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded jointly to Dr. Harvey J. Alter, Michael Houghton and Charles M. Rice on Monday for the discovery of the hepatitis C virus, a breakthrough the Nobel committee said had 'made possible blood tests and new medicines that have saved millions of lives.... For the first time in history, the disease can now be cured, raising hopes of eradicating hepatitis C virus from the world population,' the committee said in a statement. They announced the prize at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm."
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