The Commentariat -- April 11, 2020

Afternoon Update:

The New York Times' live updates for coronavirus developments in the U.S. Saturday are here. ~~~

~~~ Washington Post live updates for Saturday are here. "The United States' covid-19 death tally is now the highest in the world, eclipsing Italy's toll on Saturday, despite experts calling the U.S. figure 'an underestimation.' The U.S. toll is now 19,424, with nearly half a million confirmed cases, surpassing Italy's total of 18,849. Italy has 147,577 infected with the virus. Despite the country's large elderly population, experts had previously forecast that Italy's staggering toll was not an outlier so much as a preview of what other countries could expect. The steady climb of cases has slowed, and the Mediterranean country is now preparing to reopen."

Calvin Woodward of the AP: "For several months..., Donald Trump and his officials have cast a fog of promises meant to reassure a country in the throes of the coronavirus pandemic. Trump and his team haven't delivered on critical ones. They talk numbers. Bewildering numbers about masks on the way. About tests being taken. About ships sailing to the rescue, breathing machines being built and shipped, field hospitals popping up, aircraft laden with supplies from abroad, dollars flowing to crippled businesses. Piercing that fog is the bottom-line reality that Americans are going without the medical supplies and much of the financial help they most need from the government at the very time they need it most -- and were told they would have it.... Bold promises and florid assurances were made, day after day, from the White House and a zigzagging president who minimized the danger for months and systematically exaggerates what Washington is doing about it. 'We're getting them tremendous amounts of supplies,' [Trump] said of health care workers. 'Incredible. It's a beautiful thing to watch.' This was when Americans were watching something else entirely -- doctors wearing garbage bags for makeshift protection."

Erica Werner of the Washington Post: "Top GOP leaders in Congress said Saturday they would not negotiate with Democrats and instead insisted lawmakers approve more money for a small business lending program for firms impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) released a joint statement Saturday morning saying they would not agree to any compromise with Democrats that changed their proposal to add $250 billion to the Paycheck Protection Program, which is being run by the Small Business Administration.... Democrats don't want to sign off on the $250 billion increase without also adding hundreds of billions for hospitals, cities, states and food stamp recipients. They also want ensure half the proposed $250 billion goes through community banks, emergency grants and other programs aimed at underserved communities." A Politico story is here.

This. Is. Nuts. Jay Hancock, et al., of Kaiser Health News in the Daily Beast: "... executives at ... beleaguered [hospital] systems are blasting the government's decision to take a one-size-fits-all approach to distributing the first $30 billion in emergency grants. HHS confirmed Friday it would give hospitals and doctors money according to their historical share of revenue from the Medicare program for seniors -- not according to their coronavirus burden.... States such as Minnesota, Nebraska and Montana, which the pandemic has touched relatively lightly, are getting more than $300,000 per reported COVID-19 case..., according to a Kaiser Health News analysis. On the other hand, New York, the worst-hit state, would receive only $12,000 per case.... HHS 'has failed to consider congressional intent' in distributing the $30 billion by not accounting for 'the number of COVID-19 cases hospitals are treating,' New Jersey Sens. Bob Menendez and Cory Booker and Rep. Bill Pascrell said in a Friday letter to [HHS Secretary Alex] Azar." Thanks to Akhilleus for the link.

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The New York Times' live updates for coronavirus developments Friday are here. The Washington Post's live updates for Friday are here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Brian Williams summarizes Trump's Friday briefing. Williams also notes that Trump began the day by "wishing all Americans a Happy Good Friday." (Good Friday, of course, is the more sorrowful day of the Christian calendar, a day in which Christians mourn Jesus' martyrdom on the cross: ~~~

~~~ Robert Costa & Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: "As Americans ... struggle to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, Trump has placed himself at the center as their patron. The president has sought to portray himself as singularly in charge -- except for when things go wrong. In those instances, he has labored to blame others and avoid accountability. Day after day, in his self-constructed role of wartime president, the task Trump seems to relish most is spreading cash and supplies across a beleaguered and anxious nation. 'Honestly, people should respect, because nobody has ever seen anything like what we've done,' Trump said this week, a point he has been making regularly.... Trump often speaks of federal payments coming to many Americans as an act of his own benevolence, calling the bipartisan stimulus legislation 'a Trump administration initiative' and reportedly musing about printing his thick-and-jagged signature on the government checks. Trump touts the deployment of the USS Comfort to New York Harbor in personal terms, saying it was his choice to allow the hulking Navy hospital ship to be used to for coronavirus patients -- and even traveling to 'kiss it goodbye' before its trek north. And Trump talks about the Strategic National Stockpile of ventilators and medical equipment being shipped to hard-hit states as if it were his own storage unit...." ~~~

~~~ In the Absence of National Leadership.... Lena Sun, et al., of the Washington Post: "A national plan to fight the coronavirus pandemic in the United States and return Americans to jobs and classrooms is emerging -- but not from the White House. Instead, a collection of governors, former government officials, disease specialists and nonprofits are pursuing a strategy that relies on the three pillars of disease control: Ramp up testing to identify people who are infected. Find everyone they interact with by deploying contact tracing on a scale America has never attempted before. And focus restrictions more narrowly on the infected and their contacts so the rest of society doesn't have to stay in permanent lockdown. But there is no evidence yet the White House will pursue such a strategy.... [And] without substantial federal funding, states' efforts will only go so far.

Of the federal government's response to the crisis, "'It's mind-boggling, actually, the degree of disorganization,' said Tom Frieden, former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director. The federal government has already squandered February and March, he noted, committing 'epic failures' on testing kits, ventilator supply, protective equipment for health workers and contradictory public health communication. The next failure is already on its way, Frieden said, because 'we're not doing the things we need to be doing in April.'"

** Walter Einenkel of Daily Kos [April 8]: Wednesday Rep. Katie Porter [D-Calif.] "released a report showing that in spite of growing concerns and warnings about the potential oncoming pandemic threat of the COVID-19 virus from top officials and experts, Donald Trump not only did nothing about it, he allowed ramped up exportation of much-needed medical supplies.... Porter's team has analyzed 'previously unreported government trade data'.... According to the report, the United States was not simply ill-prepared for the coming pandemic -- they were actively making big money depleting our medical resources, making us even less prepared: 'The value of U.S. ventilator exports jumped 22.7% percent from January to February.' And it wasn't only ventilators. Porter says her team 'found that in February 2020, the value of U.S. mask exports to China was 1,094% higher than the 2019 monthly average.'... And to be clear, during this same time the U.S. imported fewer PPE and cleaning supplies, as well as fewer ventilators." --s

** Josh Marshall of TPM: "As we've reported on the seemingly ubiquitous seizures and reroutings of purchases of medical supplies, FEMA has always appeared to be at the heart of it, even though the targeted buyers are seldom given much information about who took their supplies. But now FEMA is denying that it is requisitioning or confiscating supplies anywhere within the United States, except in cases where they suspect criminal activity.... Something doesn't fit here. These seizures and reroutings have become commonplace around the country in recent weeks.... If it's really true that FEMA isn't doing this, who is? And is it really possible this is happening on a widespread basis around the country and FEMA doesn't know anything this? Something here does not fit or something isn't telling the truth." --s

You could have massive civil unrest if these systems cannot get checks out the door. We're talking about 20 percent unemployment, maybe even more. The application process is a nightmare. The state systems are failing.... But I don't see any action being taken. -- Liberal firebrand sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), on Eugene Scalia's response to the crisis ~~~

~~~ Screw American Workers. Jeff Stein, et al., of the Washington Post: Labor Secretary Eugene "Scalia..., the son of the late Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia, has emerged as a critical player in the government's economic response to the pandemic.... In recent days..., Scalia, who has expressed concerns about unemployment insurance being too generous, has used his department's authority over new laws enacted by Congress to limit who qualifies for joblessness assistance and to make it easier for small businesses not to pay family leave benefits. The new rules make it more difficult for gig workers such as Uber and Lyft drivers to get benefits, while making it easier for some companies to avoid paying their workers coronavirus-related sick and family leave.... At the same time, frustrations have built among career staff at the Labor Department that the agency hasn't ordered employers to follow safeguards, including the wearing of masks.... Writing on Fox Business Network's website on Monday, [Scalia] warned that he does not want unemployed people to become addicted to government aid." Mrs. McC: Ah, the old "hammock of complacency & dependence." As citizen625 -- who gave us the link to this story -- wrote, "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree." ~~~

~~~ Annalyn Kurtz of CNN remembers another Labor Secretary: "... Frances Perkins: the first female member of a presidential cabinet, and the chief architect behind many New Deal programs that live on 85 years later.... Perkins' legacy includes Social Security to support workers with disabilities and in old age, the 40-hour work week, the minimum wage and the end of child labor. And if that wasn't enough, she also built the nation's unemployment benefits system.... Perkins created the national unemployment insurance system in 1935 as part of the Social Security Act." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I wonder if any wingers would behave differently if they understood that history would treat them as villains.

Since the day that President Trump pulled down the flights from China to the US, he has been actively leading the situation in terms of this crisis with the task force. Nothing to worry about for the American people. -- Peter Navarro, press gaggle February 24, nearly 4 weeks after his January 29 internal memo warning "'increasing probability of a full-blown COVID-19 pandemic' could infect as many as 100 million Americans and kill 'as many as 1-2 million souls'" ~~~

~~~ Em Steck & Andrew Kaczynski of CNN: "White House trade adviser Peter Navarro publicly said Americans had 'nothing to worry about' while he privately warned the White House that the coronavirus pandemic could cost trillions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of American lives. Navarro circulated two memos at the White House in late January and February warning that a full-blown coronavirus outbreak would leave American lives and the economy vulnerable. But Navarro, a frequent surrogate for ... Donald Trump and his administration on television, continued to present a far more optimistic message in public, CNN's KFile found after reviewing Navarro's interviews, statements and writings."

Suzy Khimm, et al., of NBC News: "Nearly 2,500 long-term care facilities in 36 states are battling coronavirus cases, according to data gathered by NBC News from state agencies, an explosive increase of 522 percent compared to a federal tally just 10 days ago.... The full scale of the virus' impact is even greater than NBC News' tally, as key states including Florida did not provide data, and nursing homes across the United States are still struggling for access to testing.... NBC News tallied 2,246 deaths associated with long-term car facilities, based on responses from 24 states. This, too, is an undercount; about half of all states said they could not provide data on nursing home deaths, or declined to do so. Some states said they do not track these deaths at all.... The federal government does not keep a formal tally of the number of coronavirus deaths in nursing homes or the number of facilities with infections, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Experts say more comprehensive data is critical to battling the virus and understanding why it is spreading faster in some nursing homes than others."

Florida. Jeffrey Solochek of the Tampa Bay Times: "Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday would not rule out sending Florida's schoolchildren back to their classrooms in May, if the conditions are right. 'We're going to look at the evidence and make a decision,' DeSantis said, when asked if he intended to keep schools closed for the remainder of the current academic year. 'If it's safe, we want kids to be in school. .... Even if it's for a couple of weeks, we think there would be value in that.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Wisconsin. Molly Beck of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "The state health department is tracking new cases of the coronavirus to determine whether it was spread among voters during Tuesday's spring election. The state Department of Health Services and local public health officials are 'monitoring' the relationship between new cases in the coming weeks and voting in person, agency officials said Thursday." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ The Wisconsin Election Debacle, Ctd. Laura Schulte & Patrick Marley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "Hundreds of absentee ballots mailed back to the City of Madison for Tuesday's election may not be counted, thanks to a missing postmark. The problem is one that is emerging in communities across Wisconsin as election officials prepare to tally the results of an election conducted during the coronavirus pandemic. Results for the state Supreme Court and other races are to be released Monday.... Madison City Clerk Maribeth Witzel-Behl said that so far her office has received more than 8,000 absentee ballots. Of those, 682 have no postmark, meaning that it's likely they won't be counted. She said seeing the ballots come in without the postmark has been frustrating, especially since the ballots that came in on Wednesday were likely mailed before Tuesday.... Witzel-Behl said ... she's seeking legal guidance and clarification.... In many cases, postmarks are not used, such as for metered mail.... On Wednesday, attention was drawn to three tubs of undelivered ballots in a mail processing center that were meant for voters in Appleton and Oshkosh. Separately, the Milwaukee Elections Commission called for an investigation into other ballots that never made it to voters. And in Fox Point, hundreds of undelivered ballots were sent back to the village, unopened and unmarked. No explanation was given as to what was wrong with the ballots, or why they couldn't be delivered." ~~~

~~~ ** The GOP's 50-State Solution: Fight Free & Fair Elections. Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: "The voting debacle in Wisconsin on Tuesday was further evidence of an incontrovertible reality in American politics: The Republican Party does not believe in free and fair elections, where free means equal access to the ballot and fair means equitable rules and neutral procedures.... Wisconsin voters who went to the polls had to pay what amounted to a poll tax in the form of fear, anxiety and possible sickness, imposed by conservative Republicans on the courts and in the State Legislature. There's no theory of democracy that renders this acceptable, but then this wasn't about democracy. It was about power.... The most prominent Republican voice against free and fair elections is, of course, President Trump's."

Christopher Rowland of the Washington Post: "A majority of a small group of patients showed improvements after being treated with an experimental coronavirus drug made by Gilead Sciences, bolstering hopes for finding a treatment for the disease, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Friday. The group of patients received the antiviral drug remdesivir as part of a 'compassionate use' trial, not a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial that would offer more definitive evidence. Also, the cohort of patients was small, only 53 patients in the United States and around the world. Those limiting factors prevent scientists from declaring that the drug works. Still, the improvements offered positive news about a drug seen by global health authorities as offering the best shot at becoming a treatment for the disease."

Italy. Lorenzo Tando of the Guardian: "As Italy struggles to pull its economy through the coronavirus crisis, the Mafia is gaining local support by distributing free food to poor families in quarantine who have run out of cash, authorities have warned. In recent weeks, videos have surfaced of known Mafia gangs delivering essential goods to Italians hit hard by the coronavirus emergency across the poorest southern regions of Campania, Calabria, Sicily and Puglia, as tensions rise across the country." --s

** The Trump Family Moochers. Walker Davis & Linnaea Honl-Stuenkel of CREW: "Last fiscal year, the Trump family took more trips that required Secret Service protection than the Obama family took in seven, according to a budget document released by the Treasury Department. On average, Obama's family took 133.3 protected trips per year, while the Trump family has taken an average of 1,625 annually. Much of the Trump family's known travel has been to promote Trump Organization businesses, which President Trump still owns and profits from. Every President and his family deserve Secret Service protection. But the President's private business should reimburse taxpayers for money spent at Trump's businesses or in support of them.... Despite running up a high tab, the Trump Organization has not paid the American people back for the security taxpayers have subsidized when Trump family members travel to support a business that regularly cashes in on the presidency.

Barr Threatens FBI Investigators. Kevin Jackson of USA Today: "Attorney General William Barr signaled that federal officials involved in launching the investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 election and its links to the Trump campaign could face criminal prosecution. As part of a wide-ranging interview with Fox News, the attorney general said a federal prosecutor appointed to review the origins of the inquiry, later headed by Justice Department special counsel Robert Mueller, has so far found 'troubling' evidence of possible abuses. 'My own view is that the evidence shows that we're not dealing with just the mistakes or sloppiness,' Barr said Thursday. 'There was something far more troubling here. We're going to get to the bottom of it. And if people broke the law and we can establish that with the evidence, they will be prosecuted.' The attorney general's remarks represent the most extensive public assessment yet of Connecticut U.S. Attorney John Durham's work since his appointment last year."

Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "... in making the case that [in intelligence community's inspector general Michael] Atkinson committed a firing offense in his handling of a whistle-blower complaint last year that led to the impeachment battle, [Attorney General William] Barr made several claims that are subject to scrutiny." Savage dissects all of the claims Barr made against Atkinson, & demonstrates they are misrepresentations.

AP: "A watchdog has found that the Treasury Department appropriately handled Congress' request for ... Donald Trump's tax returns, which Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has refused to provide. But the acting inspector general for Treasury, Rich Delmar, also said he had no opinion on whether the advice Mnuchin followed -- which came from Justice Department attorneys -- was itself well-founded. In refusing to hand over the returns, Mnuchin decided he was legally bound to comply with that advice, Delmar noted in a letter Wednesday to senior House lawmakers. The Justice Department legal opinion backed Mnuchin's refusal, saying that [Rep. Richard] Neal's [D-Mass.] request lacked a legitimate legislative purpose and was an 'unprecedented' use of congressional authority. The argument is the same one Trump has used in refusing other demands from Democrats in Congress for financial records from banks an accountants that have had business with Trump and his family. Lawsuits over those records were filed in federal courts in Washington and New York."

Kyle Cheney of Politico: "Twenty House committee chairs are asking the nation's top federal agency watchdogs for advice on how to protect them from potential retaliation by ... Donald Trump for uncovering mismanagement or wrongdoing inside his administration. The Democratic committee leaders, who include Oversight Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney, Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff and Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler, say they're seeking legislative proposals that could restrict Trump's ability to remove or demote inspectors general for political reasons." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Presidential Race

Trump's 2020 Campaign Starts Out Racist. John Wagner of the Washington Post: "A new attack ad by President Trump's campaign that portrays former vice president Joe Biden as too cozy with China to confront the country ... includes an image of Gary Locke, a former governor of Washington state, that appears to falsely suggest he is a Chinese official. Locke, who is Chinese American and was serving as U.S. ambassador to China at the time, is briefly depicted onstage at a 2013 event in Beijing with Biden...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: "... the ad shows Biden bowing to an Asian man with Chinese flags in the background. The man turns out to be American [-- Gary Locke, then the U.S. ambassador to China]. But there's something more fundamentally absurd about this ad that is eluding notice. It's that a look at the timeline shows that, early on, Trump was praising China's handling of coronavirus at precisely the same time that Biden was insisting we must show skepticism toward China's handling of it.... The ad clips Biden's words out of context to misleadingly imply tha Biden criticized Trump's decision to restrict travel from China, when that's not what Biden did.... We now know who was right about [China's handling of Covid-19], and his name isn't Donald J. Trump. So, plainly, the core argument in this ad is laughable.... Once again, the truth is the direct opposite of what Trump claims it is -- in a way that holds a mirror up to his ongoing failures, as his debunked lies so often do."

Beyond the Beltway

Virginia. Veronica Stracqualursi of CNN: "Democratic Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam on Friday signed five gun measures into law, including a background checks bill and an 'extreme risk protective order.' The slate of bills prompted a large gun-rights rally in January, with about 22,000 gathering in protest at Virginia's state capitol. The legislation has also fueled a pro-gun movement across the state known as 'Second Amendment sanctuaries,' or localities that vow not to enforce what some officials in those regions have called 'unconstitutional' gun laws. The gun measures had been a priority for Northam since he first introduced them in the 2019 legislative session -- and he made them an even more urgent priority in the wake of mass shooting at a Virginia Beach municipal building last year that left 12 people dead. Northam called for a special session at that time to debate gun control, but it was adjourned by Republican lawmakers without action after just 90 minutes."

News Ledes

New York Times: Ruth "Mandel..., [who fled] the Nazis on the doomed 'Voyage of the Damned' underpinned her faith in democracy as head of the Eagleton Institute of Politics [at Rutgers University,] died at 81 on Saturday at her home in Princeton, N.J."

The Real Deal: "Stanley I. Chera, who parlayed his father's Brooklyn department store business into one of New York real estate's biggest retail empires, reaped huge rewards from the city's emergence as a global shopping destination and used his wealth and connections to play kingmaker for Donald Trump, has died from complications of the coronavirus, making him the most high-profile industry casualty of the global pandemic.... According to Vanity Fair, word in late March of the gravity of Chera's condition contributed to Trump taking the coronavirus more seriously and abandoning his call to get the country back to work by Easter."

The Commentariat -- April 10, 2020

Afternoon Update:

The New York Times' live updates for coronavirus developments Friday are here. The Washington Post's live updates for Friday are here.

Florida. Jeffrey Solochek of the Tampa Bay Times: "Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday would not rule out sending Florida's schoolchildren back to their classrooms in May, if the conditions are right. 'We're going to look at the evidence and make a decision,' DeSantis said, when asked if he intended to keep schools closed for the remainder of the current academic year. 'If it's safe, we want kids to be in school. .... Even if it's for a couple of weeks, we think there would be value in that.'"

Wisconsin. Molly Beck of the Milwakee Journal Sentinel: "The state health department is tracking new cases of the coronavirus to determine whether it was spread among voters during Tuesday's spring election. The state Department of Health Services and local public health officials are 'monitoring' the relationship between new cases in the coming weeks and voting in person, agency officials said Thursday."

Kyle Cheney of Politico: "Twenty House committee chairs are asking the nation's top federal agency watchdogs for advice on how to protect them from potential retaliation by ... Donald Trump for uncovering mismanagement or wrongdoing inside his administration. The Democratic committee leaders, who include Oversight Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney, Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff and Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler, say they're seeking legislative proposals that could restrict Trump's ability to remove or demote inspectors general for political reasons."

Trump's 2020 Campaign Starts Out Racist. John Wagner of the Washington Post: "A new attack ad by President Trump's campaign that portrays former vice president Joe Biden as too cozy with China to confront the country ... includes an image of Gary Locke, a former governor of Washington state, that appears to falsely suggest he is a Chinese official. Locke, who is Chinese American and was serving as U.S. ambassador to China at the time, is briefly depicted onstage at a 2013 event in Beijing with Biden...."

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The New York Times' live updates for coronavirus developments Thursday are here. The Washington Post's live updates for Thursday are here.

Patricia Cohen & Tiffany Hsu of the New York Times: "Another 6.6 million people filed for unemployment benefits last week as the coronavirus outbreak continued its devastating march through the American economy, the Labor Department reported on Thursday. The release came as the Federal Reserve said it could pump $2.3 trillion into the economy through new and expanded programs it announced on Monday, ramping up efforts to help companies and state and local governments suffering financially amid the coronavirus.... In just three weeks, more than 16 million U.S. workers have lost their jobs -- more losses than the most recent recession produced over two years." A CNBC story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Fred Imbert of CNBC: "The Dow rallied 285.80 points [Thursday], or 1.22%, to close at 23,719.37. The S&P 500 advanced 1.45% to 2,789.82 The Nasdaq Composite gained 0.77% to 8,153.58. Stocks rallied to end a historic week of gains after the Fed unveiled even more measures to help the economy during the coronavirus outbreak. The Fed announced as slew of programs, including loans geared towards small and medium sized businesses, that will total up to $2.3 trillion. The central bank also gave more details on its plans to buy investment-grade and junk bonds. Those moves were enough to overshadow another massive spike in weekly jobless claims."

Pippa Stevens of CNBC: "OPEC and its allies, known as OPEC+, on Thursday agreed to historic production cuts that will take 10 million barrels per day offline as the coronavirus pandemic saps demand for crude. The agreement came as the oil-producing nations held an extraordinary meeting to discuss production policy amid falling oil prices. The group will cut 10 million barrels per day in May and June, 8 million barrels per day from July through the end of the year, and 6 million barrels per day beginning in January 2021 and extending through April 2022, according to Reuters."

Obama: Don't Be Trump!" Dan Merica & Caroline Kelly of CNN: "Former President Barack Obama on Thursday gave some advice to a group of mayors on how to deal with the coronavirus outbreak, saying that 'the biggest mistake any (of) us can make in these situations is to misinform.' Obama was speaking during a virtual meeting organized by Bloomberg Philanthropies. 'Speak the truth. Speak it clearly. Speak it with compassion. Speak it with empathy for what folks are going through, Obama said, according to a press release on the virtual meeting....On Wednesday, Obama tweeted that it would not be feasible to relax current measures to combat the spread of coronavirus without a 'robust system of testing and monitoring -- something we have yet to put in place nationwide.' Those comments, much as the ones made to mayors on Thursday, presented a notable contrast in tone compared to the views of Trump." Emphasis added. ~~~

~~~ MEANWHILE. Brett Samuels & Peter Sullivan of the Hill: "President Trump on Thursday shrugged off the need to significantly expand nationwide coronavirus testing capabilities in order to be able to restart the U.S. economy and then keep it open.... 'We want to have it and we're going to see if we have it. Do you need it? No. Is it a nice thing to do? Yes,' Trump said. 'We're talking about 325 million people. And that's not going to happen, as you can imagine, and it would never happen with anyone else either.' But experts say that widespread testing is a crucial step. Easing blunt measures like stay-at-home orders requires enough widespread testing to identify infected people so they can be isolated and people they've been in contact with notified, they say." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: You know why Trump opposes testing. Fewer than one percent of U.S. residents have been tested for the coronavirus. Obviously as the number of those tested goes up, so does the number who test positive. In reality, testing is necessary to reopen elements of the economic infrastructure; in Trump's view, testing is an inhibition to reopening the economy because it would expose Trump's delusional pretense that everybody is all better.

Trump Plans to Sicken & Kill Americans to Improve His Re-election Chances. Matt Zapotosky, et al., of the Washington Post: "The Trump administration is pushing to reopen much of the country next month, raising concerns among health experts and economists of a possible covid-19 resurgence if Americans return to their normal lives before the virus is truly stamped out. Behind closed doors, President Trump -- concerned with the sagging economy -- has sought a strategy for resuming business activity by May 1, according to people familiar with the discussions.... Trump regularly looks at unemployment and stock market numbers, complaining that they are hurting his presidency and reelection prospects, the people said.... Trump said at his daily briefing Thursday that the United States was at the 'top of the hill' and added, 'Hopefully, we're going to be opening up -- you could call it opening -- very, very, very, very soon, I hope.'"

But My Ratings! Brett Samuels: "President Trump on Thursday blasted The Wall Street Journal for an editorial criticizing the daily White House press briefings.... 'The Wall Street Journal always "forgets" to mention that the ratings for the White House Press Briefings are "through the roof,'" Trump tweeted, referencing a New York Times piece that recently compared the number of viewers to 'Monday Night Football' or 'The Bachelor.' president asserted that the briefings were the'"only way for me to escape the Fake News & get my views across. WSJ is Fake News!'... The [righty-ring wing WSJ editorial] board urged Trump to cede center stage at the briefings to Vice President Pence and top health officials, who have regularly appeared at the briefings but have primarily waited to provide updates until the president delivers his own remarks. Trump's tweet Thursday -- which marked a rare shot from the president at the Rupert Murdoch-owned Wall Street Journal -- highlighted the president's fixation on how his briefings are playing in the media. He frequently boasts about their popularity, and White House officials have complained about networks that do not air them in their entirety." ~~~

~~~ Jonathan Martin & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "In his daily briefings on the coronavirus, President Trump has brandished all the familiar tools in his rhetorical arsenal: belittling Democratic governors, demonizing the media, trading in innuendo and bulldozing over the guidance of experts.... On a day [-- Thursday --] that New York State reported 799 deaths from the coronavirus in a 24-hour period, Mr. Trump's focus was on himself, and his feuds.... As ... new polls show support for the president's handling of the crisis sagging, White House allies and Republican lawmakers increasingly believe the briefings are hurting the president more than helping him. Many view the sessions as a kind of original sin from which all of his missteps flow, once he gets through his prepared script and turns to his preferred style of extemporaneous bluster and invective."

** Josh Marshall of TPM: "As we work to find out the scope and goals of the White House's seizure of medical goods across the United States, a simpler pattern is coming into view: the White House seizes goods from public officials and hospitals across the country while doling them out as favors to political allies and favorites, often to great fanfare to boost the popularity of those allies. The Denver Post today editorialized about one of the most egregious examples. Last week, as we reported, a shipment of 500 ventilators to the state of Colorado was intercepted and rerouted by the federal government. Gov. Jared Polis (D) sent a letter pleading for the return of the equipment. Then [Wednesday] President Trump went on Twitter to announce that he was awarding 100 ventilators to Colorado at the behest of Republican Senator Cory Gardner, one of the most endangered Republicans on the ballot this year. As the Post put it, 'President Donald Trump is treating life-saving medical equipment as emoluments he can dole out as favors to loyalists. It's the worst imaginable form of corruption -- playing political games with lives.'... We need more information, more explanations of what standards the White House is using to distribute these goods. The consistent refusal to explain speaks volumes."

Kaitlan Collins, et al., of CNN: "... Donald Trump is preparing to announce a second coronavirus task force solely focused on reopening the nation's economy, multiple sources told CNN." (Also linked yesterday.)

What Did You Expect? Matt Stieb of New York: "On Sunday, the official White House account tweeted out a message to the generous hoteliers of America: 'Thank you to hotels around the country for providing healthcare workers and first responders a place to stay while they're on the front lines of the pandemic.' Though Trump rarely forgoes an opportunity to promote himself, the White House was not able to include his properties in the letter of gratitude. According to report from Politico, Trump hotels are not providing space for healthcare workers in U.S. cities grappling with substantial coronavirus outbreaks."

Quid Pro Quo? Akbar Shahid Ahmed & Chris D'Angelo of the Huffington Post: "President Donald Trump has spent weeks promising to protect cruise lines from the economic pain of the coronavirus pandemic. Now a fund that Trump ally Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman controls has revealed a big new stake in Carnival Corporation, the world's largest cruise operator. The sudden change of fortunes for a company run by Micky Arison, a longtime Trump associate, could be as much about personal relationships and geopolitics as about business.... As of Thursday afternoon, the kingdom's 43.5 million shares were worth more than $500 million...By addressing one of Trump's big current fixations, the Saudis may have secured undue influence on the president and U.S. foreign policy ― another quid pro quo for a president who's proven transactional in his approach to global affairs." --s

Donald Shaw of Sludge: "President Trump has latched onto antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine as a possible treatment for COVID-19 patients.... On Monday, Sludge reported that one of President Trump's biggest donors is the founder of a pharmaceutical industry-funded nonprofit that is lobbying the White House to boost the use of the drug. The New York Times reported that Trump has a small financial stake, by way of a mutual fund, in Sanofi, a top manufacturer of the drug. But here's another possibility: Trump may have been influenced by a Palm Beach donor named Joseph Pizza... .According to his LinkedIn, Pizza is president and CEO of Interchem.... One product Interchem sells is hydroxychloroquine sulfate, the primary active ingredient of Plaquenil." --s

Mike Wants to Be on the Teevee. Oliver Darcy of CNN: "Vice President Mike Pence's office has declined to allow the nation's top health officials to appear on CNN in recent days and discuss the coronavirus pandemic ... in an attempt to pressure the network into carrying the White House's lengthy daily briefings in full. Pence's office, which is responsible for booking the officials on networks during the pandemic, said it will only allow experts such as Dr. Deborah Birx or Dr. Anthony Fauci to appear on CNN if the network televises the portion of the White House briefings that includes the vice president and other coronavirus task force members.... After Trump leaves the podium, CNN frequently cuts out of the White House briefing to discuss and fact-check what the President had said.... The Vice President's office has blocked all CNN appearances since last Thursday night." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Oliver Darcy: "Vice President Mike Pence's office reversed course on Thursday afternoon, after declining for days to allow the nation's top health officials to appear on CNN and discuss the coronavirus pandemic, in what was an attempt to pressure the network into carrying the White House's lengthy daily briefings in full. After this story was published, Pence's office allowed for the booking of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Robert Redfield for CNN's Thursday night coronavirus town hall. Dr. Anthony Fauci was also booked for Friday on 'New Day.'"

Melanie Trolls Clownstick von Fuckface: ~~~

As the CDC studies the spread of #COVID-19, they recommend people wear cloth face coverings in public settings when social distancing can be hard to do. Remember, this does NOT replace the importance of social distancing. pic.twitter.com/HRaQHFgXxn

— Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) April 9, 2020

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: BTW, I got a postcard from the White House & the CDC last week telling me how to reduce my chances of contracting the coronavirus. On the front of the card it says, "President Trump's Coronavirus Guidelines for America," and on the back are actual guidelines & no political message. Did everybody get one?

Sky Palma of the Raw Story: "During an interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham Wednesday night, Attorney General Bill Barr praised President Trump's 'statesman-like' effort at the 'beginning' of the coronavirus epidemic where he 'tried to bring people together' while 'working with all the governors' -- a characterization that did not go over well with many of the President's critics...." Mrs. McC: So, according to Barr, "statesman-like" is lying repeatedly about the severity of the pandemic; praising himself & his popularity, promoting quack "science" while literally pushing aside experts; resisting, mocking and/or ignoring social distancing guidance; excoriating reporters for asking legitimate questions during a Q&A (and demanding they "congratulate" him; and dissing governors on "the other side" while praising Republican governors. What's not "statesman-like"? Throwing actual poop at reporters?

NPR Embarrasses Trump DHHS into Maintaining Coronavirus Test Sites. Jeff Brady of NPR: "The Department of Health and Human Services is stepping back from a plan to end support on Friday for community-based coronavirus testing sites around the country. Instead the agency says local authorities can choose whether they want to transition to running the programs themselves or continue with federal oversight and help. The news came after NPR reported yesterday that some local officials were critical of plans to end the program before the pandemic peaks." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: They really don't care, do they? That's two stories today where the Trumpettes have almost immediately reversed a coronavirus-related decision only because the media embarrassed them. Both demonstrate how little the administration cares about the effects of the pandemic on Americans: half-pence is so petty he wouldn't allow officials to appear on CNN to share Covid-19 info unless CNN covered his portion of the daily White House briefings, and more importantly, DHHS was ready to cut off funding for testing around the country. ~~~

~~~ There's still one place in the USA where it's not only super-easy but also mandatory to get a coronavirus test. -- Mrs. Bea McCrabbie

White House to administer rapid coronavirus test on all journalists before allowing them to attend this afternoon's daily briefing with the president after a news outlet employee who was in the building on Tuesday fell ill. -- Peter Baker of the New York Times, in a tweet Thursday

Lachlan Markay of the Daily Beast: "The Food and Drug Administration is demanding that conspiracy theorist Alex Jones stop advertising dubious dietary supplements as coronavirus treatments and threatening legal action if he doesn't comply. The FDA sent a letter to Jones and his website InfoWars on Thursday demanding that he stop telling the viewers of his popular internet broadcasts that they can ward off the virus with colloidal silver products sold on his website. Those videos, the FDA wrote, 'misleadingly represent them as safe and/or effective for the treatment or prevention of COVID-19.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: So why isn't the FDA sending Trump a cease-and-desist letter warning him to stop advertising hydroxychloroquine as a miracle cure?

Jacob Pramuck of CNBC: "Senate Democrats on Thursday blocked a Republican push to unanimously pass a bill to put $250 billion more into a loan program for small businesses devastated by the coronavirus pandemic. With only a few senators in the Capitol, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell tried to move the measure by a unanimous vote. Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., objected to the request, stalling the legislation.... After Cardin rejected the measure, he called McConnell's move to pass the funding a 'political stunt.' He pushed for provisions including funding for Small Business Administration disaster assistance grants.... Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., then tried to unanimously pass a Democratic amendment. McConnell blocked it, and the Senate adjourned until Monday after a roughly 30-minute pro forma session." (Also linked yesterday.)

Michigan. Julie Mack of Michigan Live: "The emergency department is bursting to the seams, day after day, night after night. 'We've run out of stretchers. We've run out of body bags,' said [Krysti] Kallek, who is a nurse.... Patients end up in the emergency-department hallways using oxygen tanks, she said. One night, they even ran out oxygen tanks, so staff ran oxygen tubing from patient rooms to the people in the hallways.... The situation is so fraught that emergency-departments nurse are afraid to take a meal break because that leaves even fewer nurses to monitor so many patients, she said. 'I couldn't tell you the last time I took a break.'... Across the state, there are concerns about staffing. Worries about shortages of personal protective equipment. Fears about their own health. At least three Michigan healthcare workers have died from coronavirus." --s

Kansas. Jonathan Shorman of the Wichita Eagle: "Kansas Gov Laura Kelly [D] is suing to stop Republican lawmakers from overturning her executive order limiting church gatherings -- triggering a high-stakes legal showdown amid a deadly pandemic. Kelly on Thursday afternoon sued the Legislative Coordinating Council -- the seven-member body of legislative leaders that voted Wednesday to revoke her order, calling it an infringement on freedom of religion. The lawsuit marks a dramatic escalation in the state's ongoing fight over constitutional rights and public health, a dispute that potentially holds life-or-death implications as pastors and priests weigh whether to open church doors this Sunday. Three of the state's 12 coronavirus clusters have stemmed from church gatherings, and health officials fear large [Easter] Sunday services will further spread the contagion throughout the state.... The Republican legislative leaders who voted to revoke the order ... came under crushing criticism after the vote."

Erica Henry & Paul LeBlanc of CNN: "Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis falsely claimed Thursday that the novel coronavirus hasn't killed anyone under 25 nationwide while discussing a timeline for reopening schools in the state.... In reality, the CDC reports on its website that four people between the ages of 15 and 24 and one person between the ages of one and four have died. CNN has also reported on the death of a newborn in Connecticut on April 1 and an infant in Illinois last month whose death is being investigated as possibly caused by the virus. Young people can also serve as carriers of the virus, transmitting to the elderly and people with underlying conditions -- those most at risk." Mrs. McC: And of course CDC numbers don't count young people who may have died of Covid-19 but were not tested for the virus. ~~~

~~~ Yes But Maybe They Were Black and/or Poor. Likhitha Butchireddygari & Anna Wiederkehr of 538: "Preliminary reports on COVID-19 fatalities suggest black Americans are dying at elevated rates, and poorer Americans are many of the workers whose jobs put them at daily risk of exposure.... Younger black Americans are more likely to be vulnerable.... The poorest and least educated Americans are more likely to be at risk than those with higher incomes or more education."

Florida. David Smiley, et al. of The Miami Herald: "Florida emergency managers are accustomed to planning for hurricanes. But as the June 1 start of the season grows closer and the state's coronavirus outbreak lingers on, questions and uncertainties are nagging at the people preparing for the worst-case scenario.... [W]ith less than two months to go until the tropics reach the conditions that forecasters expect will generate an above-average storm season, government officials and local politicians are hustling to prepare for what Broward County Mayor Dale Holness described as a 'double disaster' of a hurricane strike amid a COVID-19 outbreak." --s

This Might Be the First U.S. Murder Mystery Tied to Covid-19. Katie Shepherd of the Washington Post: “When police showed up to their home near Jupiter, Fla., on March 26, neither Gretchen Anthony, nor her husband, David Ethan Anthony, answered the door.... Her relatives [had] reported suspicious text messages sent from her phone that claimed she had a severe case of covid-19.... One text said she had been admitted to a local clinic and was being 'held' there by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, police said. Another said Gretchen had been transferred to a hospital and placed on a ventilator. But when family members phoned the clinic and hospital..., staff told them nobody named Gretchen Anthony had been admitted.... When she couldn't be found, a relative reported Gretchen missing and alerted police about the suspicious texts. Almost two weeks later, her 43-year-old husband was arrested on kidnapping and murder charges."

Heather Stewart of the Guardian: Britain's PM "Boris Johnson is back on a hospital ward after spending three nights in intensive care, and is in 'extremely good spirits', Downing Street has announced.... Dominic Raab, who is deputising for Johnson, had earlier said the prime minister was making 'positive steps forward'. Speaking at the daily Downing Street press conference, Raab admitted he had not spoken to Johnson since the prime minister was admitted to hospital, but insisted the government continued to function smoothly."

Elections 2020

Sean Sullivan of the Washington Post: "A day after becoming the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, former vice president Joe Biden sought to appeal to liberal supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders on Thursday with a pair of new proposals to expand access to health care and curtail student loan debt. Biden proposed lowering the eligibility age for Medicare coverage from 65 to 60. He also came out in favor of forgiving student loan debt for people who attended public colleges and universities and some private schools and make up to $125,000 a year. The announcements came after private conversations between Biden's team and aides to Sanders (I-Vt.), who announced Wednesday that he was suspending his campaign."

IOKIYVote for Trump. Jonathan Chait: "'Mail-in voting is horrible. It's corrupt,' declared President Trump earlier this week. When a reporter asked how he could reconcile that position with the fact that he had personally voted by mail in the last election, Trump replied, 'Because I';m allowed to.' This perfectly circular logic -- if more voters were permitted to vote by mail, they would also be 'allowed to' -- seemed not to satisfy him. Trump has refined his view, explaining that casting a ballot by mail is fine for members of the military and senior citizens, but is 'ripe for fraud' when used by others[.]... Trump is not even attempting to formulate a facially neutral principle. He is simply asserting that members of the military and senior citizens -- constituencies that lean Republican -- can be trusted not to commit voter fraud, but that constituencies that might vote Democratic cannot.... (Trump campaign officials already confirmed this to Politico -- they will allow mail voting for senior citizens, but not others.) The travesty that was Tuesday's election in Wisconsin is his plan to win in November." Chait argues that Democrats don't seem to get what's going on & are about to miss their chance to leverage a "correction." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ The Trump Model Works! Ed Kilgore of New York: "... seven states that generally discourage voting by mail but waive excuse requirements for Republican-leaning old folks are Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas. Coincidentally or not, these are all deep-red states carried by Trump in 2016, most of them by large margins (Texas, which went MAGA by nine points, was the closest). They appear to provide Trump's model for the country as a whole." (Also linked yesterday.)

Death of a Democracy. Paul Krugman: "... the scariest news of the past week didn't involve either epidemiology or economics; it was the travesty of an election in Wisconsin where the Supreme Court required that in-person voting proceed despite the health risks and the fact that many who requested absentee ballots never got them.... The pandemic will eventually end; the economy will eventually recover. But democracy, once lost, may never come back. And we're much closer to losing our democracy than many people realize. To see how a modern democracy can die, look at events in Europe, especially Hungary, over the past decade.... Wisconsin, in particular, is well on its way toward becoming Hungary on Lake Michigan, as Republicans seek a permanent lock on power.... What we saw in Wisconsin, in short, was a state party doing whatever it takes to cling to power even if a majority of voters want it out -- and a partisan bloc on the Supreme Court backing its efforts.... Does anyone seriously doubt that something similar could happen, very soon, at a national level?" ~~~

~~~ ** Frank Rich: "Any casualties that ensue [from the Wisconsin] will be the culmination of Chief Justice John Roberts's career-long campaign to thwart voting rights for America's minority population.... By Wisconsin, I really mean Milwaukee, the state's largest city and the home to most of its African-American population. That's where it was impossible to enforce social distancing because the usual 180 polling places were reduced to five -- to serve a population of some 600,000.... Black Americans risked and sometimes lost their lives for the right to vote during the Jim Crow era. Now, 55 years after the Voting Rights Act of 1965, they are being forced to do so again. Those horrific images of medically endangered Wisconsin voters waiting hours to cast a ballot are today's corollary to those old photos of rabid police attack dogs threatening blacks who attempted to secure their civil rights in the 1960s. The hasty decision of the Roberts court that got us here is just the latest in his string of assaults on black voters.... [Roberts] presided over the decision ... while working in quite different circumstances from those that were visited on voters on line in Milwaukee. The Supreme Court has shut down its courtroom and oral arguments, convening by teleconference so its justices can enjoy the safety protections that the court's 5-4 decision denied to those standing in line to vote on Tuesday." ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: In the annals of history, John Roberts will be remembered right up there with Chief Justices Roger Taney (Dred Scott) & Melville Fuller (Plessey v. Ferguson). (Yes, I hadda look up Fuller, because I'd never heard of him.)

Nick Corasaniti & Stephanie Saul of the New York Times: "Three tubs of absentee ballots that never reached voters were discovered in a postal center outside Milwaukee. At least 9,000 absentee ballots requested by voters were never sent, and others recorded as sent were never received. Even when voters did return their completed ballots in the mail, thousands were postmarked too late to count -- or not at all. Cracks in Wisconsin's vote-by-mail operation are now emerging after the state's scramble to expand that effort on the fly for voters who feared going to the polls in Tuesday's elections. The takeaways -- that the election network and the Postal Service were pushed to the brink of their capabilities, and that mistakes were clearly made -- are instructive for other states if they choose to broaden vote-by-mail methods without sufficient time, money and planning."

New Hampshire. Dareh Gregorian of NBC News: "A New Hampshire judge dismissed a state law that opponents said made it more complicated for students to register to vote, calling it 'unconstitutional,' 'discriminatory' and 'unreasonable.'... The state Democratic Party, the League of Women Voters and numerous college students sued in 2017 to block the Republican-backed law, which required new voters to fill out complicated forms and expose themselves to possible criminal prosecution and civil fines if they didn't turn over certain proof-of-residence documents.... The judge noted that there has been an average of one confirmed case of voter fraud a year in New Hampshire over the past 20 years, and he concluded that the requirements in the law did little to address fraud and only made registering more difficult.... State Solicitor General Daniel Will said in a statement, 'After an initial review of the order, we expect to appeal the decision to the New Hampshire Supreme Court.'"

Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "When an inspector general issued a report in December saying the investigation [into Russia interference in the 2016 presidential election] was properly founded, [AG Bill] Barr put out an extraordinary statement disagreeing with that. And now, Barr has gone quite a bit further.... 'What happened to him [Trump] was one of the greatest travesties in American history,' Barr said in a clip played on Fox News on Wednesday night. 'Without any basis, they started this investigation of his campaign, and even more concerning actually is what happened after the campaign -- a whole pattern of events while he was president ... to sabotage the presidency -- or at least have the effect of sabotaging the presidency.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Let's see: (1) Trump & Co. conspired with Russians, engaged in more conspiracies to cover up this & other conspiracies, lied a lot, & used Russian hacks against Trump's opponent; (2) DOJ investigated but let Trump & most of his cronies off; (3) the "travesty" is the investigation. Either I'm crazy or Bill Barr is. ~~~

~~~ Matt Zapotosky of the Washington Post: "Attorney General William P. Barr said in an interview aired Thursday that he supported President Trump's controversial decision to oust the intelligence community's inspector general, whose decision to alert Congress about a whistleblower complaint last year helped spark Trump's impeachment. In an interview with Fox News, Barr said Trump 'did the right thing' in removing Michael Atkinson from his post as the intelligence community's internal watchdog, and recalled how the Justice Department had fought against Atkinson last year when he wanted to turn the whistleblower complaint over to lawmakers. 'He had interpreted his statute..., and tried to turn it into a commission to explore anything in the government and immediately report it to Congress without letting the executive branch look at it and determine whether there was any problem,' Barr said of Atkinson."

Cohen Behaving Badly. Aram Roston & Mark Hosenball of Reuters: "Michael Cohen..., Donald Trump's former personal attorney, has been placed in solitary confinement at a federal prison in New York state where he is serving time for violating campaign finance laws, according to his lawyer and two sources familiar with the matter. Cohen, 53, was transferred on Wednesday to a Special Housing Unit at Otisville Federal Correctional Institution, a disciplinary section of the prison, the sources said.... 'It is my understanding that a verbal dispute over phone use prompted a temporary placement to SHU pending an investigation. I do not however know who prompted the altercation, or if the action taken was factually/regulatory appropriate,' Cohen's lawyer, Roger Adler, said in an email to Reuters."

The Commentariat -- April 9, 2020

Late Morning Update:

Mike Wants to Be on the Teevee. Oliver Darcy of CNN: "Vice President Mike Pence's office has declined to allow the nation's top health officials to appear on CNN in recent days and discuss the coronavirus pandemic ... in an attempt to pressure the network into carrying the White House's lengthy daily briefings in full. Pence's office, which is responsible for booking the officials on networks during the pandemic, said it will only allow experts such as Dr. Deborah Birx or Dr. Anthony Fauci to appear on CNN if the network televises the portion of the White House briefings that includes the vice president and other coronavirus task force members.... After Trump leaves the podium, CNN frequently cuts out of the White House briefing to discuss and fact-check what the President had said.... The Vice President's office has blocked all CNN appearances since last Thursday night."

Kaitlan Collins, et al., of CNN: "... Donald Trump is preparing to announce a second coronavirus task force solely focused on reopening the nation's economy, multiple sources told CNN."

Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "When an inspector general issued a report in December saying the investigation [into Russia interference in the 2016 presidential election] was properly founded, [AG Bill] Barr put out an extraordinary statement disagreeing with that. And now, Barr has gone quite a bit further.... 'What happened to him [Trump] was one of the greatest travesties in American history,' Barr said in a clip played on Fox News on Wednesday night. 'Without any basis, they started this investigation of his campaign, and even more concerning actually is what happened after the campaign -- a whole pattern of events while he was president ... to sabotage the presidency -- or at least have the effect of sabotaging the presidency.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Let's see: (1) Trump & Co. conspired with Russians, engaged in more conspiracies to cover up this & other conspiracies, lied a lot, & used Russian hacks against his opponent; (2) DOJ investigated but let Trump & most of his cronies off; (3) the "travesty" is the investigation. Either I'm crazy or Bill Barr is.

Patricia Cohen & Tiffany Hsu of the New York Times: "Another 6.6 million people filed for unemployment benefits last week as the coronavirus outbreak continued its devastating march through the American economy, the Labor Department reported on Thursday. The release came as the Federal Reserve said it could pump $2.3 trillion into the economy through new and expanded programs it announced on Monday, ramping up efforts to help companies and state and local governments suffering financially amid the coronavirus.... In just three weeks, more than 16 million U.S. workers have lost their jobs -- more losses than the most recent recession produced over two years." A CNBC story is here.

Jacob Pramuck of CNBC: "Senate Democrats on Thursday blocked a Republican push to unanimously pass a bill to put $250 billion more into a loan program for small businesses devastated by the coronavirus pandemic. With only a few senators in the Capitol, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell tried to move the measure by a unanimous vote. Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., objected to the request, stalling the legislation.... After Cardin rejected the measure, he called McConnell's move to pass the funding a 'political stunt.' He pushed for provisions including funding for Small Business Administration disaster assistance grants.... Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., then tried to unanimously pass a Democratic amendment. McConnell blocked it, and the Senate adjourned until Monday after a roughly 30-minute pro forma session."

IOKIYVote for Trump. Jonathan Chait: "'Mail-in voting is horrible. It's corrupt,' declared President Trump earlier this week. When a reporter asked how he could reconcile that position with the fact that he had personally voted by mail in the last election, Trump replied, 'Because I'm allowed to.' This perfectly circular logic -- if more voters were permitted to vote by mail, they would also be 'allowed to' -- seemed not to satisfy him. Trump has refined his view, explaining that casting a ballot by mail is fine for members of the military and senior citizens, but is 'ripe for fraud' when used by others[.]... Trump is not even attempting to formulate a facially neutral principle. He is simply asserting that members of the military and senior citizens -- constituencies that lean Republican -- can be trusted not to commit voter fraud, but that constituencies that might vote Democratic cannot.... (Trump campaign officials already confirmed this to Politico -- they will allow mail voting for senior citizens, but not others.) The travesty that was Tuesday's election in Wisconsin is his plan to win in November." Chait argues that Democrats don't seem to get what's going on & are about to miss their chance to leverage a "correction." ~~~

~~~ The Trump Model Works! Ed Kilgore of New York: "... seven states that generally discourage voting by mail but waive excuse requirements for Republican-leaning old folks are Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas. Coincidentally or not, these are all deep-red states carried by Trump in 2016, most of them by large margins (Texas, which went MAGA by nine points, was the closest). They appear to provide Trump's model for the country as a whole."

~~~~~~~~~~

Presidential Race

** Sydney Ember of the New York Times: "Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont dropped out of the Democratic presidential race on Wednesday, concluding a quest for the White House that began five years ago in relative obscurity but ultimately elevated him as a champion of the working class, a standard-bearer of American liberalism and the leader of a self-styled political revolution. Mr. Sanders's exit from the race establishes former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. as the presumptive nominee to challenge President Trump, and leaves the progressive movement without a prominent voice in the 2020 race.... With the public health emergency preventing both candidates from holding in-person campaign events, Mr. Sanders spent the last several weeks on the sidelines, delivering addresses via live stream and making occasional television appearances, while facing calls from fellow Democrats to exit the race and help unify the party behind Mr. Biden. Though Mr. Biden had been careful not to pressure Mr. Sanders, he had begun to move ahead as if the race were over, taking steps, for example, to begin his search for a running mate." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Holly Otterbein & David Siders of Politico: Sen. Sanders "announced his decision during an all-staff conference call Wednesday morning. The Vermont senator told his aides that this was not just a presidential campaign, but a movement, and to be proud of what they've accomplished." The Washington Post's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Dan Merica of CNN: "Former President Barack Obama played an active, albeit private, role in th Democratic presidential primary that effectively ended on Wednesday when Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders dropped out of the race. Obama and Sanders spoke multiple times in the last few weeks as the Vermont senator determined the future of his campaign, a source familiar with the conversation tells CNN. Sanders' decision to get out on Wednesday paves the way for Joe Biden ... to become the Democratic nominee.

Axios: "Joe Biden released a lengthy statement on Wednesday commending the progressive movement built by Bernie Sanders, who has officially suspended his campaign for president.... The end of the Sanders campaign means that Biden is the presumptive Democratic nominee for president. Biden, who is seeking to win over Sanders' loyal supporters in the fight to defeat President Trump, was glowing in his praise for his last remaining challenger's campaign, which he said 'changed the dialogue in America.'" The post includes Biden's full statement. Biden's statement first appeared in Medium.

Trump Encourages Voter Suppression Because It Helps Republicans. Quint Forgey of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Wednesday directed Republicans to 'fight very hard' against efforts to expand mail-in voting amid the coronavirus pandemic.... 'Republicans should fight very hard when it comes to statewide mail-in voting. Democrats are clamoring for it,' Trump wrote on Twitter. 'Tremendous potential for voter fraud, and for whatever reason, doesn't work out well for Republicans.'... The president fiercely criticized mail-in voting as 'horrible' and 'corrupt' during the White House coronavirus task force's daily news conference Tuesday, but also conceded that he voted by mail in Florida's primary last month. Trump offered no legitimate explanation for the discrepancy between his position on mail-in voting and his personal voting habits, but insisted 'there's a big difference between somebody that's out of state and does a ballot, and everything's sealed, certified and everything else.' In other instances of mail-in voting, however, 'you get thousands and thousands of people sitting in somebody's living room, signing ballots all over the place,' Trump claimed.... The president's advice to vote in person contradicts his administration's social-distancing guidance...." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Aaron Rupar of Vox: "... Donald Trump keeps saying the quiet part [out] loud when it comes to his opposition to mail-in voting.... [Wednesday morning's Trump] tweet [outlined in Forgey's story] marked the second time in just over a week that Trump basically gave up the game. During a Fox & Friends appearance on March 30, he explained his opposition to a Democratic proposal to include funding for mail-in voting in coronavirus stimulus legislation by saying, 'they have things, levels of voting, that if you ever agreed to it, you'd never have a Republican elected in this country again.'... Georgia House Speaker David Ralston, a Republican, said the quiet part even louder than Trump has. 'Vote by mail in my view is not acceptable,' Ralston said. 'This will be extremely devastating to Republicans and conservatives in Georgia.... This will certainly drive up turnout.'"

The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments for Thursday are here. The Washington Post's live updates for Thursday are here.

CDC De-Trumpifies. Aram Roston & Marisa Taylor of Reuters: "The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has removed from its website highly unusual guidance informing doctors on how to prescribe hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, drugs recommended by ... Donald Trump to treat the coronavirus. The move comes three days after Reuters reported that the CDC published key dosing information involving the two antimalarial drugs based on unattributed anecdotes rather than peer-reviewed science. Reuters also reported that the original guidance was crafted by the CDC after President Trump personally pressed federal regulatory and health officials to make the malaria drugs more widely available to treat the novel coronavirus, though the drugs in question had been untested for COVID-19.... Now the CDC website ... says: 'There are no drugs or other therapeutics approved by the US Food and Drug Administration to prevent or treat COVID-19.' The updated, and shortened, guidance adds that 'Hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine are under investigation in clinical trials' for use on coronavirus patients." (Also linked yesterday.)

Carl Zimmer of the New York Times: "New research [from two teams of 'viral historians'] indicates that the coronavirus began to circulate in the New York area by mid-February, weeks before the first confirmed case, and that travelers brought in the virus mainly from Europe, not Asia.... The research revealed a previously hidden spread of the virus that might have been detected if aggressive testing programs had been put in place. On Jan. 31, President Trump barred foreign nationals from entering the country if they had been in China during the prior two weeks. It would not be until ... March 11 when Mr. Trump said he would block travelers from most European countries. But New Yorkers had already been traveling home with the virus.... The United States fumbled in making its first diagnostic kits and initially limited testing only to people who had come from China and displayed symptoms of Covid-19.... The coronavirus genomes are also revealing hints of early cross-country travel [from Washington state to the East Coast]."

Gwynne Hogan of WNYC in the Gothamist: "New York City officials will begin to count suspected COVID-19 deaths of people who die at home following a WNYC/Gothamist report revealing a staggering number of such deaths that were not included in the official tally. In a statement, Stephanie Buhle, a spokeswoman for New York City's Health Department, said the city would no longer report only those cases that were confirmed by a laboratory test.... The new protocol is likely to add thousands to the toll.... [For instance, 280 New Yorkers died in non-hospital settings Monday], according to data from the Fire Department. While not all of those deaths are necessarily caused by COVID-19, it's a staggering increase over the average 25 home deaths the city usually saw on any given day before the pandemic swept the five boroughs."

Timothy Williams & Danielle Ivory of the New York Times: Chicago's Cook County jail "is now the nation's largest-known source of coronavirus infections, according to data compiled by The New York Times, with more confirmed cases than the U.S.S. Theodore Roosevelt, a nursing home in Kirkland, Wash., or the cluster centered on New Rochelle, N.Y. The Cook County Sheriff's Office, which operates the jail, said Wednesday that 238 inmates and 115 staff members had tested positive for the virus. But those figures most likely downplay the actual problem, the jail acknowledged, because the vast majority of the jail's 4,500 inmates have not been tested.... The ballooning outbreak at the jail, southwest of downtown Chicago, appears to confirm the fears of many health officials, who warned that America's overcrowded and unsanitary prisons and jails would likely be a significant source of the virus's spread."

Alexander Bolton of the Hill: "Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) are in talks to avoid a nasty Senate floor fight between Democrats and Republicans that could leave a critical small-business loan program short on funds. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) plans to ask for unanimous consent Thursday morning to approve an additional $250 billion for the popular Paycheck Protection Program, under which small businesses can get federally backed loans that will be forgiven if they keep workers on payroll during the coronavirus downturn. But Senate Democrats are threatening to object unless the Trump administration and GOP lawmakers agree to several concessions." Mrs. McC: You'll have to read on for the concessions Democrats want. Nothing about vote-by-mail.

Jonathan Allen of NBC News: "Two Democratic House committee leaders are demanding answers from the Trump administration about Jared Kushner's role in directing and redirecting the flow of life-saving medical equipment among private companies, various levels of government and hospitals in need. The demand came in a letter sent Tuesday, the day the Kushner-backed supply chain task force abandoned its "war room" at the Federal Emergency Management Agency's headquarters following the revelation that a 'partner' of the agency who worked in the area had tested positive for coronavirus. The letter was sent by Reps. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., to FEMA Administrator Pete Gaynor, giving an April 15 due date to provide files related to the efforts of Kushner.... The White House has routinely ignored requests from Congress for information...." Mrs. McC: If there's any chance Jared will end up in a dungeon in the Capitol Building, pleeeeeze proceed. It is vital that he be paraded before Congress in a black-and-white striped prisoner's uniform with a little pillbox cap.

Kyle Cheney of Politico: "A top House committee chairwoman is proposing legislation that would undo ... Donald Trump's move to sideline the federal watchdog originally tapped to oversee the $2 trillion coronavirus relief law. House Oversight and Government Reform Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney, along with Reps. Gerald Connolly (D-Va.) and Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.), offered a bill Wednesday that would expand the roster of officials permitted to lead the oversight effort, ensuring that Trump's incursion on the panel would not prevent the original pick -- Pentagon watchdog Glenn Fine -- from keeping the position." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ "I'll Be the Oversight." Seung Min Kim, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump is coming under bipartisan scrutiny in Congress after he ousted two inspectors general and publicly criticized a third -- actions that have left lawmakers wrestling yet again with an administration that has repeatedly flouted efforts at independent oversight since Trump took office.... But lawmakers also are aware that they are, again, confronting a president who has repeatedly defied oversight by the legislative branch raising questions about whether new safeguards established amid the pandemic will be effective against Trump. The president has shown little hesitation in dismissing independent watchdogs, ignoring congressional subpoenas and barring current and former administration officials from cooperating with investigations." ~~~

~~~ Ashley Parker & Anne Gearan of the Washington Post: "President Trump has lambasted governors whom he views as insufficiently appreciative. He has denigrated -- and even dismissed -- inspectors general who dared to criticize him or his administration. And he has excoriated reporters who posed questions he did not like. The coronavirus pandemic has crystallized several long-standing undercurrents of the president's governing ethos: a refusal to accept criticism, a seemingly insatiable need for praise -- and an abiding mistrust of independen entities and individuals. Those characteristics have had a pervasive effect on the administration's handling of the crisis, from Trump's suggestions that he might withhold aid from struggling state governments based on whether he is displeased with a governor to his repeated refusal to take responsibility for shortcomings in the laggard federal response." The report goes on to describe Trump in accurate, unflattering terms, largely by using his own bad behavior against him.

Matt Zapotosky of the Washington Post: "Attorney General William P. Barr said Wednesday that some of the government-imposed lockdown measures meant to control the spread of covid-19 were 'draconian' and suggested that they should be eased next month. In an interview with Fox News's Laura Ingraham, Barr, long a proponent of executive power, said the government -- and in particular state officials -- had broad authority to impose restrictions on people in cases of emergency. But he said the federal government would be 'keeping a careful eye on' the situation, and stressed that officials should be 'very careful to make sure that the draconian measures that are being adopted are fully justified.'... When the White House's social distancing guidance expires [at the end of April], Barr said, 'I think we have to consider alternative ways of protecting people.' The comments were particularly notable because during his lengthy career, Barr has been a champion of a strong executive branch of government -- frequently drawing criticism from civil liberties' advocates."

Jeff Brady of NPR: "Some local officials are disappointed the federal government will end funding for coronavirus testing sites this Friday. In a few places those sites will close as a result. This as criticism continues that not enough testing is available.... A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services tells NPR, 'Many of the Community-Based Testing Sites (CBTS) are not closing, but rather transitioning to state-managed sites on or about April 10.'" --s ~~~

~~~ Matt Stieb of New York explains how counterproductive closing the testing sites is to the federal government's own goal of reviving local economies.

Tom Gjelten of NPR: "In a development that could challenge the Constitution's prohibition of any law 'respecting an establishment of religion,' the federal government will soon provide money directly to U.S. churches to help them pay pastor salaries and utility bills. A key part of the $2 trillion economic relief legislation enacted last month includes about $350 billion for the Small Business Administration to extend loans to small businesses facing financial difficulties as a result of the coronavirus shutdown orders. Churches and other faith-based organizations, classified as 'businesses,' qualify for aid under the program, even if they have an exclusively religious orientation.... In introducing the new SBA program, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Pence and President Trump 'made sure' that churches would be included in the program." --s (Also linked yesterday.)

Josh Margolin & James Meek of ABC News: "As far back as late November, U.S. intelligence officials were warning that a contagion was sweeping through China';s Wuhan region, changing the patterns of life and business and posing a threat to the population, according to four sources briefed on the secret reporting. Concerns about what is now known to be the novel coronavirus pandemic were detailed in a November intelligence report by the military's National Center for Medical Intelligence (NCMI), according to two officials familiar with the document's contents.... 'Analysts concluded it could be a cataclysmic event,' one of the sources said of the NCMI's report. 'It was then briefed multiple times to' the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Pentagon's Joint Staff and the White House." (Also linked yesterday.)

Modly's Last Hurrah Cost Taxpayers a Quarter Million Dollars. Dan Lamothe of the Washington Post: "For taxpayers, the cost of [Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly's] flight [to & from Guam] alone was at least $243,151.65, according to a Navy estimate."

Dan Mangan & Thomas Franck of CNBC: "Sen. Kelly Loeffler [R-ich] of Georgia on Wednesday said that she and her CEO husband Jeff Sprecher will liquidate their individual stock share positions and related options after weeks of criticism of the couple for selling millions of dollars in stock amid the coronavirus pandemic. Loeffler on Wednesday reiterated her defense of the prior stock sales as legally and ethically proper, and her claim that the couple's trading was handled by third parties authorized to buy and sell securities without telling the couple in advance. And she said that she and Sprecher, who is the chairman and CEO of Intercontinental Exchange, the company that owns the New York Stock Exchange, are selling off the individual shares not because she had to, but because she wanted to avoid further controversy. Loeffler, who is the richest member of the Senate, said in a Wall Street Journal opinion page article announcing her decision that her stock holdings would be converted to mutual funds and exchange-traded funds by third-party advisors who handle her investments."

Capitalism Is Awesome, Ctd. Jane Bradley of the New York Times: "As the United States and European Union countries compete to acquire scarce medical equipment to combat the coronavirus, another troubling divide is also emerging, with poorer countries losing out to wealthier ones in the global scrum for masks and testing materials. Scientists in Africa and Latin America have been told by manufacturers that orders for vital testing kits cannot be filled for months, because the supply chain is in upheaval and almost everything they produce is going to America or Europe. All countries report steep price increases, from testing kits to masks."

A Holy Week Lesson

Kansas. Matthew Chapman of RawStory: "On Wednesday, Republicans on the Kansas Legislative Coordinating Council voted to overturn Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly's executive order restricting attendance at church and funereal services to 10 people or less. The decision came after GOP state Attorney General Derek Schmidt warned that the order is unconstitutional. Schmidt declared the order to be 'sound public-health advice that Kansans should follow' but advised state police not to enforce it." --s ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: You might think killing off god-fearing Christians (and endangering the lives of others) is kind of an odd way to celebrate the Resurrection, but your theology is all wrong: ~~~

~~~ Edward Moreno of the Hill: "A Louisiana pentecostal pastor who is refusing to abide by the state's 'stay at home' order said 'true Christians' see death as a 'welcome friend.' 'Like any zealot or like any pure religious person, death looks to them like a welcome friend. True Christians do not mind dying. They fear living in fear,' Rev. Tony Spell, pastor of Life Tabernacle Church, told TMZ.... Spell was arrested on March 31 and charged with six misdemeanors for violating an executive order by Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) banning gatherings of more than 10 people. Central, La., Police Chief Roger Corcoran Spell's decision was 'reckless and irresponsible.' The pastor eportedly held services again on Sunday, with hundreds of parishioners turning out to his church near Baton Rouge." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: If we assume, for argument's sake (and because of the odds for it), that Pastor Tony there is also a right-to-lifer, then the theology would be that the one and only purpose to human life is to get through this world and on to heaven. There is actually some internal consistency to this belief as Christians believe that Jesus' birth, life and death was all one divine plan AND Christians do see Jesus as a role model.

MEANWHILE, in Virginia. Sarah Burris of RawStory: Jerry Falwell Jr. told a right-wing commentator Wednesday "that there were two arrest warrants open for reporters who came onto Liberty University's campus. Upon further examination of the warrant, the police officer who signed the warrant was Detective/Sgt. A.B. Wilkins 206 LUPD. The LUPD is ... the police department under the authority of Liberty University.... No judge appears to have signed the warrant nor is there a judge mentioned.... The warrant also doesn't appear to be certified by the clerk that it was submitted to the court.... The accused reporters, ProPublica reporter Alec MacGillis and a New York Times photographer Julia Rendleman were accused of trespassing on the campus." --s ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Let's all get us some badges & sticks and start passing out warrants to everybody who pisses us off. I'm starting with that lady who has littered her yard with the same raggedy Trumpence sign since 2016. $500 fine payable on demand.

Katie Jones of Visual Capitalist has a great study on media consumption habits by generation during the pandemic. Great graphics. --s

Mrs. McCrabbie: BTW, here's an opinion piece, dated April 6, by winger John Fund & Prof. Joel Hay in the right-wing National Review about how Sweden appears to be doing the right thing by avoiding most mandated social distancing: "While gatherings of more than 50 people are prohibited and high schools and colleges are closed, Sweden has kept its borders open as well as its preschools, grade schools, bars, restaurants, parks, and shops." ~~~

     ~~~ AND here's an article, dated April 7, by Sinéad Baker in Business Insider is "now bracing for a surge in [coronavirus] cases." ~~~

     ~~~ AND here's an article, dated April 8, by Paulina Neuding & Tino Sanandaji in the Washington Post: "There are indications that Sweden is experiencing a higher death toll than its neighbors. While the Scandinavian countries reported their first fatalities at roughly the same time, Sweden as of April 8 had 687 fatalities, Denmark 218 and Norway 93. In per capita terms, Sweden is faring clearly worse than Norway and increasingly worse than Denmark.... There are now alarming reports that the virus has spread to one-third of nursing homes in Stockholm, which has resulted in rising fatalities." Mrs. McC: I'm thinking of the value of confederate opinion.

Naomi Jagoda of the Hill: "The Treasury Department's inspector general's office on Wednesday sent a report about the department's handling of House Democrats' request for President Trump's tax returns to key lawmakers. Deputy Inspector General Richard Delmar, who is currently the acting IG for Treasury, said in an email to The Hill that his office's 'inquiry report' was sent to House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.), who requested the report, as well as the committee's top Republican, Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas). The contents of the report were not immediately known."

(** for those of a certain age) Matt Schudel of the Washington Post: "Linda Tripp, a key figure in the presidential sex scandal that nearly brought down the administration of Bill Clinton over his affair with onetime White House intern Monica S. Lewinsky, leading to the president's impeachment in 1998, died April 8. She was 70. The death was confirmed by her son, Ryan Tripp, who declined to discuss other details. Acquaintances said she had been hospitalized for breast cancer. Ms. Tripp was praised as a whistleblower by some for calling out presidential misbehavior with an intern in the Oval Office, and was vilified by others as a snitch who betrayed her friendship with Lewinsky in an effort to bring down a president." Tripp's New York Times obituary is here.

News Lede

New York Times: "The body of an 8-year-old grandson of former Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend of Maryland who went missing with his mother in a canoe last week was recovered in the Chesapeake Bay on Wednesday, two days after his mother's body was found, the authorities said. The Maryland Natural Resources Police said that the body of the grandson, Gideon McKean, was found 2,000 feet from where the body of his mother, Maeve Kennedy Townsend McKean, a granddaughter of Robert F. Kennedy, was recovered on Monday."