I guess what is so infuriating about the current pickle we are in is that it was so fucking predictable. We had already dodged who knows how many bullets with President dipshit, it was bound to happen that there would be a crisis that wouldn’t just work itself out without causing maximum damage to the country and the citizenry.
In the end, though, every lucky streak ends. So here we are, with a pandemic sweeping the nation, and we’re completely unprepared in part because of easily avoidable mistakes and disastrous decisions like firing the entire pandemic response team. We’re left with an addled moron leading us whose only skill is bullshitting his idiot followers, and the virus doesn’t give a shit about who or who is not wearing a MAGA hat.
And it is the utter predictability of this that is maddening as we all knew Republican hubris was going to catch up to us, because the house always wins. Even the worst gambler knows this maxim- the house always wins.
Unless, of course, you are Donald Trump, who lost money running casinos.
What Is The Test For SARS-CoV-2?
Brantl
Yep, he could screw up the one before business that was guaranteed to make money
PsiFighter37
The Dow is now up only 8% during Trump’s presidency…fool…
Elizabelle
We would benefit greatly if the coronavirus turns into a kind of Rapture for wingnuts. That could be good.
Sad thing is, a lot of good people will be carried off too. And businesses ruined.
But. Trump.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
I don’t think Trump’s going to walk away from this unscathed
Surly Duff
You know what is even more infuriating?
Half the country lives in misinformation bubble and has no idea how badly the “president” has handled this.
dm
@PsiFighter37: David Frum (yeah, I know, but bear with me), reminded us recently that “The rooster who takes credit for the sunrise, objects to being blamed when the sun sets.”
?BillinGlendaleCA
No worries, once Jared finishes his homework all of these problems will be solved.
different-church-lady
Now let’s be fair, John: it was a bad idea in foresight too.
Mnemosyne
Don’t worry, guys — Trump is totally going to run on Medicare For All, so all of the Berners are planning to vote for him.
Sadly, this is not a joke.
https://mobile.twitter.com/agraybee/status/1238142596511391744
They have learned NOTHING in the last 4 years. Not a fucking thing.
Redshift
Keep in mind that the reason most of these crises have worked themselves out is because they were crises that he created, and working them out just required him stopping whatever dumbass thing he did to start them. (With notable exceptions like Puerto Rico that were small enough in geographic scope that they could successfully but them.)
Gin & Tonic
Saw a news report that Atlantic City wants to tear down the first casino he built there. Obviously he walked away from it and left others holding the bag long ago, as per usual, but it’s in such disrepair now that pieces are falling off and it’s actually a public hazard.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Surly Duff: I guess when there’s no sports report on the news cause there’s no sporting events or finding out that you can’t take the family to Disneyland* cause it’s closed due to the pandemic might sink in.
The GEC announced that Disneyland and CA Adventure will be closed for the remainder of the month.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@dm:
Yup. Also, Trump has no agency and is always the victim unless something good happens to occur by rule of averages and then he’s responsible for it
Jim, Foolish Literalist
repost from below
About the only thing that surprises me is that we’re not hearing about people like Jamie Dimon and Paul Singer (who IIRC set up a pro-trump SuperPAC not long ago) burning up the lines to McConnell and Pence. No president could fix this, but trump is making it worse than it needs to be and more unpredictable, which is costing them real money.
And under the trump-era category of shocking but not surprising: Silent Jim Mattis continues to observe his vow of silence. See also: Romney (devaluing whatever cred he bought with his impeachment vote) and the Bush brothers.
Larry Hogan suspends all MD public schools for the next two weeks. That is going to fuck with a lot of families.
trollhattan
@different-church-lady:
I compare that bit of brilliance with GWB’s closing the Bin Laden desk. How’d that work out for us?
Elizabelle
NPR leads with the stock market. Down 2300 points.
Hockey suspended too; hadn’t heard that yet.
different-church-lady
@Mnemosyne: Nonsense: they’ve learned a great deal about how to kneecap the eventual Democratic nominee.
Ohio Mom
I finally had a moment to watch the video of Biden’s speech. It could have used a little editing but I seem to recall Biden is famous for going on too long.
The important thing is, I will have no problem voting and canvassing for him. This won’t be one of those elections where I’m muttering to myself, “Lesser of two evils, lesser of two evils.” He’s definitely up for the job, and I will be proud of my vote.
gene108
@Surly Duff:
I think a lot of folks not taking this seriously were relatively fit men, irrespective of political beliefs, who still feel relatively invulnerable.
With the cancellation of the NCAA tournament, postponement of the NBA season, Tom Hanks getting it, etc., the seriousness of this is finally sinking in.
For those in the Fox News bubble or choose your conspiracy theory bubble, there’s never any hope of getting them to accept reality, but that’s well less than half the country.
different-church-lady
@Gin & Tonic: Russia pulled down all the statues of Lenin. We’ll pull down all the buildings Trump built.
Yutsano
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
Adjusted for accuracy.
(Yes victim should be victims. But I already did a shit ton of work and I’m not changing it.)
Elizabelle
Virginia: state of emergency through June 10.
Governor Northam was an Army pediatric neurosurgeon.
Richmond public schools closed. They’ll maintain their school lunch program throughout; open 9 to 12 so families can pick up shelf stable foods for the kids.
Mnemosyne
@Surly Duff:
I am SO glad that my otherwise conservative brother really hates Trump, because our mom with severe COPD lives with him. Fortunately, he’s taking the whole thing very seriously as her primary caregiver, but we’re all a little freaked out right now.
Benw
We’d literally be in better shape right now if President Camacho was in charge. Holy shit
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@gene108: my aunt is about as liberal as the demographers could ask an 85 year-old , non-college, daily-mass attending white woman to be. She hates trump, hated Bush, is a yellow-dog Democrat because of Medicaid (handicapped adult child), and I’d bet has never watched Fox News. She’s convinced this is all overblown ‘just like they do every time it snows’. I’m hoping her kids call in our cousin, the RN with a shall-we-say uniquely authoritative manner.
Elizabelle
@Mnemosyne: Fist bump to you and all jackals with vulnerable elders in the family.
I wonder if Steeplejack might end up stranded in Las Vegas for a spell. I speak of travel bans if LV becomes a hot zone. And how could it not.
Mnemosyne
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Yup. We found out at the same time as everyone else.
Our tiny little corner has decided that there will be no outside visitors to our building until further notice. Period.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Yutsano:
Thanks! Can’t leave Moscow Mitch and Co out!
Trumbull County man with coronavirus: ‘I feel like I am dying’
Martin
@Benw: Has anyone tried telling Trump that the coronavirus test has electrolytes?
Mnemosyne
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
She may not watch Fox News, but I bet her friends do and are passing the propaganda along to her.
But also, some people are at peace with themselves once they get to that age and get a little fatalistic. My paternal grandmother was only a few years older than that when she decided not to have her pacemaker replaced. She kept going to 93, so she had a good long run.
CarolDuhart2
Personal note: I’m high-risk category for corona, so on my Dr’s Advice, I’m self-quarantining. But I need grocery money until I get my SS check (and god bless those people for continuing to work despite it all). I’ve looked at alternatives, but they involve getting a cab or riding the bus. Could you hit my Paypal button so I can have groceries brought to me?
carolduhart07 at gmail.com….use any one of my blogs as well and find the donate button..
MomSense
@Mnemosyne:
I begged my mom not to go out, but she went to the store today, came home, and didn’t wash her hands. My son is home and he went around cleaning everything she touched (as best he could). She forgot. She isn’t remembering well and the stress is making it worse. Aaaaarrrggghh. She’s 82 and I’m trying to keep her safe.
I’m so fucking angry at everyone who voted for this idiot, the media, Comey, and all the people who didn’t vote for Clinton.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Yikes, so much for only the elderly need to worry
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Elizabelle: They should have quite a few less visitors with the domestic sports book non-existent.
Baud
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
If my mother were still alive, she would be worried, but I doubt she would change her social habits much.
Baud
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I think below 60 years old, it’s still deadly, but much less so, more like the flu rates.
Leto
But… her… emails!
jeffreyw
I keep seeing this. He didn’t lose any money. It was a bustout, like what was seen on the Sopranos, and Goodfellas.
“Fuck you. Pay me.”
A Ghost to Most
With everybody’s social calendars suddenly open, is it too early to predict a baby boom late this year?
Mnemosyne
@MomSense:
The other thing that may help is that my mom is a total clean freak. Like to the point that other women of her same generation think she’s a little too obsessed with it. So the house is Cloroxed within an inch of its life already. As soon as the news hit, my brother decided to take a full shower in the (finished) basement and change into clean clothes as soon as he walks in the door from work every night, so he’s being as vigilant as possible, too.
Elizabelle
@A Ghost to Most: You’re the first to mention that. But, wow. Very possible.
Although passion can take a back seat to being terrified at one’s financial precariousness.
Baud
@A Ghost to Most:
Relatedly, can anyone recommend a reputable internet-based porn site?
Benw
@Martin: Trump thinks electrolytes are dumb and why can’t we just go back to good old incandescent bulbs anyway?
Baud
@Elizabelle:
People having sex without touching each other faces. It’s the new kink.
Mnemosyne
@Baud:
IIRC, for younger people it’s above flu rates at something like a 1 percent death rate — the death rate for the flu is something like 0.01 percent, so it’s a massive increase.
For older people, it’s something like 10 or 12 percent, which is still pretty low unless you have an elderly and/or at-risk person to worry about.
trollhattan
@Martin:
Betcha AB InBev is regretting buying Corona now. It should have electrolytes, though.
trollhattan
@Baud:
Ancient Punchline: The second bag is for my head in case her’s falls off.
Baud
@Mnemosyne: Cite? Last figures I saw should less than 1% for younger people.
Brachiator
Hell to the yes! Any number of folk here and elsewhere saw it as inevitable that Trump would get into a jam that he could not bullshit his way out of.
Worse, he is too ignorant and too inflexible to adapt to changing circumstances, and his instinct has been to surround himself with more people whose only talent is the ability to kiss his ass.
What I did not anticipate was the degree to which Congressional Republicans are willing to jump off the ledge with him. This goes beyond GOP leaders or right wing plutocrats manipulating Trump to achieve their own ends.
We are seeing similar forces at work in Boris Johnson’s UK government. Johnson and his cronies are adamant that they must be allowed to run things as they wish and shrug off the need to ever confer with experts.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@trollhattan:
Unless those ironic young people start having Corona parties, with stand five-feet-apart drinking games
Southern Goth
@Mnemosyne:
Based on the only numbers I’ve actually seen, your numbers are somewhat inflated.
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/pay-close-attention-to-south-koreas-apparent-success
trollhattan
@Elizabelle:
For child soldiers?
Jay
trollhattan
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Good point. This could kill off the ironic PBR drinking!
chopper
@PsiFighter37:
now adjust it for inflation.
Leto
@Benw: The sad thing is that President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho is still smarter than the current dumbass we have sitting in the Oval Office.
Electrolytes, it’s what plants crave!
MJS
@Baud: Thanks for my first laugh all day.
trollhattan
BTW, the bright idea people are considering “going there.”
It’ll be like Dust Bowl days when we’re keeping our folks from escaping and becoming reverse-Okies. Or something, I can’t figure out how Trump could prevent interstate travel. “Do you heff your transit visa?”
chopper
@A Ghost to Most:
god, the only thing i can think of that would make this year even scarier would be getting knocked up.
Martin
@Benw: Lighting was better when it was steam-powered.
Martin
@Baud: Did you see Pornhub dropped their paywall for anyone in Italy.
Don’t say industry isn’t doing their part.
trollhattan
1,500 tests run. In a state of forty million.
trollhattan
@Martin:
“At’s-a some spicy meat…balls!”
BroD
@Ohio Mom: ” I will have no problem voting and canvassing for him.”
Actually, you might–I just got an email from the York County (PA) Democratic Party announcing they will be suspending door-to-door canvassing among other things. Things may be different in OH, but be prepared.
Ksmiami
@Mnemosyne: hate to correct you but a cfr of 10-12 percent is pretty massive
Martin
I have to say, this disease is seriously testing my atheism.
Jay
@Southern Goth:
https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus
YMMV. South Korea jumped on the outbreak, flattened the curve quickly, and as a side result due to a religious/demographic oddity, has significantly different results and statistics than elsewhere.
The US is on a path to Italy, with out the Universal Medicare, the Strong Local Communities, the extensive Medical Staff and facilities, ( even in rural areas),
and of course, is a Nation of 330 million people of whom 137 million are currently strained by pre-existing medical debt.
Brachiator
@Mnemosyne:
I am not sure that this is the best way to think about the virus. People age 60 and over are significantly more at risk, and this is not elderly. The effect of being ill is much more severe, and recovery or survival might depend on the availability of intensive and first rate medical care.
Resources are not evenly distributed and the health care system could be overwhelmed if the spread of the illness quickly spreads.
BroD
@different-church-lady: “We’ll pull down all the buildings Trump built.”
We won’t have to–they’ll crumble very quickly.
Baud
@MJS: Right. Joking….right.
Cheryl Rofer
@trollhattan: I’d like to see a link so that I can check out the full context, although it looks like there may not be a whole lot more there.
This is the kind of reporting that I find frustrating, because it just says that some things are missing from the kits. Is that the solvent? The primer? The standard? Something else? Is it the same thing missing from all the kits, or different things?
Who supplied the kits?
I’m not expecting you to have the answers, but the reporter(s) should have asked.
TS (the original)
@trollhattan:
trump’s media control in action. Have to keep their access line open.
Brachiator
@Martin:
Wow. That is pretty funny. And pretty smart.
I’ve seen a couple of articles at tech sites noting that ISPs are considering how to deal with increased home broadband use.
ETA. My nephew works for a big ass major company’s home office and just got an email directing people to work from home.
Mike in NC
Local newspapers continue to print Letters to the Editor written by ignorant MAGAts, saying the whole thing is a hoax meant to embarrass Fat Bastard.
Martin
@Cheryl Rofer: This seems to be the source of the problem.
The FDA kits require a Qiagen produced reagent – it’s apparently the only company product certified, and other nations by moving more quickly bought up all of their supply. Qiagen has 3 factories – 2 in Europe and a small one in the US. They are trying to ramp up. I’d be willing to bet the feds could get that US one ramped up with a competent response.
Ohio Mom
[email protected]: I was thinking about the fall. If we can’t go door-to-door in September… That too horrible to contemplate.
MattF
@Martin: Ass-licking is dangerous nowadays.
bluehill
Continuing an earlier conversation about liquidity in the financial markets. Something’s off in the repo market.
Martin
@Ohio Mom: If we still can’t canvas in September, there will be no need to canvas. Look at how off the rails the US has come in 2 weeks.
Leto
@BroD:
Howdy neighbor! Over here in Montgomery County. The wife and I are probably going to do mail-in ballot voting this year. Seems the better option atm.
moops
Is “Not Testing” how Trump wins in all of this? Just let everyone get sick and either recover or die but never measure anything so have full deniability?
Immanentize
@Martin: I have said since the beginning of the administration that it all forces me into sins against charity. Because it is hard to suppress the feeling of just desserts when I read something like that. Cotton getting Covid would force me back to confession, I think.
Martin
@bluehill: Of course markets are breaking down! How is this even a question.
Fair Economist
@Martin: I expected from the start that Mar-a-Lago would become a focus for infection. Nasty selfish people who enjoy breaking rules coming together from all over the planet? Plus overworked staff with exploitable visa statuses? Virus heaven.
zhena gogolia
I may have to swear off BJ for the foreseeable future. My anxiety is through the roof, and I’m finding that the informational aspect is now far smaller than the anxiety-producing aspect. I am ceasing to be able to function normally.
cain
The conservative moment have moved away from classic conservative (if they actually adhered to it) and now moved just to being ideologues. It’s why they can’t change in the face of a pandemic because it isn’t human based. They are set up for adversarial relationships with the other side and using propaganda. But this doesn’t work that way. They are literally going to kill their base first and the rest later.
For once, they have to fix it rather than shit gets blown up and the Democrats are elected just in time to fix everything up and then by 8 years they get back in again ready to fuck things up again. This is going to be all on them and their response. We are going to be doing some serious level setting but sadly on the backs of the deaths of all of us.
MCA1
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Nope. They interpret those things as unjustified hysteria, fueled by the PC Fake News industry just trying to hurt tRump. Because that’s what the state media tells them.
The good news, so to speak, is that it’s not really half the country that lives exclusively in the bubble. I think the hard core Fox addicts/Facebook only contingent probably amounts to no more than 20% of the nation. The rest of Dotard’s 40% are seeing right now what a colossal fuck up he is and are having his inability to rise to the moment even for 10 minutes shoved right in their face at the moment.
gene108
@Leto:
He cared about making this country better, and finding ways to solve problems.
That’s a big plus over our current government.
bluehill
@Martin: I think it’s the lack of demand for treasuries that’s unusual. These are typically considered safe havens to ride out the storm.
cain
@MCA1:
They are going to be shamed.
I’m going to watch what is going to be happening in Kentucky and other red states. Because I’m sure it’s going to be much worse in those places.
They will refuse to do anything but cut taxes because that’s all they know and to do otherwise is to admit that their schtick doesn’t work and you know conservatism can’t fail it can only be failed.
Martin
@moops: This is why disasters are a real test. A good leader lifts the public above it, and a bad one pushes them deeper into it. It’s part of why 2008 happened, Obama was the one lifting us above it, not suspending his campaign. And the public rejoiced.
Trump will not be forgiven for this lack of leadership. Not ever. This could have been a 100 or 1000 fatality event, but its shaping up to be much worse. Fauci says the administration fucked up to Congress. It’s all playing out in public at a scale that Trump can’t distract from.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
So how long is it before it comes out Trump has been tested for having the virus?
Brachiator
@Martin:
Financial markets are not that important. They only reflect, indirectly and slightly after the fact, the health of the economy.
Trump, being a fool, is overly concerned with how he will look if the Dow continues to tank. He should be focusing on anticipating how the virus might affect the economy and how best to mitigate any damages.
The NY Post had a story about a good cart vendor whose business has crashed by 40 percent. There are millions of components of the economy that might need support.
Fair Economist
@bluehill: Here’s something that might be relevant: Big shifts in negative yields for TIPS – implying
increasesdecreases in expected inflation for the medium terms, and extreme uncertainty for the long term.Inflation uncertainty could really jam up the market for longer-dated bonds, at least.
Frankensteinbeck
@cain:
Kentucky is likely to be fine, or as fine as the blue states, anyway. Kentucky now has a Democratic governor and he is taking this VERY, VERY seriously.
pluky
@trollhattan: What one specializes in outside the Army is not necessarily what one practiced while in the Army. As a brat, the Army definitely has pediatricians in the Medical Corps, with a sister who needed surgery at about age seven.
JPL
@Immanentize: I often give thoughts and prayers.
FDRLincoln
And I just got laid off. “On hiatus” due to the virus.
JPL
@FDRLincoln: oh f.k I’m so sorry.
Fair Economist
@Brachiator:
Stock markets aren’t directly important. Bond markets are. They make the banking system work.
moops
@Martin: But disaster reporting needs footage, and numbers. The only thing making headlines is the stock market, and canceled social activities. That is not a disaster.
It is like a neutron bomb, wiping out the population and leaving the buildings intact.
How long will hazmat dressed doctors be newsworthy?
Jay
@zhena gogolia:
Martin
@bluehill: But why would they be? We’re running a $1T deficit, going to need emergency spending rivaling that of WWII, have a president arguing for tax cuts when tax revenue is going to be toilet water for a few years, and has indicated that it’s not a problem because we’ll just ‘refinance it’ – plus a Senate willing to shut down and not pay out debt.
So we put money in treasuries to earn less interest than inflation when there’s a real chance the feds will just default on it anyway because these guys don’t know what the fuck they’re doing?
Mary G
Martin
@moops: The daily death toll waiting for it to slow down will be newsworthy for quite a while. The analysis for what parts of the country are improving or worsening. That’s basically going to be all of the news soon.
moops
@Brachiator: Bear markets usually precede recessions, they are not lagging indicators.
But the stock market is very tenuously related to economic health. Unemployment is about to shoot through the roof. Many industries have or are about to do large layoffs. US Oil will be first, then airlines, then general tourism, movies, conference services, hotels. Public transit ridership in many areas has already dropped 25%.
huge layoffs are coming.
pluky
@Martin: Oh lord. This reagent is not some magic stuff (guanidinium thiocyanate-phenol-chloroform). What the kit gives, besides a CDC blessed QA seal, is convenient packaging for use in a particular automated process.
As I read recommended elsewhere, every academic molecular bio should be commandeered to do bench prep of samples. Don’t need fancy kits for that! What are the Chinese, South Koreans, et al. doing?
Chyron HR
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
If the test is positive? November 4.
A Ghost to Most
@JPL: As my friend Patterson says:
Stuff it up your ass
With your useless thoughts and prayers
Darkrose
My district just announced that face-to-face classes and students services will be suspended effective tomorrow, and campus will be closed as of Wednesday. We’re all scrambling to respond, especially since many of our students don’t have computer access from home.
bemused
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
I read Lindsay Graham got tested after being in vicinity of Brazil guy. I gotta wonder how many of all those legislators hitching themselves to trump are in a panic now.
moops
@Martin: For deaths to be newsworthy they have to be diagnosed as COVID-19. Against the general death rate in the country the signal is not easy to pick up. LOTS of old people die every day. How many of them will be diagnosed?
Epidemiology models would indicate several hundred elderly have already died in the US from COVID-19. That is way more than the official death toll.
trollhattan
@Cheryl Rofer:
It’s from an article on Newsom’s presser this morning.
It’s not easy keeping up. I keep checking everywhere on whether my kid will have a school to go to.
Martin
@Fair Economist: I’m wondering what the banking system is beneficial for right now. I’m I going to borrow to open new stores? Buy a house? No, I’m going to put everything on hold until I get some idea where things are heading.
Jay
The US just threw $1.5 Trillion at the Markets and it didn’t make a dent.
that’s roughly 5 months of Free Healthcare, or
every Student Loan paid off,
or all the Unhoused, get a home.
Mallard FIlmore
@trollhattan:
“Turkish candy, Turkish towel, Turkish border, may I see your papers please?”
(loosely, Firesign Theatre)
bluehill
@Fair Economist:
@Martin: I hear you and wonder if that’s a factor, but the TIPs spread going negative suggests that there is demand for treasuries to the extent that some investors are willing to earn less than expected inflation to own them. That said, I’m not an expert, just seeing some reports from people a lot more knowledgeable than me saying that the behavior in repo market is unusual.
Martin
@pluky: No I agree. The states need to tell the FDA to fuck off. We can do this, but people need to get the fuck out of the way.
trollhattan
@Fair Economist:
This happened in December, was she eavesdropping…or virus dropping? [dun-dun-dunnn]
Calouste
@Martin: That and celebrity deaths.
Martin
@moops: All will be after they die.
Mallard FIlmore
@zhena gogolia: Please send us a PING every week or two.
moops
@Martin: I seriously doubt we will be testing the elderly deceased for the presence of virus. Not for months. I have not heard of a single post-mortem test being performed in the US.
Brachiator
@Fair Economist:
Fair point. We have the Fed to deal with this area. The Trump administration needs to focus attention elsewhere.
And also dispense with goofy shit like a payroll tax holiday.
eclare
@Martin: More hand washing
FDRLincoln
Yes, I am now jobless again. Ugh. Ugh.
Thank God I pulled my IRA money out of the market a few weeks ago.
Martin
@moops: The first fatalities in the US were identified post-mortem.
donnah
One of our local universities is University of Dayton. Their basketball team has worked hard and played their hearts out this season and were in the Top Three in the country. UD Arena is also an annual host site for the beginning of March Madness tournaments.
This cancellation is devastating for the school and the city. Millions of dollars will not be spent here for hotels and restaurants and the team will never know how they would measure up against the best teams in the country. It’s heartbreaking.
And this will happen across the country. It will be a terrible ripple effect of lost wages and loss of income for key events. We have no idea what lies ahead.
In spite of all of this loss, it’s important to remember that it’s more important to save lives.
A Ghost to Most
Consecutive opinion pieces at WaPo:
Trump’s address on coronavirus should reassure Americans
By Henry Olsen
There are reasons to be optimistic regarding the coronavirus
By McArglebargle
Trump has a good chance against Biden
By Fugh Fuckwit
They always double down.
Brachiator
@moops:
All the traditional thinking about bear markets, bull markets and recession becomes largely irrelevant in the face of a pandemic.
Yep. And other industries may be affected as well. But you cannot even think about stimulating the economy when reaction to the virus requires shutting down businesses and restricting the ability of people to move in public spaces.
Very possible.
Brachiator
A stroll through history. Via Wiki.
The Antonine Plague of 165 to 180 AD hit Rome in two major waves. The first outbreak may have claimed the life of the emperor Lucius Verus, co-regent with Marcus Aurelius.
The disease broke out again nine years later, according to the Roman historian Dio Cassius (155–235), causing up to 2,000 deaths a day in Rome, one quarter of those who were affected, giving the disease a mortality rate of about 25%. The total deaths have been estimated at five million, and the disease killed as much as one-third of the population in some areas and devastated the Roman army.
Some historians think that Rome never truly recovered from this plague.
Spinoza Is My Co-Pilot
President Dipshit and Republican leadership (McConnell, whoever else) are absolutely betting that this crisis will also “just work itself out”. It’s Trump’s “One day it’s like a miracle, it will disappear” from a couple weeks back. The election is about 8 months away, and they’re counting on “things” (the pandemic itself, as well as the resulting economic downturn we’ve fallen into) looking better by then compared to now without them needing to do anything other than bullshit their way through it (and Trump’s speech last night was certainly just more bullshit). Because really, what else are they going to do that’ll have a positive effect? (McConnell knows this, Trump knows nothing)
The MAGAts I know are all in on “This is overblown, why the flu…” and Trump’s “miracle” hand-waving. The fascists at the top are hoping that their rabid base in the battleground states (whichever states end up truly in contention for both the Electoral College and for Senate seats) remains solidly enough with them that they still come out on top in November, even if “things” overall are only marginally better then than they are now (a distinct possibility, of course, but who knows?).
MattF
@A Ghost to Most: Hewitt is simply a conduit for the Trump campaign to get lies published in the WaPo opinion section. In return, Hewitt gets to plug a sensitive part of his body into the White House electrical system and experience the Trumpian Zeitgeist.
SurlyDuff
@PsiFighter37: the Dow is almost 0% if you account for inflation.
Sebastian
@Elizabelle:
The Trumpian cesspool that’s called The Villages? Will take care of itself:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/03/12/older-americans-coronavirus/
WereBear
@MattF: that does not sound appealing
MattF
@WereBear: Fetishes rarely do.
Sam
The disaster of the Trump response is being mitigated in a way that was not even possible a generation ago. Scientists, health care workers, and folks in government that care are self-organizing a response. The scientific communication, via twitter and preprints, is incredible. The whole world is learning together. The leadership role that we give to government is being usurped by a possibly more effective social network. The sole remaining critical role for government is allocation of money. Government regulation has been an impediment. Government communication is a disaster. The only stinging light, in all of this, is that the people on the front lines know what to do and are doing it. We should applaud and tell the gov to shovel out money and otherwise get out of the way.
The Thin Black Duke
So, this is what “interesting times” feels like.
evodevo
@Frankensteinbeck: Yep. We got rid of the right wing doorstop that we did have (he is STILL coming up with stuff like this https://www.kentucky.com/news/politics-government/article241127741.html lol ) and most of us are really glad we did…
tokyokie
@Cheryl Rofer:
As a former journalist I can say that most reporters don’t know diddly about science, because if they did, they’d be doing something else.
Ken
I gotta wonder how Lindsay Graham got tested, without having a 102 fever, debilitating cough, and recent contact with someone from China. That seems to be the standard for ordinary people.
Ken
“And that was how our ancestors discovered that the virus sterilized everyone who got it…”
bemused
@Ken:
Yeah, I wonder too and the other legislators that are self isolating themselves.
Ohio Mom
Zhena, if you are still here, this is in the category of advice I only give once (that’s my rule for advice no one asked for). You seem to be careening from one overwhelming anxiety to the next. It’s possible to be concerned about things without it interfering with one’s ability to function.
Now I wouldn’t list participating in Balloon Juice threads as necessary, so leave if you must, but if your anxiety is getting in the way of other more essential parts of your life, please talk to a doctor about medication. There’s no shame in taking something (I take an antidepressant myself), and you deserve to feel better.
Amir Khalid
@Baud:
If they’re porn sites they’re probably ipso facto not reputable. I myself am familiar only with the usual ones.
Amir Khalid
@trollhattan:
For soldiers’ children, methinks.
Misterpuff
@Amir Khalid: Very much so. Let us remember the military is one of the socialist organizations in America: free healthcare, free housing on base (or subsidized civilian housing), schools, social services, social clubs, post exchanges, commissaries and recreational centers (golf courses, movie theatres, bowling alleys, gymnasiums, swimming pools, hobby centers, even fishing holes) provided by the military as well as generous retirement benefits. That is what I grew up in as a military brat.
Noname
@zhena gogolia: Please do whatever you need to, you are such a good person and deserve to feel better. I hope you check in from time to time to give us updates on the new kitties.