Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I know this must be bad for Joe Biden, I just don’t know how.

If you are still in the GOP, you are an extremist.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

The willow is too close to the house.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

You cannot shame the shameless.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

No one could have predicted…

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

You are here: Home / Healthcare / COVID-19 Coronavirus / Thursday Morning Open Thread: Chaos Under Heaven

Thursday Morning Open Thread: Chaos Under Heaven

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Trump's Dow Lifeboat Fails - Jack Ohman

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126Comments

  1. 1.

    Chetan Murthy

    https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/487110-tests-indicate-coronavirus-can-survive-in-the-air

    Federally funded tests conducted by scientists from several major institutions indicated that the novel form of coronavirus behind a worldwide outbreak can survive in the air for several hours.

    A study awaiting peer review from scientists at Princeton University, the University of California-Los Angeles and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) posted online Wednesday indicated that the COVID-19 virus could remain viable in the air “up to 3 hours post aerosolization,” while remaining alive on plastic and other surfaces for up to three days.

  2. 2.

    Joey Maloney

    Is it callous of me to note that many of those states which do not allow vote-by-mail on demand are part of the GOP electoral firewall?

  4. 4.

    Comrade Scrutinizer

    I’ve had Cavafy’s The God Abandons Antony playing in my head from time to time since 2016. It’s back:

    When suddenly, at midnight, you hear
    an invisible procession going by
    with exquisite music, voices,
    don’t mourn your luck that’s failing now,
    work gone wrong, your plans
    all proving deceptive—don’t mourn them uselessly.
    As one long prepared, and graced with courage,
    say goodbye to her, the Alexandria that is leaving.
    Above all, don’t fool yourself, don’t say
    it was a dream, your ears deceived you:
    don’t degrade yourself with empty hopes like these.
    As one long prepared, and graced with courage,
    as is right for you who proved worthy of this kind of city,
    go firmly to the window
    and listen with deep emotion, but not
    with the whining, the pleas of a coward;
    listen—your final delectation—to the voices,
    to the exquisite music of that strange procession,
    and say goodbye to her, to the Alexandria you are losing.

  10. 10.

    Chetan Murthy

    @JPL: My mom is 75; if I’m infected, I gotta stay away from her.  So it’s good to know what that means.  Also if I”m not infected, it puts a radius on how close I’ll get to others.  Gotta do my part, yo.

  12. 12.

    Comrade Scrutinizer

    @Joey Maloney: It’s not even callous to wish that the MAGAts get hit harder by this disease than others, although I’m apparently supposed to add that I “wouldn’t wish bad things on anyone.” That would be a lie, though.

  13. 13.

    Shalimar

    Stock futures are down another 4.5%.  Trump does not appear to have soothed anyone.

  14. 14.

    Chetan Murthy

    @Comrade Scrutinizer:

    I’m apparently supposed to add that I “wouldn’t wish bad things on anyone.” That would be a lie, though.

    S’ok, yo.  I hear it’s perfectly OK to lie in the service of your faith: an evangelical assured of that, ha!  Also, “hate the sin, love the sinner”, riiiiiight?

  15. 15.

    Comrade Scrutinizer

    @Baud: Just gonna make myself a body suit from construction trash bags once I find them in barrel cover size.

  16. 16.

    Baud

    Biden is supposed to speak today about this. It’ll be interesting to see the comparison and the reaction to it.

  17. 17.

    OzarkHillbilly

    I have no faith in this president, who has endangered so many of us, but boy do I believe in my fellow Americans. We will dig deep and take care of one another. We will answer the call.

    Let me guess, you live in a blue state and have never met a Republican, have you Connie?

  19. 19.

    Comrade Scrutinizer

    @Chetan Murthy:

     

    Also, “hate the sin, love the sinner”, riiiiiight?

    Yep. The auto de fe was for their own good after all. Also, tasty barbecue for those with a taste for long pork.

  23. 23.

    Chetan Murthy

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Boy, that is either really naive, or… really naive.

    I’m guessing she only half-believes it.  But OTOH, what good is it to be realistic?  Part of what being a leader is about (and she is a leader — well-known journalist as well as Brown’s wife) is setting the right example for others.

  24. 24.

    Honus

    I don’t know about that map. I’ve been registered to vote in Virginia for forty years.  Unless it changed in the last couple of years, I’ve needed an excuse to vote absentee every time I’ve done it.

  28. 28.

    TS (the original)

    @Joey Maloney:

    This map shows which states use VBM & which ones require an excuse to vote absentee

    From the map it is painfully obvious which states use voter suppression to ensure their GOP majority

  29. 29.

    germy

    I’m so frustrated right now … that we can’t trust the media to tell us the truth without inflaming it to hurt Trump … that Trump has misled so many times we no longer know when to trust his word … that even I as a journalist am not sure where to turn for real info on COVID.— Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) March 12, 2020

    The CDC website is full of information. So are articles from hundreds of reporters working exhausting days covering the crisis. They work at outlets all over the world. Their work is easy to find. Typically, and consistently, your contribution is to obfuscate & undermine trust. https://t.co/dNBNj5AZMi— Ben Mankiewicz (@BenMank77) March 12, 2020

  31. 31.

    germy

    Trump's claim tonight that health insurers "have agreed to waive all copayments for coronavirus treatments" seems to be news to them.

    “For testing. Not for treatment.” a spokesperson for the major insurance lobby AHIP says.

    — Sarah Owermohle (@owermohle) March 12, 2020

  34. 34.

    debbie

    @Joey Maloney:

    Ohio’s Governor is GOP, but he’s been making all kinds of plans for voting, like increasing early voting hours, mail-in, absentee, etc.

  39. 39.

    Anya

    @germy: remember when the ‘liberal media’ told us Megyn Kelly is a serious person who has integrity? I am just glad she’s admitting that Trump’s lies have detrimental effects on the nation. I seem to recall her arguing, just recently, that Trump’s lies are harmless boasting while Obama’s “If you like your plan you can keep it” was a more consequential and serious lie. Fuck that asshole.

  41. 41.

    MJS

    @Baud:  “Mr. Sanders, as has been widely reported, Mr. Biden has dementia. How do you think that will impact the race going forward?”

    “I’m glad you asked that question.”…

  43. 43.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @debbie: No, from this:

    I believe in my fellow Americans

    47% of whom voted for trump and 42% or more of whom have every intention of voting for him again.

  44. 44.

    Shalimar

    @Baud:  I hope they treat Bernie like a candidate. As toxic as Bernie and his followers are, I agree with him on most actual issues. I want to see how Biden responds to all of these supposed gotchas Bernie is going to toss at him. I’m not worried about him doing badly. Biden has been debating for 5 decades. He will be fine. I just genuinely want to know where we will be as a party after the convention.

  46. 46.

    Baud

    @MJS:

    I’ll violate campaign contribution limits to donate to Biden if he has another “you’re full of shit” moment with Bernie.

  47. 47.

    Anya

    @Baud: They’ll probably just focus on Biden but even if they manage to challenge Bernie and ask for specifics, no matter the question, Bernie will launch into his baseline rhetoric so they won’t be able to lay a glove on him. It drives me nuts but it’s kinda effective.

  49. 49.

    Baud

    @Shalimar:

    I just genuinely want to know where we will be as a party after the convention

    This debate will not give you that information.

  53. 53.

    Shalimar

    @Baud: No.  But maybe we will get hints of how responsive to different groups within the party Biden will be.

  54. 54.

    Anya

    @Baud: Exactly. When the annoying Chris Matthews pushed back and grilled him, we got the “take a look out the window” answer

    “Hey, Mitch, take a look out the window. There’s a million young people out there who don’t want to be in debt for half their life for the crime of going to college. If you want to antagonize those million people and lose your job, Mitch, if you don’t want to lose your job, you better start listening to what we have to say.” That’s the point. That’s how change takes place.

  55. 55.

    debbie

    @Baud:

    I think if Biden can keep his shit together, he can show Bernie to be the shouty, inflexible old man he really is. I think that would be a service to the country.

  56. 56.

    Chetan Murthy

    @Anya: Jesus what a putz.  Don’t matter how many millions you got, Bernie, if they don’t fuckin’ VOTE.

  60. 60.

    WereBear

    @Comrade Scrutinizer:It’s not even callous to wish that the MAGAts get hit harder by this disease than others

     
    It’s not callous to observe that Trump fans make a fetish of almost licking each other to show their contempt for this Democratic hoax. That their local governments will be the last to attempt any kind of measures to control it.

    That their labor pool is the most vulnerable to coming to work while they are sick.

    That their healthcare sucks the most.

    It’s simply an observation.

  61. 61.

    johnnybuck

    I just hope it’s the last debate of the primary. There is nothing left to be said that we haven’t heard already. The only suspense left is whether or not Bernie goes scorched earth on Biden and I don’t even think that would make that much difference. This is the last hurrah of the Sanders campaign before the merciless beatings to come.

  62. 62.

    SFAW

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Boy, that is either really naive, or… really naive.

    Well, she’s not, by any stretch. But would you have been OK with her tweet if she had included a “Blech” in it?

  63. 63.

    Baud

    @johnnybuck: It’s almost certainly the last debate. The March 17 primaries will be brutal to Bernie.  No point engaging with him if he hasn’t dropped out after that.

  64. 64.

    Barry

    @Anya: “I wish the Dem debate doesn’t turn into metaphorical murder/suicide but I am not holding my breath.”

     

    At this point Biden has it in the bag.  He knows it, Bernie knows it.  He can play it safe and let Bernie sputter.

  65. 65.

    Comrade Scrutinizer

    @Anya: Rose Twitter live in a very small, very loud bubble.  I can appreciate some of their positions, but their understanding of politics is limited to “be loud and call people names”. Warren had similar positions, but was hella better at process.  The problem is that people aren’t interested in progressive programs right now, they just want the Evil Bastards out of power.  Screaming at clouds just won’t cut it.

  66. 66.

    MJS

    @johnnybuck: In my fantasy world, Bernie opens the debate by taking a minute to lay out his vision for this country, then another minute to endorse Biden. Then Biden and he have 2 hours to make every question an opportunity to bash Trump. The “contest” is to see who can pummel Trump the most.

    Again, in my fantasy world.

  67. 67.

    SFAW

    @johnnybuck:

    I just hope it’s the last debate of the primary.

    Screw that. I want the Democrat Establishment to stop ignoring Tulsi, and give her a seat at the table (or whatever). And then, because of her resounding victory in American Samoa, the forces she has mobilized will demand to be heard at the Democrat Convention, and so forth.

    Is it too late for Doctor Jill Iosifovna Stein to be part of the debate? Because she brings a lot.

  68. 68.

    SFAW

    @MJS:

    Again, in my fantasy world.

    Any extra room in that world? ‘Cause I’d like to live there, at least for a little bit.

  71. 71.

    SFAW

    @Barry:

    At this point Biden has it in the bag.

    So you’re saying the whole Democrat primary was a “bag job” by the Democrat Party Establishment? Just as I thought.

  72. 72.

    Chyron HR

    @SFAW:

    Bernie had no chance against the Democratic Establishment colluding to rig the vote against him by voting against him.

  73. 73.

    SFAW

    @Chyron HR:

    Bernie had no chance against the Democratic Establishment colluding to rig the vote against him by voting against him.

    No collusion! NO COLLUSION!!

  74. 74.

    johnnybuck

    I wonder if the two campaigns are talking to each other about the inevitable and what comes next? That is the fantasy world I live in.

  75. 75.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    Steep reporting from Dulles (IAD), where I got to my gate a little while ago for departure at 9:00. The airport seems “normal,” and security check was fast. But I fly so infrequently that I’m not a good judge.

    Lots of TSA people wearing gloves, but not masks. Some fliers wearing (surgical type) masks, but not as many as I expected. Again, what’s “normal”?

    I’m not seeing anyone taking extraordinary precautions or doing anything weird. There was one couple who were slathering sanitizer on their hands after the TSA check. I noticed them mainly because they were slathering so much I heard it.

  76. 76.

    Chetan Murthy

    @johnnybuck:

    That is the fantasy world I live in.

    In *my* fantasy world, Bernie acts like a reliable and trustworthy partner to the Democratic Party and Caucus.  Also, I have a pony.

  77. 77.

    danielx

    @Baud:

    I knew there was a silver lining in this whole deal somewhere. Also too, Netflix and food delivery companies look like safe investments at the moment.

  83. 83.

    OzarkHillbilly

    FTFNYT, meanwhile, from a real world leader:

    Chancellor Angela Merkel is on her way out and her power is waning, but in her typically low-key, no-nonsense manner, the German leader on Wednesday laid out some cold, hard facts on the coronavirus in a way that few other leaders have.

    Two in three Germans may become infected, Ms. Merkel said at a news conference that reverberated far beyond her country. There is no immunity now against the virus and no vaccine yet. It spreads exponentially, and the world now faces a pandemic.

    The most important thing, the chancellor said, is to slow down the spread of the coronavirus to win time for people to develop immunity, and to prevent the health care system from becoming overwhelmed.

    “We have to understand that many people will be infected,” Ms. Merkel said. “The consensus among experts is that 60 to 70 percent of the population will be infected as long as this remains the situation.”

    Ms. Merkel’s estimates were probably a worst-case scenario, though not wildly out of line with those of experts outside Germany.
    ………………..
    In recent weeks, Mr. Trump has staged photo-ops with scientists at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but with this crisis, as with others, he has seemed to pride himself on following his own advice. “I like this stuff, I really get it,” Mr. Trump said at the C.D.C. “People are surprised that I understand it.”

    Ms. Merkel, for her part, spent time studying science before becoming a politician: She is a trained physicist.

    On Wednesday, when she addressed her fellow Germans, flanked by the health minister and the head of the public health institute, she took pains to say that the information she was sharing had come from the experts. And that information, she said, informed the public health decisions being made by the authorities.
    …………………………..
    At the news conference on Wednesday, Ms. Merkel did not make big promises. Her announcement, sober in tone, was more a call to arms. The chancellor urged Germans to observe restrictions and stand in solidarity with one another, for the common good. Soccer games will play to empty stadiums. Big events will be canceled. If need be, Germany will even suspend its cherished balanced budget and borrow more.

    “We must take all necessary measures,” Ms. Merkel. “That is true for the government and everyone in a position of political responsibility. But it is also true for all citizens, the 83 million people who live in our country. It is about protecting older people, those with previous illnesses and vulnerable groups.”

    “This is putting our solidarity, our common sense and our openheartedness for one another to the test,” she said. “I hope that we will pass it.”

  84. 84.

    Another Scott

    @Honus: One of the many, many new laws just passed in Virginia was no-excuses absentee voting.  I haven’t seen the details, but Virginia is in the modern group now.

    Thankfully.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  86. 86.

    NotMax

    @Baud

    Zebra print, tiger print, leopard print, even cowhide print but NO jackal print.

    I haz a disappoint.

    :)

  87. 87.

    Another Scott

    @Baud: I assume anything over the limit will be transferred to the DNC or other appropriate Democratic organization.  That’s the way HRC set up her “joint fundraising committee”.  It would be criminal for Uncle Joe not to have something like that up and running, yesterday.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  90. 90.

    danielx

    Note:

    Last evening daughter unit and spousal unit were discussing attendance at Saturday bowling league and ‘banquet’ to follow, which I thought was not a good idea.

    This morning I told spousal unit (only) not just no, but oh hell no. You aren’t going and daughter unit can bitch all she wants.

  91. 91.

    Ken

    @OzarkHillbilly: Ms. Merkel, for her part, spent time studying science before becoming a politician: She is a trained physicist.

    I suppose studying and training are OK, if you’re not able to pick it up by osmosis from your uncle at MIT.

  92. 92.

    Another Scott

    @Steeplejack (phone): I think public TSA people have almost always worn blue nitrile gloves.  So that’s normal.  I’ve almost never seen people in the US wearing masks – that’s part of what made my trip to Nara, Japan so memorable last May (maybe 1% wearing masks in public?).

    Safe travels.

    Wash your hands, keep your distance, and don’t touch your face!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  95. 95.

    Another Scott

    @Steeplejack (phone): Not any more.

    WHSV:

    RICHMOND, Va. (CNS/WHSV) — UPDATE (Feb. 24):

    You will soon be able to cast an absentee ballot in Virginia elections without needing a pre-approved excuse.

    HB 1, which, according to its bill summary, “permits any registered voter to vote by absentee ballot in any election in which he is qualified to vote,” passed the Virginia Senate on a 25-15 vote Monday.

    It previously passed the House of Delegates on a 65-35 vote in late January.

    With approval from both chambers of the General Assembly, the bill now heads to Governor Ralph Northam’s desk. The governor has already pledged to sign the bill as part of a set of endorsements for improved election access he issued at the start of this legislative session.

    The current standard in Virginia requires anyone wishing to vote absentee to provide the commonwealth with a reason from an approved list. Without that, you are unable to cast an absentee ballot.

    HB 1 would remove that list of statutory reasons and remove any references to them from other parts of Virginia law.

    “Restrictive voting provisions almost always disproportionately affects people of color and low-income individuals because those are the groups that move more frequently, work multiple jobs and have less spare time,” said Jenny Glass, director of advocacy for the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia.

    It’s one of many bills Virginia Democrats hope to pass in this session that would reform the election process, including repealing the state’s requirement for photo ID to vote, which also passed the Senate on Monday as well. You can find a breakdown of many of those proposed measures below.

    […]

    Elections have consequences! :-)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  96. 96.

    Anya

    @MJS: My fantasy world is simpler. What I want from  Bernie is that he refrain from saying anything related to eluding that democratic establishment colluded to cheat him out of a win and that he doesn’t come out and bloody Biden. What I want from Biden is even simpler, just show you can defeat Trump and turn every question into contrast with Trump. He should also simply apologize to the Iraq war vote.

  97. 97.

    Baud

    @Anya: No, once you start apologizing for one thing, they will just bring up the next thing you have to apologize for.

  99. 99.

    Mike S (Now with a Democratic Congressperson!)

    @Jeffery: My wife and I did the same thing two days ago. Now that PA has no excuse vote by mail (why do they even bother asking the questions on the form about travel or illness?)

    I agree with you that even though our polling place is only a mile from our house at a semi-rural fire station with lots of parking and having never had to wait for more than 10 minutes or so to vote. It’s likely we may never go vote in person again either.

  101. 101.

    burnspbesq

    Futures trading suggests that the Dow will be down 1,100 points at the open.

    If you’re short the market, Trumps’s speech had the desired effect. Otherwise, not so much.

  103. 103.

    burnspbesq

    Off I go to the oncologist to get the results of my latest follow-up scan. Four years out, I’d like to finally hear the “R” word officially. But I’ll settle for “no need to come back in six months.”

  105. 105.

    mrmoshpotato

    @johnnybuck:

    This is the last hurrah of the Sanders campaign before the merciless beatings to come. 

    This brings joy to my heart.  (I’m well on record in these parts about my hate of St. Bernie and his pie-in-the-sky bullshit.) Let’s beat the hell out of him with the Sunshine State and then run the fucking table.

  108. 108.

    James E Powell

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Let me guess, you live in a blue state and have never met a Republican, have you Connie?

    She knows the score. She’s just trying to promote the old can-do optimistic attitude. I mean, she’s wrong, of course. But I get why she says things like that.

  115. 115.

    burnspbesq

    CT scan results were appallingly normal. Labs in six months, scan in a year. I’ll take that eight days a week.

    Thanks to everyone in the cheering section.

  120. 120.

    J R in WV

    @Honus:

    Unless it changed in the last couple of years, I’ve needed an excuse to vote absentee every time I’ve done it.

    So hey, do you think “I don’t want to infect the poll workers by being too close to them!” would work out as an excuse??

  124. 124.

    J R in WV

    @burnspbesq:

    Wow, some really good news for a pretty spring day.

    Congratulations! And many happy returns from WV!!

    As soon as I finish this pastrami on seeded sourdough sammich, I’m going to make another provisions run. a hundred pounds of cat food, 200 pounds of dog food, all the people food I can stuff into the suv. For the first time I wish I had gone for the bigger suv for more cargo space.

    Wish me luck. Going to attempt to purchase some prescriptions too, in spite of insurance rules.

  126. 126.

    tam1MI

    @mrmoshpotato: It really wasn’t necessary for me to vote for Biden in Michigan on Tuesday, I just did it to run up the score against Sanders.

    As I put my ballot in the scanner I said under my breath, “This one’s for you, Hillary.”

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