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You are here: Home / Healthcare / COVID-19 Coronavirus / Friday Morning Open Thread: ALIF (At Least It’s Friday)

Friday Morning Open Thread: ALIF (At Least It’s Friday)

by Anne Laurie|  May 8, 20206:31 am| 197 Comments

This post is in: COVID-19 Coronavirus, Open Threads, Republican Venality, World's Best Healthcare (If You Can Afford It), MONSTERS

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The White House shelved a step-by-step guide prepared by the CDC to help states safely reopen, an administration official said https://t.co/sHPWtuQPs3 pic.twitter.com/ppSXMsRuOr

— Reuters (@Reuters) May 8, 2020

I try to be upbeat, first thing in the morning, but let’s be honest: This is all we’ll be talking about, regardless.

Why CDC guidance won’t be released:
1. Guidelines say states should not reopen while their Covid cases are increasing.
2. Trump admin wants states to reopen regardless.
3. White House does not want to be accountable, and guidelines would make them so. https://t.co/SIW92i6Huu

— David Leavitt (@David_Leavitt) May 7, 2020

NY Times released the draft here: https://t.co/GyOvCZXsrC

It provides guidance for states with lower rates of infection in every situation. Why would the admin reject this draft?

— Carol DeVoe (@caroldevoe) May 8, 2020

He’s a monster, surrounded by cronies and toadies, and every single Republic offical down to the drain-commissioner level is complicit in this horrorshow.

… The reopening guidance was described by one of the federal officials as a touchstone document that was to be used as a blueprint for other groups inside the CDC who are creating the same type of instructional materials for other facilities.

The guidance contained detailed advice for making site-specific decisions related to reopening schools, restaurants, summer camps, churches, day care centers and other institutions. It had been widely shared within the CDC and included detailed “decision trees,” flow charts to be used by local officials to think through different scenarios. One page of the document can be found on the CDC website via search engines, but it did not appear to be linked to any other CDC pages…

Still, behind the scenes, CDC scientists like those who produced the guidance for “Opening Up America Again″ are working to get information to local governments. The agency still employs hundreds of the world’s most respected epidemiologists and doctors, who in times of crisis are looked to for their expertise, said former CDC director Tom Frieden. People have clicked on the CDC’s coronavirus website more than 1.2 billion times.

States that directly reach out to the CDC can tap guidance that’s been prepared but that the White House has not released.

“I don’t think that any state feels that the CDC is deficient. It’s just the process of getting stuff out,” Plescia said.

Also in the news this morning, because it’s not just a horrorshow, it’s also a clownshow:

After learning one of his valets was infected, Trump became "lava level mad" at his staff and said he doesn't feel they're doing all they can to protect him.

The unknowingly infected valet was close to Trump throughout the day on a consistent basis. https://t.co/BgASWrpk1G

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) May 7, 2020

I’ll believe that Trump is growing into the presidency when his staff stops talking about him like a toddler. https://t.co/KoZAK1n4So

[This is the 1378th tweet in the #ToddlerinChief thread.] pic.twitter.com/rQD3zewWOM

— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) May 8, 2020

Maybe Trump just hasn’t been offered the right mask yet. pic.twitter.com/QRyrqYuiWC

— Schooley (@Rschooley) May 7, 2020


(The original of that mask was worn by Immortan Joe, leader of the death cult in Mad Max: Fury Road.)

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Reader Interactions

197Comments

  1. 1.

    Betty Cracker

    May 8, 2020 at 6:36 am

    The fact that Trump scoffs at the notion that the country needs widespread testing to safely return to work while insisting on extra-stringent testing for his own workplace kinda says it all.

  2. 2.

    Baud

    May 8, 2020 at 6:47 am

    @Betty Cracker: 

    Generals don’t send themselves into battle.

  3. 3.

    cmorenc

    May 8, 2020 at 6:50 am

    @Betty Cracker: 

    The fact that Trump scoffs at the notion that the country needs widespread testing to safely return to work while insisting on extra-stringent testing for his own workplace kinda says it all.

    Not quite, until you add this:

    …and then got lava-hot mad when his valet in close contact with him all day turned out to test positive.

    Now, those two things together say it all about the toddler-in-chief.

  4. 4.

    Ryan

    May 8, 2020 at 6:51 am

    Protect him from what? It’s just the flu! I’m sure once the polar vortex passes and the weather warms up, it’ll just disappear like magic. Why doesn’t he take some hydroxychloroquine and spend a few more hours in his tanning bed? I know one thing, Trump better sack up and get back to work!  Lazy loafer.

  5. 5.

    Ryan

    May 8, 2020 at 6:53 am

    @Betty Cracker: It helps when you have the entire Federal stockpile at your disposal and no one to share it with.

  6. 6.

    rikyrah

    May 8, 2020 at 6:53 am

    Good Morning, Everyone ???

  7. 7.

    OzarkHillbilly

    May 8, 2020 at 6:54 am

    Maybe Trump just hasn’t been offered the right mask yet. I prefer this one.

    “I’m America’s reckoning, here to end the borrowed time you’ve all been living on.”

  8. 8.

    rikyrah

    May 8, 2020 at 6:54 am

    Murdering Joke???

     

    https://youtu.be/_fABw7YtE_Y

  9. 9.

    SFAW

    May 8, 2020 at 6:56 am

    He’s a monster, surrounded by cronies and toadies, and every single Republic official down to the drain-commissioner level is complicit in this horrorshow.

    Repeat after me: “The Murderer-in-Chief promulgates, condones, and otherwise aids-and-abets actions and policies designed to lead to the deaths of many thousands of persons, especially those he thinks don’t love Dear Leader enough.”
    I’ve been referring to him that way for at least a month, and I have yet to see evidence that it’s a misnomer.
    I hope America (not ‘Murica) survives long enough for there to be a Truth and Retribution Commission.

  10. 10.

    rikyrah

    May 8, 2020 at 6:57 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    Says it all, indeed ??

  11. 11.

    sanjeevs

    May 8, 2020 at 6:57 am

    Don’t know if this is true, but some people on Twitter claiming Tara Reade was charged with check fraud on August 2 1993.

    She left Biden’s employment on August 6 1993

     

    https://mobile.twitter.com/KHiveQueenB/status/1258559927536119808?s=20

  12. 12.

    Brachiator

    May 8, 2020 at 6:58 am

    After learning one of his valets was infected, Trump became “lava level mad” at his staff and said he doesn’t feel they’re doing all they can to protect him.

    Pretty much says it all. Zero concern for America. Maximum concern for himself.

  13. 13.

    Baud

    May 8, 2020 at 6:58 am

    @rikyrah: Good morning.

  14. 14.

    SFAW

    May 8, 2020 at 6:58 am

    @Baud:

    Generals don’t send themselves into battle.

    I think Arthur Wellesley did. Not that he was any good at generaling, of course

    ETA: Although some people have a beef with his tactics

  15. 15.

    Ryan

    May 8, 2020 at 6:58 am

    Trump also invoked the DPA to beef up meat production but refuses to do so for testing capacity.  So, another clue.

  16. 16.

    cmorenc

    May 8, 2020 at 7:01 am

    How is Dr. Birx staying on-board with team Trump and still thinking she can retain any integrity or respect?  I get that a few among Trump’s Administration are staying on to try to keep some “adult in the room” influence to modulate his actions, but it’s an impossibly conflicted role and they unavoidably wind up at best as enablers by serving as window-dressing mannequins (or woman-quins) of supposedly mature, responsible influences on Trump.  It’s delusional to think they can control the monster or his toddler-level impulses.

  17. 17.

    West of the Rockies

    May 8, 2020 at 7:02 am

    Maybe The Toad should down some bleach belly shots with Stephen Miller and Kushner on Pence’s doughy white gut!  Mother can chaperone.

    I would LOVE IT if Trump got it, suffered, and croaked.  Poetic justice.

  18. 18.

    SFAW

    May 8, 2020 at 7:03 am

    @cmorenc:

    How is Dr. Birx staying on-board with team Trump and still thinking she can retain any integrity or respect?

    She still has any to retain?

  19. 19.

    Brachiator

    May 8, 2020 at 7:04 am

    @Ryan: 

    It helps when you have the entire Federal stockpile at your disposal and no one to share it with.

    Trump will make material available to the states that opened up prematurely to satisfy him, especially those which no longer track the course of the disease.

    It will all be done quietly, to disguise the impact of any subsequent outbreak.

  20. 20.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    May 8, 2020 at 7:04 am

    @Baud: In fairness the Trump family has a long tradition of avoiding military service.

  21. 21.

    SFAW

    May 8, 2020 at 7:04 am

    @Ryan:

    Trump also invoked the DPA to beef up meat production

    Well done. [Which is also the way the Murderer-in-Chief likes his steaks.]

  22. 22.

    germy

    May 8, 2020 at 7:11 am

    What do Trump’s six valets do?  When I think of a valet, I think of a dapper gentleman standing behind his employer, brushing his shoulders with a small whisk broom.

    Does he need help with his four in hand?  I always assumed Trump’s ties were clip-ons.

  23. 23.

    SFAW

    May 8, 2020 at 7:16 am

    @germy:

    What do Trump’s six valets do?

    Get him cheeseburgers, find chicks for him to screw, get him cheeseburgers, give him verbal tongue-baths (e.g., “My Leader, nothing Barack Obama EVER did was as great as [X] that you did”), get him fries for his cheeseburgers, replace the lifts in his shoes, get him cheeseburgers, adjust the scales in the WH so that he “weighs” 239 pounds.

    And so forth.

  24. 24.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    May 8, 2020 at 7:16 am

    @germy: I found video of Trump’s valet.

  25. 25.

    Baud

    May 8, 2020 at 7:18 am

    @SFAW:

    Wait, then what do his cabinet secretaries do?

  26. 26.

    SFAW

    May 8, 2020 at 7:19 am

    @germy:

    I always assumed Trump’s ties were clip-ons.

    Clip-on-manufacturers wouldn’t make ties that extend down to where his (theoretical) pee-pee would be. [Unless of course they make some designed for persons six-foot-ten tall.]

  27. 27.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    May 8, 2020 at 7:20 am

    @Baud: Literal tongue-baths.

  28. 28.

    germy

    May 8, 2020 at 7:21 am

    Looking forward to Megyn Kelly's 25-part series of interviews with all of Donald J Trump's accusers. https://t.co/BXh8n7yVMi

    — alex. (@AlexEssentially) May 7, 2020

  29. 29.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    May 8, 2020 at 7:21 am

    @rikyrah:

    Good morning. ?

  30. 30.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    May 8, 2020 at 7:21 am

    @SFAW: Trump has them special ordered from Jyna, Ivanka has connections.

  31. 31.

    SFAW

    May 8, 2020 at 7:22 am

    @Baud:

    Wait, then what do his cabinet secretaries do?

    The verbal tongue-baths. Perhaps, in some cases, the “verbal” is in addition to the  …

    Sorry, should have given a trigger warning.

    ETA: I see Bill provided the same response, but without the trigger warning.

  32. 32.

    Baud

    May 8, 2020 at 7:24 am

    @SFAW: Bill doesn’t care about your feefees.

  33. 33.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    May 8, 2020 at 7:25 am

    @Baud: Damn straight!

  34. 34.

    germy

    May 8, 2020 at 7:26 am

    The astute observer will note approximately zero percent of those urging you to return to normal activity are doing so via live broadcasts from the street inviting you to join them.

    Wonder why that is?I'm thinking it has something to do with being too gutless to walk the walk.

    — JoeMommaSan (@JoeMommaSan) May 7, 2020

  35. 35.

    OzarkHillbilly

    May 8, 2020 at 7:27 am

    @sanjeevs: Interesting, but a lot of blanks to be filled in.

  36. 36.

    germy

    May 8, 2020 at 7:30 am

    Her mission accomplished:

    At end of his interview with Texas salon owner Shelley Luther, Fox News host Sean Hannity offers to give her money for her shop.

    Recently, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick paid Luther's $7,000 fine and a GoFundMe raised over $500,000 for her before it was halted today. pic.twitter.com/Y9iyxHTQhU

    — Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) May 8, 2020

  37. 37.

    debbie

    May 8, 2020 at 7:30 am

    I really wish someone would leak that CDC guide.

    Very little birdsong this morning. With temperatures near freezing for the next few days, they may just pack it up and move south permanently.

  38. 38.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    May 8, 2020 at 7:31 am

    @germy:

    I tried to google what presidential valets did and didn’t find a good answer. Historically, they took care of the president’s wardrobe. I suppose in Trump’s case that includes his make up. I sure hope it means this guy touched everything Trump owned.

  39. 39.

    SFAW

    May 8, 2020 at 7:31 am

    @Baud:

    Bill doesn’t care about your feefees.

    After all I’ve done to for him? *sniff

  40. 40.

    germy

    May 8, 2020 at 7:32 am

    Today at the White House nurses protested for PPE, with 88 pairs of shoes to represent each nurse who has died from coronavirus.

    Yet they didn’t get the attention a few angry white men with guns get. pic.twitter.com/CjaVs37rRN

    — Joshua Potash (@JoshuaPotash) May 8, 2020

  41. 41.

    SFAW

    May 8, 2020 at 7:33 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    I sure hope it means this guy touched everything Trump owned.

    Ewww!

  42. 42.

    germy

    May 8, 2020 at 7:34 am

    Tonight, at 7 P.M. three @JetBlue aircrafts will conduct a flyover over Manhattan, Queens and the Bronx to salute frontline first responders & health care workers. The aircrafts will fly at approximately 2,000 ft. Please follow social distancing guidelines if viewing in public. pic.twitter.com/YdDdq37p4z— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) May 7, 2020

    Nothing like a corporate PR campaign that burns jet fuel at low altitudes over vulnerable communities dying from a respiratory virus that compounds on our preexisting and disproportionate exposure to air pollution to show healthcare workers we care https://t.co/xyCr3tojgn— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) May 7, 2020

  43. 43.

    SiubhanDuinne

    May 8, 2020 at 7:34 am

    @SFAW:

    Although some people have a beef with his tactics

    You made me groan. You have some crust.

  44. 44.

    debbie

    May 8, 2020 at 7:35 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    Historically, they were gentlemen’s gentlemen. What would we call them now, considering it’s Trump?

  45. 45.

    SFAW

    May 8, 2020 at 7:36 am

    @debbie:

    With temperatures near freezing for the next few days,

    They’re predicting snow here (central MA) tomorrow. The latest snowfall I can recall was around April 19, 35-or-so years ago.

    I guess snow tomorrow (if it happens) means the Murderer-in-Chief has also ended global warming (which doesn’t exist anyway).

  46. 46.

    Skepticat

    May 8, 2020 at 7:37 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: I sure hope it means this guy touched everything Trump owned.

    I read he served him meals, and I sooooo hope that’s true. Karma is long, long overdue.

  47. 47.

    OzarkHillbilly

    May 8, 2020 at 7:38 am

    @debbie: The NYT published it.

  48. 48.

    SFAW

    May 8, 2020 at 7:38 am

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    When I writed it, it seemed wittier than it probably was.

  49. 49.

    SFAW

    May 8, 2020 at 7:41 am

    @Skepticat:

    I read he served him meals, and I sooooo hope that’s true. Karma is long, long overdue.

    I think it would be especially nipper-keen if the urban legends are true, i.e., that servers sometimes spit on/in the meals of customers who are assholes.

  50. 50.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    May 8, 2020 at 7:41 am

    My most repeated mental image involving a shitload of conservative pols, functionaries, hangers-on, pundits and funders is aux lanternes.

    That is all I’ll say on that.

  51. 51.

    Baud

    May 8, 2020 at 7:45 am

    I missed this piece of good news.

    A Brunswick father and son were charged with murder and aggravated assault Thursday night in the shooting death of 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery.

  52. 52.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    May 8, 2020 at 7:46 am

    @SFAW:

    Yup – fuck reconciliation.

    I want Barr’s lard ass roughly shoved to his fate, tears running down a filthy face as his tattered suit is pelted with rotten produce as he whines about all the good he really meant.

    Maybe he mewl out some prayers to his disgusting deity. That would be fitting.

  53. 53.

    OzarkHillbilly

    May 8, 2020 at 7:46 am

    @debbie: Sorry, took me awhile to find it. Not enough coffee this morn I guess.

  54. 54.

    ThresherK

    May 8, 2020 at 7:47 am

    Tangent: Wasn’t it about this time four years ago that we got a trickle (then a flood) of thinkpieces about how voters (cite percentages-Ed.) were tired of peace and prosperity, and how that wasn’t good for the Democrats?

    “Voters” weren’t unhappy, they just wanted a change. Like the media itself, they wanted a president who was everything Obama wasn’t.

  55. 55.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    May 8, 2020 at 7:49 am

    @germy:

    Does he need help with his four in hand?  I always assumed Trump’s ties were clip-ons.

    A truer comment was never made. Can you envision the imbecilic lardass  bending over to tie his own shoes?

    Probably wears slipons.

  56. 56.

    OzarkHillbilly

    May 8, 2020 at 7:50 am

    @Baud: Yeah, basically shamed into it by the video but it is a step in the right direction.

  57. 57.

    Baud

    May 8, 2020 at 7:52 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Last I had heard, they were going to try to get white people on the grand jury to let these guys off the hook.

    The video was absolutely everything.

  58. 58.

    debbie

    May 8, 2020 at 7:54 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Found it, thanks!

  59. 59.

    OzarkHillbilly

    May 8, 2020 at 7:54 am

    @Baud: They’ll settle for one aggrieved white man on the trial jury to ensure an 11-1 hung jury.

  60. 60.

    satby

    May 8, 2020 at 7:54 am

    @Skepticat: I am going to hell, because I want the murderer, his enablers, and his rotten adult children to all get it, and for him and McConnell specifically to be sick enough to need ventilators. And then die anyway. I used to want to hold out for trials and imprisonment, but now I want them all gone so the rest of us get a fighting chance.

  61. 61.

    debbie

    May 8, 2020 at 7:55 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    They didn’t make it easy, did they?

  62. 62.

    debbie

    May 8, 2020 at 7:56 am

    @Baud:

    The video was absolutely everything.

    Yes. It took me a while to catch my breath. So much for “hauling ass.”

  63. 63.

    OzarkHillbilly

    May 8, 2020 at 7:57 am

    @debbie: And no doubt quicker than I did. And I’d already seen it once this morn. All I had to do was look at my history instead of googling it, searching their site, etc etc.

    Speaking of which, MOAR COFFEE.

  64. 64.

    Baud

    May 8, 2020 at 7:58 am

    Pelosi to lay down multitrillion-dollar marker with new coronavirus package

    Democratic senators propose $2,000 monthly payments to most Americans

    Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders and Ed Markey want to dramatically expand support during the coronavirus crisis.

  65. 65.

    Baud

    May 8, 2020 at 8:00 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Yep. No way around that.  Just like in the Jim Crow era.

  66. 66.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    May 8, 2020 at 8:02 am

    @Baud:

    My own revenue situation is grim – there is work to be done, but that falls apart when I mention the dread word “money”. The demand is there and pent up, but the resources aren’t.

  67. 67.

    Aleta

    May 8, 2020 at 8:03 am

    (Re:  the document released by NYT)   Good gravy, the expense and extra work required to follow CDC’s guidelines for childcare organizations  (1st phase, children of  ‘essential workers’)  would be impossible for those with shoestring budgets and min. wage staff.  Probably seriously understaffed right now already.

  68. 68.

    Baud

    May 8, 2020 at 8:09 am

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:

    Everything sucks.  With Trump you’ll get neither public health now a good economy nor a safety net.

  69. 69.

    JPL

    May 8, 2020 at 8:11 am

    @satby: Is Barr on that list?

  70. 70.

    OzarkHillbilly

    May 8, 2020 at 8:12 am

    @satby: I used to want to hold out for trials and imprisonment,

    And then you figured out that neither was ever going to happen.

  71. 71.

    satby

    May 8, 2020 at 8:13 am

    @JPL: added. To the ventilator one.

  72. 72.

    JPL

    May 8, 2020 at 8:14 am

    So yesterday the DOJ asked for a stay from the Supreme Ct. to stop release of grand jury information tied to the Mueller Report, also wants charges dropped against a person who pleaded guilty three times.

    In other news there’s a search on at the pentagon for anyone not pledging their loyalty to trump.

    Our democracy is in real trouble.

  73. 73.

    PenAndKey

    May 8, 2020 at 8:14 am

    @Aleta: These are all sensible guidelines, but you’re absolutely right that the resources (and, likely, staff) simply aren’t them for them. My son is old enough that if my wife had to work right now he’d be okay home alone, but if we were both working we’d be screwed since the only other option would be to “summer camp” him an hour away with my parents. The only people considered “essential workers” by our local childcare facilities are medical staff and if you weren’t already a client before COVID-19 first started making it’s way into the news good effing luck even getting them to return your calls. I’ve been trying to find care options for my newborn since about 4 months before she was born a month ago and can’t even get a return call at this point. At this pace we’ll have burned through our combined parental leave by July and still won’t have any care options lined up. I’m not looking forward to that conversation.

  74. 74.

    JPL

    May 8, 2020 at 8:19 am

    @Aleta: I’m going to encourage my son to find a nanny when they return to work.    The grans are too old for daily contact with the outside world.

  75. 75.

    PenAndKey

    May 8, 2020 at 8:20 am

    @satby: “I used to want to hold out for trials and imprisonment, but now I want them all gone so the rest of us get a fighting chance.”

    I expressed the same just the other day and when challenged on it said that, if there was a trial, I’d willingly volunteer to be the individual who served their judgement. I don’t care if it sends me to hell because I would go to bed that night knowing I’d help make the world a safer place for my children.

    Seriously, how did we get to the point where our own administration is a clear and present danger to not only the republic but also our very lives and yet it seems like it’s “just another news day”? Our society is rapidly approaching a tipping point I want no part in but won’t be surprised at all to see happen. Sometimes I wish I didn’t love studying history so much because I’ve already seen this particular tale told many, many times. It never ends well for anyone involved.

  76. 76.

    JPL

    May 8, 2020 at 8:24 am

    Since Senator Burr and Loeffler are still in Congress, that’s testimony enough that the rule of law is not for republicans.

  77. 77.

    Gin & Tonic

    May 8, 2020 at 8:26 am

    @SFAW: I’m not sure about snow, but I remember a year when there was a hard freeze during apple-blossom season (which is now) and that year’s crop came out in bad shape

    ETA: And a few minutes with the Google indicates that on May 9-10, 1977, parts of CT, MA and RI got over a foot of snow.

  78. 78.

    Skepticat

    May 8, 2020 at 8:29 am

    @satby: I had been uncomfortable seeing myself as nasty and vindictive as this maladministration’s Rethuglicans, but now I’m all in. I wish for them everything they’ve visited on everyone else.

  79. 79.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    May 8, 2020 at 8:32 am

    @ThresherK:

    I remember when W was elected after Clinton, people joked that our 8-year nightmare of peace and prosperity was over.

  80. 80.

    patrick II

    May 8, 2020 at 8:32 am

    @Ryan:

    Now we know who Kushner meant when he said “It’s our stockpile”.

  81. 81.

    zhena gogolia

    May 8, 2020 at 8:33 am

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:

    His former employee on Celebrity Apprentice has some stories about why he needs multiple valets.

  82. 82.

    Patricia Kayden

    May 8, 2020 at 8:34 am

    Americans died from covid-19 at the rate of about one every 42 seconds during the past month. That ought to keep any president awake at night.But what keeps @realDonaldTrump up is his obsession about … @realDonaldTrump, which I wrote about here. https://t.co/EHlOXW6qw9— George Conway, Noble Committee Chair (@gtconway3d) May 8, 2020

  83. 83.

    germy

    May 8, 2020 at 8:36 am

    A llama named Winter could be the key to fighting the coronavirus

    Preliminary research suggests a tiny particle in llama blood can stop the coronavirus

  84. 84.

    MattF

    May 8, 2020 at 8:36 am

    Via jwz, version of Girl With A Pearl Earring that may require a brain bleach chaser.

  85. 85.

    Jeffro

    May 8, 2020 at 8:40 am

    Do the people in the trumpov maladministration do anything BUT line their pockets, cover up for the president*, or both?  I mean they literally do nothing else.

  86. 86.

    germy

    May 8, 2020 at 8:42 am

    @Patricia Kayden:

    George Conway.

    I remember a few days ago he was being a smartass on twitter.  Someone posted an interview with one of the fox news people (Laura Ingraham or someone like her) and George replied “Eew, how can you subject yourself to that show! I couldn’t stand watching for even a minute”

    And then someone else replied to him with another clip from the same show, featuring… his wife Kellyanne

    Eeew, indeed.

  87. 87.

    SFAW

    May 8, 2020 at 8:46 am

    @Jeffro:

    I think they also have time to seek out new ways to fuck over Dems, POC, and various others that they consider inferior or not “real” Americans.

    ETA: Re: their own supporters that they’re fucking over: I don’t think they’re actively seeking to do so, but at best they’re unconcerned, and at worst they see it as a side benefit.

  88. 88.

    OzarkHillbilly

    May 8, 2020 at 8:46 am

    Sea levels could rise more than a metre by 2100, experts say

    The figures for both pathways are more pessimistic than those outlined by the UN intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC), which predicts the worst possibility is a 1.1-metre rise by 2100.

    The gap reflects advances in climate science and differences in approach. The IPCC works largely through consensus among scientific working groups, which tends to produce relatively conservative estimates.

    By contrast, the new survey – published in the journal Climate and Atmospheric Science – aggregates the views of 106 specialists, who were chosen because they have published at least six peer-reviewed papers on the subject in major academic journals. As a result, the predictions are more representative of a range of views in the field.

    The higher estimates highlight growing concern about the world’s two biggest ice sheets, in Antarctica and Greenland. Satellite data and on-the-ground measurements show these regions are melting faster than most computer models predicted. Many of the scientists said there was now greater understanding of the risks posed by marine ice-cliff instability, which can lead to the collapse of ice shelves.

    The study was led by scientists at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore with support from seven research institutions across the world, including Durham University in the UK, Tufts University in the US and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany.

  89. 89.

    germy

    May 8, 2020 at 8:46 am

    The trump 2020 mask.  

    It looks so flimsy, like it’s made out of a thin rubber beer coaster.

    It’s cheap and offers no protection. As a bonus, it makes it difficult for the wearer to breathe so they can get a preview of what it is like to die of COVID-19 after – just by way of example – they attend a campaign rally for an orange egomaniac whose health care access includes daily testing and an in-house medical facility.

    Decency forbids me from describing what the feeling of the ear flaps yanking on the wearer’s ears is supposed to imitate.

    In other words, a perfect metaphor for the GOP.

    That mask looks a repurposed mouse pad

    — Jabberwocky (@Jabberw77712220) May 8, 2020

  90. 90.

    Aziz, light!

    May 8, 2020 at 8:48 am

    Hey libtards, I’ve got a news flash for you. Trump has his short fat finger on the pulse of America. He has launched his Grand Reopening gambit because it may just get him re-elected.

    A lot of people are more stressed out by having no money than they are by the chance of catching a virus they can’t see. The ones without paychecks have bills piling up, savings gone or running out. Many can’t get by on unemployment checks or haven’t gotten one. They are humiliated by having to ask family and friends for help. 

    Trump may be able to convince them that the Dems are to blame for their plight. The longer this goes on the more effective that gambit will be. Stay at home orders are tranny not libety.

    Sure, the racists are all still racists, and are unhappy that the government is giving money to Those People. But many others are freaked out about their futures. When this is over, many workers who have lost their jobs will not get their jobs back and they know it. They will be persuaded to see this as the Democrat’s fault for shutting down the economy. The reopening pitch will be aimed at all those poorly informed “independents” in the mushy middle.

    The virus is an unknown that other people will catch, not them, because despite the mounting death toll, most people will not catch it, or die from it if they do. Then the crisis all comes down to money they don’t have. Trump can take their lack of money all the way to the bank.

    I never underestimate the stupidity of Americans.

  91. 91.

    SFAW

    May 8, 2020 at 8:51 am

    @Aziz, light!:

    Isn’t polling showing that 60-plus percent think premature re-opening is a bad idea? I mean, I agree that Red American stupidity is a bottomless pit, but they seem to be approaching the 27 percent. I hope.

  92. 92.

    OzarkHillbilly

    May 8, 2020 at 8:51 am

    @SFAW: or not “real” Americans.

    I don’t think they care one way or the other about any Americans beyond themselves. The whole “real Americans” bull shit is just a rhetorical device used to make the rubes feel superior and hence, oblivious to the fleecing.

  93. 93.

    SFAW

    May 8, 2020 at 8:57 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    I generally agree, but I think there are some true believers (e.g., Miller) doing his bidding.

    I find it amusing (so to speak) that the RWMFs whine about the “liberal elites” (should be “elitists,” but whatever) who “look down on us [RWMFs]” but never seem to make the connection that THEY are the ones looking down their noses at liberals. But it’s not as if self-awareness is “a thing” with them.

  94. 94.

    Fleeting Ex-istence

    May 8, 2020 at 8:59 am

    I had expected we would be seeing numerous congresspeople/staff infected by now, as freely as many of them have been traipsing around the country and generally scoffing at mitigation measures.  But it seems few have, and hardly anyone anyone likes.  Meadows, Cruz, Rand P., Lindsey Graham?  I can’t remember if others have isolated because of exposure.  Who else?  I had thought when some Name Brand Politicians started to get sick those big brains would start to worry, but no?

    I’m suspicious about a lot of things, but one is, how come Trump was so enormously shocked at having someone in the WH test positive.  His wall has been breached and he was so sure he was perfectly safe.

    Ms. Press Secretary, in the only sentence I stuck around to hear, said that “our mortality rates are the lowest in the world!”  What was she talking about exactly and where did she get that information?

  95. 95.

    JPL

    May 8, 2020 at 9:00 am

    @Aziz, light!: If he wins, the cause will be the twenty million the GOP is dumping into voter suppression.

  96. 96.

    Jinchi

    May 8, 2020 at 9:00 am

    After learning one of his valets was infected, Trump became “lava level mad” at his staff and said he doesn’t feel they’re doing all they can to protect him.

    This from the guy who wants the rest of the country to be “Warriors” in the fight to reopen the economy.

  97. 97.

    SFAW

    May 8, 2020 at 9:01 am

    @cmorenc:

    In other good news, TPM is reporting that “White House COVID-19 task force coordinator Deborah Birx said on Thursday night that she and the White House are editing the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) guide on reopening the economy after the Trump administration nixed it the first time.”

    As I indicated earlier: she doesn’t really have any integrity left (if she ever had it in the first place).

  98. 98.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    May 8, 2020 at 9:02 am

    @JPL:

    The Obama bros were talking yesterday about the mega-money Trump has ready to dump into the campaign.

  99. 99.

    SFAW

    May 8, 2020 at 9:02 am

    @JPL:

    If he wins, the cause will be the twenty million the GOP is dumping into voter suppression.

    Co-sign

  100. 100.

    Cheryl from Maryland

    May 8, 2020 at 9:06 am

    @germy: Yeah, when I read “valet,” I immediately thought of Jeeves and Wooster.  Then I realized Trump doesn’t have a Jeeves, and I got a sad.

  101. 101.

    satby

    May 8, 2020 at 9:10 am

    @Skepticat: They believe in “culling the herd” because they’re confident it will be other people who get culled. So I think they should be able to live out their beliefs good and hard while the rest of us take all possible precautions. There’s a war on and it’s against us.

  102. 102.

    Betty Cracker

    May 8, 2020 at 9:11 am

    @Aziz, light!: If Americans are stupid enough to fall for that transparently fraudulent strategy despite copious on-camera examples of how Trump has bungled the pandemic response in a way that wrecked the economy AND contributed to the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans, we’re doomed anyway. So, I decline to fret over that right now.

  103. 103.

    Brachiator

    May 8, 2020 at 9:12 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    The figures for both pathways are more pessimistic than those outlined by the UN intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC), which predicts the worst possibility is a 1.1-metre rise by 2100.

    Sigh. I remember the good old days when climate change was perhaps the number one threat to humanity.

  104. 104.

    Jinchi

    May 8, 2020 at 9:15 am

    @Aziz, light!: Trump has his short fat finger on the pulse of America. He has launched his Grand Reopening gambit because it may just get him re-elected.

    No he doesn’t. Trump’s approval is underwater during a national crisis when virtually every other leader in the country has seen their approval rating jump 20 points. All he had to do to make this “the moment Trump became president” was ask Fauci and the rest of the medical community what needed to be done and then, you know, tell them to go do that.

    But at every step, Trump has tried to win the moment with denial of the facts and actively subverted efforts to get the pandemic under control. We don’t have the testing we need, because he doesn’t want his numbers to go up.

    “I used to say 65,000. Now I’m saying 80 or 90, and it goes up and it goes up rapidly. But it’s still going to be, no matter how you look at it, at the very lower end of the plane if we did the shutdown,”

    He’s still too stupid to realize that if we do actually open America back up, we won’t be talking about “only 90,000” dead, we might be talking millions.

  105. 105.

    Aziz, light!

    May 8, 2020 at 9:16 am

    @Betty Cracker: Six months from now they will have forgotten what went down early in the year. Their situation in October will be the only thing on their minds.

  106. 106.

    Jinchi

    May 8, 2020 at 9:19 am

    @Aziz, light!: Nobody is going to forget this by October.

  107. 107.

    Sloane Ranger

    May 8, 2020 at 9:21 am

    @SFAW:

     

    I think Arthur Wellesley did. Not that he was any good at generaling, of course

    How dare you insult the victor of Waterloo like that! :)

  108. 108.

    rikyrah

    May 8, 2020 at 9:23 am

    Thread

    BRACE YOURSELF for the most cataclysmic #JobsDay of all of our lives. This chart has monthly job changes over the past 80 years. We lost more than 20 million jobs in April. There has never been anything like this. 1/ pic.twitter.com/eODWpeAb4X— Heidi Shierholz (@hshierholz) May 8, 2020

  109. 109.

    Sloane Ranger

    May 8, 2020 at 9:24 am

    @Jinchi: CNN reporting that he’s ordered his minions to wear masks around him as a result of his valet’s diagnosis. Presumably this is for others, not himself.

  110. 110.

    SFAW

    May 8, 2020 at 9:25 am

    @Aziz, light!: 

    Six months from now they will have forgotten what went down early in the year. Their situation in October will be the only thing on their minds.

    You might want to stop digging that hole. Even if the Dems and the MSM do NOT shout “Trump caused this!” from the rooftops, every day — which they should, but I’m too cynical to believe they will — there are enough non-RWMF people who see the situation for what it is, and that it’s not the way the Murderer-in-Chief is attempting to portray it.

  111. 111.

    Aziz, light!

    May 8, 2020 at 9:26 am

    @Jinchi: I’m talking about people who have only a passing acquaintance with facts. They comprise a significant portion of our electorate.

  112. 112.

    zhena gogolia

    May 8, 2020 at 9:26 am

    @Sloane Ranger: 
    Can you imagine any other president who would not have one word of concern for the health of the person who was serving him? And if the stories out of Celebrity Apprentice are true, being Trump’s valet is no tiptoe through the tulips.

  113. 113.

    zhena gogolia

    May 8, 2020 at 9:27 am

    @Aziz, light!:

    Everyone knows somebody who’s gotten very sick or even died, and we’re just at the beginning. That tends to get through to people.

  114. 114.

    Aziz, light!

    May 8, 2020 at 9:27 am

    I don’t think any of our current restrictions should be lifted. But no good deed goes unpunished.

  115. 115.

    SFAW

    May 8, 2020 at 9:30 am

    @zhena gogolia:

    And if the stories out of Celebrity Apprentice are true, being Trump’s valet is no tiptoe through the tulips.

    That’s the second Celeb Apprent reference I’ve seen in this thread. Not that I need any further confirmation of the Murderer-in-Chief’s total dickishness in all things, but can I/we get some more details?

  116. 116.

    zhena gogolia

    May 8, 2020 at 9:33 am

    @SFAW:

    I’m not saying it’s true or untrue, but it’s food for thought:
    https://gregolear.substack.com/p/full-disclosure-an-interview-with?fbclid=IwAR2Ko4t4AArrhm76jgem8h0KSdBjMbpKkMH_R6vZOSLaxSN2rA5z1p1XfLw

  117. 117.

    OzarkHillbilly

    May 8, 2020 at 9:34 am

    The man who stopped the war: 97-year-old recalls VE Day coded message

    “I finished it,” says Gregory Melikian, 97, “but my heroes are the guys that hit the beaches, so many of whom never came back.”

    Seventy-five years ago, in the early hours of 7 May 1945, the supreme allied commander Gen Dwight Eisenhower selected Sgt Melikian, then a 20-year-old radio operator, to send the coded message to army groups and allied capitals announcing Germany’s unconditional surrender.

    Of the three operators working in the Reims school that housed the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force, Melikian was the youngest, an enlisted Illinois University student shipped to France just the year before, and that made him first choice for the US general.

    “We were across the hall from the war room [where the German surrender was signed by the German general Alfred Jodl],” says Melikian. “There was a guy from Texas aged 36, another guy from South Carolina, 27 or 28, and yours truly. Eisenhower’s exact words were: ‘I want Melikian to send this coded message and talk about it for the rest of his life.’ It was 74 words to the world saying that tomorrow, 8 May, at 11.01pm, hostilities will cease and that we will stop shooting at each other.

  118. 118.

    Patricia Kayden

    May 8, 2020 at 9:36 am

    With almost 34 million people out of work, and 75,000 people dead because a guy was too busy golfing, rallying, and tweeting, I do NOT feel like we are better off NOW than 4 years ago.DO YOU?— BrooklynDad_Defiant! (@mmpadellan) May 7, 2020

  119. 119.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    May 8, 2020 at 9:38 am

    This is in electoral-vote.com this morning. Be still, my beating heart.

    his personal valet tested positive for COVID-19. The President continues to test negative, but isn’t it really just a matter of time? He (and VP Mike Pence) keep taking careless risks, and they keep being exposed to people who have the disease. You can only play so many rounds of Russian roulette before you end up on the wrong chamber.

  120. 120.

    Jinchi

    May 8, 2020 at 9:39 am

    @germy: The more you read that tweet, the better it gets.

    “Campaign officials have discussed giving away the masks at events..”

    What events?

  121. 121.

    satby

    May 8, 2020 at 9:39 am

    @Sloane Ranger: I hope the valet was asymptomatically breathing a huge viral load all over the murderer -in-chief. Masks now are probably too late. I hope.

  122. 122.

    OzarkHillbilly

    May 8, 2020 at 9:40 am

    @zhena gogolia: Knock on wood, every piece of wood on my 12.5 acres, I don’t (that I know of anyway). But I know that won’t last much longer.

  123. 123.

    zhena gogolia

    May 8, 2020 at 9:41 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Yeah, I guess I overstated it. I’m in the NE so it’s all around us

    ETA: Not to mention being in touch with people in Spain and Russia.

  124. 124.

    Baud

    May 8, 2020 at 9:42 am

    There’s no point arguing with people who are certain we’re going to lose.  Nothing is certain.  Just do the best you can and keep your eyes on the prize.

  125. 125.

    TS (the original)

    May 8, 2020 at 9:43 am

    @Aziz, light!:

    They comprise a significant portion of our electorate.

    Which is reducing every day as this pandemic spreads away from the cities & more folks are dying or their family members are dying or they are near starving & are getting zero help from that GOP.

  126. 126.

    OzarkHillbilly

    May 8, 2020 at 9:46 am

    @zhena gogolia: It’s coming, and it’s gonna be bad.

  127. 127.

    Spanky

    May 8, 2020 at 9:48 am

    @zhena gogolia: Oooof! That would leave a mark! The probabilities of why the Trumps let him run free are … not particularly comforting. He somehow seems to understand that he doesn’t have a whole lot to fear, though. Curious as to why that is.

  128. 128.

    EmbraceYourInnerCrone

    May 8, 2020 at 9:48 am

    @Brachiator: Probably zero concern for the valet either.  I wonder how, over on Earth2, President Hillary Clinton would have reacted to someone who worked close to her coming down with COVID-19.  No, actually I don’t wonder at all.  While she might be concerned for her own health, her first question would probably be , how was the person doing.  Of course she probably would have made every one in the White House wear masks and would have worn one herself.  Oh well, back to living in the stupidest timeline.

  129. 129.

    EmbraceYourInnerCrone

    May 8, 2020 at 9:49 am

    @satby: I hope so too.

  130. 130.

    WaterGirl

    May 8, 2020 at 9:49 am

    @Baud: My first laugh of the day.

  131. 131.

    SFAW

    May 8, 2020 at 9:52 am

    @Baud:

    There’s no point arguing with people who are certain we’re going to lose.

    Yes there is.

  132. 132.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    May 8, 2020 at 9:53 am

    @zhena gogolia:

    Can you imagine any other president who would not have one word of concern for the health of the person who was serving him?

    Getting here late, and I’m sure someone has said this, but I expect this afternoon– if Friday news dumps are still a thing– we’ll hear that the valet has been “reassigned”. Even money by Wednesday the Navy Secretary will have to give a press conference explaining why he was fired.

  133. 133.

    frosty

    May 8, 2020 at 9:53 am

    @Baud: The good ones do. Teddy Roosevelt Jr on Utah Beach. After recon and realizing the landing was miles away from the plan: “We’ll start the war from here”.

  134. 134.

    germy

    May 8, 2020 at 9:54 am

    Sarah Cooper lip-syncs trump again:

    How to grief pic.twitter.com/kvyR7f5cID

    — Sarah Cooper (@sarahcpr) May 7, 2020

  135. 135.

    Aziz, light!

    May 8, 2020 at 9:54 am

    @Baud: I’m not certain we will lose, and have some confidence we won’t. But we live in the age of misinformation. So our messaging is key.

  136. 136.

    SFAW

    May 8, 2020 at 9:57 am

    @zhena gogolia:

    Thanks. Yeah, some of that seems like it’s bullshit. But “seems” is the key word. Were that being said about Obama, or even GWB, you’d know it was bullshit. With the Murderer-in-Chief, I ain’t sure.

  137. 137.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    May 8, 2020 at 9:58 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: one thing I’ve been thinking, and i don’t think it will make a difference cause trump has probably 96% of billionaires on his side, but I imagine Shelly Adelson and Steve Wynn will be ponying up less than they pledged….

    anybody heard from Bloomberg about his bankroll lately? What was it? A hundred million even if Bernie became the nominee?

  138. 138.

    EmbraceYourInnerCrone

    May 8, 2020 at 9:58 am

    @Aziz, light!: What makes you think COVID-19 is going to be gone in 6 months?  IF a viable, safe vaccine is ever created and mass produced it will still probably be at least 18 months before that happens. IF it ever happens.  DO we have a viable vaccine for any other corona virus? No we do not.  There is no reason to believe that the many people who have not caught COVID-19 yet, won’t get it, especially once people stop following social distancing guidelines(looking at you, Georgia)  and air travel starts up again.

  139. 139.

    germy

    May 8, 2020 at 9:59 am

    Tucker Carlson says Biden should be treated by the same standard that we treated Trump so I guess that means we should elect him

    — Sarah Cooper (@sarahcpr) May 7, 2020

  140. 140.

    zhena gogolia

    May 8, 2020 at 10:00 am

    @germy:

    BRILLIANT

  141. 141.

    EmbraceYourInnerCrone

    May 8, 2020 at 10:01 am

    @Jinchi: You may be right. Considering there are “officially” 75,600 dead as of today and it’s only the first week in May, I dread what the number could be by the end of this year.

  142. 142.

    artem1s

    May 8, 2020 at 10:02 am

    “So we test once a week. Now we’re going to go testing once a day,”
    so are they just testing Dump and Dence? the immediately family? the immediate circle of grifters? are they testing everyone in housekeeping, grounds, facilities, the secret service, and all their relatives and circle of friends? even when it comes to their own self interests, their willful, pig ignorance is astounding. surely ‘we’ can’t get this from some lackey underling!

  143. 143.

    germy

    May 8, 2020 at 10:03 am

    @zhena gogolia:

    I love what Sarah Cooper does with trump’s statements.

    Trump has no feelings. No regard for anyone but himself.

  144. 144.

    Gin & Tonic

    May 8, 2020 at 10:04 am

    Unemployment up to 14.7%. DJIA +300. I don’t get it.

    I mean, as a guy with an IRA and a 401(k) who’s starting to actively plan for not drawing a salary much longer, I’m not complaining, just haz a confused.

  145. 145.

    zhena gogolia

    May 8, 2020 at 10:06 am

    @germy:

    Not to start this conversation up again, but Sarah Cooper is brilliant:

    Justice Ginsburg has gotten sick and recovered so much in the past few years I’m thinking she’s just fucking with us so we know what’s at stake and I fully support it— Sarah Cooper (@sarahcpr) May 7, 2020

  146. 146.

    Miss Bianca

    May 8, 2020 at 10:08 am

    @germy: I’ve said it before, I’ll doubtless say it again: I’m not the biggest AOC fan, but *man* does she have a way with words.

  147. 147.

    Elizabelle

    May 8, 2020 at 10:08 am

    Good morning, jackals. TGIF.  For whatever “Friday” means (as Cuomo would say).

    At some point, I would like to discuss that Plandemic video shared widely on FB.  I winced to see a beloved nephew put it up.  Did you see it on your FB timelines, from the usual suspects?

    WaPost:
    Facebook and other companies are removing viral ‘Plandemic’ conspiracy video

    Social media companies including YouTube, Vimeo and Facebook are removing a viral conspiracy theory video because of its claims regarding the coronavirus pandemic.

    The approximately 26-minute video was presented as an extremely long “trailer” for a full-length film titled “Plandemic” and features an extended interview with Judy Mikovits, a well-known figure in the anti-vaccination movement who has made various discredited claims about the effects of vaccines.

    A YouTube spokesperson said the company removes “content that includes medically unsubstantiated diagnostic advice for covid-19,” which includes the “Plandemic” video. A representative for Facebook said, “Suggesting that wearing a mask can make you sick could lead to imminent harm, so we’re removing the video.”
    … The video makes the false claim that billionaires aided in the spread of the coronavirus to further the spread of vaccines. It also attacks the credibility of Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, by using out-of-context footage of him speaking at White House news briefings. Finally, it makes the baseless and dangerous claim that wearings masks is harmful.

    … Conspiracy theories have flourished during the global pandemic, partially because of basic human discomfort with uncertainty, according to various experts interviewed by The Post.

    Many times, “these are recycled from earlier conspiracy theories,” said Mike Wood, a psychologist and expert on belief in conspiracy theories, who studied the spread of misinformation during the Zika outbreak in 2016. “In a pandemic, there’s immediately going to be conspiracy theories that the virus is either harmless, a bioweapon that’s going to kill everybody or an excuse for the government to give a vaccine that is going to kill everybody.”

  148. 148.

    Miss Bianca

    May 8, 2020 at 10:11 am

    @Baud: Damn, good for Bernie Sanders, he’s actually working on some progressive legislation instead of merely flapping his gums!

  149. 149.

    Peale

    May 8, 2020 at 10:17 am

    @Elizabelle: Yep. The “Wearing a mask will depress your immune system” idea is out there. So not only do they want to reopen, they don’t want to social distance or wear these harmful masks. They are actually now encouraging people to get the virus because its good for you and will make you stronger.

  150. 150.

    Aziz, light!

    May 8, 2020 at 10:18 am

    @EmbraceYourInnerCrone: Of course the virus won’t be gone by then; it will be around for years. And growing resistance to fighting it will make it even worse. But that doesn’t change how easily some people can be manipulated for political gain.

  151. 151.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    May 8, 2020 at 10:22 am

    @Peale:

    Give how the virus seems to rip up the lungs and possibly damage other organs, that’s appalling. Well, it’s appalling for a lot of reasons, but let’s throw “it won’t make you stronger” in there too.

  152. 152.

    Peale

    May 8, 2020 at 10:22 am

    @Gin & Tonic: the money that the federal government borrowed for its response isn’t getting past the investor class or if it is, it isn’t circulating among the people very long. The money has to go somewhere. So we see inflation in the prices of things that investors buy. There is nothing we can do about it. Biden, like Obama, will have 1 shot to get money into consumer’s hands. Hopefully they learned that fact from Obama’s administration.  Get the money out before the GOP sues and wins in court and hope its enough.

  153. 153.

    Peale

    May 8, 2020 at 10:25 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: I’ve been seeing an uptick in it in comments on news sites this week. Its angering. Its “my doctor friend is worried that people who wear masks aren’t exposing themselves to pathogens so their immune systems will be out of shape” and they’ll be more vulnerable to other diseases or something like that. So wearing a mask harms the body. So wearing a mask for a few months is the same thing as living in an isolated village for decades. Plus there aren’t worse diseases out there right now so I’m not certain what the logic is. The worse disease they think they are going to get by wearing a mask is never discussed.

  154. 154.

    PenAndKey

    May 8, 2020 at 10:28 am

    @Baud: There’s no point arguing with people who are certain we’re going to lose.  Nothing is certain.  Just do the best you can and keep your eyes on the prize.

    My motto since coming of age just after the 2000 election season has been “Hope for the best, work for the best, expect the worst”. That may be overly pessimistic, and I may dream of being able to emigrate and get my family out of the situation, but I know it’ll never happen so that motto has allowed me to deal with the fact that the people we’re fighting against will still be a major threat after the next election, perennially.

    I honestly don’t expect we will win long term (for a confluence of reasons, not least of all the Constitutionally baked-in increasing power imbalance between rural and urban states), but at this point my goal isn’t to win, it’s to deny the other side a full victory long enough for my kids to pick up the torch or get out of Dodge in 10-20 years. If someone tells you “we likely won’t win” that’s one thing, but if they tell you “we can’t win, so why fight?” that’s an altogether different statement and someone you should continue to argue with, because they may just need a reason to fight they haven’t thought of yet.

  155. 155.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    May 8, 2020 at 10:29 am

    @zhena gogolia:

    Justice Ginsburg has gotten sick and recovered so much in the past few years I’m thinking she’s just fucking with us so we know what’s at stake and I fully support it— Sarah Cooper

    I like the theory, but it doesn’t really seem to sink in on our side, and I don’t just mean the people I’m usually complaining about

  156. 156.

    Elizabelle

    May 8, 2020 at 10:29 am

    Here’s a NY Post article on “Plandemic” being scrubbed from social media.  No paywall, and since a conservative-leaning publication, might be taken more seriously by the conspiracy thrillseekers in your social (media) circle.

    NY Post:  Social Media Networks Scrambling to Remove Viral Conspiracy Video

  157. 157.

    Omnes Omnibus

    May 8, 2020 at 10:30 am

    @Aziz, light!: We just need to outvote them.

  158. 158.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    May 8, 2020 at 10:34 am

    Have a laugh at the expense of Hot Mike Pence

    Matt McDermott @mattmfm · 1h
    Mike Pence caught on hot mic delivering empty boxes of PPE for a PR stunt.

  159. 159.

    Another Scott

    May 8, 2020 at 10:37 am

    For those of you that get the BBC World News cable channel, Stephen Sackur is interviewing Jaime Harrison (he’s running for US Senate against Lindsey Graham).  (These shows are rebroadcast quite often.)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  160. 160.

    Shalimar

    May 8, 2020 at 10:37 am

    ALIF is better than ALF, which I assume stands for “food is in short supply and the cat is looking tasty.”

  161. 161.

    Jinchi

    May 8, 2020 at 10:37 am

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: anybody heard from Bloomberg about his bankroll lately? What was it? A hundred million even if Bernie became the nominee?

    Bloomberg said he’d spend a billion dollars on his own campaign and said he’d support the nominee whoever it was. That promise was used more as a cudgel against his opponents than anything else (“Can Elizabeth Warren really afford to turn down $1 billion from Bloomberg?”)

    He was happy to let word of mouth spread rumors of him bankrolling the Democrats, but his actual words are that he will spend on the nominee, but “hopefully not” a billion dollars.

    So he’s kept his promise.

  162. 162.

    OzarkHillbilly

    May 8, 2020 at 10:42 am

    @Peale: The worse disease they think they are going to get by wearing a mask is never discussed.

    That disease is known as Moronitude and they already have it. It is fatal but only after a long, highly infectious period of time.

  163. 163.

    Jinchi

    May 8, 2020 at 10:42 am

    @PenAndKey: long enough for my kids to pick up the torch or get out of Dodge in 10-20 years.

    I’m much more optimistic than you, but I’m curious. Where do you expect your kids to go once they get out of Dodge?

  164. 164.

    Omnes Omnibus

    May 8, 2020 at 10:43 am

    @Jinchi: Yes, I always noticed the words “up to” in front of the $1 billion.  If he spent $1.00, he would have kept his promise.

  165. 165.

    Gin & Tonic

    May 8, 2020 at 10:44 am

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: 

    anybody heard from Bloomberg about his bankroll lately? What was it? A hundred million even if Bernie became the nominee?

    Well, he just spent $45 million buying a place in Colorado, so that’s almost as good, right? I’m sure he’ll be donating to the Democratic party soon.

  166. 166.

    NotMax

    May 8, 2020 at 10:52 am

    Report from a short jaunt to the outdoors.

    At the bank, only one other customer while I was there (yay, no standing in line). New plexiglass panels in place at each teller window. Tellers all masked, the higher ups who sit at the desks, somewhat removed from the tellers, not masked. One masked and gloved employee stationed at the front door to open and shut it for each customer.

    Stopped on the way home to fill up the buggy with fuel ($3.59 for regular, BTW). Workers inside the micro mart who take cash for the pumps both masked and behind a hanging sheet of clear plastic (repurposed shower curtain, perhaps?).

    Meanwhile, masks ordered from Amazon on April 27 to be sent to Mom in NY were scheduled to arrive “no later than May 7.” As of the evening on May 7 there’s now a notice on the order tracking page with an apology for lateness and “should arrive between May 8 and 13. If not received by then, you may reorder or request a refund.”

  167. 167.

    NotMax

    May 8, 2020 at 10:55 am

    @Jinchi

    Well, we don’t have a nominee yet and won’t until after the convention, however it takes place.

  168. 168.

    hueyplong

    May 8, 2020 at 10:56 am

    Subject to correction from Ms Cracker, it seems like Trump experimental farm Florida is implementing a plan to understate COVID-related deaths as part of the “start  up.”  We’ll see FoxNews and OAN start campaigns to demonize as unpatriotic anyone who maintains shelter in place as per the administration’s own guidelines now being discarded.  Eventually there will be “protests” in which Trumpers pressure people who are wearing PPE in public and actually jostle them or grab at their masks while calling them traitors or cowards.

    This in the context of Trump himself being the single most cowardly person I’ve ever heard of.

    These seemingly absurd things are the only way Trump can “re-open” in the face of the near mathematical certainty that the death count will get out of hand as a result.

  169. 169.

    Fair Economist

    May 8, 2020 at 10:57 am

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: This worries me about the economy. The economy is about A paying B who pays C who pays D until it gets back to A. The need to not die is going to hurt many of them financially, and with enough links broken the chain can’t cycle.

  170. 170.

    James E Powell

    May 8, 2020 at 11:01 am

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    We just need to outvote them.

    Exactly. I’ve given up hope that anything we do will dent Trump’s ~42%. He is always going to be in striking distance. So we need to be constantly working to make sure our people can vote, then make sure they do vote. This matters more than the ads, the social media, etc.

  171. 171.

    Kay

    May 8, 2020 at 11:01 am

    The 600$ UI bump is really good and is absolutely helping people and helping the economy. I understand there’s some frustration with the small business bail out but if we want to demand more stimulus that gets to people (and we do) we can’t insist none of it got to people or worked.
    It reminds me a little of Obamacare. The subsidies for the exchanges were absolutely dwarfed by the MILLIONS of people who benefited from Medicaid expansion, yet all the discussion was on the insufficiency of the exchanges.
    Unemployment, unemployment, unemployment. That’s the big numbers of working and middle class people. Democrats can and should brag about that 600 they got. It helps. We need to talk about it like it’s a success because it is.

  172. 172.

    MisterForkbeard

    May 8, 2020 at 11:01 am

    @Aleta: I think Phase 1 is sort of where we are now for childcare. With the exception of all the sharing restrictions, this is actually how our small daycare works for our youngest daughter (though we’re not ‘essential’, so our kids are staying home):

    Only open for children of essential workers. Workers aren’t wearing masks but I’m okay with it – they’re in close enough proximity that the kids would get it if the workers had it. Everything regularly cleaned and sanitized. No toys from home, and toys are regularly cleaned and separated. Limited to 4-5 kids per adult and the kids stay as one group of under 10 kids all day.  Etc.

  173. 173.

    NotMax

    May 8, 2020 at 11:03 am

    @Fair Economist
    Quaint.

    The new economy is D & C pay B, who then pays A.

    //

  174. 174.

    scav

    May 8, 2020 at 11:04 am

    @Peale: There’s also the slight problem that masks (our on the street ones) aren’t so much for protecting the wearer from the disease but slowing down diffusion from the wearer to others.  But hey, it’s not surprising that the movement for the right to bare faces so heavily overlaps with those worshipping the right to bear arms.  They keep thinking other, necessarily undeserving people will die and what about their rights to untrammeled haircuts, freedom and happiness! (presumably in watching the deaths of the undeserving, but maybe they do orgasm when getting the back and sides trimmed.)

  175. 175.

    Betty Cracker

    May 8, 2020 at 11:05 am

    @Kay: Agreed. Most unemployed Floridians haven’t received the state’s paltry $275 or the extra $600 because the system keeps crashing, but the folks I talk to know about it, and when it comes up, I always emphasize that the Dems are the ones who beefed it up (and that Republicans built the shitty system that keeps crashing).

  176. 176.

    NotMax

    May 8, 2020 at 11:09 am

    @Betty Cracker

    Can the failed Venezuelan coupmeisters apply? Technically, they’re out of a job.

    //

  177. 177.

    OzarkHillbilly

    May 8, 2020 at 11:10 am

    @NotMax: The last time I bought gas it was $1.87/gal and I remember seeing $1.79 somewhere along the line. Living in paradise is expensive.

  178. 178.

    OzarkHillbilly

    May 8, 2020 at 11:11 am

    @hueyplong: Eventually there will be “protests” in which Trumpers pressure people who are wearing PPE in public and actually jostle them or grab at their masks while calling them traitors or cowards.

    Not here there won’t.

  179. 179.

    OzarkHillbilly

    May 8, 2020 at 11:16 am

    @Kay: Nice to see you, Kay.

  180. 180.

    Cacti

    May 8, 2020 at 11:16 am

    So for everyone who thought “Tara Reade” was Russian asset, the borscht has thickened.

    One of her new, fancy “working for free” lawyers is William Moran.  Former Sputnik News writer and editor.

    Madame Speaker was right.  All roads lead to Moscow with these people.

  181. 181.

    Kay

    May 8, 2020 at 11:16 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    They are really grateful. Most people won’t follow the fed lending or the small business bailout. They’re not owners- they’re employees. Talk to them. Hopefully small business people aren’t too fucking stupid to realize that the extra 600 a week can be spent in their businesses. This to me is what “stimulus” is supposed to be. You give it to people and they spend it.

    90% of the Obamacare discussion was the (comparatively) few people on the exchanges. Meanwhile, a HUGE group of people got a public health care plan. Womp. HUGE expansion of a public program. They just weren’t the people anyone wanted to talk about or TO.

  182. 182.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    May 8, 2020 at 11:18 am

    I am having unchristian thoughts again

    Jennifer Jacobs  @JenniferJJacobs· 1h
    Chuck Grassley, Joni Ernst and US Ag Sec Sonny Perdue on AF2 from DC to Iowa today.

    Jennifer Jacobs@ JenniferJJacobs
    NEWS: Pence flight to Iowa delayed an hour after a staffer tested positive for coronavirus, I’m told. Some aides disembarked AF2. Wheels up now for Iowa.
    8:48 AM · May 8, 2020·Twitter for iPhone

    Chuck Grassley is 85 or older, I believe

  183. 183.

    NotMax

    May 8, 2020 at 11:19 am

    @Cacti

    Moran

    Irony is a sly mistress.

    ;)

  184. 184.

    Citizen Alan

    May 8, 2020 at 11:19 am

    @ThresherK:  You know, I don’t even think that’s true. I’m pretty confident that if Obama were eligible for a 3rd term, he would have won easily. Just like Bill Clinton would have easily beat  Bush in 2000.  The voters were going to get a change from Obama either way. The media just persuaded them that a change to trump would be better for them than a change to Hillary.

  185. 185.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    May 8, 2020 at 11:23 am

    @Cacti: but she did balance him out with a trump donor

    Kamala Harris Turned Down The AG Job, Please STFU! @KHiveQueenB
    Tara Reade’s lawyer donated $27,000 to Trump’s campaign to help him become President. Just saying.

    the linked tweet has a picture, but I’ve seen this guy’s trump donations pegged at $55

    ETA: are her handlers this clueless, or are they deliberately trolling the bien-pensant caucus who oh-so-righteously scolded us skeptics on their client’s behalf, like Hayes and Traister?

  186. 186.

    L85NJGT

    May 8, 2020 at 11:25 am

    The White House “valets” are USN enlisted culinary specialists.

  187. 187.

    Kay

    May 8, 2020 at 11:29 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Thanks. I feel some urgency to keep the money printer running. We can do this! It doesn’t have to collapse completely. Make a space in the dominos and they won’t keep falling.

  188. 188.

    L85NJGT

    May 8, 2020 at 11:41 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Georgia Bureau of Investigation picked up the case.

  189. 189.

    OzarkHillbilly

    May 8, 2020 at 11:47 am

    @L85NJGT: They  picked it up after the state AG got shamed into ordering it. Or maybe it was Kemp who got shamed into ordering it.

  190. 190.

    L85NJGT

    May 8, 2020 at 11:58 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    The state’s ruling status quo is under a tremendous amount of pressure.

  191. 191.

    StringOnAStick

    May 8, 2020 at 12:03 pm

    My 88 year old dad watches nothing but FOX, and he’s still wearing a heavy duty mask on his shopping trips and staying isolated except from my sister the retired nurse, who helps care for him.  FOX can preach at him and he did have backyard beers with his police commander neighbor, but I’ve heard no more of the “this will be over in a few weeks” crap he was parroting before it all hit the fan hard enough that even a rage grandpa could no longer buy the party line.

    my concern now is my younger sister, who shattered both ankle bones and dislocated her foot last weekend; surgery won’t be until the 18th because of how backlogged ortho docs are.  She’s many states away so I can’t get there but has very caring neighbors.  She’s borderline morbidly obese, has high BP, just about to tip into type 2 diabetes, and had had pneumonia twice in the last 6 months.  She can’t avoid doing this surgery to plate and screw her bones back together, but if she gets it from being in a medical facility, she’s very likely not going to survive.

  192. 192.

    Taken4Granite

    May 8, 2020 at 12:08 pm

    @Elizabelle:

     Orac is on the case.

    This post drew more than the usual share of trolls in the comments.

  193. 193.

    Feathers

    May 8, 2020 at 12:47 pm

    @Taken4Granite: There’s a name I haven’t seen for a while. Glad he’s still on the case.

  194. 194.

    J R in WV

    May 8, 2020 at 12:48 pm

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    @hueyplong: Eventually there will be “protests” in which Trumpers pressure people who are wearing PPE in public and actually jostle them or grab at their masks while calling them traitors or cowards.

    Not here there won’t.

    Not by me either! Fuck that shit with a rusty hoe!!! I will confess, the other day I went online to Amazon, and searched for replacement filters for my industrial-style respirator, which I wear to go to town, Kroger’s, building supply, etc. Lo and behold I found some, exact replacement filter packs, from an environmental remediation outfit in FLA. Ordered 3 sets of replacement pairs, have been shipped via UPS, should arrive Monday, more realistic to expect them Tuesday or Wednesday in our rural location. So, some good news, at 40 hours of use per pair of filters, that’s 120 hours of being out of the house into town!

  195. 195.

    Another Scott

    May 8, 2020 at 1:34 pm

    @Fleeting Ex-istence: https://www.npr.org/2020/04/15/833692377/how-the-coronavirus-has-affected-individual-members-of-congress

    That’s as of May 1.

    tl;dr – many have tested positive in both chambers. Many more have had to quarantine because they were exposed.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  196. 196.

    The Very Reverend Crimson Fire of Compassion

    May 8, 2020 at 3:05 pm

    @OzarkHillbilly: I’m in Mo., and last week one of my wife’s co-workers (a petite female) was harassed for wearing a face-mask at the local wal-mart, surrounded and taunted by 3 MAGA-holes until other customers intervened and drove them off.

  197. 197.

    Elizabelle

    May 8, 2020 at 5:05 pm

    @Taken4Granite:   Wow, that’s a wonderful blog.  Thank you for linking to it.

    Orac.  And he even explains what the name means.  Obscure, obscure otherwise.

    And LOL.  626 comments, and the first one is “You’re full of shit.”

    Someone — get Orac a pie filter!

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