So the word is that the CDC has been forbidden from doing contact tracing related to the recent White House centered COVID-19 outbreak, but there is apparently plenty of information in the public domain. (h/t Wyatt Salamanca, who gave me a heads up about this and sent me the links)
It’s a real-time tracking tool to monitor the growing number of people in Trump’s circle who were exposed or infected with COVID-19. It was created by Jesse O’Shea MD, MSc, an infectious disease fellow physician at Emory University, Benjy Renton, a senior at Middlebury College and Digital Director at The Middlebury Campus, and Peter Walker, who does data visualization.
COVID-19 At The White House – Public Reports
The key people behind this effort:
WH Covid Tracker https://twitter.com/CovidWh
Jesse O’Shea MD, MSc https://twitter.com/JesseOSheaMD
Benjy Renton https://twitter.com/bhrenton
Peter Walker https://twitter.com/PeterJ_Walker
Will the evil clowns in the White House ever figure out that this is not 1980?
8pm ET Update
277 total contacts. Within the Administration, we have 80 contacts (13 pos / 24 neg / 43 unknown)
Stay up to date at: https://t.co/Gg1cIDTlpe pic.twitter.com/YuGfQDqVpk
— WH Covid Tracker (@CovidWh) October 6, 2020
Wapiti
There was also a Gold Star Family event at the White House on 9/25. With singing. Inside.
geg6
I hope they all get it. Fuckem. We just dropped our ballots off at the county elections office. Two ballots, mine and my John’s, with the bubbles filled out for all the PA Dems on the ballot. Fuckem.
dmsilev
This really is The Masque of the Red Death brought to life, isn’t it?
evap
Yay, Emory! (That’s where I work.)
jl
They may be pulling the stunt that the PA legislator GOPers pulled: doing their own (incompetent) contact tracing in private, and not telling what they come up with. Watch for staff, high and low, suddenly disappearing for 2 weeks, that might be a clue, if they try to keep the positive tests quiet.
This might not only be an outbreak, but one of those superspreader events that drive the most dangerous aspect of the covid-19 epidemic and which make control most difficult, which would make sense if most of the transmission took place in the unprotected indoor meetings. Countries that focus on preventing superspreader events and concentrating contact tracing on those have a lot of success. And the measures needed to prevent any kind of outbreak are really only a moderate inconvenience. They could have had a smaller reception, spread the people out into separate rooms if they wanted to do an indoor shinding. But they shouldn’t even have done that given what looks like very nice weather. Could have put some open sided tents up outside.
Just total complete fail from every view.
Edit: Obviously they did not give Fauci, or even Redfield, a call beforehand to get five minutes of advice, that most commenters on this blog could have also given.
Ken
To hide, all they have to do is turn off their phones, take no pictures, and avoid all social media. And also keep away from anyone not following those rules. It seems much less difficult than what we peons have been dealing with for over half a year.
Martin
Clever.
Catching up on Trumps banned tweets and his decision to end stimulus talks, I’d put him at borderline suicidal. Not in the conventional sense – rather, his narcissism requires that he spin a reality that protects him from seeing who he really is – now someone with Covid. So just as before, but now with more determination, he must deny what Covid really is – for his own ability to function. Covid can’t kill him because Covid isn’t dangerous. So all of the Covid precautions are out the window, no stimulus, because Covid is nothing, etc. He’ll absolutely back up the decision to override the FDA on vaccine approval. He’ll refuse any attempt to bring him back to Walter Reed until he’s lost the ability to consent, and even then there will likely be a standing order to not return him which someone is going to have to violate.
Welcome to the mad king chapter of the story.
dmsilev
President “look at how strong the stock market is!” just crashed the stock market.
hueyplong
@Ken: “To hide, all they have to do is turn off their phones, take no pictures, and avoid all social media.”
And this is something you think they can do?
Raven
@evap: Emory orthopods fixed my broken back some 47 years ago!
dmsilev
@Martin: Above and beyond his extensive set of personal pathologies, he’s also doped to the gills with drugs known to do weird and bad things to mood and thought processes.
jl
@Martin: I see several real doctors on internet and interviews saying a good chance Trump will crash in terms of his health and how well he feels when the ‘roids ramp down. Or maybe he’ll insist on keeping on them for good. Someone should give him a picture story on Michael Jackson and other celebs.
lollipopguild
@hueyplong: These are people who if they robbed a bank would film the robbery and post the video on U-Tube.
Another Scott
Relatedly, …
Nobody could have predicted that a global pandemic would somehow affect GOP politicians [and people who have to interact with them] on planet Earth.
Cheers,
Scott.
craigie
I am more and more convinced that Trump knew he had it before the debate, and used the debate as an attempt to infect Biden. Link
dmsilev
@jl: And they’ve learned absolutely nothing, or even less than nothing, from the experience. Look at the news reports right now about tomorrow’s VP debate, where apparently Pence and his team are (a) refusing to admit that he’s a potential risk factor and (b) actively attacking Harris for requesting a bare minimum of safety precautions (a Plexiglas barrier). She should show up in one of those isolation suits from _Outbreak_,
Gin & Tonic
@dmsilev: Four weeks from election day, trailing in the polls, with a $2 trillion package readily available, he throws it in the trash and makes a point of taking responsibility for that. That’s, um, bold, I guess.
Benw
Fucking Eddie Van Halen died. RIP
Fuck 2020
geg6
OT, but damn this year. RIP Eddie Van Halen.
dmsilev
@jl:
I’d say there’s a good chance that Trump would try to dangle let’s say Eric over the railing of the White House balcony, only there’s no way he has the upper body strength for that.
dmsilev
@Gin & Tonic: The next four weeks are going to be like a Quentin Tarantino adaptation of King Lear.
Benw
@dmsilev: as long as it gets medieval on Trump’s a$$, I can take it
hueyplong
@lollipopguild: The Freedom Ecumenical Liberation Army led by The Great Orange Kahn.
CaseyL
Canceling the stimulus talks is crazy-pants stupid, but if FatBastard is taking dexa-meth, he’s gonna do crazy-pants stupid things.
Can’t wait to see what he comes up with next. That nuclear football better not be anywhere he can get at it.
Ken
@lollipopguild: Actually when the people listed as “donors” rob a bank, they get a nice write-up in the Wall Street Journal praising their business savvy, and are then asked to serve on the board of another corporation.
Ken
He won’t recognize that while he’s on the dex. So… comedy tonight!
Shalimar
@craigie: My theory is they knew Trump had it before the debate, and settled on the crackpot plan to try to infect Biden, keep Trump’s positive status secret for a week, let Biden test positive first, and then blame Biden for giving it to Trunp.
randy khan
@Gin & Tonic:
It’s just bizarre. He’s throwing the vulnerable GOP senators to the wolves, particularly when the Administration cites Senate opposition as a reason they didn’t think they should keep negotiating. And he does it the same day this the Fed chair he appointed says that more action is necessary to prop up the economy. (As always, I don’t believe the GOP senators who say they won’t vote for anything over $1 trillion, because they would vote for whatever Trump approved if they knew what was good for them.)
hueyplong
@randy khan: Most accounts of Germany in 1945 had Hitler ranting that the German people deserved what they were getting because they had failed him.
The ’45 bunker playbook is your guide to Trump from here on in. Not a soul remains who can tell him anything except for maybe Hannity, who is probably getting ready to shed his party uniform and try to blend into the scenery until it’s time to demand answers at to why Biden has allowed over a dozen heartland Americans to die.
Punchy
@craigie: Yup, this is the correct take. He knew he had it, and to “even up the field”, he did all he could to spread it over to JB.
Baud
@jl:
I would have advised them to lock themselves in the White House bunker and kiss each other full on the mouth.
Ken
They’re already asking why Biden hasn’t done more to stop the pandemic, and you think they’ll reset the counter? No, in January Fox will be talking about the 250,000 deaths on Biden’s watch.
cliosfanboy
@Benw: cancer?
Baud
@hueyplong:
I look forward to Trump getting caught trying to escape the White House dressed as Melania.
Sister Golden Bear
@dmsilev: More like a Quentin Tarantino adaption of Titus Andronicus,* (notable for its high body count) with Rona playing the part of Tamora.
*Except without Velveetamort feigning madness, nor turning the tables on Tamora at the end.
hueyplong
@Ken: You’re right. These guys defy my lame attempts to parody them.
geg6
@cliosfanboy:
Not sure, but I had heard that his mouth cancer was back.
Miss Bianca
@dmsilev:
Are you sure we *aren’t* living this vision already?
“YOU! TELL ME YOU LOVE ME, YOU MOTHERFUCKER, OR THIS ENTIRE COUNTRY GETS IT!!”
I’m not sure whether to laugh or scream.
ETA:
@Sister Golden Bear: Yeah, because mad King Trump would never have any kind of epiphany about the human condition. And he sure as shit would never send his Fool(s) into any kind of shelter before himself.
Aleta
@Punchy: They have seemed to try to focus media attention as to ‘who was the spreader’ on Hicks first and then on Barrett.
Ken
@Sister Golden Bear: I can’t see them going so far as cannibalism, unless the roids really kick in.
Though now that I think about it, Trump has some physical resemblance to Robert Morley’s character in Theatre of Blood.
Miss Bianca
@Gin & Tonic:
Hey, it’s about time he took responsibility for *something*.
patrick II
I was complaining about a lack of White House tracking a couple of threads ago. I am thankful for and impressed by someone actually doing something about it. Some of these people will have children, the original spreaders/co-conspirators in silence should be embarrassed to be alive.
Kent
It’s like SNL. My daughter showed me their take on the debate with Jim Carey playing Biden (which I liked) but the parody was not even 25% as surreal and over the top as the real thing. You literally cannot parody Trump. He is the parody.
jl
@Miss Bianca: the standoff between Goneril, Regan, Edmund, Edgar, Oswald and Fool is epic.
MisterForkbeard
@Martin: I think you’ve hit the nail on the head here.
I think it’s also him responding to the “insult” of Nancy Pelosi telling Steve Mnuchin he can’t visit her in person anymore because they’re fucking incompetent at practiving COVID protections. So it’s a combination of the two: covid can’t be that bad, and he needs to hit back at someone who disrespected him.
Kent
No, he still listens to Steven Miller and Jarrod.
Ksmiami
@dmsilev: Prince Prospero says “can’t wait to meet you…
Delk
2020 just sucks ass. RIP EVH
patrick II
@Kent:
I really can’t stand Jim Carrey. The thought of four years of Carrey doing Biden on SNL almost makes me want to vote for Trump.
But then I would have to watch Trump in the White House for four more years. Fuckin’ 2020.
jl
@Kent: Alec Baldwin refused to drug up for the skit, that’s the problem.
hueyplong
@Kent: Ah, but I said not a soul remains. Jared and Miller have no souls.
Ksmiami
@dmsilev: I’m ready for dragging him through the streets ala Mussolini style but I’m Not nice anymore
Patricia Kayden
Roger Moore
@Gin & Tonic:
It’s a clumsy extortion attempt, nothing more, nothing less. Vote for me or your COVID relief gets it.
Jeffro
@craigie: Yes – and the Dems should hammer the shit out of this until Team trumpov provides evidence of a negative test from Monday and/or Tuesday, OR ‘fesses up that they weren’t really testing the president* daily
@dmsilev: she should just punt, seriously. We need her and Uncle Joe healthy, and they won’t lose a single vote. Nobody wants to watch Shouty Infected Man act out all over again.
trollhattan
Bwa-ha-ha. Cozy up to a monster, receive monster in return. Thotsnprars, “pastor.”
germy
White House approves FDA coronavirus vaccine standards it tried to derail
WaterGirl
@Patricia Kayden: He’s not taking the blame. That’s not in his nature. In his warped mind, he is taking the credit – he is certain that people will see this as a genius move on his part. Very powerful.
He is literally not in his right mind.
yellowdog
@CaseyL: The soldier who carries the nuclear football for the shitgibbon has tested positive for covid.
Kent
Or more likely sold them.
WaterGirl
@germy: With that title, I was certain that was going to be The Onion.
randy khan
When he and I were talking about this a few minutes ago, the former appointed Republican official I work with, a definite non-Trumper, but still someone with connections in the party, said “Maybe it’s a negotiating ploy?” (question mark included), but seemed dubious at best about it and agreed that Collins, McSally, et al. could not be pleased at all.
germy
@WaterGirl:
Satire died in 2016.
catclub
In financial news: I have been amazed that the markets keep hoping for a stimulus package.
They have finally given up hope. (or the headline writers have just been writing: ‘markets up on hope for stimulus’ because they have nothing else to say.)
Immanentize
@dmsilev: I prefer liking it to a remake of Titus Andronicus.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Martin:
That chapter goes back to January 2017.
CaseyL
@yellowdog: I heard that. So, does he take the football into isolation with him? Does he hand it off to someone else?
Or did they use this as an excuse – a good one, too! – to put the football in a “safe place” where Cheeto can’t get to it?
trollhattan
@Kent:
When we were young, innocent and good-looking and our biggest concern was “Vice President Sarah Palin,” Tina Fey would use her spoken word verbatim in the skits. IIRC Shatner also read her spoken thought as bizarre poetry.
And now, this.
catclub
@Patricia Kayden: seventy eleventy dimensional chess.
moops
@Patricia Kayden: @Patricia Kayden:
Wait, so Trump not only rejects stimulus funds that would probably have helped his re-election chances, but *also* does so in a way to make sure that he personally will take blame for it?— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) October 6, 2020
Kind of even better. He ordered Mitch to not negotiate either. So, F*ck your Senate races and nominate my judge. Mitch now either opposes Trump to negotiate relief (not likely as he can’t manage his caucus) or he remains viewed and Trump’s bitch (which he is, but doesn’t like Trump announcing it before his election).
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@hueyplong:
Once more, Steiner’s counterattack fails to materialize…
WaterGirl
@Immanentize: OT, but do I put paper towels or newspaper in the box with the tomatoes and bananas?
Immanentize
@Sister Golden Bear: Oh damn. You got that one first. Utter bloodbath at the end — American Carnage indeed.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Baud:
I tend to see them as Mussolini and Clara Petacci.
WaterGirl
@CaseyL: The football is always near Trump, so someone else will get the “honor” of being in such close quarters with Trump.
You do it, no you do it! Obviously joking there because that would be an assignment, not a choice.
catclub
also these at bloomberg: Trump is asking how he can fire Powell – probably his best appointment.
moops
@catclub: Stock market investors are the dumbies that watch stock market coverage. It’s been a summer of teasing a stimulus, while also ascribing market motion to the teasing of stimulus.
The airline industry layoffs alone that are coming now without a relief package is going to be brutal. The head lobbyist is a hardcore GOP operative, but I’m guessing he is throwing his remote at the TV today.
MisterForkbeard
@randy khan:
I don’t think so, actually. From what I’ve heard this morning, conservatives are already all-in on the “Nancy Pelosi wouldn’t negotiate” narrative, even though Pelosi had extensively negotiated and reportedly both she and Steve Mnuchin had expected a deal later this week.
Jeffro
Truth. Not to mention all the ones he caused on 9/11
Immanentize
@WaterGirl: I saw the email just a while ago. No need to do either. But paper towels can’t hurt. I would NOT use newspaper because it has chemicals — usually ammonia — that may interfere with the ethylene that bananas off gas ….
❤️
Anoniminous
Scum sucking Conservative scumbag shits at The Hill snuck this into an article:
“The Democratic nominee has run up a 27-point lead among seniors, who are among the highest-risk groups susceptible to serious cases of the coronavirus.”
Old white ignorant hick bigots are THE key Republican demographic. IF anywhere near accurate Little Donnie is royally & completely fucked.
I doubt it helps in the Senate races ‘tho.
No link because I don’t want to give them the clicks.
Cameron
@WaterGirl: Did he ever have a right mind?
catclub
@Jeffro: During the debate trump kept saying that the H1N1 response (in 2009 that you have no memory of because they handled it pretty well) was a disaster. Also ebola, another total disaster. he lives in another world.
Immanentize
@catclub: Well, I rebalanced my retirement portfolio two months ago for just such a moment Yay me.
Miss Bianca
@patrick II: I wonder why they couldn’t get Woody Harrelson to do it. He seems like a better fit for the part than Carrey.
Immanentize
@moops: Fuck the airline industry. They employ a miniscule number compared to the already 12 million! who lost jobs because of Trump. Let them all get the shit unemployment that everyone else must take.
Kent
He still has a career. Jim Carrey doesn’t.
Jeffro
@catclub: He does…but it’s just. so. easy. to then follow up and ask him: “so, SIR, how many Americans died from H1N1 again? And Ebola?” (The answers are about 12k and zero)
Compared to 210k?
Or make Benghazi comparisons. Or 9/11 ones. I don’t care but I sure wish the Dems and the media would pound the living shit out of this.
catclub
have the GOP senators started advertising that goes: “Vote for me because We need divided Government to keep a rein on the wild socialist Biden” yet? It would be their best shot (and is incredibly effective in this country) but lucklily would bring down Trump’s wrath on them. sucks to be them.
Jeffro
Biden Gettsyburg speech going on now?
Immanentize
@Miss Bianca: I agree. Harrelson would be consistently better than Jim Carey who I too cannot tolerate. Even in Eternal Sunshine … (Which I generally loved) he crapped it up with his baby scene which totally reminded me that I was watching fucking Jim Carey.
My favorite Fact about Harrelson is that Woody’s dad was a hitman who killed a federal judge in San Antonio. The Judge’s last name was “Wood.” Law trivia
Kent
Honestly, what is he going to do at this point? His only power over them is in the primaries where he could do things like torpedo Jeff Sessions in favor of that coach guy. He has no power over them in the general election. In fact, Trump running against Collins would probably help her at this stage in the race.
Anoniminous
@catclub:
I haven’t seen anything like that reported.
Miss Bianca
@catclub:
FFS, don’t give them any ideas!
catclub
@Kent: if the 35% of voters who are die hard trump voters purposefully do not vote for their disloyal (to trump) senator, it becomes a bloodbath election. Trump is very near to burn it all down. steroids anybody?
catclub
@Miss Bianca: But if they do it, it is root for injuries time!
Bill Arnold
@Punchy:
Call it what it looks like: Donald J. Trump appears to have attempted political assassination of his opponent. (With a hard (but not impossible – timeline and virus sequencing) to prove stochastic method.)
Donald J. Trump has already ordered at least one political assassination, of Qassem Suleimani.
Nicole
@Kent:
Slate did a piece rating the SNL Bidens- they didn’t like Carrey much (I thought he was fine) but they included a link to a spoof they did last autumn of one of the primary debates (with Woody Harrelson as Biden) and the writing was really funny. It mostly focused on Maya Rudolph’s Harris, but Harrelson’s Biden self-describes himself with an analogy that had me laughing so hard I was crying:
https://slate.com/culture/2020/10/snl-jim-carrey-biden-compare-harrelson-sudeikis-nealon-mulaney.html
Bill Arnold
@Aleta:
Was Hope Hicks involved in debate prep? How did Melania get it? etc.
WaterGirl
@Immanentize: Okay, thanks. Now I just need to score some bananas!
WaterGirl
@Cameron: I had considered mentioning that in my original comment!
ballerat
If I’m reading that Covid at the White House report right, there’s only 1 asymptomatic out of 30 positives. I would expect more asymptomatics, something like 12 of the positives, or 40%.
craigie
@Shalimar:
That actually makes more sense (in Trump logic, anyway).
Another Scott
@Roger Moore: I haven’t checked. Have the Q people started up with something like this yet?
“Remember those memes in 2015-2016 that Trump was secretly a Democrat? Wait, wait – hear me out. What would be better for the prospects for the Democratic party for the next 50-75 years than for someone playing an incompetent unstable buffon to win the White House, destroy the federal government, destroy the economy, work on killing 500,000 Americans before he leaves office via a new virus that even countries in Africa were handling better than the USA, put napalm on the flames of racial animus, pack the SCOTUS with RWNJs with no conception of what it’s like not to be in the top 1% with everything handed to them their whole lives, and just a horrible all-around person? Of course he’s a secret Democrat – he’s been working for Hillary all along!!11ONE”
:-/
Cheers,
Scott.
Bill Arnold
@Kent:
From observation, Jared sold his and/or it was eaten by his father in law, but Miller is(hosts) a demon, and always has been that way.
IMHO. :-)
ballerat
@Gin & Tonic: We may be at the part where Steiner was unable to attack with his phantom divisions and now an enraged and self-pitying Hair Furor lashes out at his own people.
Salty Sam
@WaterGirl: if you just want them for ethylene gas to ripen the tomatoes, cantaloupes will work as well, or better.
ballerat
@Shalimar: I don’t think that’s crackpot.
It’s callous, depraved, desperate, cynical, treasonous and utterly stupid, yes, which makes it even more likely Jarvanka thought it up and Trump thought it a good idea.
Miss Bianca
@catclub: I’m already rooting for a 16-ton weight to drop on Cory Gardner’s head. I think he’s pretty much Dead Senator Walking anyway, but if he had developed just the tiniest hint of a spine and/or independent thought and moral stance, he’d probably be, if not cruising to re-election, giving Hickenlooper more of a run for our money.
ballerat
@Bill Arnold: I agree. He kills people. A lot of people. But he’s a coward so he kills them in sneaky ways or by proxy.
ballerat
@Miss Bianca: I am pleased to say that when my ballot arrives my vote will be added to that weight over his head.
Boris Rasputin (the evil twin)
@Ksmiami: Come sit 6 feet from me. You sound like a fun person.
glc
@germy: That’s very interesting – guidelines approved “after the Food and Drug Administration unilaterally published the guidelines on its own website.”
Nora Lenderbee
Ain’t it great?
brantl
@Kent: Carrey did very well, he nailed it for comedy.