monitoring Trump and relevant contemporary events

No institution has failed the public worse than the news media during the COVID-19 pandemic

From the very beginning, corporate media got the story wrong, publishing article after article assuring readers that the virus was not as dangerous or serious as it sounded.

“Is this going to be a deadly pandemic?” Vox asked on social media on Jan. 31. “No.”

Later, after it became clear the pandemic that began in China was indeed a fatal, fast-moving global disaster and the bodies started to stack up, major newsgroups in the United States changed tacks, abandoning earlier efforts to downplay the seriousness of the disease to champion the Beijing-approved talking point that says it is “racist” and “xenophobic” to refer to the virus by its city or country of origin.

“Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s coronavirus tweet echoes anti-Chinese racism. He must apologize,” the Sacramento Bee’s editorial board demanded on March 10 after the House GOP leader used the term “Chinese coronavirus” in a tweet. Prior to its editorial, the Sacramento Bee published no fewer than five news headlines featuring the exact term “Chinese coronavirus."

As corporate media rushed to condemn the terms it coined, its individual members embraced a number of demagogic talking points and outright falsehoods, perpetuating junk arguments and total lies in a none-too-subtle effort to score political points.

It gets worse.

The Bloomberg news alert, by the way, came just hours after a number of journalists and pundits interpreted a tweet from a New York Times reporter to mean the White House’s stated “goal” is to reach 100,000-240,000 deaths from the virus. (This most certainly is not the administration’s goal.)

By now, it’s been widely documented that the Trump administration’s process for allotting medical supplies to states that are urgently pleading for them has devolved into a colossal, disastrous mess. What’s sobering is how little we know about why this has happened.

In part due to President Trump’s public rage at governors who criticize him — and the starkly different treatment that states appear to have received — some state officials are “wondering whether politics is playing a role in the response,” as an exposé in The Post delicately puts it.

By now, it’s been widely documented that the Trump administration’s process for allotting medical supplies to states that are urgently pleading for them has devolved into a colossal, disastrous mess. What’s sobering is how little we know about why this has happened.

In part due to President Trump’s public rage at governors who criticize him — and the starkly different treatment that states appear to have received — some state officials are “wondering whether politics is playing a role in the response,” as an exposé in The Post delicately puts it...

Unfortunately when we can see through

Thus it will be of no concern to him or his performance going forward if investigations of his perfect performance are to commence.

After four active hurricane seasons — each of which featured at least one violent Category 5 storm in the Atlantic — experts at Colorado State University are predicting another active hurricane season in 2020.

Significantly, forecasters said they anticipate an “above average probability for major hurricanes making landfall along the continental United States.” This is due to above-average Atlantic sea surface temperatures, a lack of El Niño in the tropical Pacific Ocean and other patterns setting up across the tropics.

The Atlantic hurricane season officially begins June 1, peaks in September and ends Nov. 30.

Of course, they might avert such events with prayer so there's that.

Identity Politics Lied. New Yorkers Died

"As we gear up to celebrate the #LunarNewYear in NYC, I want to assure New Yorkers that there is no reason for anyone to change their holiday plans, avoid the subway, or certain parts of the city because of #coronavirus," she insisted.

By then there had already been over 17,000 cases of the Wuhan Virus in China with nearly 3,000 new cases in one day. For the first time, someone outside Mainland China had died of the disease.

Manhattan’s Chinatown, where Barbot had appeared, is one of the densest parts of the city. The old core community where the Lunar New Year celebration is based is a maze of cramped tenements, narrow streets, tiny stores whose counters extend far into the street, and other unsafe conditions

Barbot went on urging people to participate in the parade while spreading misinformation about the risk. “You won’t get it merely from riding the subways – you get it from secretions,” she even claimed.

The commissioner went on with the happy talk in March.

After the first coronavirus case in the city, she claimed that "disease detectives" would prevent the spread of the coronavirus and that New Yorkers were "at low risk".

Prominent opposition to the Clinton plan was led by William Kristol and his policy group Project for the Republican Future, which is widely credited with orchestrating the plan's defeat through a series of now legendary "policy memos" faxed to Republican leaders.[13]

Quote:

The long-term political effects of a successful... health care bill will be even worse—much worse. ... It will revive the reputation of. ... Democrats as the generous protector of middle-class interests. And it will at the same time strike a punishing blow against Republican claims to defend the middle class by restraining government.

— William Kristol, "Defeating President Clinton's Healthcare Proposal", December 1993[14]

According to a new Politico report, Jared Kushner was initially assigned a side job a few weeks ago, to work with private companies to address COVID-19 testing issues across the nation. Now, his role in the White House’s efforts has expanded significantly. Kushner has taken on an outsized role in coordinating with FEMA and has been working with the private sector intimately to produce and deliver needed medical supplies and equipment.

This brand of shadow crisis management has become a staple of Kushner’s White House portfolio, likely only attainable for Kushner because he enjoys Trump’s full confidence and trust, despite lacking most of the experience necessary to be in such a position. Kushner quietly worked with Congress to pass a criminal justice reform bill, became the face of the White House’s Middle East peace plan and even had a strong role in leading the White House’s response to impeachment proceedings.

Anybody following this?

Sam Levine
@srl
· 2h
Republicans file notice they are appealing federal court ruling easing absentee voting restrictions in Wisconsin

Trump has politicized his response to the coronavirus outbreak and has withheld money and supplies to states whose administrations have criticized him.

It appears as though we may engage in dangerous hostilities in the ME. Anybody following this?