Friday, October 02, 2020

32: RED







72 comments:


  1. 🌟BREAKING NEWS! 🌟
    PRESIDENT TRUMP AND THE FIRST LADY HAVE TESTED POSITIVE FOR COVID-19!

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  2. I smashed a particularly pesky (and large) housefly with my sample ballot. I shall take that as an omen.

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  3. Boris Johnson and coronavirus: the inside story of his illness [Click] Trump is significantly older and evidently in far less satisfactory physical condition to boot.

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  4. Trump Tests Positive
    Josh Marshall

    You’ve probably already seen the news. The President and the First Lady have both tested positive for COVID, according to a tweet a short time ago from the President. Presumably they were infected by Hope Hicks, though I don’t think we can rule out some other chain of transmission, like Hicks and Trump both being infected by some as yet unknown person.

    I don’t want to be alarmist. But the President spent almost two hours in relative proximity to Joe Biden only 48 hours ago.

    Trump, Hicks and Melania Trump are almost certainly not the only three people at the White House with COVID.

    This is a grave situation, coming in the midst of what was already a developing national crisis.

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  5. Should a presidential candidate die before the official election day, things would be complicated by the fact that it is too late for new ballots to be printed, since a lot have already been voted and returned, which was not considered when the current party rules for candidate substitution were put into place. There is no way to know in advance just how such a thing would actually be handled, but it seems to me most practical (if the winning candidate should not survive) to simply elevate the winning VP candidate to the presidency (maybe first as VP, then as President) and appoint a new VP, as with Ford. I sure do hope that Mr. Biden has not been infected by Trump.

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  6. From the Wikipedia article on Gerald Ford:

    In December 1973, two months after the resignation of Spiro Agnew, Ford became the first person appointed to the vice presidency under the terms of the 25th Amendment by President Richard Nixon. After the subsequent resignation of President Nixon in August 1974, Ford immediately assumed the presidency."

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    1. Yeah, I remember that. First non-elected President. At the University of NH, a play was being performed when Nixon announced his resignation. An actor went out on stage and did a Nixon imitation walking across the stage saying, “I resign! I resign!” The audience went wild! I wasn’t present, but a coworker was there and told me the next morning.

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  7. Our neighbor across the street's Trump and Nunes yard signs were gone this afternoon, but it might just be that he had temporarily removed them to mow the lawn. I shall continue to monitor the situation.

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  8. Alan, your next to last sentence made me read the article, since your sentence reads as though Hicks had contracted the illness from Hannity.

    But here’s the quote:

    “Earlier, Trump confirmed in an interview with Sean Hannity of Fox News that Hicks had contracted the virus.”

    The article also states:

    “Trump has in recent days met a number of prominent figures, some of whom are in high-risk categories for coronavirus complications, including Biden, whom he faced, unmasked, during Tuesday’s debate, and the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell.”

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  9. Heather Cox Richardson wrote:

    “According to CNBC, those on Air Force 1 on Wednesday were White House chief of staff Mark Meadows; national security advisor Robert O’Brien; Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani; White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany; Ivanka; Jared Kushner; Donald Jr.; Eric; Donald Jr’s girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle; Eric’s wife Lara; Tiffany; campaign manager Bill Stepien; campaign official Jason Miller; White House social media director Dan Scavino; White House counselor Derek Lyons; political advisor Stephen Miller; Representative Jim Jordan, (R-Ohio), [and] Alice Marie Johnson, the criminal justice reform advocate Trump pardoned.

    “Trump also stood inside near Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden for an hour and a half on Tuesday, yelling and spitting—the very conditions that are most likely to spread the disease. At the debate, his entourage, which included Hicks, Jordan, and the four older Trump children, refused to wear masks despite the mandate that they do so.“

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  10. Good work, listener. That makes sense.

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  11. BBC: “The Washington Post has dropped its paywall to allow people to read its live updates on the situation.”

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  12. RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel tested positive for the novel coronavirus on Wednesday, the New York Times reports.

    She has “mild” symptoms and was last with President Trump a week ago.

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  13. Taegan Goddard opinion (behind paywall) very briefly summarized:

    It is now impossible for Trump to divert attention from the pandemic, and he can’t win if the attention of the public is focused is on the pandemic and his handling of it. (Aside: the video clips of him downplaying the pandemic are almost endless, and will doubtless be replayed frequently.)

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  14. Trump wants to change the subject—or simply rewrite history—when it comes to his administration’s disastrously inept pandemic response, but we lay out the incontrovertible record in the first-ever Mother Jones special issue:

    David Corn on the most consequential act of corruption in the history of American governance
    A day-by-day, lie-by-lie timeline of how the virus spread while the White House denied reality—revised and expanded up to the present
    “Pandemic-Proofing America”: Perspectives on long-term solutions that the US should invest in, from actual experts

    Published as a limited edition with 36 pages and a special foldout cover. Available only on select newsstands or directly from MotherJones.com.

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  15. The Biden campaign is testing those who attended the first presidential debate with the former vice president for Covid-19, Politico reports.

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  16. Miscellany:

    Vice President Mike Pence’s office tells CNN he has tested negative for the novel coronavirus.
    Harris tests negative for coronavirus - msn.com
    [Of course it takes some time after infection to develop a positive test.]

    Joe Biden is expected to get tested for coronavirus this morning, CNN reports.

    “Just hours before President Trump announced that he had tested positive for COVID-19, he was mingling with fundraisers at an event held at his New Jersey golf club—and even posed for personal photo-ops with supporters,” the Daily Beast reports. “The event went ahead after the White House learned that one of the president’s closest aides, Hope Hicks, had tested positive for the disease.”

    NYT: White House officials had hoped to keep the news about Ms. Hicks from becoming public, to no avail.”

    GOP Donors ‘Panicking’ After Event with Trump
    October 2, 2020 at 11:16 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 148 Comments
    “Republican donors who attended President Trump’s fundraiser at his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club on Thursday are panicking after being around the commander-in-chief hours before he tested positive for the coronavirus,” CNBC reports.
    “GOP donors, according to a person briefed on the matter, have been reaching out to Trump campaign and Republican National Committee officials for any guidance as to what to do next following the event.”
    Bloomberg: Trump kept regular schedule after learning close aide tested positive.

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    1. This underscores how badly they need campaign money.

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  17. Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) announced he has tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
    Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett met with Lee on Tuesday and neither of them wore face masks.

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  18. The Hill:

    President Trump’s campaign did not notify Joe Biden’s team of the president’s positive coronavirus test, according to two sources close to the former vice president’s campaign.

    Instead, Biden’s campaign discovered that the president and first lady Melania Trump had tested positive for COVID-19 after seeing news reports, which came two days after Biden and Trump met in Cleveland for the first presidential debate on Tuesday. . .

    Biden and his running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), were tested for the coronavirus on Friday. Harris tested negative for the virus, while Biden is still awaiting his results. [I don't like the sound of that, if true.]

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  19. I'm seeing both Bidens test negative.

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    1. True that, Renee!

      https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/02/politics/joe-biden-coronavirus/index.html

      Renee, do you and D have any workaround idears for puddle? She can't seem to get to the blog now, because Firefox has issues getting here and she's on dialup, so can't download a different browser.

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    2. PCR tests negative; very good. May it stay that way.

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    3. Only thing I can think of at the moment is to try removing the countdown widget. I know that loads kind of slow.

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    4. Renee, it's weirder than just loading slowly too. I can get into the blog and post just fine from Safari or Chrome on my iPhone and from Safari on my computer (Macbook). But just since yesterday Chrome won't let me post unless I identify myself with every post, and doesn't recognise me as an Admin (no delete function). Thoughts?

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  20. The tiny Swiss town that inspired Nietzche [Click] Nietzche and Ground Hog Day [the movie]? Who knew?

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  21. Thinking of Puddle's problems with posting--the versions of the browser and the operating system have a lot to do with compatibility. On my older computer I continue to use the last version of Chrome that is compatible with that operating system (which is compatible with several important pieces of software and hardware), but I can't post to the blog using it.

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    1. I have noticed some problems with posting to the blog with my newer computer lately, but they seem to have gone away now.

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  22. via NowThisDaily:
    RNC CHAIR TESTS POSITIVE FOR COVID-19: Ronna McDaniel, chair of the Republican National Committee, tested positive for the coronavirus on Wednesday, The New York Times reports. We're watching a live shot of the White House. McDaniel made an appearance on Fox News on Thursday where she did not disclose the diagnosis. Pres. Trump, Melania Trump, and senior WH aide Hope Hicks have also tested positive. Even after Hicks tested positive, Trump attended a fundraiser at his golf resort in New Jersey 'where one attendee said the president came in contact with about 100 people,' the Times reports. Neither Hicks nor McDaniel publicly announced their diagnoses—the news was broken by reporters. 'Keep in mind,' wrote CNN reporter John Harwood, 'the WH did not voluntarily disclose ANYTHING about this.'

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  23. Replies
    1. If he has a bad cough, couldn't they just dope him up with codeine cough syrup or something similar?

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  24. VT: 1768 (+13)
    58 deaths (66 days)
    99 active cases
    Recovered: 1611 (+2)
    In_Hospital 0 (-1)
    Tests 164,859 (+1015)

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  25. Thinking of the Supreme Court nomination:
    The nominee has had and recovered from COVID, so that isn't a problem.
    Last week they were saying that there were only ten working days left for the Senate before adjournment; not sure if it is less now.
    Every GOP senator who comes down with COVID will be unable to vote in person, so that narrows their advantage (not that it couldn't happen with Dems as well), and makes dilatory tactics by the Dems more likely to succeed. This could be a lot closer run thing than Moscow Mitch anticipated.

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  26. New Battleground State Polls

    October 2, 2020 at 3:01 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 106 Comments

    From Suffolk University:

    ARIZONA: Biden 50%, Trump 46%

    From Public Policy Polling:

    MICHIGAN: Biden 50%, Trump 44%

    From Redfield & Wilton:

    ARIZONA: Biden 47%, Trump 44%
    FLORIDA: Biden 48%, Trump 43%
    MICHIGAN: Biden 515, Trump 42%
    NORTH CAROLINA: Biden 47%, Trump 45%
    PENNSYLVANIA: Biden 50%, Trump 44%
    WISCONSIN: Biden 48%, Trump 43%

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    Replies
    1. Presumably the Michigan entry "Biden 515" should be "Biden 51%"

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  27. OHIO: As of Friday afternoon, there have been at least 156,809 confirmed or probable cases in the state, 4,905 deaths, and 15,688 hospitalizations, according to the Ohio Department of Health.

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  28. The Melania tapes bust the “Free Melania” myth [Click] “Turns out the first lady is a lot like her husband.”

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  29. Replies
    1. It would be most interesting if the judge were to issue a bench warrant for the Secretary of Commerce.

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  30. WHOOPSIE! President Trump is headed to Walter Reed Medical Center, according to a White House pool report. NBC News reported on air that Trump is expected to be at Walter Reed for a few days and will work from the offices there.

    Why should he work from offices at Walter Reed when he doesn't work from offices at the White House?

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    1. I suppose that he is simply going to complete his annual physical, that he started that one evening a while back.

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    2. Oh, I forgot--tweeting is work.

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    3. His symptoms include fever and fatigue. He was taken to WR by helicopter, and they’re saying it’s in “an abundance of caution” and his symptoms are “mild.”

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    4. I just heard “cough” on CNN.

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    5. DT Advisor to CNN reporter:

      “Trouble breathing”

      “This is serious”

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  31. I requested mail-in ballots for the entire family last night. I had really wanted to vote in person, recording my choices by touch screen rather than hassling with paper and maybe a magnifier, but with new Illinois cases showing no sign of coming down from ~2000/day that doesn't seem like a good idea.

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    1. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, Bill.

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  32. My SIL sent this to me today:

    Looks like RBG successfully argued her first case before God.

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    1. The 2 GOP Senators who have tested positive [Mike Lee and Thom Tillis] are members of the Judiciary Committee.

      That RBG comment seems all the more plausible, eh?

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  33. Just woke up from a nice little snooze. A couple of news notes:

    While Joe Biden is going to stop running negative campaign ads after Trump has been diagnosed with coronavirus, the Trump campaign has confirmed that they are not going to pause their attack ads against Biden.

    While White House officials continue to say the president is doing fine, one unnamed Trump campaign adviser tells CNN that the president is very fatigued and having some trouble breathing. “This is serious,” the source said. This is an account from a single anonymous source, so weigh it accordingly. We’ll update you if there are any confirmations about the seriousness of the president’s condition tonight.

    Trump is reported never to have previously spent a night in a hospital.

    Walter Reed is known as the president’s hospital. It contains a White House-controlled suite for the president to receive medical care. More details on what that means from journalist Scott MacFarlane: President has his own suite at medical center. With its own ICU, kitchen, secure conference room. WH Chief of Staff has office space in medical center. And White House physician gets sleeping quarters.

    [Too bad he won’t be getting the full experience.]

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  34. WaPo: Secret Service agents say president’s actions have repeatedly put them at risk of infection

    Secret Service agents expressed their anger and frustration to colleagues and friends Friday, saying that the president’s actions have repeatedly put them at risk. “He’s never cared about us,” one agent told a confidant, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the internal reaction.
    Former Secret Service agents said that it was unheard of for agents to openly complain about their president but that some currently in the ranks had become convinced during the pandemic that Trump was willing to put his protectors in harm’s way.
    Agents who work in field offices around the country complained that since late August, they are no longer being tested when they return home from working at a rally for the president.
    “This administration doesn’t care about the Secret Service,” one current agent relayed in an internal discussion group. “It’s so obvious.”

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  35. Why Has the President Gone Silent? [Click] Good question indeed; it is most unlike him.

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  36. Kellyanne Conway has tested positive for COVID-19.

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  37. Scramble under way in Washington to trace spread of Covid among US leadership [Click] Multiple superspreader events, oh my! Concatenated, quite possibly. I think I read somewhere that now there are three GOP members of the Senate Judiciary Committee with verified COVID-19, and two of them have said they will quarantine for ten days instead of fourteen so they can show up on time for the SCOTUS appointment hearing.

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  38. I'm back. Turns out I can sign in in waterfox (my only other browser which I'd stopped using 'cause it could/would no longer update.

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