Category: Uncategorized

#AloneTogether

* “It’s just a smoldering fire, and when the conditions are ripe, it just takes off. A second wave isn’t something that happens right away.”–Dr. Marissa Levine, director of the Center for Leadership in Public Health Practice at USF.

* “The scientific data is really quite evident now about the lack of efficacy.”–Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s top infectious disease expert, on the use of hydroxychloroquine to treat coronavirus patients.

* “FOMO.” Fear Of Missing Out. In short, it’s the incentive for some to re-socialize imprudently now that more businesses–notably restaurants–are re-opening.

* Florida drivers were involved in 16,191 crashes in April. The previous April that figure was 33,692.

* Nearly 1 million Floridians have been tested–or just shy of 5 percent of the state’s population. Of those tested, 5.6 percent have been positive.

* Another sign of societal re-opening: Beer pong is back.

* The Commerce Department reported new-home sales climbed 0.6 percent in April, a notably unexpected increase.

* Florida state revenue was down $871 million in April.

* Given the most recent, excruciating reminder that the U.S. is still dealing with rogue policing of African-Americans, the pressure has only ratcheted up for Joe Biden to choose a black woman for the ticket. That could likely mean Sen. Kamala Harris, whose back story includes being bused for integration–as well as a prosecutorial background that will be heavily scrutinized. And, yes, the racial unrest in Minneapolis complicates the veep prospects of Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar.

* “The most disloyal, actual retard that has ever set foot in the Oval Office. A complete blithering idiot.” That was conservative author (“In Trump We Trust”) and commentator Ann Coulter, riffing on Trump. Count on seeing that Coulter quote again in Biden ads.  

* The AFL-CIO has endorsed Joe Biden. No surprise, but no less helpful to have the country’s largest coalition of labor unions behind your candidate–and “playing hard,” as AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka put it.

* Because there will be a female on the Dem ticket, there’s still talk of Trump matching that–think Nikki Haley, not Sarah Palin–and dropping Mike Pence. But if Pence stays on the ticket, he may become a bigger presence on the campaign trail. Maybe even get his own hat with a theme that could complement Trump pandering. Perhaps “Make America Straight Again.”

* Thank you, SpaceX and the Falcon 9 rocket. Where sigh of relief meets occasion for celebration. It’s been nearly nine years since the U.S. last launched astronauts from America. Saturday’s launch from the Kennedy Space Center–taking two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station–highlighted the changing face of space travel.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX made history: A private company had never sent people into orbit before. So, thank you, SpaceX, for giving us a hopeful and proud moment amid the chaos and worry of our perfect-storm “new normal.” A new beginning for American space exploration–and the revival of the aerospace industry in Florida–is more than a welcome diversion. It’s American progress–and a real reason for lots of virtual high-fiving.

* Gov. Ron DeSantis’ recent appointments of John Couriel and Renatha Francis to fill two vacancies on the Florida Supreme Court checked several boxes. Both come from immigrant communities. Couriel, 41, is the son of Cuban immigrants; Francis, 42, is a Jamaican immigrant. And as 40-somethings, both could theoretically be on the court for more than a generation.  And both are members–as is DeSantis–of the conservative-libertarian, “originalist” Federalist Society.

* Another hurricane season means another list of hurricane names, 21 in all–from Arthur to Wilfred. But “Hurricane Nana?” What would Emile Zola say?

* “Right now, we’re not in the second wave. We’re right in the middle of the first wave globally.”–WHO Executive Director Dr. Mike Ryan.

* “Severing ties with  the World Health Organization serves no logical purpose and makes finding a way out of this public health crisis dramatically more challenging.”–Dr. Patrice Harris, president of the American Medical Association.

* “Dereliction of duty.”–How House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy characterized the House allowing the first-ever remote Congressional floor votes. Republican leaders filed a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the vote-by-proxy arrangement.

* “It has become increasingly clear that money intended to rescue small businesses has often gone not to those with the greatest need but rather to those with the most shameless lawyers. They are part of the national equation: Power creates money creates more power creates more money.”–Nicholas Kristof, New York Times.

* “(Trump) doesn’t read the bible and he doesn’t live as a Christian and love thy neighbor. But he is demanding that the churches be re-opened because his evangelical base will love that. Everything he’s doing right now is to stave off a loss in November.”–Trump biographer Tim O’Brien.

* “The most critical question for American democracy: Will President Trump concede if he is defeated by Joe Biden in the November election? Or put another way, can a liar accept a truth incompatible with his devouring ego? The need to pose these questions reflects the depth of the national nightmare.”–Roger Cohen, New York Times.

* “Partisanship seems to continue to escalate in spite of the crisis. It is the worst I have seen in my lifetime. And there is no end in sight.”–Former Democratic Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle.

* “Far from being an odd couple, Trump and Mitch McConnell are a perfectly paired duo. They work well together as a grifter team. Trump is the clown who grabs all the attention, while McConnell picks the pockets of the distracted crowd.”–Jeet Heer, The Nation.

* “The entire GOP, which just nominated a QAnon believer as its Senate candidate in Oregon, is becoming a modern day Know Nothing Party, a cesspool of prejudice and irrationality.”–Max Boot, Council on Foreign Relations senior fellow and CNN global affairs analyst.

* “Wearing a red (MAGA) hat doesn’t inoculate you from the transmission of diseases.”–Former Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn, on speculation that the GOP could relocate its Charlotte convention over disputes about social-distance guidelines.

* “North Carolina is relying on data and science to protect our state’s public health and safety.”–North Carolina’s (Democratic) Gov. Roy Cooper.

* “In Florida, the Republicans have pretty much dominated (voting by mail) in the last two decades.”–Republican Party of Florida chairman Joe Grutas.

* “It’s richly ironic that a Republican president is now screaming about a growing vote-by-mail option.”–Christian Ulvert, Miami-based Democratic strategist.

* “In the critical months of this pandemic, the cabinet has been left in the dark.”–Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried.

* “They’re not anti-cop; they’re anti-police brutality, as we all should be.”–Tampa Police Chief Brian Dugan’s message to those protesting the killing of George Floyd.

* “We will help the churches. We will help the synagogues. We believe that everybody needs to worship. This is the time to worship.”–Mohamed Aqad, Islamic Society of Tampa Bay Area mosque administrator.

 “A Republic, if you can keep it.”

* “Our country was not meant to be shut down.” Or shut up.

* Vanity and ventilators. So, President Donald Trump goes to the Ford Motor Company’s repurposed factory in Michigan, which now makes ventilators, in order to be seen as doing and saying, well, something in the critical swing state of Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. It was the day after he had vilified Whitmer and the state with false claims of voter fraud.

What he was heard saying in the Ypsilanti plant was that he couldn’t wait for the country to reopen for business and Trump rallies–and also worked in a reference to “200 beautiful new miles of border wall.” And what he was seen doing was defying plant guidelines by preening about without a mask. Trump doesn’t like the optics, and his ego won’t permit public masking, even as his inability to lead during a crisis has long been unmasked.

The political upshot from the state where most polls have Trump trailing Biden: “He’s going to be asked not to return to any enclosed facilities inside our state,” announced Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel.

* Bully pulpit update: The tumult over Trump taking hydroxychloroquine is certainly warranted–but not because it could put the health of the charlatan-in-chief in jeopardy. It’s because it necessarily sends a message to fellow Americans, especially those who channel this president, that an unproven malaria drug could be worth trying–potential fatal side effects notwithstanding. 

*The  Senate approved the confirmation of Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-Texas, as next director of national intelligence. His confirmation passed 49-44. For the record, that’s more “no” votes than any other DNI nominee. Maybe it’s because he was blatantly unqualified. When Congress created the DNI position two decades ago, it was with the expectation that directors would be nonpartisan national security experts. With Ratcliffe, they get a Texas congressman known for Trump loyalty whose best credential is that he has been a member of the House Intelligence Committee for a year.

* It’s beyond ironic–and hypocritical–that Trump, the embodiment of immorality, has hectored hard for churches to reopen. Perhaps he will double down to keep his appeal to evangelicals by showing up–sans mask–at a service and passing out collection plates, sharing a prayer book and joining in congregant singing and chanting.

* For the first time in more than two months, Trump was able to play some golf–at the Trump National Golf Club in suburban Virginia. No mention of whether his caddy was Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham or William Barr.

* Not that anyone’s nostalgic, but there’s a post-Cold War arms races going on. Who would have thought the “new normal” would include a competition in hypersonic (speeds in excess of Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound) weapons among the U.S., Russia and China. “Our ultimate goal is, simply, we want to dominate future battlefields,” said Mark Lewis, the Pentagon’s director of defense research and engineering for modernization. As for the commander-in-chief: “I call it the super-duper missile.” Whatever.

* Trump continues to heap scorn on the practice of voting by mail with his unproven and unprovable accusations of fraud. Presumably, that doesn’t include his While House mail-in to his “home state” of Florida.

* Political karma update: “Alabama, do not trust (Senate candidate) Jeff Sessions. He let our country down.”

A critical rule of political expediency is candidates remembering that there are things better left unsaid publicly or said by designated surrogates. Most recent Exhibit A: Joe Biden and that “ain’t black” remark. And that’s too bad, because we know what Biden meant–and so does everyone else.

“If you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or for Trump then you ain’t black,” wryly noted Biden on “The Breakfast Club,” a black-popular, syndicated morning radio show that airs on more than 100 stations nationwide. It’s a go-to stop for candidates courting black voters. He cut to the pragmatic- and -ideological chase and underscored the obvious. He wasn’t being literal–or taking the black vote for granted. Fortunately he didn’t reference “Uncle Toms.”

He wasn’t positioning himself as the arbiter of blackness. He was being brutally honest about a presidential showdown that is hardly a Hobson’s choice. Trump’s racist track record is as lengthy as it is loathsome–from red-lining New York housing and crusading for the execution of the “Central Park Five” for a gang rape they didn’t commit to his “birther” attacks on Barack Obama, his “blame on both sides” characterization of the infamous, white-power rally in Charlottesville and his ongoing tweets and re-tweets of racist commentary. And a lot more. Does Kanye West have that much cred with African-Americans?

Joe Biden, not unlike a lot of the electorate, was wondering out loud how serious black voters could even consider voting for the racially-vile occupant of the White Nationalist House. The same rhetorical question about oxymoronic fealty, frankly, could also be asked of evangelicals and women who support Trump. Is it some kind of perverse Faustian deal, classic hypocrisy or just unconscionable cluelessness?

This isn’t quibbling over discerning minorities voting Republican. If the Biden option were John Kasich, Jon Huntsman, John McCain, Mitt Romney or Jeb! Bush, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.

But the choice is between Biden, an imperfect, experienced, qualified candidate whose mistakes are typically political gaffes, or Trump, the avatar of immorality, sexism and racism whose mistakes are a threat to the country and the planet.

If you’re black or an evangelical or a woman and your 2020 candidate for president is Trump, the onus is on you–not Trump’s opponent–to explain what the hell you’re doing with your vote.

#AloneTogether

* Emergency room visits are down nearly 50 percent across Florida. But it’s not, alas, because there are far fewer emergencies, but because patients, including those suffering heart attacks and strokes, are increasingly delaying–or refusing–care because they are afraid of going to a hospital during a pandemic.

* 83 percent: That’s how much profits in the Florida tourism industry dropped in mid-April.

* The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Tampa has reopened–with a new-normal ambience that includes masks, thermal imaging and sanitized chips as part of a “safety first mentality.” But will its customers feel comfortable enough in a pandemic casino, safety measures notwithstanding? Well, they are gamblers.

* 12.9 percent: The Florida unemployment rate for April, a modern-day record. The national unemployment rate is 14.7 percent. Highest unemployment rate: Nevada (28.2 percent); lowest rate: Connecticut (7.9 percent).

* No mandatory COVID testing in nursing homes yet? Nearly half of all Florida COVID deaths are tied to long-term care facilities. What’s DeSantis waiting for? Trump intervention? Not much he can do about cruise ships or ICE detention centers, but nursing homes?  How about whatever it takes, including diverting state and federal funds? Or are nursing homes de facto triage operations?

* The Tampa Bay Comic Convention (July 10-12 at Tampa Convention Center) is set to return–as in “green light to proceed.” Watch for all those Comicon Spidermen with masks.

* Sign of re-opening: an abandoned scooter.

* Look who’s co-chairing the Biden campaign’s climate change task force: NY Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the ultra-progressive, erstwhile, high-profile surrogate for Bernie Sanders.

* MLB management and the MLB Players Association are still working their way through protocols for opening the season. The Players Association, for example, wants more frequent coronavirus testing, while MLB management wants a ban on spitting.

* I like watching Fox Sports classic Rays and Lightning games, especially since I know they wouldn’t be dubbed “classic” in this market if the home teams didn’t win. Exciting, relaxing guaranteed wins help. They also afford the opportunity to be a bit more analytical of what’s happening on the ice as well as being more aware of arena optics.

Speaking of the latter, in the Bolts’ first-ever playoff win at The Spectrum in Philadelphia in 1996, I noticed a “Trump Castle” ad along the rinkside boards–between Amtrak and Mountain Dew signage. No, there’s no avoiding Trump reminders, even when you’re escaping to sports replays during isolation. BTW, the Trump Castle casino (in nearby Atlantic City) was eventually sold (as the renamed Trump Marina) in 2011 during one of Trump Entertainment’s numerous bankruptcy filings. Bottom line: There is no distancing from Trump.

* “This move by Beijing would rip away the remaining veneer of ‘one country, two systems.’ It would precipitate a crisis in U.S.-China relations.”–Evan Medeiros, a former senior Asia director at the National Security Council, on China’s plans to impose sweeping new security powers over Hong Kong.

* “What we’re fighting against is these long-term trends where being selfish, being tribal, being divided and seeing others as an enemy. That has become a stronger impulse in American life. And, by the way, we’re seeing that internationally as well.”–Former President Barack Obama.

* “We concluded the potential benefit from treatment outweighed the relative risks.”–Rationale of  White House physician Dr. Sean Conley, on why he acceded to President Trump’s request for hydroxychloroquine, an unproven malaria drug.

* “I think the pandemic is the world’s way of saying to mankind, ‘You’re not in charge.'”–U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts.

* “If the race is just Trump vs. Biden, Trump stands a chance. If it’s viewed as Trump vs. Obama, the incumbent has a bigger problem.”–Doyle McManus, Los Angeles Times.

* “The firings of multiple Inspectors General is unprecedented. … It is a threat to accountable democracy and a fissure in the constitutional balance of powers.”–Republican Utah Sen. Mitt Romney.

* “(Trump) is the most vaudevillian performance artist who ever inhabited the White House. He has a consuming desire to always be center stage, yet he never wants to reveal who he really is. He masks his finances, his taxes, his friendships, his ongoing family conflicts of interest, his ignorance and his inadequacies. He’s constantly making up areas of expertise he doesn’t have.”–Trump biographer Tim O’Brien.

* “Not every abuse of power, no matter how outrageous, is necessarily a federal crime.”–Attorney General William Barr.

* “There is a growing sense that the recovery may come more slowly than we would like, and that may mean that it’s necessary for us to do more.”–Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.

* “This state is really leading the way to open up America again.”–Vice President Mike Pence, praising Florida’s handling of the coronavirus crisis during a meeting in Orlando with Gov. Ron DeSantis and hospitality and tourism industry leaders.

* “This is a virus that, if you’re in good shape, you’re probably going to be OK. I think it’s really important that people have access to gyms.”–Gov. Ron DeSantis.

* “You need a different approach. Florida is test-crazy. I think the virus is forcing some rethinking of what has been given over the past few decades.”–Bob Schaeffer, the Florida-based, interim executive director of the National Center for Fair & Open Testing.

* “The requirement to pay fees and costs as a condition of voting is unconstitutional because they are, in substance, taxes.”–U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle in ruling Florida’s voting law, which requires fines, fees and other costs be paid before former felons are allowed to vote, is unconstitutional.

* “The simple truth is that congestion is the problem, not growth and prosperity.”–Jennifer Motsinger, executive vice president of the Tampa Bay Builders Association.

* “The level of uncertainty is absolutely unprecedented.”–Tampa CFO Dennis Rogero.

* We know that as you reopen, the key is to reopen the correct way, because you only get one shot to get it right.”–Bob Morrison, executive director of the Hillsborough County Hotel & Motel Association.

* “We absolutely expect we will be part of the college football season.”–Outback Bowl president Jim McVay.

* “We’re going to have to keep an eye on beach capacity limits. This is something the public is going to have to understand.”–Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri.