Category: Uncategorized

“A Republic, if you can keep it.”

* “Vaccine or no vaccine, we’re back.”–Alas, there’s no vaccine for uninformed bombast.

* “Mail-in ballots substantially increase the risk of crime and VOTER FRAUD!” Yes, that was none other than the alpha-mail ethicist-in-chief.

* It’s no surprise that Trump, thanks in no small part to his Administration’s halting and confusing response to the coronavirus, has seen his support eroding among older (65-plus) voters. Multiple polls now show Joe Biden with as much as a 10-point advantage over Trump among senior voters. Keep in mind that Trump, according to national exit poll data, won voters over 65 by seven points in 2016.

Since Trump can’t change his narcissistic personality, skewed priorities or chaotic management style during an existential crisis, he needed to do something to encourage older voters to recommit. Plan B? He recently signed a proclamation declaring May to be “Older Americans Month.”

* President Trump has no legal authority to change the timing of the presidential election. But he still has the wherewithal–via his deplorable base, sycophantic GOPsters and hissy-fitting, disaffected progressives–to change history.

* “I totally disagree with (Dr. Anthony Fauci) on schools.”–Dr. Anthony Fauci had cautioned against moving too quickly in sending students back to class. Too bad Dr. Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, only has a scientific, public health forum, not a bully pulpit.

* Not every comparison with the Great Depression is applicable for a pandemic. For openers, the only thing America has to fear is Trump himself.

* Hardly surprising that Karl Rove is the political-advice, go-to guru for Trump Campaign manager Brad Parscale.

* Imagine, a “war-time president” missing in action.

* “Obamagate”: The hashtag being feverishly tweeted by Trump that accuses former President Barack Obama of orchestrating his investigation over Russian involvement in the 2016 election. It’s also a reminder that when the nation faces a serious challenge, Trump will self-servingly divert, distort and demonize.

Haiku for You

Coronavirus

Do not let it defeat us

Honor all heroes

* “Clap for our Careers”: The weekly applause that takes place across Britain at 8 pm every Thursday to show appreciation for all those, including health care workers, helping to keep the country functioning.

* China has announced a plan to test all residents of Wuhan, the city where the coronavirus pandemic began. It will take about 10 days. Wuhan has 11 million residents.

* Deign to dine out? Be careful. Bring a mask and a catheter.

* Speaking of masks, Mitch McConnell would actually look better in one.

* Unemployment statistics showed that 2.98 million people applied for unemployment benefits last week. That’s down from the high of nearly 7 million. For context: The previous, pre-COVID record for jobless claims was 695,000 (1982).  

* “Once on board and off the gate, the face covering policy will become more lenient.” That’s from an American Airlines memo to its pilots. How reassuring.

* “I think in any individual instance, you’re going to see people doing things that are irresponsible. That’s part of the freedom we have here in America.” That was HHS Secretary Alex Azar, rationalizing–if not enabling–life-endangering, counterproductive behavior during a pandemic. It’s part of the double-edged sword of freedom we’re known to wield–and celebrate on bumper stickers–in America. It’s how we defend assault weapons, for example, in the context of cherry-picked, constitutional freedoms. 

* As of last week, Hillsborough had tested 2.45 percent of the county’s 1.4 million residents.

* A special place in hell: For Ponzi schemers creating a wave of fraud during a pandemic.

* No one envies Dr. Anthony Fauci and other public-health experts who have to tolerate and placate the misinforming manipulator-in-chief.  Fauci is still there because he’d rather save lives than face–while hoping that “First do no harm” doesn’t morph into a hypocritical oath.  

* According to scientists, the genetic structure of the novel coronavirus rules out laboratory manipulation.

* For now, the semi-annual Florida Bar Exam, scheduled for July 28-29 in Tampa and Orlando, is still on. Not everyone, to be sure, is comfortable–even with six-feet distancing and masks. Variables such as queues, breaks, bathrooms and hotels are understandably in the conversation. Wonder if legal waivers–this is, after all, a bar exam–are also part of that conversation?

* It was awkward and unfortunate, but not unnecessary. The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s deputies had to break it up a sizable ad hoc gathering of high school mourners–for a fellow Riverview High student who had died in a car accident–because it violated social distancing guidelines. Too bad public safety had to be imposed in such an emotional context. This wasn’t a stay-at-home protest or a flagrant flaunting of public safety. But the deputies did their job in this sometimes unfair new normal.

* Stacey Abrams could play a significant role in the Biden campaign. As the feisty, eloquent, African-American female who came close to becoming governor of Georgia in 2018, Abrams, 46, could help gin up the minority vote with a high-profile, surrogate presence. The other night she appeared with Joe Biden on MSNBC to weigh in on voting rights–and their partisan suppression in certain states.

But Abrams doesn’t just want a President Biden; she also wants a Vice President Abrams. She has been publicly lobbying for a place on the ticket, and that hasn’t gone over well with a lot of influential Democrats. There are a couple of rules of thumb that she’s ignoring. First, when you haven’t held office beyond your state and the last race you ran, you lost, the timing is hardly propitious. Second, it’s normally not advisable to, in effect, campaign for the VP slot, even if gender-and-race demographics are weighing heavily. If a black female is on the ticket, it’s much more likely to be Sen. Kamala Harris, who, notably, is endorsing Biden and, even more notably, is following the playbook that discourages self promotion.

* Reality check: “It’s the terrible irony of this moment,” assessed a former Obama White House official who preferred anonymity. “The crisis is perfectly set up for Biden. It calls for the things he’s so good at–showing empathy; working the instruments of government; providing steady, competent leadership. At the same time, the mediums he now has to use do not play to his strengths as a communicator.”

* “If you’re going to succeed at defeating Donald Trump on the internet, you don’t do it by trying to be Trump or by trying to be Trump’s foil and play his game. You do it by being empathetic, compassionate, and forging connections to people.”–Rob Flaherty, the Biden campaign’s digital director.

* COVID restraints notwithstanding, Barack Obama can certainly be a game-changer. He both respects and likes Joe Biden–as opposed to respecting Hillary Clinton in 2016–and was Biden’s ultimate VP vetter. Too much is at stake with another Trump term for the first African-American president not to be a change-agent presence even if the hustings are virtual. Cable talk shows, political ads and podcasts should be forthcoming. The minority vote has to get back to where it was when he was at the top of the ticket.

And look for more clips of that 2011 White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner where Obama filleted Trump’s ego. “The Donald,” of course, saw it as abject humiliation–not sardonic payback for his efforts to advance his high-profile, Obama-“birther” conspiracy theory.

* For obvious reasons, shares in the three largest publicly-traded theater chains–AMC, Cineworld and Cinemark–are trading as if they may not survive, down as much as 80 percent over the last year. The pandemic only hastens the trend.

* Cy Young Award notwithstanding, don’t look for Blake Snell to be the face of the Rays. Not when you come across as arrogantly clueless when it comes to talking about baseball during a pandemic. “I gotta get my money,” said Snell on his snellzilla.com website, when he wasn’t pitching overpriced hoodies. “I’m not playing unless I get mine, okay?” For the record, his pro-rated money–in a truncated season without packed ballparks–would be about $3.5 million or half what a non-COVID season would have yielded. At a time when America–especially its 30 million unemployed, its grocery workers and its underpaid first responders–grapple with a global threat,  Snell is all about the Benjamins. He’s spoiled; he’s selfish; he’s no Kevin Kiermaier.

* This just in: According to Caesars Sportsbook, the Saints are favored by 6 1/2 points over the Bucs in the season opener in New Orleans. That has to be unfamiliar territory for Tom Brady.

* Brittany Lincicome, a Seminole High grad and a two-time major winner on the LPGA Tour, made the news cycle recently while her sport was shut down. Her caddie, Missy Pederson, tested positive  for COVID-19.

* Rock-climbing is now an Olympic sport. Yes, it’s trendy, but it’s also athletic. But here’s hoping we don’t soon see Cornhole in the Games.

* “The supreme quality for leadership is integrity.”–Former President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

* The development and execution of any plan that contemplates a time horizon longer than a couple of cable television news cycles must await a president other than Trump, who is the avatar of impulsive and reckless improvisation.”–Mac Stipanovich, long-time GOP strategist who now varies his voter registration with the election cycle.

* “Absolute chaotic disaster.”–How former President Barack Obama characterized the Trump Administration’s response to the pandemic.

* “Speaking truth about this dangerous president is not ‘classless.’ It is compulsory–for all of us, not least (Trump’s) predecessor.”–Ruth Marcus, Washington Post.

* “What makes Trump’s (Obama) attacks so egregious in contrast to his predecessors is how he simply concocts scandals out of thin air, cooking up conspiracies that have no relation to historical fact.”–Presidential historian Matthew  Dallek.

* “The panic caused by Obama’s presidency fueled Trump’s own electoral victory. Racism has been Trump’s alpha and omega.”–Jeet Heer, the Nation.

 * “Inconsistent and incoherent national response.”–That’s how the iconic medical journal ‘Lancet’ described the Trump-directed response of America to the novel coronavirus.

* “People complain: ‘Why isn’t Joe on TV more? He’s ceding the public arena to Trump!’ Yeah, how has Trump done having the public arena to himself?”–Ed Rendell, former Pennsylvania governor and a longtime Biden supporter.

* “States that have adopted universal vote-by-mail have shown it can be done securely. They have very strong track records.”–Richard Hasen, law and political science professor at the University of California, Irvine and the author of “Election Meltdown”

* “I don’t want everybody to vote. As a matter of fact, our (Republican) leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down.”–Paul Weyrich, co-founder of the Heritage Foundation.

* “We are bailing out liberal politicians who cannot live within their means.”–Sen. Rick Scott, in arguing against Congress providing an additional round of stimulus funding.

* “As someone who experienced the 2008 budget cuts, I can tell you, it’s going to be painful. When you’re talking about billions in shortfalls, everything’s on the table.”–State Rep. Evan Jenne, D-Dania Beach, the House Democrats’ incoming co-minority leader.

* “If you have a team in an area where they just won’t let them operate, we’ll find a place for you here in the state of Florida.”–Gov. Ron DeSantis, in his message to professional sports teams.

* “The American people never signed up for a perpetual shelter in place.”–Gov. Ron DeSantis.

* “Vote by mail is really the way to go in 2020.”–Craig Latimer, Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections.

* “Just because we’re getting some green lights or even some yellow lights in terms of re-opening, that’s not a pass to just go out and act like we were pre-COVID.”–Dr. Craig Levoy, regional medical director for Bayfront Health Medical Group.

* “They are still interested, for sure.”–Developer Darryl Shaw, on whether the Rays still regard Ybor City as a possible stadium site. Shaw owns approximately 30 acres at the northeast corner of Adamo and Channelside Drives. 

 “A Republic, if you can keep it.”

* President Donald Trump: “They always said … nobody got treated worse than (Abraham) Lincoln. I believe I am treated worse.”–Not yet.

* Imagine being in an FDR moment–and Trump is on the clock.

* Theme music: When Trump, sans mask, toured a Honeywell factory making masks, the noticeable–and notable–music playing in the background was a Guns N’ Roses version of “Live and Let Die.”

* Former President George W. Bush said what he should have said by calling for national unity during perilous times. “We are not partisan combatants,” stressed Bush on a three-minute Twitter video. “Let us remember how small our differences are in the face of this shared threat.”

Current President Donald J. Trump typically said what he should not have said. The narcissist-in-chief dismissed a predecessor’s unity call and focused on self-serving, skewed priorities–not the nation. Bush, said Trump, didn’t push for “putting partisanship aside” during his impeachment trial. “He was nowhere to be found in speaking up against the greatest hoax in American history.”

Only this president would conflate impeachment and a pandemic. It’s part of the Trump plague.

* The White House has acknowledged that a Trump military valet has tested positive for the coronavirus. But Trump, who doesn’t do masks, remains negative. In fact, a WH spokesman confirmed that Trump also tested negative for integrity and empathy.

* Most people couldn’t tell you the name of the post-master general. (It’s Megan J. Brennan.) But that could soon change. That’s because the retiring Brennan is being replaced next month by Louis DeJoy, a political operative with no USPS experience. But he does have standing in the White House by virtue of being the national finance chairman for the Republican National Convention and a donor who has already coughed up more than $350,000 to the super PAC Trump Victory. The concern transcends the usual cronyism with Trump loyalists. Both Democrats and ethics watchdogs are worried that the USPS will be politicized–or weaponized–just as states mobilize their vote-by-mail efforts ahead of the November election.

* “I feel about vaccines like I feel about tests. This is going to go away without a vaccine. It’s going to go away, and we are not going to see it again, hopefully, after a period of time.” That was the science-deprecating, explainer-in-chief  reminding us in his own ironic, inimitable way that no, neither this virus nor this president are going away soon enough.

* William “Belly up to the Trump” Barr keeps reminding us that he is an attorney general who favors White House fealty over the law. He’s the president’s lawyer, not the public’s. His Department of Justice dropping all criminal charges against Michael  “The Fabulist” Flynn–in effect, throwing out a case after the defendant had already pleaded guilty–was a predictable extension of his Mueller Report misrepresentation from his first days on the job. No, we’re not nostalgic for Jeff Sessions, but we will be if there’s a second Trump term.  

* SCOTUS Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 87, was hospitalized recently. Yet another reminder of all that rides on Trump losing in November.

* The involvement of Americans–former Green Berets–in that slapdash, Venezuelan freedom-fighter plot to overthrow President Nicolas Maduro: beyond bizarre. It makes the Bay of Pigs seem almost like a well-oiled plan. Almost. It’s also a reminder that we shouldn’t equate patriots and mercenaries. And it’s a reminder of the political implications of a failed attack–and how it helps a dictator play the us-against-them, nationalist card. For what it’s worth, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the U.S. was not “directly involved.” Hardly an unequivocal denial.

#AloneTogether

* The word “reopen” is a double-edged directive. While it’s intended to carefully ease up on the economic shutdown for certain businesses, that’s not the connotation heard by lots of eager patrons who hear what they want to hear. It’s re-OPEN! It’s time to celebrate, which is at odds with elbow-bumping your buddies and staying prudently distanced. It’s also at odds with a virus that is still circulating. The West Wing isn’t exactly safe, but a bistro is?

* The good news: Global greenhouse gas emissions are projected to plunge nearly 8 percent this year because of worldwide lockdowns and an “unprecedented” decline in the use of fossil fuels, according to the International Energy Agency. The reality: Will air-quality improvements be motivation enough to continue the trend (via green power and electric vehicles) in whatever becomes the post-COVID normal?

* Nursing homes, cruise ships and ICE immigration detention centers: the three biggest incubators for COVID-19 infection.

* “Right now many or possibly most carriers are asymptomatic, yet most businesses do not have the capacity to test customers for COVID-19, which they would want to do if the tests were available, which they aren’t.”–Tyler Cowen, professor of economics at George Mason University.

* Masks: In a pandemic, they have to be seen as symbols of respect and responsibility–not as signs of big government overreach.

* With just five percent of the world’s population, the U.S. has nearly a third of the reported COVID-19 cases–as well as a globe-topping total of more than 80,000 deaths.

* The U.S. was a no-show last week at the teleconference of global leaders pledging contributions for a coronavirus vaccine.

* How ironic that two of the factors that likely mitigated COVID spread in Tampa Bay were urban sprawl and a car culture necessitated by a lack of mass transit that packs in commuters.

* How can those who channel an authoritarian protest the (pandemic-induced) lockdowns of government “tyranny”? Yes, that’s a rhetorical question.

* “Beach Capacity Dashboard“: The online tool launched by the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office that allows beachgoers to check crowd sizes at beaches and parking lots.

* “I’ll take one for the team. I believe Ms. (Tara) Reade, and I’ll vote for Mr. Biden this fall. … Mr. Biden, and the Democrats he may carry with him into government, are likely to do more good for women and the nation than his competition, the worst president in the history of the republic.”–Linda Hirshman, the author of “Reckoning: The Epic Battle Against Sexual Abuse and Harassment.”

* According to the Florida Democratic Party, more than 535,000 calls have been made to enroll Florida Democrats in vote-by-mail since April 1. FlaDems organizers and volunteers have been calling voters across the state to encourage them to register to VBM and then PATCH them through to their local secretary of elections to sign up. It all helps.

* This Saturday at 8 p.m. former President Barack Obama will deliver a virtual commencement speech to the Class of 2020 that will be seen simultaneously on ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC. The one-hour event will also air on TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, Complex Networks, PeopleTV and other digital platforms. Only downside: We will miss Obama even more.

* STAY HOME of the Whopper: It’s a daunting news cycle for ad-dependent news organizations confronted with businesses canceling advertising or demanding that their ads run far removed from grim, COVID media coverage. Lots of luck. There is a notable exception: Burger King. Its message of contact-free food delivery and pickup can practically run as a complement to shutdown news. 

* The late Little Richard was big time back in the day. He helped introduce black R&B to white America and became a charter member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. One quick takeaway: His popularity prompted deplorableand inferior “cover” efforts by white performers. Even my parents thought it was silly, if not embarrassing, to hear Pat Boone’s rendering of “Tutti Frutti.”

* “The virus just isn’t nearly as deadly as we thought it was, all of us, including on this show.”–Fox News host Tucker Carlson.