Category: Uncategorized

#AloneTogether

• Russia has now joined the U.S., India and Brazil with more than 1 million confirmed COVID-19 cases.
• India recently recorded a global record 91,000 infections for a single day. The previous record was 77,638 in July in the U.S.
• The German COVID death rate is one forty-eighth that of the United States. Maybe it helps to have a scientist, in this case Angela Merkel, in charge.
• “The Trump administration is responsible for the single worst public health failure in the last 100 years.”—Peter J. Hotez, global health expert and dean at the Baylor College of Medicine.
• African-Americans ages 65 to 74 died of COVID-19 five times as often as whites.
• North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Arkansas, Missouri, Indiana and Illinois: states that are “at risk for surging,” according to Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease.
• 8.4 percent: U.S. unemployment rate in August. 10.2 percent: Unemployment rate in July.
• “We hear the pain and concerns of our neighbors and are acting to bring much-needed solutions to bolster this bedrock economic engine for Florida and the nation.”—Congresswoman Kathy Castor, who recently introduced H.R. 8122—the bipartisan Protecting Tourism in the United States Act (with Michigan Republican Rep. Fred Upton) that directs the Department of Commerce to study the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the travel and tourism industry.
• 3,400: People across Florida who are hospitalized with a primary diagnosis of the coronavirus. 520: Those hospitalized in the Tampa Bay area.
• 25: Number of early voting sites in Hillsborough County—including Amalie Arena.
• “If there is a safe and effective vaccine, I think that the most vulnerable population should have priority.”—Gov. Ron DeSantis.
• “Is the state coming to us because they want everyone to be safe, or are they coming to the black community because they want them to be your lab rats? That’s the message that is out there on social media.”—Black Democratic State Rep. Shevrin Jones, one of four legislators who have been diagnosed with COVID-19.

“Yes, we can.”

• Biden on the hustings: Keep him (as) scripted (as possible), prudently and symbolically masked and on the offensive–as well as the empathetic. Juxtaposition matters, especially in key swing states. Biden and Trump are the very definition of contrast–from character to competence–and incumbency isn’t the advantage it typically is. Not when so much of what is wrong and worrisome right now would not be part of the “new normal” were it not for the commander-in-carnage. Life is manifestly fraught—but the only thing we have to fear—is the fearmonger-in-chief if he gets another four years. November is a zero-sum referendum on existential hope or epic fear. Keep playing the hope and not fear-card, Joe, along with a normalized foreign policy and a domestic agenda that keeps the Bernie Bros. on board—especially on climate (note how that worked for A.O.C-supported Sen. Ed Markey in his surprise Massachusetts primary win over Rep. Joe Kennedy)–as Trump doubles down on law-and-order optics and anarchist riffs that drive his consummate wedge issue while placating and motivating QAnon.
• It’s a given that the 2016 Bernie Sanders presidential candidacy ultimately helped thwart Hillary Clinton. A lingering sense of grievance over a “rigged system” led to hardcore-progressive hissy fits that eroded the Democratic vote. Sanders’ disciples could tell that his late, lukewarm endorsement of Clinton was nominal. It was never a secret that Sanders got along a lot better with Biden, a friend, than with Clinton.

Nothing that Bernie Sanders has said since Biden became the de facto and then official Democratic nominee has resonated more with the Biden campaign than when Sanders recently leavened his progressivism with political pragmatism. “At this moment, what we need to do is engage in coalition politics with the goal of defeating Trump,” said Sanders. Exactly. What good is being an egalitarian, humane, zero-sum progressive—if you’re not doing everything to thwart another term for this regressively odious regime?

• The Biden campaign netted a record-shattering $364 million in August.
• The public outrage over President Bone Spurs’ myriad episodes of military disparagement—and scathing commentary from prominent members of the military and intelligence communities—has obvious election implications. Polls now show a notable drop in Trump approval ratings among the military rank and file. It could certainly be a factor in Florida. The Sunshine State has 20 major military installations and is home to more than 1.5 million veterans–none of them identifying as “losers” or “suckers”–the nation’s third largest vet population.
• If Barack Obama’s legacy, already diminished because of Trump’s shocking victory, is to include more than winning the (previously lily) White House, it will have to happen via a Biden win.
• Douglas Emhoff, 55, Kamala Harris’ husband, could make history along with his wife. He would be the first Second Gentleman. By all accounts, the Brooklyn native is smart, engaging and friendly. No, he won’t be a difference maker, but, yes, he’s no ToddPalin.
• “They’re going to vote for Joe Biden, because he is a remedy of what ails folks right now.”—Adrianne Shropshire, executive director of BlackPAC.

• To no one’s surprise, the 2020 virtual political conventions attracted fewer television viewers than the 2016 version. But one set of new-normal numbers still stands out—at least from the ego-driven perspective of Donald Trump. According to Nielsen TV ratings, Trump’s 70-minute, White House-backdropped, acceptance speech to a live, tightly-packed and largely unmasked crowd of more than 1,000 was seen by about 23.8 million live viewers. Joe Biden’s virtual version was seen by 24.6 million viewers.
• “I’ve seen better cabinets at Ikea.” Still a favorite anti-Trump, Women’s March sign.
• For fans of the 1980s high school-hoops classic, “Hoosiers,” how disappointing to see “The Way Back,” the Ben Affleck-starring version of the feel-good, underdog genre. “Hoosiers” featured Gene Hackman as a coach with a problematic past and Dennis Hopper as the town drunk. “The Way Back” Affleck character awkwardly combines them both. “The Way Back,” an exercise in languor and clichés, pales. Even during a feel-bad pandemic.

• A recent Rays-Yankees game at Yankee Stadium was held up for a while as a result of the “new normal” we now live in. But it had nothing to do with COVID or BLM. Umpires cleared the field and sent all players into their dugouts—as a result of a drone flying over the field.
• “We simply couldn’t play football and look parents in the eye and say, ‘We’ve got your kids’ best interest in mind.’” Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott, addressing his conference’s bottom-line rationale for canceling fall football.
• How ironic. Baseball is taking measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus–while message-sending, 101-mph pitches aimed at a batter’s head are still part of the game.
• Sports teams love their nicknames—often derived from an actual surname: think “Stammer” and “Kuch” for the Bolts. But the Rays’ surprisingly successful, rookie pitcher Josh Fleming arguably deserves better than, uh, “Flem.”
• “We don’t like them; they don’t like us.”—Rays centerfielder Kevin Kiermaier, in reference to the Rays-Yankees relationship.

• “We know how to win these (arms) races, and we know how to spend the adversary into oblivion.”—Marshall Billingslea, U.S. special envoy for arms control.
• “Russia is likely to continue amplifying criticisms of vote-by-mail and shifting voting processes amidst the COVI-19 pandemic to undermine public trust in the electoral process.”—Memo of warning from the Department of Homeland Security to election officials.
• “As a system designed to bolster the power of rural whites at the expense of black Americans, the Electoral College continues to work exactly as designed.”—Christopher Ingraham, Washington Post.
• “Our Constitution does not secure the peaceful transition of power, but rather presupposes it.”—Lawrence Douglas, Amherst College law professor and author of “Will He Go?”
• “He is who he is. I think what we know now is that Donald Trump cannot rise to the occasion, he cannot grow into the job. He is someone who stokes controversy and conflict and outrage. It’s who he was in his reality TV days, and who he is as president of the United States.”—Carly Fiorina, the former chief executive of Hewlett-Packard who ran in the Republican presidential primary in 2016.
• “Biden keeps everyone on board for two reasons. First, he does not sound like a ranting left-winger out to destroy capitalism. … Second, when Trump threatens democracy, tries to incite racial violence, lies constantly and runs a kleptocratic administration that would make Russian oligarchs blush, voters will put aside a whole lot of issues that simply are not as important as preserving representative democracy.”—Jennifer Rubin, Washington Post.
• “Too much of the evidence points to the Trump administration pressuring the FDA to approve a vaccine by Election Day to boost the president’s re-election campaign.”—Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer.
• “A lot of people that voted for President Trump did so because they did not like Hillary Clinton. I don’t see that happening with Joe Biden—how can you not like Joe Biden?”—Florida Republican Congressman Francis Rooney.
• “President Trump represents the last primal shriek of retrograde white men afraid to lose their power. He’s a dinosaur who evokes a world of beauty pageants, ‘suburban housewives,’ molestation, cheating on your wife when she’s pregnant, paying off porn stars, preferring women to be seen and not heard, dismissing women who challenge you as nasty, angry and crazy.”—Maureen Dowd, New York Times.
• “(I’ll) take my wheelchair and my titanium legs over Donald Trump’s supposed bone spurs any day.”—Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a double-amputee Army vet.
• “Surely, many of Trump’s supporters know they’re getting played. And they don’t mind, so long as they can ‘own the libs.’”—Timothy Egan, New York Times.
• “Vice President Biden has an excellent chance to beat this guy. And I think Biden has the qualities and values to clean up this mess that President Trump has gotten us into.”—Former New York Republican Congressman Jim Walsh.
• “We have just been through a colossal test case in how you corrupt and incapacitate a great democracy. And failing to learn these lessons is a disservice to that democracy.”—Democratic Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse.
• “Each and every time (Trump) has violated a law or a norm and received no pushback from his party, he has made further violations of law and custom more likely.”—Mona Charen, The Bulwark.
• “There is a deep belief by not just Obama, but many people who have worked for him, that we can recover from four years of Trump, but the damage from eight would be irreversible.”—Jen Psaki, former White House communications director under President Barack Obama.
• “Hillary Clinton would be running for re-election right now if African-American turnout in 2016 had been higher in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Detroit and Milwaukee.”—Eugene Robinson, Washington Post.
• “Inflation that is persistently too low can pose serious risks to the economy.”—Jerome H. Powell, chairman of the Federal Reserve, saying the central bank will focus on fostering a strong labor market while tolerating higher inflation.
• “Social media is like the wall on Plato’s Cave. Selective facts cast shadows we mistake for reality.”—Jonah Goldberg, The Dispatch.
• “In-state travel is an important first step in our long-term recovery plan.”—Visit Florida president and CEO Dana Young, on the launch of a $13 million ad campaign that will encourage Floridians to first explore the state before making other travel plans.
• “Clearly, people aren’t happy. We can’t continue to do the same things and expect the same results.”—Tampa Police Chief Brian Dugan, on his department adapting to a changed policing climate.
• “The City Council apologizes for any and all past participation in sanctioning segregation and systemic discrimination of African Americans.”—The non-binding resolution–passed unanimously by Tampa City Council–that officially apologizes for the city’s racist history.
• “We are thrilled to have the opportunity to transform Tampa’s most desirable undeveloped block.”—Justin Weintraub, executive vice president of the Daniel Corp., which announced plans for a 19-story residential tower at the corner of E Twiggs Street and Channelside Drive—near Water Street.
• “My motto through this whole thing has been, I need to be a better listener, and police in general need to be better listeners.”—Police Chief Brian Dugan.
• “You can never over-communicate.”—Mayor Jane Castor.

Back in the day, I was a sports reporter for the Bucks County Courier Times, just outside Philadelphia—and across the Delaware River from Trenton, N.J. It was only part time, but it was enough time to get quality experience–quick post-game interviews and unforgiving deadlines–usually covering high schools, but on occasion, pinch-hitting for the full-timers who also covered professional and college sports. So, on occasion, I got to cover a 76er’s or an Eagles–pronounced “Iggles” in Philly–game.

I also became privy to how sports coverage was regarded–and demeaned–by the real “news journalists.” Sports was referred to as the “toy department.” Ouch. But I got it. In the scheme of things, sports wasn’t, well, very important. Especially in a society reeling with racial upheaval, anti-war demonstrations and the usual nuclear scenarios. 

But then came Muhammad Ali’s bouts over the military draft and the 1968 Mexico City Olympics where black American track athletes used their forum for Black Power awareness. Those upraised, black-gloved fists became iconic images thanks to the print and electronic media. But these were still anomalies. And mainstream America went back to its racist ways, while its media reported on the games Americans play. Who won? Who lost? Who didn’t need a diversion from all the things worth diverting from?

Fast forward to now, with allowances for the occasional professional sports strike, some steroid scandals and several high-profile, NCAA recruiting violations. But those were largely in-house. Not like today where elite athletes, many of them black, identify with racial injustice manifesting itself as a perverse complement to police brutality that is still—STILL—going on. Today’s black athletes have actually walked in the shoes of black victims. And their non-black teammates are increasingly standing in unison against entrenched, sometimes lethal, racism–the 21^st century version of America’s Emmett Till infamy.

No longer can we isolate sports from racism. When it’s systemic, it’s everybody’s issue.

It’s always important to take a stand, whether it involves kneeling or postponing. Not just the National Basketball Association or the National Football League, whose players are majority black. But also the nearly lily-white National Hockey League and Major League Baseball, which has plenty of players of color—but most are not African-American. And it includes the Women’s NBA and Major League Soccer. And then there’s big-time college sports. If anyone should have an accountable societal conscience–social justice and athletic exploitation–it’s universities.

It’s no longer just individual athletes, such as Olympian Tommy Smith or ex-NFL QB Colin Kaepernick, making symbolic gestures or wearing BLM messaging. Now it’s franchises and leagues acting in unison with players to make maximum use of their impactful, high-profile forums. Hell, we even saw a TNT sports commentator, Kenny Smith, walk off the set in solidarity. The Bucs launched a Social Justice Initiative to promote voting—including among players. And, yes, we now have a Hockey Diversity Alliance.

No, sports are no longer the societal diversion they used to be. And those who chronicle them no longer work in the toy department, even if nostalgia periodically beckons. When you can help make a meaningful difference—by virtue of your forum and your following—you have to use it. Justice demands no less. When it’s a matter of life and death, it’s not a game. 

“A Republic, if you can keep it.”

• “I alone can fix it.” Does that apply to what has happened as a result of what Trump has broken? As in, scandalously unnecessary American COVID deaths borne of misinformation, negligence and narcissism; trickle-up economics that benefits the wealthiest; abandonment of NATO obligations and values; disparagement of the national security community that wasn’t aligned with Vladimir Putin’s agenda; withdrawals from the Paris Agreement on Climate and the Iranian nuclear deal; and the resurrection of the George Wallace-inspired, law-and-order playbook intended to motivate and rally white Americans. Jacob who?
• The caudillo incumbent as insurgent: The president’s acceptance speech on that massive White House South Lawn stage was vintage pandemic-era Trump. Message of unity? Empathy? Try incendiary rhetoric and revisionist reality. For counter-productive optics: A tightly-packed crowd of more than 1,000 that was largely maskless sent the Trumpian message that masks are not his kind of props.  
• Michelle Obama, speaking for more than political partisans: “Being president doesn’t change who you are; it reveals who you are. Even to “Apprentice” fans.
• In an unprecedented move, the Republican National Convention didn’t bother with an actual political platform, instead going with a one-page resolution declaring that the party “will continue to enthusiastically support the president’s America First agenda.” In other words, Trump was the platform. The Grand Old Party (Ronald who?) has now rebranded itself in sycophantic fealty to Trump and his WWE-stagecraft manner. In short, the de facto platform was law and order; voter fraud, culture war; white nativism; science denial; and tax cuts for those who need them least. What racial injustice?
• Not all scathing, high-profile criticism of President Trump is via tell-all books. Miles Taylor, a Trump Administration appointee who until earlier this year had served as chief of staff to both Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielson and Acting Secretary Chad Wolf, recently made an ad for Republican Voters Against Trump. Among his comments: “I came away completely convinced based on first-hand experience that the president was ill-equipped, wouldn’t become equipped to do his job effectively, and what’s worse, was actively doing damage to our security.”
• Donald Trump’s characterization of Democrats: “They want no guns, they want no oil and gas, and they want no God.” Arguably, Dems also would want no outlandish, deceitful, bumper-sticker characterizations that only cult followers believe and crave.
• “A wicked nation that must be punished for its sins.”—How Dems view America, according to the American president.
• “When I’m re-elected, the best is yet to come.” You can take that to the bank—but only Deutsche Bank.
• How unsurprisingly ironic that a “law and order” president is also unlawful and disorderly.
• “America is not a racist country.” Now you know—thanks to Nikki Haley, former South Carolina governor, former Trump-appointed ambassador to the UN and a current favorite to be on the 2024 GOP ticket.
• At last count, Trump has visited his own properties 270 times as president. As a result, the Trump Organization receives a stream of private revenue from federal agencies and GOP campaign groups. So much for those early promises of Trump to “completely isolate” himself from the Trump Organization. Presumably, that didn’t include “resort fees” charged to Secret Service agents who protect the president—all 270 times so far.
• Prevaricator-in-chief (2016): “I may never see these places again, because I’m going to be working for you. I’m not going to have time to go play golf. Believe me.” Sure, who wouldn’t?
• Speaks volumes when the Republican Party’s only living former president, George W. Bush, is a no-show at the Republican National Convention. Perhaps “compassionate conservative” still seems too far left for this GOP iteration.
• “From Seattle and Portland to Washington and New York, Democrat-run cities across this country are being overrun by violent mobs.”—Republican South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, piling on with more Trump-induced fear.
• “The hard truth is … You won’t be safe in Joe Biden’s America.”—VP Mike Pence.
• “I want my daughter to grow up in President Donald Trump’s America.”—That was White House press secretary—and Tampa native—Kayleigh McEnany. Yes, she really said that—as her daughter will one day remind her.
• “(Trump is) the most pro-law-enforcement president we’ve ever had.”—Michael McHale, president of the National Association of Police Organizations. Shame on you.
• “I love you for being real.” Ivanka Trump’s reality-show shout-out to her father.
• “Donald will not rest until he has done all he can to take care of everyone impacted by this terrible pandemic.”—That was Worst Lady Melania Trump trying to spin her husband’s unconscionably incompetent, misinformation-laden, fatality-fraught handling of the coronavirus. It’s what you wind up saying when plagiarizing Michelle Obama won’t help.
• More Melania: “Total honesty is what we as citizens deserve from our president.” From the mouth of babes…
• High-profile election analyst Nate Silver—on the cusp of the 2016 presidential election—gave Donald Trump a 3 in 10 chance of winning. As of now, Silver calculates the odds of a Trump win at approximately 25 percent.

#AloneTogether

• The U.S. economy shrank at an annual rate of 31.7 percent during the April-June second quarter. It was the sharpest quarterly drop on record.
• Approximately one-third of the employees put on furlough in March were laid off for good by July.
• FBI stats show that 3.9 million firearms background checks were initiated in June—compared to 2.3 million in June 2019.
• 4,200: The approximate number of people across Florida hospitalized with a COVID-19 diagnosis.
• Nearly 700 people are hospitalized in Tampa Bay.
• Tampa Bay positivity rates: Pinellas-3 percent; Manatee, Pasco-4 percent; Hillsborough-6 percent; Hernando, Polk-7 percent.

“Yes, we can.”

• Shortly before Trump gave his acceptance speech, Democratic VP nominee Kamala Harris nailed the ultimate bottom-line argument for Trump’s November defeat. “Donald Trump has failed at the most basic and important job of a president of the United States: He failed to protect the American people, plain and simple.” Keep doubling down.
• For Dems bracing for the Trump campaign’s post-convention assault on Biden, “socialism” and racial-injustice protestors—it could be worse. Lee Atwater is no longer available.
• “In counterpoint to Trump’s toxic narcissism, the Democrats framed their nominee, Joe Biden, not as some cinematic savior but as a humble ambassador of goodness, a regular-guy corrective who would arrive at the White House with a bucket and a mop, ready to wipe away the moral stain left by Trump, Jared Kushner and the rest of these reprobates.”—Frank Bruni, New York Times.

• No surprise that Facebook has already been besieged by misinformation that gives people the wrong details about when, where and how to vote.
• Meanwhile, Facebook is preparing steps to take just in case an election-losing Trump wrongly claims on the site that he had actually won. They include the possibility of a “kill switch” to shut off political advertising after Election Day.
• It’s well within the journalistic purview of media forums such as daily newspapers to include input from the other side of the political spectrum. That’s what op eds and letters to the editor are for. That’s a subset of free speech. Hear from the other side. And these days they’ll likely out themselves with obvious mischaracterizations and fact check-vulnerable misinformation. But nobody has an exclusive on the truth. Having said that, the Tampa Bay Times—battling bottom lines and an eroding reader base like never before—has taken to frequently outsourcing editorial input—most notably to the Wall Street Journal–that reflects a non-progressive point of view. That includes lead editorials. Hugh Hewitt is tough enough to take, but the recent WSJ take on Trump “disruption” was an insulting exercise in rationalization, revisionism and sophistry. Yes, we are noticing.