Dead Cat Bounce?

Karma Chameleon: Last week when Congress was voting to increase funding for Coronavirus related activities, Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz showed up on the House floor wearing a gas mask, his endorsement of Trump’s oft repeated message that concerns about Covid 19 were just fake news propagated by Democrats to tarnish his sterling reputation.  Yesterday, while flying on Air Force One with Trump, Gaetz was notified by Conservative group CPAC that he was one of the many CPAC conference participants who had interacted with a virus stricken attendee.  Upon learning that, Gaetz offered to jump off the plane without a parachute but was instead shrink wrapped and isolated in steerage.  He has now joined the growing number of Republican lawmakers, all CPAC attendees, who have self-quarantined.  That group includes Senator Ted Cruz and Representatives Paul Gosar, Doug Collins and Trump’s newly appointed Chief of Staff Mark Meadows but not Louis Gohmert.  Instead he’s decided to follow the truly terrible example set by the Missouri father who attended a school sponsored father/daughter dance even though an immediate member of his family is infected.  As to that infected CPAC attendee apparently he had a “gold” ticket, one that gave him privileged access to all the Republican glitterati which probably explains why CPAC Chair Matt Schlapp whose wife works in the White House has also self-quarantined.  There’s no indication that Trump had any contact with the infected CPAC attendee but there is lots of video of him shaking hands with several of the self-quarantined set. Despite that, White House Press Secretary Grisham reports that Trump has not and will not be tested because he’s a super healthy guy. He’s also expected to continue holding rallies though Melania has cancelled her plans to hold a Beverly Hills fundraiser due to “scheduling conflicts.”  Who knows maybe she really is needed in DC to continue tweeting out photos of herself supervising the building of the White House tennis pavilion?  For the record, Covid 19 is an equal opportunity virus, one Democratic lawmaker Julia Brownley has also self-quarantined, she wasn’t at CPAC but had a meeting with someone who subsequently tested positive.  As of now Congress remains open which is more than can be said for Italy, which is now completely closed and Israel where all arriving citizens and visitors are being quarantined for fourteen days.  Dublin and Boston have cancelled their St Patrick parades. As of now New York City’s NY parade is still on as is the NYC Half Marathon which is scheduled to take place this coming Sunday.  Twenty five thousand runners, including this very slow one, remain skeptical that it will actually go off as planned. 

Carlson Speaks: While many at Fox, including Business talking head Trish Regan who began her show with a bizarre rant blaming the stock market’s woes on the Democratic establishment while calling the coronavirus a continuation of the Democratic impeachment scam, are still pushing the “virus is not a problem” mantra, at least one prominent Fox person has joined the converted.  Last night Tucker Carlson told his audience, an audience that usually includes Trump, that "People you trust, people you probably voted for, have spent weeks minimizing what is clearly a very serious problem….They say calm down. …..Coronavirus will pass." He added that people who make such arguments may have good intentions, but they're wrong, saying "They may not know any better. Maybe they're just not paying attention, or maybe they believe they're serving some higher cause by shading reality. ... And there's an election coming up. Best not to say anything that might help the other side. We get it. But they're wrong" Carlson called it a "major event," stressing, "It's definitely not just the flu.”

Riding the Cyclone:  As the result of concerns about the impact of the Coronavirus on the world economy and the fight between Russian and Saudi Arabia over oil prices the roller coaster otherwise known as the stock market spiraled uncontrollably downhill yesterday. In response a severely shaken Trump, who has spent much of his term bragging about the stock market’s rise and who has pinned his hopes for reelection on his brilliant stewardship of the economy, met yesterday with his economic advisors, or the people in his administration who took at least one course in economics.  Trump then stepped to the mic at the start of VP Pence’s daily virus press conference and offered up some reassuring, or reassuring for Trump, remarks promising that he, together with Congress, will come up with some kind of package to provide some combination of little people, small businesses, and the travel industry with a safety net of sorts to help them all or at least some of them withstand the economic downturn.  It’s not yet clear what that package will include but at least for the moment, the markets seem pleased to hear that something is in the offing.  The US markets are expected to open higher this morning but don’t get too excited, as my former colleagues used to say even dead cats bounce.    

Democratic Dance:  Today is mini Super Tuesday.  Most eyes are focused on Michigan.  Polls indicate that Joe Biden is way ahead of Bernie Sanders but back in 2016 many of the same pollsters predicted that Hillary Clinton would win the state’s primary.  She didn’t.  Biden isn’t taking any chances, last night, accompanied by Senator Kamala Harris and his newest endorser Senator Cory Booker he rallied in Detroit because, yes, despite the virus Democrats are still rallying too.  Primaries or caucuses are also being held in Idaho, Missouri, Washington State, Mississippi and North Dakota today.  Washington is another state worth watching.  In 2016 the state’s caucus went to Bernie but this time around Washington is holding a real primary, and it’s not clear that the Bernie magic will work with the wider audience that usually shows up for a primary.  Although who knows who will show up in Washington as they seem to have other more pressing issues on their plate right now.  And it looks like the tag teaming of Barack Obama and Chuck Schumer has worked, popular Montana Democratic Governor Steve Bullock is now officially running for Senate.