Snake Charmer

Viral Musings: Something good has finally come of Covid 19, Senator Ted Cruz has self-quarantined himself because he had direct contact with an infected individual who attended last week’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).   Virtually every other  Republican of note with the exception of the disinvited Mitt Romney was there too including Trump, VP Pence and most of the other senior members of the administration but apparently they’re all either immune or are so sure that they had no contact with the infected individual that they’ve decided to continue with their normal daily activities. And it’s not just CPAC, apparently two people at the AIPAC conference, attended by everyone but Bernie Sanders, also tested positive.  At least VP Pence is putting his freedom to use; he’s been working hard on his Covid 19 assignment.  Trump, not so much. Before heading out for a weekend of golf at Mar a Lago, he traveled to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) where he delivered a series of notably less than reassuring remarks that were largely false, idiotic and cruel.  He again understated the number of people infected by the virus and then went on to claim that anyone who wants to be tested can be, adding that the “virus tests are all perfect. Like the letter was perfect. The transcription was perfect. This was not a perfect as that, but pretty good.”  That letter he was referring to was the one to Ukraine’s Zelensky, the missive that got him impeached, particularly ironic because the tests really are like that letter, seriously flawed as in contaminated and useless.   Trump also said that he wanted to keep those passengers stranded on the cruise ship outside of San Francisco at sea indefinitely because, you know, sick people in boats don’t count in his morbidity statistics.  Then, once again citing that uncle who taught at MIT,  the stable genius went on to say that he has a natural born affinity and understanding of  virus science, an understanding so profound that he’d been amazing all the experts with his brilliance. Standing around him some of those experts looked like they were about to explode, though none of them said anything, an indication that though they were coronavirus negative they were victims of the Trump plague.  Of course for good measure Trump laid into Jay Inslee the Democratic Governor of Washington State, whose population has been most affected by the virus, calling him a snake and questioning why VP Pence even bothered to work with him.  For the record, Inslee had been complimentary of Pence’s efforts.  As to the timing of the CDC visit, Trump and the White House even lied about that.  The visit was scheduled, cancelled and rescheduled over concerns that someone at the CDC had been infected by the virus, however the White House claimed that the cancellation was done to allow the CDC experts to do their work without the distraction of a Trump visit, a lie that was immediately exposed when the trip was put back on the schedule. 

So Much for Containment:  Recognizing that Trump’s inane comments were counterproductive, at best, and that the administration’s coronavirus response has been seriously flawed from the very beginning,  the White House Communications team sent some experts out to the Sunday talk shows in order to reset the clock, and by reset think something way beyond day light savings.  The results varied. Dr Fauci, the respected infectious disease expert spoke truth, essentially saying that things are going to get worse before they get better, that despite Trump’s assertions it will take a least a year or longer for a vaccination to be ready for widespread use, that no one should go on a cruise and that the more vulnerable among us should refrain from traveling and pass up large group activities.  On the testing front, he and the others out this weekend represented that millions of tests would be available by the end of this week, or at least that they hope they will be available.  As to those others, HUD Secretary Ben Carson, the former neurosurgeon in charge of housing, admitted that the administration had yet to come up with a plan for how to deal with the infected passengers on the ship stranded outside of San Francisco, a problem because that ship is due to start disembarking passengers shortly.  And everything that Surgeon General  Jerome Adams said was immediately discredited when he added that he had no worries about Trump being out and about because he’s the picture of health.   As to containment, those days are behind us.  More states have declared emergencies in order to be able to facilitate the martialing of resources, and, though some schools that were closed have reopened, here in NY Hofstra, Columbia University, the Spence and Collegiate private schools and the Scarsdale public schools are now closed.       

The Democratic Dance:  As to septuagenarians, the Democrats’ two remaining viable candidates were out on the stomp over the weekend too, hugging and handshaking their ways through masses of voters and racking up endorsements in preparation for this Tuesday’s mini-super Tuesday primaries. Kamala Harris and Everytown for Gun Safety joined Team Biden while Jesse Jackson and Jane Fonda joined Team Sanders.  For her part Elizabeth Warren is threatening to “pull a NY Times,” jokingly telling the SNL audience that she might endorse both.  Of these, the Harris endorsement is considered the most valuable.  She had held back her nod until now in part because of her close friendship Warren and possibly because she didn’t want to diminish her brand by jumping on a losing ship in the run up to the California primary.  It’s also fair to assume that she covets that VP slot and wants to be aligned with the candidate who’ll get to pick one and feels that Biden is the more likely to get a chance to make that choice.  As to Sanders, in addition to complaining some more about the Democratic establishment and their pro-Biden/anti-Bernie bias, going so far as to say that those establishment types forced Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg out of the competition, he spent most of his weekend trying to drum up African American support in Michigan.  To that end he held a rally in Flint and though a number of prominent black progressive took to the stage there to speak on his behalf the audience was largely white.  Sanders really, really needs to win Michigan to have any path to the nomination but, to the extent the pollsters have it right this time, the state is expected to go to Biden. Biden is also likely to win most of the other states on this Tuesday’s schedule with the exception of Washington and North Dakota.  Bernie insists that he won’t drop out no matter what, and he probably won’t because that’s how he rolls.     

Et Cetera:  Oil prices dropped dramatically last night, the result of decreasing demand combined with a price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia.  Stock prices are expected to sink further, bigly, today and Treasury yields are down to historical lows.  So basically, a good day to do anything but watch CNBC or Fox Business. May I suggest washing your hands, a lot, instead.  In other news, late Friday Trump ditched acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, replacing him with tea party Congressman Mark Meadows, a more charming but equally nefarious sort. Mulvaney is now being dispatched to serve as the special envoy to Northern Island.  What did they do to deserve him?  Mitt Romney has now decided to vote for the subpoena for the Burisma stuff, the subpoena that last week he said was politically motivated, saying now that he’s extracted a promise from Republican Senator/Homeland Security Chair Ron Johnson that any hearings will be done respectively, as if that’s even possible. So much for Romney’s brief dance with decency.  And the NY Times reports that Erik Prince, the former mercenary, who the Trump team occasionally taps to do nefarious deeds has been hiring ex-spies to infiltrate Democratic organizations and campaigns.