Bubba Deflection

Shiny Objects:  Yesterday with the coronavirus out of control across wide swaths of the country and concerns remaining about Trump’s refusal to act or even acknowledge that Putin’s been taking bounties out on US soldiers in Afghanistan, Trump went the distraction route, tossing a few shiny objects out and the press took the bait. To that end Trump started his day tweet attacking race car driver Bubba Watson for not apologizing  “to all of those great NASCAR drivers & officials who came to his aid, stood by his side, & were willing to sacrifice everything for him, only to find out that the whole thing was just another HOAX? That & Flag decision has caused lowest ratings EVER!” Trump doubled down, also going after the Washington Redskins and the Cleveland Indians for their recent announcements that they are considering new names.  Of course Bubba Watson has nothing to apologize for, he wasn’t the one who reported the noose.  Though the FBI concluded that the noose was a garage pull that had been placed in his garage months before his team moved in, the noose was in fact a noose and the decision to ban the Confederate flag from NASCAR races was appropriate, overdue, and given the State of Mississippi’s very recent decision to redesign its Confederate styled state flag, reflective of popular opinion. By the way, NASCAR hasn’t taken a hit for its flag decision, its ratings are on the upswing.  That said, the Confederate flag bruhaha did what it was supposed to do, it distracted attention for a few hours from Trump’s efforts to throw darts at the Russian bounty intelligence reports and his failed handling of the virus crisis so while Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany was queried about Trump’s false assertion that 99% of COVID infected people easily skate through their virus experience for a minute or so, she spent far more time defending Trump’s Bubba Wallace swipe and the Confederate flag.  Admittedly, under a normal administration, that wouldn’t be a good thing, but who really thinks that there is anything normal about this administration or Trump’s efforts to energize racists. As to the virus, we haven’t heard much about how Don Jr’s girlfriend Kim Guilfoyle is doing but we did learn that before her diagnosis but during her contagious period she was seen embracing South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem.  That’s relevant because Noem then went on to fly on Air Force One with Trump and his team.  The party line is that she tested negative before the flight so it was okay, but come on, by now we know that it takes a few days for an infected person to test positive. Wonder if Trump is back to popping hydroxychloroquine tablets and swilling bleach?  Proving that the virus crosses party lines, late yesterday Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms who has her hands full dealing with both the virus outbreak and a series of shootings in her city, tested positive as well.  So far she’s asymptomatic; the Mayor who has been mentioned as one of many on Joe Biden’s VP list sought the test because her husband, who also tested positive wasn’t feeling well.  As to that uptick in violence, a common theme across a lot of cities right now, Georgia’s Governor Brian Kemp, another one of those Trump mini me’s whose efforts to deal with the virus has been woefully inadequate, has called up 1000 National Guard troops to “quell” violence and “protect” state buildings including the Governor’s mansion.  That ought to turn out well.  On the VP search front, Trump whisperer Tucker Carlson attacked Senator Tammy Duckworth, the veteran who lost two of her legs during the Iraqi war for not being a patriot.  WTF?  Duckworth is on record saying that she’ll hold up 1000 military promotions if Trump retaliates against Lt Colonel Alex Vindman, who is due to be promoted, for his Ukraine related impeachment testimony.  

Back to School:  Yesterday around the same time that Harvard University announced that it will invite only 40% of undergraduates back to campus and that classes will be taught online this Fall, Trump tweeted “Schools should be open ASAP” citing a Fox expert who also called for the end of social distancing and temperature checks.  Then to hammer Trump’s open the schools or else point home and to put additional pressure on colleges and universities who get a chunk of  revenues from foreign students, most of whom pay full freight, the INS announced that international students pursing degrees in the US will have to leave the country or risk deportation if their schools switch to online only courses.  If only Trump paid as much attention to dealing with the virus, modeling face masking, and ramping up rather than blaming virus testing for higher infection numbers, the virus might actually be under control.  As to that testing which is once again lacking in a lot of the virus surging parts of the country, FEMA denied a request by Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego for a mass testing site, saying that they’re not doing that kind of thing anymore.  Sadly, the virus is still doing its thing so much so that Senate Leader Mitch McConnell keeps on talking the benefits of face covers and Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley has cancelled plans to attend the Republican convention. The 86 year old has concluded that hanging with a bunch of unmasked, socially un-distanced fellow Republicans could be life threatening.  

Et Cetera:  Yesterday in a unanimous decision written by Justice Elena Kagan the Supreme Court ruled against “faithless” electors, saying that states can require members of the Electoral College to vote for the presidential candidates they had promised to support.  That decision prevents rogue electors from going against their state’s popular votes to determine the outcome of very, very close elections. We’re still waiting for the court’s ruling on the release of Trump’s financials.  That ruling is expected shortly, and is likely to beat out the publication of Mary Trump’s tell all book, but not by much as her publisher has moved up its release date by two weeks to July 14.  Beating both was the release of the list of corporations that benefited from the Protection Payment Program (PPP), not surprisingly lots of people with connections to Trump and the Republican party were on the list, to be fair there were some with Democratic connections as well.  Among the beneficiaries were presidential candidate for this minute Kanye West, some Kushner businesses, members of Secretary of Transportation/Mrs Mitch McConnell Elaine Chao’s family and a business founded by Agricultural Secretary Sonny Perdue.