Cancelling Fauci

Viral Musings:  The coronavirus continues to run rampant across far too much of the country, infection rates in Florida now exceed New York at its peak, Arizona is teetering on the edge and things are so bad in Texas that polls show the state turning blue, even though it probably isn’t, but the White House wants us focused on other things, like the fact that Trump finally wore a facemask, part of the time with his nose exposed, on a visit to Walter Reed Medical Center, the “failings” of the widely respected virus guru Dr Fauci, and reopening the schools without a plan.  Really, instead of ramping up testing resources and pressuring governors with astronomically high virus rates to roll back their reopenings, over the weekend unnamed White House denizens pushed out the kind of opposition research on Dr Fauci that is usually reserved for political opponents in an effort to tarnish his reputation.  By the way Trump hasn’t met with Fauci since early June and the White House press outfit continues to prevent and/or cancel Fauci’s press appearances, not that any of that has stopped the persistent Fauci from speaking truth, calling for reclosings or pointing at the country’s failed efforts to combat the virus.  Think about that, instead of channeling energy into the fight against the virus, the bozos in the White House are spending their time throwing mud at Fauci.  Similarly, instead of announcing plans to provide additional funding to help resource constrained schools obtain the personal protective gear and other resources necessary to implement regionally specific reopening  plans, the White House sent Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, their most rigid and unsympathetic cabinet member, out on the Sunday talk show circuit where she expressed no concern for the large percentage of teachers who fall into virus vulnerable categories but insisted that schools should reopen fully or else.  

Friday Night Follies:  To no one's surprise Trump handed his long time crony Roger Stone a keep out of jail card on Friday by commuting his sentence.  Stone who lied about his communication with WikiLeaks in order to distance Trump and his campaign from the investigation into the Russians’ 2016 election interference, was due to turn himself in this week. Trump ran the risk that an incarcerated Stone would stop sitting on his Trump implicating secrets and instead start spilling the beans, so he did what he felt he had to do to keep Stone silent.  Other than Republican outsider Senator Mitt Romney and swing state Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey no sitting Republican politicians said a word in protest.  And of course Trump slapped back at the two who did speak out tweeting “Do RINO’S Pat Toomey & Mitt Romney have any problem with the fact that we caught Obama, Biden, & Company illegally spying on my campaign?”  Attorney General Barr who had earlier pushed aside career prosecutor recommendations, intervening to help Stone get a shorter sentence, let it be known that he’d advised against the commutation but since he didn’t resign in protest it’s fair to assume that’s just some more smoke and mirrors especially since Barr also quietly replaced the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, a Trump appointee with an even more friendly acolyte, on Friday while everyone was focused on Stone and the virus.  By the way that’s the District responsible for the investigation into Rudy Giuliani’s Ukraine shenanigans.  In addition, Barr continues to tease that one of his other favorite US Attorneys, Connecticut’s John Durham, will be indicting Obama people for their creation of that whole Russian “hoax” thing in October, right before the election.  Though Barr shrugged off Trump’s commutation of Stone, the usually silent one time Special Counsel Robert Mueller did speak out, or write out.  He published a scathing op-ed in the Washington Post, reminding everyone that Stone is a convicted felon who lied to protect Trump.  He also defended the legitimacy and motivations of the Russian investigation.  In response, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, the head of the Senate Judiciary committee, said that he now plans to call Mueller in to testify, that’s the same Graham who objected to calling for Mueller’s testimony during the impeachment trial.  It’s highly likely that Graham has no intention of really calling Mueller in, that he’s just grandstanding because over the weekend he also defended Trump’s excessive golfing, agreeing with the Donald’s claims that golf provides him with the exercise that he gets nowhere else and what leader doesn’t need to play countless rounds of golf while providing government funded payments to and promotions for his properties when his citizens are dying? By the way, though many of those convicted members of Trump’s 2016 team remain out of jail, Michael Cohen is back in a Federal penitentiary, not for violating his release by eating in a Manhattan restaurant, but for refusing to sign away his right to write a tell all book, an unprecedented and possibly illegal restraint on his First Amendment rights, but one totally in keeping with Trump’s wishes.  By the way niece Mary’s book which has received positive reviews is available starting tomorrow. One more thing on the legal front, Emmet Sullivan, the judge overseeing the Michael Flynn case appears to be close to getting the full US Circuit Court of Appeals for DC to reconsider the three-judge panel ruling that supported Barr’s request that charges against former national security advisor Flynn be dropped.  That’s the Flynn who Trump wants back out on the campaign trail with him even though he pleaded guilty to lying several times.

Et Cetera:  The Trump campaign team cancelled a planned rally in New Hampshire this weekend citing incoming bad weather even though weather reports were fine and it turned out to be a sunny day.  In reality the rally was cancelled because it looked like few were planning to turn out, not because of rain but because of COVID and possibly a diminished enthusiasm for Trump, even NH Governor Sununu, a Trump supporter, said that he wouldn’t attend due to health concerns.  On the election front, pundits and pollsters are now talking a blue wave, which probably explains why Trump announced that he was about to sign an executive order or bill, he didn’t appear to know that the two are very different, providing a path for citizenship for DACA recipients on Friday. Anyway, that ploy died quickly after the WH press shop walked back his statement.  As to that blue wave, no time for complacency because 2016 certainly didn’t turn out as planned and anyway November is still far away.