Virus, What Virus?

October Surprise:  Remember when CDC Head Robert Redfield was the recipient of a Trump heat seeking tweet for saying that mask wearing and social distancing provided the best protection against getting COVID.  Trump, who a recent Cornell University study says is the single largest driver of misinformation about the coronavirus, forced Redfield to “clarify” his remarks or else.  Well so much for that.  Trump who made fun of Joe Biden’s unhealthy affection for masks during Tuesday night’s debate while insisting that no one contracts the virus by attending one of his crowded super spreader rallies, tested COVID positive last night as did Melania and is now in quarantine.  Hope Hicks, his once and maybe still pants presser, appears to be the Typhoid Mary responsible for the White House outbreak, at least all fingers are being pointed in her direction, because as Trump tweeted last night before his second confirmatory test results came in “it is very, very hard when you are with people from the military, and they come over to you and they want to hug and kiss you.”  Apparently Trump knew that Hicks, an almost constant member of his traveling squad who had been with him at both the Tuesday night debate and his follow on super spreader rally in Minnesota, was exhibiting COVID symptoms when he hopped a flight yesterday to attend a fundraising event at his Bedminster NJ resort, exposing a host of others to his possible, now confirmed, infection. Hey money, is money, and the Orange guy needed the cash.  Those Bedminster stooges aren’t the only ones getting contract tracer calls, almost everyone in attendance at the Trump-Biden debate, including Joe Biden, now needs to be tested as neither Hope, Ivanka, Tiffany or any of the other members of the Trump squad wore masks during the debate.  And though Biden appeared to be at least six feet away from Trump at all times, screaming propels virus infused droplets far beyond that safety range.  By the way, last night during a virtual version of the Archdiocese of New York’s Al Smith fundraiser, Trump promised that the virus was on its way out, he did that while labeling the Democratic party as anti-Catholic for opposing Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court nomination moments before his Catholic opponent Joe Biden’s remarks were streamed in.  As to Judge Amy, who conveniently forgot to mention that in 2006 she was a signatory to an advertisement placed by an extreme anti-abortion group, one that called for the end of the “barbaric Roe v Wade legacy” while also attacking things like in vitro fertilization, she, like VP Pence and his “mother” Karen, should check their phone messages as they too have had contact with Trump and one or more of his super spreader team members. 

People, Places, Things:  Guess what, it turns out that Melania isn’t really all that nice, she shares her husband’s disdain for immigrants and isn’t all that fond of Christmas.  Last night during an interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper that was aired before the Trump family COVID diagnosis was revealed, one time Melania friend/event planner Stephanie Winston Wolkoff released tapes of some of her conversations with the Slovenian birther.  Among other things Melania kvetched about working her “a*s off on Christmas stuff, that you know, who gives a f*ck about the Christmas stuff and decorations? But I need to do it, right?"  going on to complain about the attention that the separated migrant kids get saying “Give me a f*cking break,” adding those kids don’t need beds, after all they slept on the floor in their home countries.  One good thing about being diagnosed with COVID is that it diverts attention from how horrible a person you are, well maybe.  Speaking of horrible people, it turns out that Don Jr’s girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle, who at least until now has been getting monthly paychecks from Brad Parscale’s company, isn’t likely to win any humanitarian prizes either.  Yesterday, The New Yorker published an article about how she was forced out of Fox for sexually harassing her assistant, sharing “dick” pictures of her conquests and offering hush money to cover up her charming behavior.  Guilfoyle then attempted to discredit the assistant after she complained about her horrible treatment.  Lending credence to the story, Fox is reported to have paid the freaked out assistant a $4 million settlement before shoving Kim out the door.  Kimberly, who is the head of major donor fund raising for the Trump campaign, is up for a senior role in Trump’s second administration, assuming he survives COVID and wins the election.  Though they don’t work directly for the Trump administration or his campaign right wing dirty tricksters Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman have been responsible for spreading some fairly nefarious smears, they’re the guys who tried to convince America that former Special Counsel Mueller had a history of harassing women and that former presidential candidate/Mayor Pete Buttigieg had once assaulted a man. Neither attack stuck though both gained traction for a while on Twitter.  Apparently the devious duo moved on to more despicable activities this summer, they sent out tens of thousands of robocalls to Black voters in key states like Michigan, telling them that signing up for absentee ballots would, among other things, expose them to credit checks and mandatory vaccination programs.  Yesterday they were charged with felonies by the state of Michigan, accused of trying to intimidate voters.  Sadly, suppressing votes is a thing that Republican types love to do.  Yesterday, Texas’ Republican Governor Greg Abbott issued a proclamation limiting the amount of drop-off locations for mail-in ballots to one site per county, of course that move significantly affects the Democratic stronghold of Harris County, the country’s largest counties by population, that covers a massive area.  And since disenfranchising voters is only one part of Trump’s plan, last week his Agriculture Department began mandating that millions of boxes of food for needy families include a letter signed in sharpie by none other than Trump claiming credit for the program. 

Going Forward:  Every pundit up last night and awake this morning is trying to predict the effect that Trump’s diagnosis will have on the election.  No one really has a clue though most agree that the diagnosis only magnifies Trump’s virus failures.  It also wouldn’t be a stretch to assume that the next debate is off the table, at least for now.  Which is probably fine by Trump, first because he insists that he won Tuesday’s debate, second because he was already pushing back against any rule changes that would have prevented him from making his endless interruptions and third because the next debate was to be a townhall, a format that favors the supernaturally empathetic Joe.  Did I mention that last night before the diagnosis went public, Trump finally condemned right wing hate groups like the KKK and the Proud Boys on a call with his good buddy Sean Hannity.  But of course, he followed up with a demand that Biden, who has already come out against violence, condemn those hordes of antifa deplorables invading the suburbs, or else.