One Step Forward But......

Almost There: Yesterday there was big news on the vaccine front.  President Biden announced that with the introduction of the  J & J one shot wonder the US has enough doses in the pipeline to vaccinate all adults by the end of May, two months earlier than previously projected, with the limiting factor being trained injectors rather than chemical injections.  He also announced that pharma giant Merck has agreed to partner with J & J on the production of its vaccine.  The partnership will bolster J & J’s ability to manufacture even more doses, making some available outside of the US while also facilitating the company’s ability to quickly adapt its adenovirus based concoction for problematic variants.  That’s the good news, the bad news is that Texas Governor Abbott thinks that the pandemic is already over despite the fact that infections are up in Texas and that the state’s positivity rate is almost 12% so he’s decided to eliminate mask mandates and allow all business’ to open fully.  If Texas was an island with no passenger planes or ships that, like lack of electricity and potable water, would still be very bad but it would be the Lone Star state’s problem not ours.  Unfortunately his ignorant actions are likely to have wide ranging implications, spreading the virus and its nasty variants to the rest of the country.  Worse, Abbot isn’t alone, while saying that social distancing is still a good thing and that masks remain fashionably adorable accessories, Mississippi Governor Reeves also lifted his mask mandate. Don’t be surprised if more Republican Governors follow suit, because as we know by now, while science isn’t their strong point, advancing economic interests even when doing so is likely to have lethal consequences is, especially when doing so allows them to make the statement that they don’t think that the huge stimulus package proposed by those problematic Democrats and liked by more than 70% of Americans is really all that necessary.

Human Resources:  Neera Tanden is out, yesterday she asked Biden to withdraw her nomination to serve as OMB head which is a nice was of saying that the Biden administration figured out that there was no way she was going to get confirmed and let her say that it was her decision. Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski, the last holdout, said that she was surprised to learn that Tanden had pulled out because she hadn’t made her decision yet, but at least one source said that Murkowski had already told the Biden team that she intended to vote against Tanden’s nomination.  It will be interesting to see how Murkowski votes on the $1.9 trillion virus legislation. Most, if not all members of her party are expected to oppose it but with Tanden out of the picture it’s possible that Murkowski had decided to extract something for her state by voting yes for the legislation, and by extract think oil drilling rights or some other economic goodie.  Apparently Mitt Romney had a rough weekend.  Even though he didn’t go to the CPAC convention, he showed up in Washington with a black eye and some stiches in his lip, without adding much color he attributed the injuries to a fall he took while visiting his family in Massachusetts.  No report as to whether a Proud Boy tracked him down or whether he tripped over a dog or one of his many grandchildren.  Remember  Ronny Jackson, the doctor who served as the White House physician during the Obama days and again during some of the Former Guy’s administration? He’s now a Republican Texas Congressman.  Yesterday the Defense Department’s Inspector General released a scathing report about his behavior during his White House stints, it includes reports of drinking on the job, sexual harassment, abusive behavior and taking Ambien on road trips when he was supposed to remain alert incase his numero uno patient needed prompt care and the like. That said, since he’s a Texas Republican his career will probably not be affected, he should be happy that he’s not a Democratic Senator or Governor. To noone’s surprise, Kayleigh McEnany who spent a disproportionate amount of her time spreading lies on Fox when she was supposed to be serving as Press Secretary has joined the network     

Insurrection Update:  Yesterday FBI Director Wray appeared in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee.  He refuted right wing claims that antifa had anything to do with the January 6 insurrection, knocking down suggestions that those Former Guy flag waving Norse gods and military garbed terrorists were antifa folks in drag.  He defended the FBI’s warnings about the attack saying that in what is now being referred to as the “Norfolk Report” that his team issued beforehand, had been shared with all the appropriate parties.  It probably was, but though he didn’t admit it, it appears clear that adequate follow through, like someone jumping up and down and screaming about the incoming crazies, wasn’t done. While updating the committee on the FBI investigation, he called out the attack as criminal, something that has no place in our Democracy. A lot of that didn’t sit well with a number of Republican Senators who were mostly focused on last summer’s BLM demonstrations and fledgling insurrection Missouri Senator Josh Hawley, who wanted to know more about all the phone locator data that the FBI had gathered.  Hawley seems very concerned that some of the phone information that Wray assured him had been legally obtained by traditional means might be just a wee bit implicating.     

Et Cetera: Yesterday the Supreme Court heard a case focused on the legality of some Arizona laws that suppress minority vote.  When newbie Justice Amy Coney Barrett asked what the interest of the GOP was in keeping those laws, the Republican lawyer actually admitted that eliminating them would put his party at a competitive disadvantage because elections are ”zero sum games,” and more minorities, as in more Democrats, voting would result in fewer Republicans winning office. Saying the quiet part out loud might actually pay off, the Supreme Court’s Conservative crowd is expected to vote to uphold those vote suppressing Arizona laws.  The House Oversight Committee is still trying to get their hands on the Former Guy’s financial records, those are the records already in the hands of a secretive New York Grand Jury.  The Committee reissued a subpoena to the FG’s accounting firm Mazar’s USA, since the last subpoena expired at the end of the last Congress.  And most importantly, at least to me, Stanley, the goldendoodle sweetie pie is home!

516,616

78,631,501 shots in arms with more than 100 million distributed!