US Politics, March 2020 — There’s a very good chance you’re not going to die.

...but it's not 100%

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDe1DqxwJoc

Good morning!

Where's the cryogenic receipts?

https://www.axios.com/federal-court-ken-cuccinelli-illegal-uscis-director-8479c5d1-0130-4477-bf98-a1e23be19ae0.html

In more ordinary times, I'd say that the onset of a global crisis like COVID-19, in an election year, would be far more likely to help an incumbent president than hurt them. The executive branch will be at the forefront of efforts to protect and aid the public and the vast power and resources at the president's command allows them to become the visible hero of the crisis. Handle the crisis with a modicum of competence, add a dash of public relations flair, and re-election would be a near certainty.

These are not ordinary times.
https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/59d3df26200000fb15084e57.jpeg?cache=5fjvb61ptb&ops=scalefit_720_noupscale

I'm not convinced it will make much of a difference

it wasn't even a good paper towel brand!

oh, I agree he'll still get his 48% of the popular vote and a fistful of EC votes from the south and Midwest no matter how he bungles this. it's more an observation on how a halfway competent incumbent would have their re-election in the bag already. yet, his approval rating has never been above 50% since a couple of days after his inauguration. this crisis ain't gonna help him one bit, even though it would help almost any other incumbent in history.

48% of the popular vote

He got 46.1% in 2016. You think his vote totals are gonna go up in November?

his approval right now is higher than it's ever been.

higher than it's ever been

...and still under 50%

just sayin. my wife was convinced trump was going to win in 2016 and she's convinced he's going to win this time. she doesn't follow election news. i don't know what basis she uses for these predictions. ley lines, maybe. but i do think that whoever gets the nomination is going to have a fuck of a fight on their hands. i'm particularly worried about bernie because young people just don't vote. i want him to win so bad. warren's.... aight but it's very difficult for me to trust anyone who was ever a republican. yeah yeah the good samaritan - i know, but i'm still wary. probably dumb of me. feel like she'd drone-strike the shit out of some people. again, based on nothing, not even ley lines. but like kevin k said, a lot of that's beside the point. the point is, appoint left-wing judges and don't start wars. and maybe actually staff federal departments again. just a thought. m4a and green new deal will require years of bottom-up fighting regardless of who gets the nomination.

and flip the Senate so that presidents get to do more than merely nominate them

~>:/

I heard an interesting piece on the radio about the two types of swing voters. One of course is white voters who swing from Democrat to Republican. But they're relatively small compared to the other swing voters, the ones who swing between voting and not voting. For example, the number of people who voted for Obama and then voted for Trump is significantly smaller than the number of people who voted for Obama and then didn't vote in the 2016 election. I'm not sure which of the potential Democratic nominees is strong enough to keep enough of those other swing voters away from sitting it out again.

Was that Ibram X. Kendi on On the Media?

I think so, yeah!

A big part of the electability argument for Bernie is that the presumption that he would be able to turn out voters who didn't vote in 2016 or voted third party.

People who voted for Obama in 2012 and failed to vote in 2016 are "mostly young and nonwhite."

never ever ever ever count on the young vote. they don't vote! obama was once in a lifetime.

if negative aint working really (and its not, despite utter justification), sell “we can have it SO much better” i guess.

Since veracity doesn't matter, promise any old shit.

jk, dont do that.

I just looked up the 18-29 voter turnout since 2004.

2004 presidential: 49.0
2006 midterm: 23.5
2008 presidential: 51.1
2010 midterm: 20.4
2012 presidential: 45.0
2014 midterm: 19.9
2016 presidential: 46.1
2018 midterm: 35.6

Midterm data from here and here. Presidential data from here.

It doesn't look like Obama had a significant effect on turnout, but there was a huge increase between 2014 and 2018 because of Trump.

Of course, that's no guarantee that the 18-29 vote will go up in 2020.

For one, the midterm vote in 2018 was still lower than the presidential vote in 2016, so it's possible that the 2014-to-2018 midterm increase came from people who always vote in presidential elections but don't always vote in midterms.

For another, midterms aren't dependent on a single candidate. If the Democratic nominee doesn't inspire enthusiasm among young voters, they probably won't turn out in great numbers.

midterms are always ~25% below presidential numbers is the thing. the 2018 turnout was extraordinary. the increase in turnout came from anti-trump sentiment, and a smart candidate in 2020 will do the same.

For one, the midterm vote in 2018 was still lower than the presidential vote in 2016,

apples and oranges, though?

was gonna say, the turnout in 2018 overall was the largest since they've kept those figures. after 1970. the highest overall turnout at a midterm was 42% in 1982, and it had shrunk significantly to 36.7 in 2014.

the 16% increase for those 18-29 was the highest of any age group. and although fired up Trumpers may have definitely increased Republican turnout, I'm with m bison, a large portion of that increase was an anti-Trump bloc who helped the Dems pick up 40 seats.

xpost yes, completely apples and oranges. like milo said, Presidential always greatly outpaces midterms. since they've kept records, the lowest turnout for a Presidential election was 48.9% in 1924. The only midterm turnout that exceeded even that figure was....2018.

replace "since they've kept records" with "since 1916".

i swear to fuck - if we are on the election thread in November talking about how polls always miss young people because they don’t have landlines so actually there’s reason to feel good about things i am going to throttle someone

i'm particularly worried about bernie because young people just don't vote.

Minority turnout has a bigger impact. Youth turnout was basically the same between '12 and '16 but minority turnout (and share going to Democrats) dropped, which is where you get the difference between Obama's comfortable re-election and Hillary losing.

For one, the midterm vote in 2018 was still lower than the presidential vote in 2016, so it's possible that the 2014-to-2018 midterm increase came from people who always vote in presidential elections but don't always vote in midterms.

it could also have included people who have never been eligible to vote in a Presidential election, or have been but never voted before. But I don't see why that's a pejorative. Because 2018's referendum on Trump likely inspired that stark increase in voting turnout, 2020 could wind up inspiring people who haven't voted in either type of election to show up.

2012's Pres election was largely won by turnout. If Dems get out the vote, it can happen again.

xpost milo otm

Bernie's strength with the Latinx community should give hope (if you think he'll be the eventual nominee) - there's more room for Democratic voter share to climb with Latinx voters (who also tend to be younger) than with black voters.

I do see higher social media performances by Sanders-following Latinx, but I don't know. We'll see on March 17.

That came out garbled. If you're in Miami and of Hispanic background, Sanders can claim a few fans.

Do any polls in Iowa, Nevada and SC indicate he won them by higher margins than in 2016?

according to cnn, sanders won 50% of the latinx vote last weekend. i dont have the 2016 numbers in front of me, but if i remember correctly, this was a yuge improvement.

https://www.cnn.com/election/2020/state/nevada/polling

sanders lost tx in 2016 by like 30%

Bernie Sanders lidera las encuestas en Texas rumbo al Super Martes y aventaja a Biden en 33% en el voto latino que representa el 40% del total del electorado en ese Estado el segundo con mas delegados -228- en este "Super Tuesday" tras California en donde también lidera Sanders pic.twitter.com/yGkQuA85GR

— Jorge Gestoso (@JorgeGestoso) March 1, 2020

https://www.cnn.com/election/2020/state/nevada/polling

― majority whip, majority nae nae (m bison), S

I saw it but compared to 2016? And what was the turnout? I'm not grilling you btw

https://www.cnn.com/election/2016/primaries/polls/NV/Dem

ah ha! sanders won latinos in nv in 2016, but 53-45.

he closed his deficit with Black voters quite a bit, too. -56% in '16, -10% last week.

what the fuck

Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher shows 60 Minutes his war memorabilia, including the knife seen in his photo with the dead ISIS fighter. https://t.co/nDZBPHA0ub pic.twitter.com/b86c5oI8Qu

— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) March 2, 2020

People accepted and loved by #TheResistance:

✅ David Frum
✅ Bill Kristol
✅ Max Boot
✅ Jennifer Rubin
✅ Steve Schmidt
✅ Rick Wilson

People not accepted and hated by #TheResistance:

🚫 Bernie Sanders
🚫 Nina Turner
🚫 Ilhan Omar
🚫 Rashida Tlaib
🚫 Susan Sarandon

— Ibrahim (@ibrahimpols) March 2, 2020

Like her film choices since 1996, Susan Sarandon's endorsing Jill Stein is evidence of soul rot.

she was pretty good as bette davis in feud

What does it mean to be “loved and accepted by” and “not accepted and hated“ in terms of a hashtag?

Are there data metric systems that measure opinions of user groups that right? Source?

I’m not saying he’s wrong really.

"loved and accepted by" = booked on MSNBC

I feel like people are constantly mishearing "Bill Kristol is right about Trump" as "Bill Kristol is good now" rather than "Trump is so bad that even Bill Kristol, who is now and has always been bad, can't deny it"

yeah, conservatives always have pet liberals-- "Even the liberal x thinks Obamacare goes too far."

Remember the good old days when that was Alan Dershowitz?

Very cool!

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/mar/02/texas-polling-sites-closures-voting

eephus otm.

If one approvingly quotes a specific utterance of e.g. J Rubin, one is not suddenly endorsing her entire worldview. Any more than if one approvingly quotes a specific utterance of a fellow poster here.

Very cool!

DC Judge Royce Lamberth today says Hillary Clinton must sit for deposition 'on matters concerning her reasons for using a private server and her understanding of State's records management obligations.' Order:https://t.co/qhSBAnwJCv pic.twitter.com/xrvABBWog6

— Mike Scarcella (@MikeScarcella) March 2, 2020

The Justice Department felt it needed to rush ahead with this investigation now, in 2020, due to statute of limitations, no doubt.

Biden 2020: this time, really, for sure he can do it probably

Biden 2020: You know the thing

Biden 2020: Put #MeToo to Work For You

Do the Limbo with Your Expectations Like Never Before

A Warm, Unexpected Hug From The Back For America

A Warm, Unexpected Hug From The Back For America

Take it to

Up-the-arse corner

good news everybody, GOP in-fighting continues in Alabama:

President Trump criticized Republican Alabama Senate candidate Jeff Sessions early Wednesday, asserting that his former attorney general didn’t win the state's GOP primary outright because of what Trump described as Sessions's lack of “wisdom or courage” in his handling of the Russia investigation.

“This is what happens to someone who loyally gets appointed Attorney General of the United States & then doesn’t have the wisdom or courage to stare down & end the phony Russia Witch Hunt,” Trump tweeted, just hours after news broke that Tuesday’s Senate primary in Alabama would advance to a runoff between Sessions and former Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville.

“Recuses himself on FIRST DAY in office, and the Mueller Scam begins!” Trump added.

Trump’s critical tweet about Sessions suggests the president may seek to boost Tuberville in the runoff election. Trump has thus far stayed out of the race, though a source familiar with the situation told The Hill last month that Trump could support Sessions’s opponent if the race advanced to a runoff. Still, Wednesday's tweet did not contain an explicit endorsement of Tuberville.

Trump repeatedly and publicly eviscerated Sessions for his decision to recuse himself from special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference during his tenure as attorney general.

Sessions and Tuberville were running neck and neck after polls closed Tuesday night — Sessions held 31.6 percent of the vote and Tuberville 33.4 percent with 99 percent of precincts reporting.

Both candidates will compete for the Republican nomination in the March 31 runoff, and the winner will face Sen. Doug Jones in the November election. Jones is considered the most vulnerable Democratic senators facing reelection in 2020.

if tuberville becomes senator, i vote that we strip auburn's share of the 2004 ncaa football national championship.

sure they were undefeated, but there was no playoff then and the sec wasn't the behemoth it is now!

sorry, it's just really fucking weird to see tommy tuberville back in the news. it was weird when he was a coach too.

Either of the Republicans are going to paste Doug Jones. He barely beat the pedophile.

yeah but he was a MAGA Pedophile

spike in African American turnout required for Doug to win - it's possible

if Sessions wins the primary and Trump goes HAM on him, GOP vote will split

I saw some surprisingly internally consistent shit-talking from NRO/TPUSA psychos about Moore. I did not expect them to actually hold being a pedophile against one of their own.

Jones has a chance.

Another chance here, too:

Steve Bullock Is Poised to Run for Senate in Montana, Officials Say

My thing with the Doug Jones situation is that IF IF IF Tuberville somehow tackles Sessions for the nomination, I’m sure they’ll be able to dig up some dirt on him, but it will probably be of the “was a sadistic shitbag to his mostly black footbaw players” variety - which is a far cry, unfortunately, from the “forced himself on teenage girls” variety that ruined Moore.

AIPAC said Wednesday afternoon that a group of people who attended its conference are now on self-quarantine. https://t.co/qQmVFpnqYv

— The Intercept (@theintercept) March 5, 2020

Oops!

Jones has a chance.

Does incumbency carry any weight here?

please quarantine AIPAC til Sanders is elected

Good news: Susan Collins, Martha McSally, Thom Tillis, and Cory Gardner are all polling behind their opponents.
https://www.publicpolicypolling.com/polls/democrats-lead-by-at-least-4-in-4-gop-held-senate-seats/

excellent.

We need 5 though, right? C’mon Bullock...

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn%3AANd9GcS2UrjX6CRDoLkmWsQuEF_sXqmiY4wThXHJqFLbmlY8wahz9U2W

We need 5 though, right? C’mon Bullock...

― Οὖτις, Thursday, March 5, 2020 10:45 AM (twenty-four minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

maybe joni ernst goes down too????

my mom owed me $20 so I told her to donate it to Tillis' opponent to square us up.

trump often sounds like he's doing a christopher walken impression

Here is the President of the United States telling the country it's okay to go to work with Coronavirus.

I'm not kidding. pic.twitter.com/Tz4kKbyear

— Matt Rogers 🎙 (@Politidope) March 5, 2020

if he says "this corona flu....virus" one more time my head will explode

Today in "too little, too late, GTFO asshole" news: https://www.instagram.com/p/B9W8bGvjTp-/

xp

oh wait, i was listening to it in a different tab and didn't realize it had repeated, nevermind. but i've heard him do that before (referring to it as the "flu")

"look the weak and susceptible have always been among us, why should the strong and resistant be penalized? if they wanna work, bless'em, that's capitalism."

can't believe it, it's like he's unfit for office

FFS Schumer great time to shit the bed you

fuck

oh my stars and garters!

So @SenSchumer apologized? What weakness. This is why you’re not majority leader. You apologize to people who want to destroy you.

— Doug Henwood (@DougHenwood) March 5, 2020

was the Schumer thing in Eric's deleted instagram?

No, that was about a GOP guy coming out.

Not actually deleted, the posted link is messed up.

http://www.instagram.com/p/B9W8bGvjTp-/

...and that one is messed up too. C'n'P for yrselves please.

Former Congressman Aaron Schock, who resigned in 2015, has publicly come out as gay. pic.twitter.com/1J1kn9nhbj

— Stephen Sanchez (@SSanchezTV) March 5, 2020

what happened with Schumer

he said something sounded threatening to gorsuch/kavanaugh, and that's behavior the republicans cannot abide, even though trump threatens people every single day

nothing that matters, he said some mean things about Kavanaugh and Gorsuch, the GOP clutched their pearls, Schumer offered a half-hearted "apology" - nobody outside the beltway will even hear about this, and those inside the beltway won't gaf in, oh 12 hours.

oh, and then he apologized, which makes sense but in 2020 is unforgivable

oh that! I read about it yesterday.

IIRC, he got a bit animated talking to abortion rights protestors on Monday. Something like:

Damn ye! Let Neptune strike ye dead, Gorsuch and Kavanaugh! Hark! Hark, Triton. Hark! Bellow, bid our father, the sea king, rise from the depths, full foul in his fury, black waves teeming with salt-foam, to smother this young mouth with pungent slime, to choke ye, engorging your organs till ye turn blue and bloated with bilge, and brine, and can scream no more. Only when, he, crowned in cockle shells, with slithering tentacled tail, and steaming beard, takes up his fell, be-finnèd arm, his coral-tined trident screeches banshee-like in the tempest, and plunges right through your gullet, bursting ye, a bulging bladder no more, but a blasted bloody film now, a nothing for the Harpies, and the souls of dead sailors to peck and claw and feed upon, only to be lapped up and swallowed by the infinite waters of the dread emperor himself. Forgotten to any man, to any time, forgotten to any god, or devil, forgotten even to the sea, for any stuff, or part of Winslow, even any scantling of your souls, is Gorsuch and Kavanaugh no more, but is now itself the sea.

Schumer apologizing now validates the idea that he was encouraging violence against justices, what a fuckin joke.

and I knew he was gonna do it but hoped that just maybe he'd just ignore it or at least say "come the fuck on, you know what I meant you disingenuous asshole" in nice words.

Schumer's an awful leader and worse politician

the silver lining is I didn't expect much from him on this so

yeah. fuck harry reid for passing the torch to him

I’m not sure who else he coulda given it to, unfortunately. He does tend to keep his caucus together at least

chuck schumer is the kind of guy who can make you pine for harry reid and folks that is fucked up

The “no cheers for mccain” thing at the obamacare vote was... something

Reid threw way more punches than schumer has

reid just cold making up that story about romney not paying taxes for decade and then refusing to apologize is the funniest shit ever

Lol yeah Reid was def funnier

reid was 10000000000000x better than schumer

Reid was a cold-eyed motherfucker who controlled Nevada. The last of the bosses.

http://www.iagreetosee.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/senator-harry-reid-boxing.png

he was literally a boxer

Before Reid was Tom "I'm Deeply Saddened" Daschle.

Ugh christ dont remind me

wtf i'm a harry reid fan now thanks a fucking lot CHUCK

aoc should primary schumer when she turns 30

aoc should hit him in the head with the back of a skateboard

those two things are not mutually exclusive my friend!!!! walk and chew gum!

"Chuck, I am here to announce that I am here to surprise you by running against you in the primaries."

"...really? You think you have a chance against me?"

"Hey everybody! If I can have your attention. Please take one step forward if you have teeth. Not so fast, Chuck"

*wham*

guess someone wont be able to walk and chew gum anymore!!

its chuck schumer who wont because he has no teeth btw

keeps his caucus together = the new New Deal in Shakeyland

https://i.imgur.com/LBidpFC.jpg

Amazing shot

i bet pence and inslee did a quick shoulders only hug immediately after this

also: that facial expression!

TIL that you can get 2 years probation for dumping a glass of water on a (piece of shit) senator:

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2020/03/05/blake-gibbins-sentenced-throwing-water-steve-king/4931991002/

Worth it.

(sorry, congressman)

Still a piece of shit, you got the important part right.

I have just one message for Joe Biden and Beto O’Rourke, if you want to take everyone’s AR-15s, why don’t you swing by my office in Washington, D.C. and start with this one?

Come and take it. #2A pic.twitter.com/jG2SiXetov

— Congressman Ken Buck (@RepKenBuck) March 6, 2020

Never not be hilarious to me how gun nuts think shit like that makes them seem the epitome of a tough guy, when all I see is a scared paranoid wimp

ken buck, whose parents were both lawyers, grew up in the northern nyc suburbs and was an all-ivy league punter for the princeton football team

pretty badass

Republican Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah plans to vote in favor of a subpoena as part of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee’s investigation into Burisma, a key decision that could advance the GOP investigation into the Ukrainian energy firm tied to Joe Biden’s son.

Romney had raised concerns that the investigation had the appearance of a political probe aimed at hurting Joe Biden, who has reemerged in the 2020 primary as the Democratic front-runner to take on President Donald Trump.

But Romney’s office said Friday that Johnson alleviated his concerns of a “public spectacle,” so he agreed to back the subpoena to a public affairs consultant who worked with Burisma, the Ukrainian energy firm that hired Biden’s son Hunter.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/06/politics/mitt-romney-supports-ron-johnson-subpoena-burisma/index.html

Ha, what a pussy.

xpost That red white and blue machine gun is full "Idiocracy."

maybe the Bidens can change the subject to busing

https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-said-desegregation-would-create-a-racial-jungle-2019-7

Two confirmed coronavirus cases at AIPAC -

CNN: Six former wrestlers say Rep. Jim Jordan knew about abusive OSU doctor

surely jordan will have to resign in shame, right

oh you

mulvaney out?

Meadows?

FUCK

A federal judge has ordered the Justice Department to turn over the unredacted Mueller report, accusing AG Barr of misrepresenting its findings, and saying Barr lacks both candor and credibility.

I'm sure he'll get right on that.

iow, a federal judge making the most of having a lifetime appointment, which is just what the founders hoped they'd do - when it comes to kowtowing to the prevailing political bosses. sadly, there are now more than a hundred federal judges able to thumb their noses at any jurisprudence established after 1850.

Its a world question rather than a US specific question as the same story is playing out in country after country, but how do you stop the right winning elections by posing as insurgents, outsiders, and somehow not in power - running against an 'establishment' that actually isn't in power. Thats how 2020 is shaping up to be. This cake-and-eat-it strategy has yet to fail anywhere in the world (I think?)

^^ Brexit won (at least the 2019 general) by running on the principle that democracy is elitist

The way to stop it here is by declawing the senate and removing the electoral college. Pretty straightforward.

This is the wrong hour for me to start getting caught up in violent fantasies driven by hopelessness

There is a couple of ways to lessen it. 1) have every other party be mean to foreigners. This is morally a bad idea, and only pushes the right-wing parties further right to distinguish themselves again. However, they sometimes go to far and lose support. Otoh, now you have literal nazis in politics... 2) give them power and enough rope to hang themselves with. This has worked in Denmark recently, where the right-wing party got caught up in scandals and semi-corrupt policy decisions. 3) fix the underlying problems. Raise taxes, improve the welfare state. And also, refugees don't like fleeing, so less bombing / letting dictators bomb, and there's less foreigners arriving in the first place.

I'm sure none of you have ever thought of these ideas

well why would we think of something that has worked in denmark recently

give them power and enough rope to hang themselves with.

Aside from the last 40 years?

In the near-term the best hope is that a bunch of billionaires get coronavirus at one of their blood sacrifice orgies.

2) give them power and enough rope to hang themselves with. This has worked in Denmark recently

can we refer you to the UK since 2010, Australia since 2013, and the US since 2001 2017 as a counterpoint

Hey, Denmark 2001-2011 is a counterpoint too. It worked 2011-2015

semi-corrupt policy decisions

without knowing anything about Danish politics at all I'm going to point out that you're obviously wrong here. but I'm going to bed so you've got eight hours to explain how Australia's policy decisions in the last seven years have yet to reach the heights of Denmark's semi-corruptness

The thing I'm talking about is getting unnecessary highways to help traffic near a restaurant owned by a party member, stuff like that. Pork. Made them look like the same as the old guys.

Politicians of both parties do that in the US, it's considered a feature rather than a bug when it's your Senator/Rep/party member. Job creation! See also: the never-ending stream of Hunter Biden coverage we're about to receive.

Meadows?
FUCK

I... guess? Why does anyone care?

I'll take "unexpected silver linings" for $500, Alex.

"Cruz says he shook hands with the CPAC patient, will self quarantine"

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/03/08/coronavirus-live-updates/#link-QCBW4IFSVJEKPOCRDYB2LSXTUU

do your thing 'vid

he's not even 50 sadly

maybe he smokes

JFK says payback's a bitch

Are amphibians susceptible to COVID?

Getting Trump out of the White House would be a gift to the world--for all the arguing that goes on here, I doubt anyone takes issue with that one statement. I think Democrats on TV need to be careful how they talk about the political fallout from coronavirus. Rahm Emanuel was on one of the round-tables this morning, and when he started talking about the eventuality of Trump not being able to hold any of his dumb rallies, he could barely contain his glee. Probably not surprising ("never let a crisis go to waste"). It sounded terrible.

Getting Trump out of the White House would be a gift to the world--for all the arguing that goes on here, I doubt anyone takes issue with that one statement.

challenge accepted :D

is it a gift to finally correct a problem that we created?

i assume the rest of the world sees the US in a way similar to those who have observed trump's lifelong tactic of taking hostages and threatening harm to others and then acting like it's a gift to actually not hurt the other party

cross your fingers

1. I am announcing that I, along with 3 of my senior staff, are officially under self-quarantine after sustained contact at CPAC with a person who has since been hospitalized with the Wuhan Virus. My office will be closed for the week.

— Paul Gosar (@DrPaulGosar) March 9, 2020

HHS Sec. Alex Azar on Fox News: "This is a very serious health problem. Nobody is trying to minimize that."

— Aaron Blake (@AaronBlake) March 9, 2020

So last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flu. It averages between 27,000 and 70,000 per year. Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on. At this moment there are 546 confirmed cases of CoronaVirus, with 22 deaths. Think about that!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 9, 2020

Fuck, have you guys heard about this common Flu shit?!?

big if true

no one makes a big deal about the flu, who cares about adding another flu on top of the flu, just some more dead people

BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THIS MAN

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/Common_-_Ilosaarirock_2008.jpg

this is good (if expected) news: https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/486568-bullock-announces-run-for-montana-senate

Saudi Arabia and Russia are arguing over the price and flow of oil. That, and the Fake News, is the reason for the market drop!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 9, 2020

What a dummy. For the sake of argument, say the idiot is right this time. So what? Doesn't change the direction of the market.

the important thing is that it's someone else's fault

but it would change the most important thing of all - that he's right and that it's not his fault

The emperor is naked but it's the rest of the planet that will catch its death of cold.

xp

lol, exactly. every single time.

Please settle some catastrophising on mine and my partner's part - could Trump suspend the election in November in the face of full Coronageddon, and with control of the Senate could anyone stop him doing so?

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/10/could-a-hurricane-like-sandy-postpone-the-presidential-election/264254/

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/09/us/virus-election-voting.html

people should have to prove they are willing to risk death in order to exercise their right to vote

The emperor is naked

Well, they do say sunlight is the best disinfectant. Now what to do about my imagination is another matter.

urine is also a disinfectant iirc

Ample Purell at the polling place this morning. I may have left even cleaner than I arrived.

bullock-announces-run-for-montana-senate

good, was thinking she hadn't done much since "Bird Box."

could Trump suspend the election in November in the face of full Coronageddon, and with control of the Senate could anyone stop him doing so?

no, this authority is not granted to the Executive by the Constitution

Presidential elections are run by the individual states

If he wanted to hold the election earlier, however, I would fully support that.

How's (checks calendar) tomorrow?

I'd vote for that.

I mean, no one's getting any younger ...

ppl could just, y'know, read the Constitution to answer these questions

yeah nobody ever disagrees about that document

lots of stuff routinely happens that's unconstitutional iirc

I wouldn't worry about that particular eventuality tho

right but you do know he's going to float this idea

the DNC will stop the election

it doesn't matter what shit he floats, there's no legal mechanism for the federal government suspending elections they have no authority over. State/local governments run elections. What's he gonna do, issue a dictum? The states would all say fuck you

I wish the internet would get the coronavirus, ppl would be so much better without all the dumbshit ideas that circulate on it

well yeah obv I just mean he'll throw it out there "some people are saying I could..."

wait - what if coronavirus mutates into a computer virus

i hope this isn't related to the corona.exe attachment i've been trying to open for the last hour plus

it doesn't matter what shit he floats, there's no legal mechanism for the federal government suspending elections they have no authority over. State/local governments run elections. What's he gonna do, issue a dictum? The states would all say fuck you

― Οὖτις, Monday, March 9, 2020

I wish someone had told Rehnquist, Scalia, Thomas, etc in December 2001.

he'll most definitelty double check w/ joe digenova or gary busey or whoever

luckily there was a jeb! in florida at the time who didn't say 'fuck you'

It's already mutated into a computer virus - phishing attacks about how to respond.

I wish someone had told Rehnquist, Scalia, Thomas, etc in December 2001.

I get what yr saying here, but the court didn't interfere with the election being held, they interfered with the results

luckily there was a jeb! in florida at the time who didn't say 'fuck you'

― But guess what? Nobody gives a toot!😂 (Karl Malone), Monday, March 9, 2020 9:39 AM (two minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

https://compote.slate.com/images/836c8a56-4546-45d5-890d-88a6fa7ab173.jpeg

But America said fuck you to Jeb! in 2016

please (get the) clap

I get what yr saying here, but the court didn't interfere with the election being held, they interfered with the results

― Οὖτις, Monday, March 9, 2020

I know. I just love reminding conservative friends how Rehnquist and his peeps made an equal protection argument about an election.

Thanks for your answers guys

But America said fuck you to Jeb! in 2016

antonym, "revenge is a dish best served cold"

chuck and nancy

On Sunday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) wrote a letter to the Trump administration demanding paid sick leave requirements for workers impacted by COVID-19.

The Democratic leaders said that they were prompted to impose the demands after White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow mentioned on Friday that the administration was mulling tax breaks for airline and other travel industries as fear of the coronavirus puts a squeeze on international travel.

“In light of reports that the Trump administration is considering new tax cuts for major corporations impacted by the coronavirus, we are demanding that the administration prioritize the health and safety of American workers and their families over corporate interests,” Pelosi and Schumer wrote.

The letter included a list of demands aimed at assisting workers in the administration’s next response to the deadly coronavirus.

“Workers impacted by quarantine orders or responsible for caring for children impacted by school closures must receive paid sick leave to alleviate the devastating consequences of lost wages,” the Democrats asserted.

Other requests included protection measures for those who may be exposed to the illness in their line of work, along with unemployment insurance for workers who “may lose their jobs from the economic impacts of the epidemic.”

Pelosi and Schumer also urged the administration to facilitate access to anti-virus efforts for lower income Americans by conducting free testing and combating price gouging of medical supplies and treatment.

they write letters

any predictions on when trump will flip from "this isn't happening" to "it was so overwhelming and obvious and there was nothing that anyone could have done, worst ever many are saying"?

He's already trotted out "it's Obama's fault," so I guess that's the next of his greatest hits that he's saving for the encore

has he done "coronavirus is good for you" yet?

Fully expect the next three months to be taken up with some retired Democrat dying of Coronavirus and Trump refusing to lower the flag

What *can’t* he do badly, I ask you pic.twitter.com/rP6GOi9cGf

— Jay Willis (@jaywillis) March 9, 2020

Gaetz learned after Air Force One lifted off from Orlando that he had been in touch with an infected person at CPAC. He then essentially quarantined himself, sitting in a section of the plane alone. @maggieNYT https://t.co/ezZ7izjXmn

— Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) March 9, 2020

Cross your fingers.

lol at this Politico headline: Republicans who came in contact with Trump self-quarantine

let us pray

Couldn't let anyone know, Trump would have had him tossed out the door without a parachute.

Press conference in progress, President Asshole truly has no idea what's going on. Pence knows just a bit more. Not reassuring at all whenever anything starts with any Dear Leader bullshit.

pretty surreal to see him walk off without taking questions while everyone shouted "HAVE YOU BEEN TESTED!!?!?" at him

pence said he didn't know, but he would have the white house look into it. lol

Seriously. He's right there, ask him!

There are worse people, but Mnuchin is often the one I want to punch the most.

Mnuchin drives me completely crazy. He's so uncharismatic and a terrible speaker/thinker that I constantly wonder how he progressed in life. Then I have to remind myself that it was his dad.

During his two minutes of remarks or whatever, Trump didn't say a single word about people who are sick or have died, it was all economy economy economy. He talked more about making sure cruise companies are OK than actual people suffering.

And of course, "This isn't our fault."

but guys - think of the low gas prices!

vrooooooom!!!

I find it cathartic to go through my wallet once in a while and black out mnuchin’s name on any recent bills with a sharpie

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/486744-trump-has-not-been-tested-for-coronavirus-white-house-says

Dems...ATTACK

Give it a few weeks, then ATTACK.

also Trump's heart....ATTACK.

a payroll tax cut, loooooooooool FUCK YOU

ATTACK

Becz the Republican response to literally everything is a tax cut. They're magic, there's nothing they can't fix.

can you wipe your butt with a tax cut?

you can wipe a small percent of it, sure

useful krugman thread

If the goal of a short-term stimulus is to put money in people's hands, then we should put money in people's hands: just mail out checks. There is no reason to structure it as a payroll tax cut, which does nothing for those not getting paychecks 1/

— Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) March 10, 2020

plus can you imagine how popular trump would be??

BREAKING: DC Circuit holds that @HouseJudiciary can access portions of the Mueller Report that were redacted as grand jury materials. Judge Rogers writes majority. Judge Griffith writes concurrence. Judge Rao dissents. Opinion to follow. pic.twitter.com/tSdl0MRU9I

— Ashwin Phatak (@aphatak) March 10, 2020

Payroll tax cut has bonus effect of putting less money in Social Security, making it even more underfunded and in need of immediate supplementing abolishment.

yes, this is a clever way of accomplishing what the GOP has long wanted

also has no chance of passage

plus can you imagine how popular trump would be??

Rudd issued his stimmy in February 2009, and got boned in June 2010 after a Nielsen poll found he would lose re-election

this decision was mysteriously reversed a few hours later, but jfc

An email obtained by the ⁦@MiamiHerald⁩ shows the Trump administration has ordered all immigration courts to immediately remove coronavirus posters from all its premises. ⁦ https://t.co/xOtc05bdqp

— Monique O. Madan (@MoniqueOMadan) March 10, 2020

wind power? an unforgivable killer of birds as well as the nation's leading source of unbearable noise and "whooshing" noises, many are saying

fracking? too big to fail

BREAKING: White House likely to push federal aid for shale companies hit by coronavirus/international energy shock

Trump confidante & oil billionaire Harold Hamm lost $2 billion yesterday. Hamm reached out to admin but says he didnt make “direct" contacthttps://t.co/GsjHIJE6VI

— Jeffrey Stein (@JStein_WaPo) March 10, 2020

Well at least it looks like we'll have a nominee hellbent on banning fracking to take up the fight

wait

b-b-b-b-but that's socialism!!!

shouldn't Trump and Kushner tap into their amazing relationship with MbS to get him to stop his oil price war? Oh wait, lol.

Trump: "I've been briefed on numbers. Some very large numbers. Some very small numbers too."

— Heisenberg Report (@heisenbergrpt) March 10, 2020

"It will go away, just stay calm," Trump says of the coronavirus. He adds, "Be calm. It's really working out. And a lot of good things are going to happen." He talks about the US consumer, then walks off.

— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) March 10, 2020

we deserve this man

TMZ on the case:

Congressman Matt Gaetz apparently made the rounds before he self-quarantined ... because we got this pic of him chowing down Friday at a West Palm Beach taco joint.

Gaetz hit up Rocco's Tacos and according to eyewitnesses, he was having a great time ... problem is, he had been exposed to someone diagnosed with coronavirus. Gaetz had been at a Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland late last month and came in contact with someone who has been diagnosed with the virus.

The Congressman flew on Air Force One with President Trump Monday. Sources close to Gaetz tell TMZ ... the Congressman found out he had been exposed just after boarding the Presidential plane. We're told he then separated himself from others during the flight. Trump has not yet been tested for the virus.

I love the margarita: https://www.tmz.com/2020/03/10/matt-gaetz-coronavirus-taco-self-quarantine-air-force-1/

Would totally endorse the idea of this guy going to a Trump rally and shaking as many hands as possible

Make Republicans Sick Again

= MRSA!

got a real thrill reading these paragraphs

A CPAC attendee infected with coronavirus attended multiple days of the conference on a gold-level VIP ticket as well as a Friday night Shabbat dinner associated with the event, according to people familiar with the situation.

The infected attendee was a CPAC regular who made a hobby of meeting high-profile conference speakers and taking photographs with them. His gold-level ticket gave him access to a private lounge directly outside the green room for speakers on the conference’s main stage.

sometimes you have to compromise with strategic allies, so: critical support for coronavirus

Some rich asshole acting like a kid collecting baseball autographs.

Amazing.

don't hug this kid

https://i.imgur.com/bhvhpkY.jpg

ah well

12:11 PM PT -- He's clear! Congressman Gaetz just announced that his COVID-19 test came back negative.
He makes it clear, however, he will maintain his self-quarantine "at the advice of medical professionals" through Thursday at 2 PM. He states, "I continue to feel fine and show no symptoms."

*chugs margarita*

Goingclear.gif

This Matt Gaetz storyline has been a golden beam of schadenfreude in the midst of so much darkness.

(For real I'm glad he's OK of course, and that he didn't stupidly infect 100 people.)

He still should get sucked into a turbine on live TV tho.

Looking forward to Trump boasting that he wasn't chicken during one of his rallies, and then dying on stage.

(For real I'm glad he's OK of course, and that he didn't stupidly infect 100 people.)

fred, thomas l. friedman has a few words for you and your fellow joe bidens: Joe Biden, Not Bernie Sanders, Is the True Scandinavian

Pale and racist? Seems accurate.

"Bernie Sanders often cites Denmark as the kind of country he would like America to be under his ideology of “democratic socialism.” Well, here’s a news flash: Bernie Sanders, with his hostile attitudes toward free trade, free markets and multinational corporations, probably couldn’t get elected to a municipal council in Denmark today."

T/F?

tbf i don’t think he speaks danish

can we get a consultation from a denmark expert, is there a denmark expert available, anyone

He's only 6' tall, that's probably too short to get elected to anything in a Scandinavian country

Everyone can get elected to a municipal council in Denmark, lol. Sanders is to the right of the Unity List, which got 18% in the capital.

wait wait wait so you're saying thomas friendman made an assertion that was not based in evidence

Friedman being invited to speak to the fucking 'disruption council' is hilarious, and him thinking he learned anything in return from that group of idiots is... Sad. And a bit frustrating.

Or...maybe he understands Denmark better than you do?

that column is deeply insane

Here with your periodic reminder that my high school is inordinately proud to count this moron as an alumnus (TBF he does sponsor a journalism scholarship, but still).

Drag 'em Katie

.@RepKatiePorter to Wells Fargo CEO: How many of your tellers are receiving public assistance in this country?

Wells Fargo CEO: I'm not aware

Katie Porter: It's one-third. pic.twitter.com/z4SKn1nfsu

— Public Citizen (@Public_Citizen) March 10, 2020

Someone needs to tell the Democrats in Congress that CoronaVirus doesn’t care what party you are in. We need to protect ALL Americans!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 11, 2020

shocking development, Trump is going to use the pandemic to whine about Democrats

that said I truly think he does not understand what he is being criticized for right now

you don't understand, he made the right call a month ago to do the travel ban, which bought him a few more weeks of time to do jack shit

well, he did golf a lot

that's true, i did forget that it was all about him. but stocks ended up going down too! and that's not good...for trump. tough month for him. thinking, praying for him

i hope he has so many rallies

i mean, not really

omg

Trump is reportedly waiting on whether to make an emergency declaration until Jared Kushner "finishes his research and comes to a conclusion himself" https://t.co/0dWYImgi6U

— Rosie Gray (@RosieGray) March 11, 2020

Kushner very much the Mycroft Holmes of the administration

Brazilian Communications Secretary Fabio Wajngarten suspected of carrying COVID-19. He was with Trump last weekend at Mar-a-Lago in Florida. https://t.co/ev0z20ITyW

— Vincent Bevins (@Vinncent) March 11, 2020

fox news headlines are currently a "clinton" federal judge and the mexico border btw

unfortunately we have to wait for jared's analysis before getting to whether or not trump has it

the only thing worse than trump not getting covid19 is actually getting it and beating it

In positive news, Trump's approval rating is finally declining the last few weeks. And the economy might push it lower

"Ah, nevertheless..."

Senate blocking paid sick leave bill??

of course.

until the unemployment rate goes up, then Trump will *lean* on them

and I am pretty sure it gonna go up

thanks to lamar!

what a cunt sandwich

this statement is the longest thing trump has had to read without interruption for applause in his entire life

Britishers can bring as much foreign virus infection to the US, Europeans are banned.

Dems should assuage Alexander's concerns by making the sick leave payable by the federal government and see how he votes.

you've heard of medicare for all, wait until you hear my new plan, medicare for nobody

Where’s the (payroll) tax returns.

nothing on the actual health ramifications, huh. just banning continentals and goosing the market

a friend pointed out that trump doesn't like to wear the red tie when he has to be somber and responsible -- that's only for rallies and bullying

I would like him to wear it in his casket, from fatal Coronavirus

WH already had to clarify that the ban on travel from Europe does not apply to trade after President Dumbshit misspoke/couldn't read.

So this happened

https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=yX78DbOXVJ8

I’m supposed to be flying to MSP on the 25th from London, but with a stopover in Reykjavík. HALP.

According to the to the official statement:

This does not apply to legal permanent residents, (generally) immediate family members of U.S. citizens, and other individuals who are identified in the proclamation.

IIRC you have family in the States, so maybe this might apply to you?

Though I don't know what "immediate family members" includes.

It's anyone's guess, not least because trump clearly didn't know what he was talking about. Iceland is Schengen are and Schengen Area people are banned from entering the US (it seems), you aren't because you are American but may be obliged to quarantine yourself on arrival (or thrown in medical jail by CBP goons, who knows).By then Iceland may throw you in the blue lagoon, or medical jail or not let you board the flight and on your return Dominic Raab (if still alive) may exile you to the Wirral or Priti Patel may be there with the handcuffs to send you back again.

Oh yeah, the statement also says this:

In the next 48 hours, in the interest of public health, I intend to issue a supplemental Notice of Arrivals Restriction requiring U.S. passengers that have been in the Schengen Area to travel through select airports where the U.S. Government has implemented enhanced screening procedures.

xp omg

I’m pretty sure I’m staying airside in Reykjavík for the 90 minutes I’m there. This is VERY annoying because the one damn time I have a ticket that isn’t nonstop ARGH ARGH ARGH executive decision on my sister’s part to book Icelandair for me, obvs.

Memorial service might be cancelled too, just waiting to see what measures Minnesota takes re: public gatherings.

Iceland has 85 cases for a population of 364,000 which must be one of the highest rates in the world

it’s even happening for Trump cheerleader Stu Varney, who is dumbfounded by 2020 campaign flack Kylie McEnany’s pitiful response (deny, deflect) to concerns that campaign is not ruling out rallies and Trump is still shaking hands.

Watch Varney’s frustration grow in this clip... pic.twitter.com/aFWbC3SbER

— Marcus Baram (@mbaram) March 12, 2020

Good morning!

Please don't discourage President Stares-At-Eclipses from shaking hands, please.

Germophobe getting himself a job that put him in contact with mounds of sick skin is like some Flight of Icarus shit

Please don't discourage President Stares-At-Eclipses from shaking hands, please.

As long as the FAKE NEWS media tells him not to do something, he will continue to do it, and probably ramp it up, because Own the Libs. In my fantasy world Trump rallies will feature red-hatters joining their sweaty-ass hands and licking one another's nostrils, just to show the Bezos Post and the failing New York Times that there's nothing to worry about.

I know the CW is that this will um, expose him, but it also seems like an excellent environment for an authoritarian clampdown.

just keeping it POSITIVE

So far it seems that people are calling for a greater clampdown than Trump wants to do

There is as much evidence that Asshole is a germaphile as there is that he is a germaphobe.

what i'm mostly worried about are the gung ho cops in rural areas using covid-19 to crack down on POC

Hoping all the preppers (cops included) just stay home. This is their moment!

i know nothing should surprise me anymore but jesus the House Dems are basically begging to hand Trump a W in the form of this coronavirus bill and he still won't fucking take it. i mean, if the thing passed he could immediately take credit for it and roughly half the country would believe him! but nope, it's just antipathy and pig-headedness all the way down.

welcome to the War on Viruses

Sen. Tom Cotton release this morning: "We will emerge stronger from this challenge, we will hold accountable those who inflicted it on the world." What does that mean?

— Marty Kady (@mkady) March 12, 2020

We'll be stronger because Tom Cotton will die of coronavirus infection.

Tom Cotton would be like a top player in the Nazi regime if he were around in those days, he is creepy as fuck

"what does that mean?" tom cotton was also one of the very first people to spread the "coronavirus emerged from a top secret chinese lab" rumor

the umbrella corporation is responsible!

Germophobe getting himself a job that put him in contact with mounds of sick skin is like some Flight of Icarus shit

Which reminds me, very excited to announce my debut on 20 Buck Spin, Mounds of Sick Skin

trump and his croneys are openly testing out the xenophobic response to coronavirus - "foreign virus", trying to punish europe, tying it to secretive chinese experiments. i guess they're thinking that if the world goes to shit in the next 6 months they'll be able to rally the right with fear and hatred, as usual

and you know what? they're probably correct about that! it'll probably work on most of their supporters. they need answers, someone or something to scapegoat. conservatives don't like uncertainty, and they don't like global forces that are out of their control. better to make it an episode of Decker instead

Britain, no longer part the EU, has been redeemed.

c'mon lil' virus, you can do it!

The guy standing to Trump’s left just tested positive for coronavirus, according to Brazilian media. Fabio Wajngarten posted this photo, taken during meetings at Mar-a-Lago, five days ago. pic.twitter.com/qioU4qIlxl

— Gabriel Stargardter (@gabstargardter) March 12, 2020

xpost lollll 20 Buck Spin Simon

Who's still in the EU AND can still travel to the US? The luck of the Irish!

c'mon lil' virus, you can do it!

🐦[The guy standing to Trump’s left just tested positive for coronavirus, according to Brazilian media. Fabio Wajngarten posted this photo, taken during meetings at Mar-a-Lago, five days ago. pic.twitter.com/qioU4qIlxl🕸
— Gabriel Stargardter (@gabstargardter) March 12, 2020🕸]🐦🕸

Bolsonaro himself is positive now, too.

Well...I guess a pyrrhic victory is still a victory.

Bolsonaro himself is positive now, too.

not seeing this reported anywhere but take a wild guess how I feel about ti

a link would be awesome

reputable source New York Post says bolsonaro has been tested

https://nypost.com/2020/03/12/brazil-president-jair-bolsonaro-tested-for-coronavirus-after-calling-crisis-fantasy/

Miami Herald sez Bolso's been tested.

#URGENTE | El presidente de Brasil, Jair Bolsonaro, dio positivo para el Coronavírus. pic.twitter.com/kEQPHzyswE

— Nexofin (@Nexofin) March 12, 2020

I saw this tweet, but comments are calling it fake.

Really good piece:

https://www.haymarketbooks.org/blogs/110-mike-davis-on-covid-19-the-monster-is-at-the-door

Biden given a solid address. at least he sounds like a human being who can put sentences together and project empathy.

Thanks for sharing that Mike Davis piece comrade alpha, will read

Trump claims (falsely) all Americans returning to country are being tested:"We have heavily tested. If an American coming back or anybody coming back, we have a tremendous testing set up where people coming in have to be tested ... if it shows positive ... We have to quarantine." pic.twitter.com/ndGlKmSFJh

— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) March 12, 2020

daer journalists pls call these things "lies," not "false" or "innacurate" or etc

"We have very strong emergency powers under the Stafford Act," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday. "I have it memorized, practically, as to the powers in that act. And if I need to do something, I’ll do it. I have the right to do a lot of things that people don’t even know about."

-- Donald Trump on Thursday said he may declare the coronavirus pandemic an emergency by invoking a law known as the Stafford Act.

Donald Trump on Thursday said he may declare the coronavirus pandemic an emergency by invoking a law known as the Stafford Act.

This sounds... like an appropriate use of that act? I mean in principle, if it weren't in the hands of a dimwit?

sneaky, but I like it:

Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden proposes nationwide vote-by-mail in response to coronavirus

i'll bet they do

The American Gaming Association believes the gaming industry should be included in any federal stimulus action as the coronavirus outbreak weakens the industry’s performancehttps://t.co/TPOm3fYKbG

— Las Vegas Review-Journal (@reviewjournal) March 12, 2020

got ur stimulus 'right here'.

I mean be creative guys, move to the PredictIt markets, start holding odds on mundane life things.

How many traffic signals will be inoperative in Orange County the week of 3/11 -3/18? Take the over? the under?

this vibe to me is very Invasion of the Body Snatchers

WASHINGTON (AP) — Officials: US airstrikes underway against Iran-backed militia group that hit Iraq base.

— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) March 12, 2020

oh christ

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. launched airstrikes Thursday in Iraq, American officials said, targeting the Iranian-backed Shia militia members believed responsible for the rocket attack that killed and wounded American and British troops at a base north of Baghdad.

One U.S. official said multiple strikes targeted Kataib Hezbollah weapons facilities inside Iraq. The strikes were a partnered operation with the British, that official said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because operations were still going on.

The strikes marked a rapid escalation in tensions with Tehran and its proxy groups in Iraq, just two months after Iran carried out a massive ballistic missile attack against American troops at a base in Iraq. They came just hours after top U.S. defense leaders threatened retaliation for the Wednesday rocket attack, making clear that they knew who did it and that the attackers would be held accountable.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper told reporters at the Pentagon earlier Thursday that President Donald Trump had given him the authority to take whatever action he deemed necessary.

Eh whatever

https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-trumps-washington/a-president-unequal-to-the-moment

...I reviewed all of the one thousand and forty-nine tweets and retweets that Trump sent in the five weeks between his impeachment acquittal and Wednesday afternoon, counting forty-eight that mentioned coronavirus. By far the largest number of these—twenty-one—bragged in some way about the Administration’s response to a crisis that Trump claimed was being contained because of his fast, early action to shut the “boarders” with China. The next largest group of tweets attacked Democrats or the media or both for not giving him credit, or for seeking to create panic, rather than recognizing what a good job he has been doing. It was only on February 24th that the President sent his first tweet about the illness arriving in America. “The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA,” Trump tweeted. At the time, there were fifty-three confirmed cases in the country, a number that by March 1st had risen to more than a hundred. Just last week, Trump told Americans that coronavirus cases were “going very substantially down.”

Amazingly, these statements continued throughout this week, as the World Health Organization finally declared the novel coronavirus to be pandemic and chided nations—read the United States—for “alarming levels of inaction.” On Sunday, Trump claimed, “We have a perfectly coordinated and fine tuned plan at the White House for our attack on CoronaVirus.” On Monday, before the stock market crashed and a congressman who had flown with him on Air Force One had to quarantine himself, the President began the day by blaming the media and Democrats for seeking “to inflame the CoronaVirus situation, far beyond what the facts would warrant.” By the end of that catastrophic day, an unrepentant Trump appeared at a White House press conference and said, “We have been handling it very well” before promising a major, very, very big economic recovery proposal with no specifics. He concluded, “This blindsided the world, and I think we’ve handled it very, very well.” On Tuesday, he returned to this theme after visiting the Capitol for a private lunch with applauding Republican senators. “It will go away,” Trump said of the virus, on the day that more than a thousand cases were registered in the United States. “Just stay calm. It will go away.”

We don’t know whether this is Trump’s long-delayed reckoning, the overdue moment of accountability for a man who has escaped such reckonings his entire life. The election is not for many months. The dizzying events of just the last few weeks—the remarkable upending of the Democratic Presidential race, the hubris and foolishness of the Administration’s initial response to the virus—may be long forgotten by then.

That does not make this any less of a significant milestone in this most unbelievable of American Presidencies. On Wednesday, the respected government medical expert Anthony Fauci told Congress that the worst is yet to come. “Yes, yes it is,” he said. Trump cannot tweet this virus away or lie it into oblivion. The virus does not care if he gives tax cuts to friendly oil barons or bails out his own hotels with federal dollars, possibilities that have been floated in recent days. Trump may believe that only Republicans matter to his political fortunes, but he has yet to find a doctor who can insulate his base, and his base only, from the ravages of this disease. Nor will he.

Trump has spent years devaluing and diminishing facts, experts, institutions, and science—the very things upon which we must rely in a crisis—and his default setting during the coronavirus outbreak has been to deny, delay, deflect, and diminish. His speech on Wednesday night was a disappointment but not a surprise. He told us what we already knew: America is in big trouble.

Meanwhile, his more devout supporters will see this as a test rather than downright poetic Death By Fact divine punishment. In related news:

The amount of fixing national security related laws, policies and basic government functioning the next president will have to do is just staggering

— Carrie Cordero (@carriecordero) March 12, 2020

House Democrats delayed a scheduled vote on their package on Thursday as their negotiations with the White House continued behind the scenes. A vote could still come later in the day.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California, and Steven Mnuchin, the treasury secretary, spent Thursday negotiating privately over the contours of the measure, which would provide a substantial new paid sick leave program, enhanced unemployment insurance, free coronavirus testing and food assistance.

Many Republicans are opposed to the paid sick leave proposal, complaining that Democrats are using the coronavirus crisis to accomplish a long-held domestic priority that is exceedingly costly.

But another improbable sticking point has emerged: Republicans are trying to insert abortion restrictions into the emergency bill. The Republicans want to include the Hyde amendment, which would bar the use of federal funds for abortions, according to a person familiar with the deliberations. Republicans routinely push to include the language in legislation that governs the distribution of federal money.

The fuck

So not gonna happen

Republicans are trying to insert abortion restrictions into the emergency bill.

a quarter of the country are evangelicals and another 20% are Catholic, the former at least are are well organized politically via churches (and white American Catholics often might as well be evangelical Protestants)

The white evangelical movement is just a big decentralized socially acceptable white supremacist hate group

They worship death, it’s awesome

Having been raised in the environment, I can confirm their death worship. Armageddon is all they've ever cared about and longed for.

btw isn't it just adorable that Trump keeps talking about looking into vaccines a) like nobody else has already been doing that and b) like they can just be crapped out in a week?

wait til someone tells him 2021 is likely the earliest we'd seen one

the perfect prescription

silby and sparkle motion both seem like they're exaggerating but yes i wholeheartedly agree

like, that's totally true of the part of it that i experienced. and many others as well. i want to think that it's an exaggeration because that would be more comfortable to live with, but holy shit, trump is who he is and this is happening

https://i.imgur.com/2l7Ydg6.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/be47XEk.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/DKkqEyw.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/U14Wzf6.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/cf3gpLm.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/CgyKUvH.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/yuTtTzL.jpg

uh, hail satan. not sure what else to say. fight the power

pretty creepy to see that sinner michael cohen behind him in that last image

It takes all those people to coax the president into taking a crap

it's the glorious apotheosis of narcissism

(pun intended)

I’m imagining what happens immediately after these photos are taken- they all shrivel up and die, Raiders of the Lost Ark style, as Trump absorbs their life force and gains their evil powers and super-moves.

help a raised-by-atheists out, is this laying of hands normal prayer practice? the one that looks like he's smirking is pretty chilling

also enjoyed the massive rings on that follow shot one

normal prayer practice = performatively acting like a pious tool, iirc

wait til someone tells him 2021 is likely the earliest we'd seen one

― sorry for butt rockin (Neanderthal), Friday, March 13, 2020 1:18 AM (seven hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

I personally have seen video of people explicitly telling him precisely this on at least two occasions. I'm sure people have additionally told him dozens of times when he wasn't on camera. He doesn't hear, he doesn't process, he doesn't care.

Note it only allows States to amend their unemployment benefits laws, but....STATE LEGISLATURES, GET MOVING, NOW!

https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-economy-labor/u-s-labor-department-allows-unemployment-benefits-for-coronavirus-idUSW1N29L03G?

He doesn't hear, he doesn't process, he doesn't care.

....cocaine

(riff)

I know religion is a deeply personal matter but I see this stuff and I am like "how can anyone keep a straight face during this???"

I guess touching the orb only shielded him for about 2 years

all of the rituals from my churchgoing days make me break into hysterics now.

Our God is an Awesome God, twelve year old me now sings "my cock is an awesome cock", it really improves the song

Having grown up going to both mainline protestant and evangenical mega-church in NJ and MI I never once witnessed the laying on of hands

I used to go to church with different friends after saturday night sleepovers. It was fine... wouldn't recommend it on yelp.

Death...is here:

Omg this ⁦@anitakumar01⁩ story. Jared Kushner asked model Karlie Kloss’ dad (his brother’s father in law) for suggestions to fight coronavirus, so he turned to a Facebook group for ER doctors—telling them he had a “direct channel” to the WH. https://t.co/Vy4mWE1C3h

— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) March 13, 2020

i grew up catholic and we did not do that kind of weird bullshit

Our God is an Awesome God, twelve year old me now sings "my cock is an awesome cock", it really improves the song

― sorry for butt rockin (Neanderthal), Friday, March 13, 2020 10:17 AM (thirteen minutes ago)

there's a Kranium song where he refers to his penis as "Jehovah Thickness"

It takes all those people to coax the president into taking a crap

hahaha

Picture me taking a crap
I said never

Neanderthal bringing the lolz today, thanks

MAJOR BREAKING NEWS: NPR Source Says Trump Blocked Coronavirus Testing in January to Aid His Reelection Chances By Keeping US Infection Figures Low

NOTE: Please RETWEET this—America needs to know what this monster did. Thousands of future deaths will rightly be laid at his feet. https://t.co/FFGm5BDmIF

— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) March 12, 2020

Picture me taking a crap
color it peach and black

can we just not, with the seth abramson content

he's annoying but the substance of the quote from Fresh Air is important.

yeah I was about to ignore until I saw what he was retweeting

https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/andrew-gillum-in-alleged-meth-incident-in-miami-beach-police-say-11594094

The officers stated that one of the men involved in the incident, Aldo Mejias, had lent Dyson his credit card information to rent a hotel room yesterday afternoon. The two men were supposed to meet later that day. Mejias told the officers that he arrived at the hotel room around 11 p.m. Mejias said Dyson opened the door and then immediately collapsed on a bed and started vomiting. Mejias said he began giving Dyson CPR and called 911.

In the meantime, Mejias said Gillum was inside the hotel room "under the influence of an unknown substance." As Mejias was giving Dyson CPR, Mejias said, Gillum was inside a bathroom vomiting. Officers said they tried to speak to Gillum, but he was too inebriated to talk. Miami Beach Fire-Rescue said it responded a second time to Gillum later that night for a welfare check and said Gillum had returned to stable condition.

The officers said they found three small baggies of "suspected crystal meth" on "both the bed and floor of the hotel room." Officers said Gillum left the hotel room "without incident" that night and went home.

party til you puke

goddamn it

wtf?

Bitch set me up.

they told me they had some coronavirus vaccine up in the hotel room

The Prison abolition movement is getting a boost:

BREAKING: Bexar County Judge -- County suspending arrests for minor offenses so to not crowd jail during public health emergency. No juries for 30 days.

— KSAT 12 (@ksatnews) March 13, 2020

Should I post the Andrew Gillum news here or

scroll up

you can, but you have to make an andrew wk joke at the same time

“I was in Miami last night for a wedding celebration when first responders were called to assist one of my friends. While I had too much to drink, I want to be clear that I have never used methamphetamines,” he said.

always a good day when you have to make a public statement that you didn't use meth

I was just drunk ok

one really fun way to party is to drink a lot while your friends do meth

-andrew wk, "we're gonna drink all night (but no meth for me, no thank you)"

if you're going to be caught up in something scandalous, now is probably the best possible time

idk this sounds kinda suspicious to me tbh

I agree fwiw

dead people bounce

suspicious as in James O'Keefe drugged Gillum and pulled him into a hotel bathroom?

if you're going to be caught up in something scandalous, now is probably the best possible time

this story doesn't appear on Drudge yet, so you're probably right

expect the pee tape to drop tonight around 11pm eastern

See those "laying hands on Trump" photos and start humming "Touch Me, I'm Sick".

More like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jd9yxSHYpRU

More than ever, such a sickening feeling every time he speaks now--still going on about his great early response. And what on earth does "Maybe luck, maybe talent" mean?

He is so over his head.

Australia's Minister for Fascism and Looking Like A Potato has tested positive for the 'vid. Here he is taking a meeting last week:

https://media2.s-nbcnews.com/j/newscms/2020_11/3268211/200313-australia-coronavirus-mc-930_a9605cc9722d54ef4bf0f8007701044b.fit-760w.jpg

btw

It takes all those people to coax the president into taking a crap

worst public enemy LP ever

― majority whip, majority nae nae (m bison)

retitled as https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Whirl_Odor after focus group testing

so he's running out a parade of CEO's to save america ~

is this fool seriously trying to boost their stocks right now

wow congrats it worked

lots of handshakes goin' on...

holy shit, his answers to repeated questions on why he's not worried about his own health, given that he was recently photographed next to a person who is now covid-19 positive.

earlier in the press conference, he said it was fine because he isn't showing symptoms (even though you can carry it for weeks before showing symptoms).
then he said that he "doesn't know" the person that was positive. then a reporter asked a follow-up question noting that whether or not you know the person makes absolutely no difference, and asked why he isn't self-quarantining, as Fauci has been advocating. he said that he's following his doctors' advice - and apparently his doctors are telling him not to worry about it?? (assuming this is a lie on his part). then he was asked whether americans should follow the advice of Fauci, or the presidents doctor's, and he said that everyone should listen to their doctors.

or you know, americans could just do whatever they want. after all, they're the president! wait what

he just shook hands with every major CEO

guys is it possible Trump is antifa

QUARANTINE THE PRESIDENT

I’m a simple country idiot...why exactly did simply bringing out a bunch of CEOs at the press conference trigger a stock market rebound?

i assume investors have way more faith that those guys will make the best moves to benefit them

investors are emotionally unstable idiots

they literally behave like naive tweens

idk Trump essentially declaring he cares more about stock prices than human lives seems like it would be good for the Dow

always unrealistically hoping for the best then TOTALLY FREAKING OUT about the worst

xps

spending their money on garbage in the vain hope that one day it will be worth something, constantly trying to undermine one another etc

"the President LIKES MEEEEE!"

market gains will all be erased with the next wave of bad news, deaths, unemployment numbers, defaults etc

market gains America will all be erased with the next wave of bad news, deaths, unemployment numbers, defaults etc

oh stop it

i want to be Bible lady from The Mist

trump also bought a bunch of oil to prop the price up. you know, because we will need it for our excess toilet paper.

how does oil and TP help with poop removal

+ people covering for the weekend and also most traders make more money when the market is more volatile.

good news everyone! the trump presidency is over!

The coronavirus is quite likely to be the Trump presidency’s inflection point, when everything changed, when the bluster and ignorance and shallowness of America’s 45th president became undeniable, an empirical reality, as indisputable as the laws of science or a mathematical equation.

It has taken a good deal longer than it should have, but Americans have now seen the con man behind the curtain. The president, enraged for having been unmasked, will become more desperate, more embittered, more unhinged. He knows nothing will be the same. His administration may stagger on, but it will be only a hollow shell. The Trump presidency is over.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/03/peter-wehner-trump-presidency-over/607969/

whew, that was close

ah well, nevertheless

nobody cares what the Atlantic thinks

see, the thing that's different about THIS time is that americans are going to see his incompetence up close, i mean really notice it. it's unmistakable. surely they will come to their senses now!!!

the atlantic still publishes good stuff every once in a while

Trump has finally run out of hinges

Tremendous hinges. The best.

deal supposedly reached for coronavirus relief between House and White House.

hoping like hell Nancy didn't cave. or that they didn't gut the 3 months extended sick leave

cmon, covid, please:

It is my great honor to declare Sunday, March 15th as a National Day of Prayer. We are a Country that, throughout our history, has looked to God for protection and strength in times like these....

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 13, 2020

I think the hyde anendment was the real sticking pt

Xp

cos of course abortion is what's important right now.

seething. can't even read a friend's anguished post talking about how she couldn't make an emergency appointment with her PCP for an asthma treatment because they were afraid she had COVID and referred her to call the CDC to get tested...

...without seeing someone say "this is why the libs shouldn't be in charge" (dafuq?)

I will probably get in a fist fight with someone I met 24 hours earlier online

I read that Atlantic piece yesterday. I part ways with any kind of political certitude since 2016, but I am inclined to agree with their conclusion that this is a turning point for Trump, especially having just watched the lowlights from today's press conference: the "I don't take responsibility at all" for the slowness in testing, and the claim to not be aware of the pandemic unit being disbanded in 2018 (one of those statements where it's equally alarming whether he's lying or telling the truth). And then there's the lifeless, robotic monotone as he prattles on. I think it's been so drilled into his head that he must try not to rant invective in these situations, that this is the best approximation of calm he can muster.

If I were a cynic, which is something I'm not, I'd say that fake empathy from a president is better than zero empathy. But--without getting into specific cases--I do believe that presidents are usually able to find something within that is genuine in situations like this. With Trump, there is nothing there.

https://newrepublic.com/article/156901/dismantled-state-takes-pandemic

Oof

had no idea about the HHS and CMS fight. fuckin hell.

The president, enraged for having been unmasked, will become more desperate, more embittered, more unhinged.

Ah, but is he more isolated? If not, good. I want him crowd surfing in a mosh pit by Monday.

increasingly isolated, sources say

Brooke Gladstone of On the Media points out on this week's show that when Shithead goes into "presidential" address mode, his sleepy singsongy monotone sounds like he's trying to hypnotize you.

What Will Mitch Do?

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/13/us/politics/trump-coronavirus-relief-congress.html

As Mr. Trump was criticizing Democrats, Ms. Pelosi and Mr. Mnuchin were speaking for the 10th time of the day about the legislation. Ms. Pelosi announced the deal after they concluded their 13th call, and shortly after Mr. Mnuchin met privately with the president to urge him to accept it.

In the hours after that, the deal seemed in peril as White House officials insisted they were still reviewing text and aides rushed to make technical changes.

“Look forward to signing the final Bill, ASAP!” Mr. Trump tweeted just before 9 p.m., giving the first indication that he backed the measure and wanted Republicans to vote for it.