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Post by soonernvolved on Apr 19, 2020 11:28:39 GMT -6
dailycaller.com/2020/04/19/nancy-pelosi-didnt-downplay-coronavirus-encouraging-tourism-chinatown-february/Pelosi Says She Didn’t Downplay Coronavirus By Encouraging Tourists To ‘Come To Chinatown’ In February House Speaker Nancy Pelosi dismissed the idea that she downplayed the virus in February by encouraging tourists to take a stroll through San Francisco’s Chinatown. Pelosi appeared on “Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace” to discuss the novel coronavirus. Wallace pointed out that Pelosi “went on a walking tour around Chinatown” to promote tourism and then played a clip where she assured Americans that “everything is fine here.” “If the president underplayed the threat in the early days, Speaker Pelosi, didn’t you as well?” Wallace asked. “No!” Pelosi replied. “What we were trying to do is end the discrimination, the stigma that was going out against the Asian-American community and in fact, if you will look, the record will show that our Chinatown has been a model of containing and preventing the virus, and I’m confident in our folks there and thought it was necessary to offset some of the things that the president and others were saying about Asian-Americans and making them a target. A target of violence across the country.” WATCH: Wallace then asked again if Pelosi thinks she was “adding to this perception that there wasn’t such a threat generally” by walking around “without any masks” and assuring Americans that “it’s perfectly safe.” “No,” Pelosi said. “No, I was saying that you should not discriminate against – discriminate against Chinese-Americans, as some in our administration were doing, by the way, they were labeling the flu and that. No, indeed. And again, I think you – if you check the record, and it’s current, you will see that Chinatown has been a model in all of this.” “And that’s what we’re saying, look to them for answers. Don’t look to them to place blame.” Pelosi’s visit came three weeks after President Donald Trump’s administration announced a partial travel restriction on people entering America from China amid the growing threat of the novel coronavirus, according to Snopes. “We want to be vigilant about what is out there in other places. We want to be careful about how we deal with it, but we do want to say to people ‘Come to Chinatown. Here we are, careful, safe and come join us,'” Pelosi said in a video Feb. 24. (RELATED: FLASHBACK Feb. 24: Pelosi Stands In San Francisco’s Chinatown And Urges People To Come Out) The Democratic National Committee commented on this apparent discrimination against Chinese-Americans, blaming Trump Saturday for stoking “the flames of racism.” “In this time of crisis, we must come together as Americans,” the DNC tweeted. “Donald Trump has instead stoked the flames of racism by calling #COVID19 the ‘Chinese virus’ and equating Chinatowns in the United States with China. Words have consequences. And Trump’s words are dangerous.”
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Post by soonernvolved on Apr 19, 2020 11:30:15 GMT -6
www.dailywire.com/news/who-enlists-hollywood-to-beg-for-support-solidarity-amid-coronavirus-controversyWHO Enlists Hollywood To Beg For Support, Solidarity Amid Coronavirus Controversy The World Health Organization enlisted the help of late-night talk show hosts and musical superstars to drive home a strange message of support and “solidarity” amid concerns that the WHO aided and abetted China’s extensive coverup of the coronavirus pandemic. Saturday, the WHO sponsored the “One World: Together at Home” concert, simulcast on NBC, CBS, and ABC, and hosted by Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, and Stephen Colbert (at least in the United States) — a global event featuring the likes of the Rolling Stones, Lady Gaga, Billie Eilish, the Killers, and members of One Direction — in order to “boost morale” for millions of people trapped at home under coronavirus-related lockdowns, and raise money for its COVID-19 relief fund. But not everyone was left enthralled by the all-star lineup. The New York Post labeled the concert “lousy” and “insufferable,” and credited the spectacle with achieving “the impossible: it made us feel even worse about our already miserable circumstances.” “Nearly every musician opted for the saddest, most obvious tune they could muster, while — lucky us! — giving a shaky tour of their fabulous homes that would make Robin Leach scowl,” the outlet’s music reviewer groaned. Other viewers were left less-than-impressed by the World Health Organization itself, which tried to make the case that it is both essential and on top of the global coronavirus pandemic in a series “#COVID19 has taken so much from us, but it has also given us a unique opportunity: To put aside our differences, To break down barriers, To see and seek the best in each other, To lift our voices for #HealthForAll” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the WHO, and the man whom global leaders charge actively assisted China in covering up the coronavirus pandemic within that nation’s boundaries until it was too late. “We are all in this together. Trust in science and know that the world is working hard on a vaccine and treatments. Keep being kind to one another and always find joy in your days,” added the head of the WHO’s coronavirus response team, Maria Van Kerkhove. Last week, the White House said it was investigating the WHO and its response to the coronavirus and would likely suspend funding to the global health group. The WHO responded by accusing President Donald Trump of “playing politics” during a pandemic and then, bizarrely, took aim at Taiwan, calling the island nation, which refuses to acquiesce to Chinese authority, racist, and accused it of being behind an international misinformation campaign designed to pin the blame for the coronavirus on the Chinese government. Later in the week, other nations joined President Trump’s call to assess the WHO, suggesting that the United States is not alone in being concerned that Chinese influence has overtaken the United Nations-sanctioned body. Taiwan, the nation targeted directly by the WHO, says the body ignored repeated warnings from its leadership and refused to acknowledge Taiwan’s successful coronavirus containment methods, lumping the island nation in with the rest of mainland China. Some viewers responded to the WHO directly on social media, tweeting photos of Chinese leader Xi Jinping holding the WHO as a puppet at the WHO’s account. Others tweeted icons of the Taiwanese flag. It’s no surprise that the WHO is concerned. The United States supplies a significant portion of its budget. Losing that funding would leave the WHO is dire financial straits.
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Post by soonernvolved on Apr 19, 2020 11:31:42 GMT -6
www.dailywire.com/news/pelosi-trump-cant-reopen-economy-based-on-falsehoodsPELOSI: Trump Can’t Reopen Economy ‘Based On Falsehoods’ House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Sunday that President Trump cannot reopen the crashing U.S. economy “based on falsehoods.” “I’m afraid that he’s going to act on the set basis of what he’s acted before,” the California Democrat said on ABC’s “This Week.” “It’s a hoax. It’s magically going to disappear.” “If he continues to predicate the action that we take on a false premise, then we’re in further danger, and his earlier delay and denial caused deaths,” she said. “And so it’s very important that we walk the line that is close to evidence, data, science as we go forward and not whimsy, magic hoax allegations and placing blame instead of taking responsibility.” Trump laid out a three-phase plan for reopening the government last week. In phase one, restaurants — but not bars — movie theaters, sporting venues, places of worship and gyms could all reopen, as long as they adhere to strict social distancing rules. Schools that are closed should stay closed and visits to senior living facilities and hospitals should be continue to be banned. In phase two, school and other organized youth activities can return. Shopping centers can reopen but gatherings of more than 50 people should be avoided. Social distancing rules could be relaxed in restaurants, movie theaters and other large venues. Bars could reopen, with small occupancy numbers. Telework should continue wherever possible. And in phase three, even vulnerable people could resume normal activities. Workers could return to offices and workplaces, and large public venues — like arenas and sports stadiums — could operate under limited social distancing rules. But Pelosi was not optimistic about getting to phase three anytime soon. “Let me just say about that, the president has established these guidelines,” the Speaker said. “First, he said, I have sole authority to open up states or close states. The next thing he said was, it’s up to the governors. When the governors have said they want to follow the guidelines, he’s now criticizing them by siding with people who are objecting to their following the guidelines, the governors following the guidelines that have been forward by the Center for Disease Control and others. “So it is — I don’t know that anybody can give you a timeline. We’re prayerful that there will be a cure soon, that there will be a vaccine — that will take longer. That’s really the answer. And it is again, the sooner we commit to shelter-in-place across the board, testing, shelter-in-place, treatment, contact tracing — that’s the path to opening the economy and putting people back to work,” Pelosi said. In an appearance on “Fox News Sunday,” Pelosi claimed the Trump Administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic has been a “failure.” “Leaders — leaders take responsibility. So I said he’s a weak leader. He doesn’t take responsibility. He places blame — blame on others,” Pelosi told host Chris Wallace. “And that might have been OK before, but we cannot continue down a path that is, again I’ll come back to science, science, science, evidence, data on how we should go forward.”
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Post by soonernvolved on Apr 19, 2020 11:36:20 GMT -6
www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2020/04/19/star-studded-one-world-benefit-concert-for-the-w-h-o-sparks-outrage-commie-propaganda/Star-Studded ‘One World’ Benefit Concert for the W.H.O. Sparks Outrage: ‘Commie Propaganda’ Critics of the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) expressed anger over Saturday’s star-studded “One World” benefit concert held to raise funds for the U.N. body after President Donald Trump pulled funding for the organization over its connections to the Chinese communist regime. The “One World” concert, led by the W.H.O. and non-profit group Global Citizen, was broadcast across multiple television channels in the U.S. and around the world on Saturday, with the aim of raising money for the W.H.O.’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund. The line-up of stars for the event included Taylor Swift, Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, Beyonce, Oprah Winfrey, Jennifer Lopez, Elton John, and Lady Gaga, who even described W.H.O. Director-General Tedros Adhanom as a “superstar.” The concert also attracted contributions from political figures such as former first ladies Michelle Obama and Laura Bush, as well as celebrity supporters of the cause including former soccer star David Beckham and Microsoft founder Bill Gates. However, many people were left unimpressed by the event, denouncing the organization’s handling of the Chinese coronavirus pandemic and describing it as a form of globalist propaganda. “If I could give No stars I would,” one Amazon reviewer wrote. “WHO lied! People died!! Let’s not forgot this!!! While we’re home given up our freedom and most of us without jobs these CELEBRITIES ask us to help raise money for the WHO?! Forget it!” “Yes, we need useless celebrities preaching to us how this isn’t China’s fault and how we should just all live as one nation,” added another. Skeptics also lashed out on Twitter against W.H.O. chief Dr. Tedros Adhanom, a former official in Ethiopia’s Marxist Tigray People’s Liberation Front, who has been the subject of widespread criticism for his attempts to downplay China’s role in the outbreak. The concert also took place after President Donald Trump pledged to withdraw funding from the W.H.O., citing its connections to China and fatal decision to oppose travel restrictions during the virus’s onset. “Today I’m instructing my administration to halt funding of the World Health Organization while a review is conducted to assess the World Health Organization’s role in severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus,” Trump said at a White House press conference Tuesday. “The WHO’s attack on travel restrictions put political correctness above life-saving measures,” he continued. “The reality is that the WHO failed to adequately obtain, vet and share information in a timely and transparent fashion. Fortunately, I was not convinced and suspended travel from China saving untold numbers of lives.”
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Post by soonernvolved on Apr 19, 2020 11:38:14 GMT -6
www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2020/04/19/d-l-hughley-invokes-slavery-to-bash-open-up-america-protests/D.L. Hughley Invokes Slavery to Bash Open Up America Protests Actor-comedian D.L. Hughley appeared to draw a line between the atrocity of chattel slavery in United States to those Americans in states across the country demanding that they be allowed to go back to work after the Chinese coronavirus has killed more than 30,000 Americans, pushed millions into unemployment, and thrusted thousands more into mile-long food lines. “In a country where slavery was legal for a couple of hundred years, it’s ironic some are resentful of their freedom being taken away for a couple of months!” Said Hughley, who has a net worth of around $10 million. Millions of Americans have been asked to shelter-in-place to slow the spread of COVID-19. Nonessential workers — medical professionals, food, package, and mail distributors, grocery store employees, for example — are allowed to work in most cases to slow the spread of the deadly and highly contagious coronavirus. But most states have seen a shuttering of businesses en mass, causing economic calamity for millions of working Americans, some of whom are starting to publicly petitioning their local and state lawmakers to allow them to go back to work. Protests in Orlando, Florida, Columbus, Ohio, and in Michigan have occurred with more planned in Sacramento, California, Atlanta, Georgia, and in Tennessee, Nevada, and Pennsylvania. What exactly the logical connection between slavery and people fighting for the freedom to begin to pull their lives back together after weeks of a government-forced quarantine is anyone’s guess. But this is the same D.L. Hughley who said “you could worship the devil and be a better human being” than a Trump supporter.
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Post by soonernvolved on Apr 19, 2020 11:39:20 GMT -6
www.breitbart.com/clips/2020/04/19/inslee-trump-is-urging-insubordination-and-illegal-activity-by-supporting-protesters/Inslee: Trump Is Urging ‘Insubordination’ and ‘Illegal Activity’ by Supporting Protesters Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” Gov. Jay Inslee (D-WA) said President Donald Trump is urging both “insubordination” and “illegal activity” by encouraging protests of stay-at-home orders amid the coronavirus pandemic. Host George Stephanopoulos said, “You’ve seen those tweets from the president, liberate Michigan, liberate Virginia. You believe that’s dangerous?” Inslee said, “I don’t know any other way to characterize it when we have an order from governors both Republicans and Democrats that are basically designed to protect people’s health, literally their lives, to have a president of the United States basically encourage insubordination, to encourage illegal activity. These orders actually are the law of these states. And again, these are not just Democrats. These are Republican-led states as well. To have an American president to encourage people to violate the law. I can’t remember any time in my time in America we have seen such a thing.” Hew continued, “It is dangerous because it could inspire people to ignore things that could save their lives. And I don’t know if there is another way to characterize it. And it’s doubly frustrating to us governors because this is such a schizophrenia. The president is asking people, please ignore Dr. Fauci, Dr. Birx, please ignore my own guidelines I set forth. Those guidelines made very clear if you read them, and I don’t know if the president did or not, but if you read them, it made very clear that you can’t open up Michigan today or Virginia under those guidelines, you need to see a decline in infections and fatalities. So, yes, we hope that there could be a restoration of leadership in the White House rather than hobbling our national efforts to protect people from this terrible virus.”
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Post by soonernvolved on Apr 19, 2020 12:32:07 GMT -6
dailycaller.com/2020/04/19/harvard-magazine-misspells-arithmetic-ban-homeschooling/Harvard Smart People Misspell ‘Arithmetic’ While Advocating ‘Ban’ On Homeschooling Harvard Magazine’s May-June issue published an article that warned of the inherent dangers of homeschooling — and featured a photo that contained a spelling error. The illustration, by Robert Neubecker, shows a child imprisoned inside a home made entirely of books — one of which is a Bible. The other book titles that appear in the illustration are “Reading,” “Writing” and “Arithmatic [sic].” Many were quick to point out the fact that, while criticizing homeschoolers, Harvard Magazine went to print with a misspelling of “arithmetic.” Author Erin O’Donnell cited Elizabeth Bartholet, a professor with Harvard Law School’s Child Advocacy Program, to make the case for a “presumptive ban” on homeschooling as a practice, arguing that the burden should be on parents to prove that they could educate their children in a manner approved by the state. Homeschooling, [Bartholet] says, not only violates children’s right to a “meaningful education” and their right to be protected from potential child abuse, but may keep them from contributing positively to a democratic society.The article comes as the coronavirus pandemic has closed schools nationwide — thrusting millions of Americans into a world of at least partial homeschooling — and presents warnings against allowing parents to continue down that path once schools have reopened.
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Post by soonernvolved on Apr 19, 2020 13:43:28 GMT -6
So, not destroying one's economy can also prove to be effective in fighting Coronovirus? Who knew? www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-19/sweden-says-controversial-covid-19-strategy-is-proving-effectiveAnders Tegnell, the architect behind Sweden’s relatively relaxed response to Covid-19, told local media the latest figures on infection rates and fatalities indicate the situation is starting to stabilize.
“We’re on a sort of plateau,” Tegnell told Swedish news agency TT.
Sweden has left its schools, gyms, cafes, bars and restaurants open throughout the spread of the pandemic. Instead, the government has urged citizens to act responsibly and follow social distancing guidelines.
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Post by soonernvolved on Apr 19, 2020 13:44:58 GMT -6
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy banned the annual drive-through tulip farm in Cream Ridge this year. Owner Casey Jansen said he invested ONE MILLION in planting all the bulbs in the fall. But the governor threatened to arrest Jansen if ONE CAR drives through his farm for the annual attraction! This is tyranny — plain and simple. shorenewsnetwork.com/2020/04/19/new-jersey-shuts-down-drive-through-tulip-farm-threatens-to-arrest-owner/CREAM RIDGE, NJ – Governor Phil Murphy’s administration today shut down the drive-through tulip farm in Cream Ridge, but allowed the owners to continue selling their tulips to their customers for curbside pickup.
Owner Casey Jansen said his family owned farm makes about a one million dollar annual investment into planting tulips to operate the annual drive-through. This week, he was relayed a message from Attorney General Gurbir Grewal, “No drive through allowed”.
“We planted all these tulip bulbs in the months of October and November. That’s when we make the investment, and my investment is just about a million dollars,” Jansen said in an interview with NJ.com.
Meanwhile, out in Gloucester County, the Dalton Farms tulip drive-through, which is booked solid through the weekend has given a pass by Murphy’s administration.
Jansen claims that he received a letter from the state threatening that two New Jersey State Police officers would be at his farm to arrest him if a single car drove through his field.
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Post by soonernvolved on Apr 19, 2020 13:46:53 GMT -6
Oregon public service announcements are shaming people into staying home so they don’t kill people amid the Coronavirus outbreak.
The “Stay Home, Save Lives” campaign is a public-private partnership to communicate to Oregonians about how they can do their part to contain the spread of COVID-19. according to the government website.
If you want to get back to work so you can feed your family and keep a roof over your head, then you are a murderer. The public service announcement opens up with, “Did you accidentally kill someone today?”
WATCH:
Another PSA tells Oregonians that if they don’t stay home, 1.4% of the people in the state will die.
“It’s up to you you how many people live or die. Don’t accidentally kills someone.”
WATCH:
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Post by soonernvolved on Apr 19, 2020 15:58:06 GMT -6
Why no police raids? A Syracuse mosque is still open for daily prayers amid the Coronavirus shutdown as Christians are threatened and fined for attending drive-in services. New York is the country’s Coronavirus epicenter with more than 18,000 deaths, however this mosque is still open for prayers. This mosque located on the north side was once the Holy Trinity Catholic Church, but it closed down due to lack of parishioners — now it is considered a victory mosque. www.syracuse.com/coronavirus/2020/04/syracuse-mosque-once-a-catholic-church-transforms-again-to-try-to-keep-the-faith-free-of-coronavirus.html?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=syracuse_sfIrfan Elahi] used his skills to create a prayer room covered in plastic with special ventilation that allows daily prayers to continue in the 116-year-old former church, as the holy month of Ramadan nears.
The room is lined with plastic, and two machines siphon air out of the room to create negative pressure. Air in the room is recycled every four minutes. Elahi used the materials and expertise from his day job to create what he called a “clean room.”
About 10 worshippers in masks are allowed in at a time, though rarely do that many show up. They stand far apart from each other as they follow a prayer leader standing on a plastic-covered prayer rug.The Muslims who attend this mosque are not practicing social distancing. They are standing and praying closer than 6 feet apart, so why aren’t the police raiding this mosque and threatening the attendees with imprisonment and or fines? WATCH: Parishioners who attended a drive-in service at Temple Baptist Church in Mississippi were fined $500 each by police for violating ‘social distancing’ orders. 20 police cars swarmed King James Bible Baptist Church in Mississippi and pastor Charles Hamilton Jr., was told by a cop that his rights were suspended. Advertisement - story continues below A Kentucky church parking lot was littered with nails on Easter Sunday and police officers harassed churchgoers by recording their license plates and leaving notes on their cars. Clearly Christians are being singled out and persecuted. Paging AG Barr!
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Post by soonernvolved on Apr 19, 2020 15:58:49 GMT -6
www.reuters.com/article/us-neimanmarcus-bankruptcy-exclusive-idUSKBN2210CWNeiman Marcus Group is preparing to seek bankruptcy protection as soon as this week, becoming the first major U.S. department store operator to succumb to the economic fallout from the coronavirus outbreak, people familiar with the matter said. The debt-laden Dallas-based company has been left with few options after the pandemic forced it to temporarily shut all 43 of its Neiman Marcus locations, roughly two dozen Last Call stores and its two Bergdorf Goodman stores in New York. Neiman Marcus is in the final stages of negotiating a loan with its creditors totaling hundreds of millions of dollars, which would sustain some of its operations during bankruptcy proceedings, according to the sources. It has also furloughed many of its roughly 14,000 employees.
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Post by soonernvolved on Apr 19, 2020 15:59:54 GMT -6
dailycaller.com/2020/04/19/msnbc-guest-protesters-fox-news-nazi-death-cult-rump-gop/MSNBC Guest Calls Anti-Lockdown Protesters The ‘Fox News Nazi Death Cult Rump’ Of The GOP MSNBC guest Dave Zirin called lockdown protesters the “Fox News nazi death cult rump of the Republican Party” — and got no pushback from host Joy Reid. Zirin, a sports editor at The Nation, appeared on a Sunday morning panel on MSNBC’s “AM Joy” to discuss the coronavirus pandemic and recent protests aimed at reopening the economy. WATCH: Reid began the segment on the recent spate of protests by noting that defenders had compared them to civil rights protesters. (RELATED: Anyone Who Fails To Call Out The Suspected Mail Bomber Is Supporting Terrorism, Says Navy Senior Chief Petty Officer Malcolm Nance) “I don’t understand this idea of an inherent civil right to infect other people with coronavirus. Do you understand it?” Reid asked. The Root’s Michael Harriot argued that the protesters were simply “angry white people,” saying, “It is this disaffected, angry, white people who are economically, they say, disenfranchised and they want their country back … The right to exist no matter how much they harm the people who are around them, the poor people, the people who are sick, the people who are suffering from a global pandemic. They don’t care, as long as they can get their paycheck. We saw that when Donald Trump was elected and we’re seeing it again now that we’re on the eve of another election.” Reid agreed, noting the appearance of confederate flags at some of the protests, and adding, “They make it clear with the waving of confederate flags, it’s not like they’re hiding it under a bushel. It would be more direct and open to chant, ‘Let us infect you,’ because that’s what they’re saying. We’re in a bunch, we’re not social distancing, we could be passing this virus around here. So let us come back to work and infect y’all.” “No, they’ve gone from all lives matter to no lives matter,” Zirin said. “These folks are — let’s be honest of what they are. They are the Fox News Nazi confederate death cult rump of the Republican Party. Their very existence is a slap in the face, not only to the health care workers on the front lines risking their lives every single day, but also a slap in the face of the people who are dying from this virus in disproportionate numbers, black and brown people.” “These are not economically disenfranchised folks,” Zirin concluded. “These are small business owners, retirees, they want their workers sent back to work. It’s a complete farce.” Zirin went on to say that, while it was fine to give critical coverage to the protests, he thought that the best thing to do would be for media to ignore them and deprive them of the attention.
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Post by soonernvolved on Apr 19, 2020 16:02:23 GMT -6
www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2020/04/19/albert-brooks-mocks-quarantine-protesters-even-the-germans-are-going-holy-st-i-thought-we-got-rid-of-this/Albert Brooks Mocks Quarantine Protesters: ‘Even the Germans Are Going Holy S**t I Thought We Got Rid of This’ Actor-director Albert Brooks is mocking the hundreds of people who converged on state capitals over the weekend to protest the continued coronavirus lockdowns, which have resulted in millions of lost jobs around the country. The Lost in America and Broadcast News star even appeared to compare the crowds to Nazi-era Germany. Albert Brooks noted in a tweet on Sunday that some of the protestors chanted “Fire Fauci!” — a reference to Dr. Anthony Fauci, a member of the White House’s coronavirus taskforce and the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Dr. Fauci has pushed for a broader, nationwide lockdown in response to the Chinese coronavirus. But his critics have argued that such a blanket shutdown is too extreme and will only prolong the country’s economic misery and lead to even more layoffs. “The scariest thing about the Trump inspired protests today were people yelling ‘Fire Fauci!’ Trump has to be watching this and feeling like he is invincible,” the Hollywood star wrote. “He actually got his crowd to blame science. Even the Germans are going ‘holy shit I thought we got rid of this.'” On Friday, President Trump tweeted his support of protestors in three Democrat-led states — Michigan, Minnesota, and Virginia — where people were demanding that state governments re-open their economies and ease their restrictions of physical movement. His tweets caused several Hollywood celebrities to publicly lash out at the president on social media, calling him “deranged,” “terrifying,” and a “madman.” Last year, Albert Brooks landed in hot water when he compared Oscar-winning actor Jon Voight to John Wilkes Booth, the actor who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln. The insult came shortly after Voight posted a series of videos to social media in which Voight praised President Trump, calling him the “greatest president since Abraham Lincoln.
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Post by soonernvolved on Apr 19, 2020 16:03:44 GMT -6
www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/04/19/nprs-scott-simon-suggests-president-trump-is-encouraging-armed-insurrection/NPR’s Scott Simon Suggests President Trump Is Encouraging ‘Armed Insurrection’ National Public Radio (NPR) Weekend Edition Saturday host Scott Simon implied on two occasions during his three-hour show that President Donald Trump’s tweets about liberating states from draconian shutdowns to stop the spread of the coronavirus may be Trump encouraging “armed insurrection.” The first occasion was in an interview with Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, who leads a state where protests against shutting down the economy have taken place in recent days. www.npr.org/2020/04/18/837855138/ohio-governor-on-states-banding-together-next-steps-for-coronavirus-response“As I don’t have to tell you, there were anti-stay-at-home protests in – right there in Columbus this week. And I have to ask you, Governor DeWine, when President Trump calls on people in Michigan, Minnesota and Virginia – those are states with Democratic governors – to, quote, “liberate” themselves from lockdown, is that a call for insurrection?” Simon asked. “No, I don’t think so,” DeWine said. “Look; I mean, we have…” “Well, what else does liberate mean?” Simon asked. “Well, the people have every right to demonstrate,” DeWine said. “This is what I’ve said to people who were protesting against me, people who are very upset with me. I say, look; there’s the First Amendment. They have a right to speak out.” “They have a right to demonstrate,” DeWine said. “You know, it is what it is. My job is to, you know, look at what is in the best interests of Ohioans.” “We were very early in taking some very dramatic steps to protect Ohioans,” DeWine said. “I’m going to continue to do that. But at the same time, I understand the demonstrators.” “They want to get the economy moving again. No one is more anxious to do that than I am,” DeWine said. “So I understand where they’re coming from. But we also have to do it in a rational way.” “We have to do it in a phased way that protects human life and protects our medical institutions from being totally overrun,” DeWine said. “So this is a nuanced balance of things that, you know, we’re trying to do here.” “Well, but I got to pressure you a bit on this because the president also tweeted, “liberate Virginia,” Simon said. “Save your great Second Amendment. It is under siege. And they followed that up from the White House podium.” “Is that a call for armed insurrection?” Simon asked. “No, I don’t think that’s a call for anything other than, you know, the president is tweeting what he wants to tweet,” DeWine said. “But again, you know, I’m sure there were many people who in Ohio were saying, you know, go demonstrate against DeWine, et cetera.” “And so that’s – look; the First Amendment is what it is, and we respect the First Amendment,” DeWine said. Later in the program, Simon asked Ron Elving, a senior editor and news analyst at NPR and an outspoken fan of Barack Obama, about “armed insurrection.” LIBERATE VIRGINIA, and save your great 2nd Amendment. It is under siege! — Donald J. Trump (@realdonaldtrump) April 17, 2020 “The president, of course, also tweeted he wanted people in Michigan, Minnesota and Virginia to — quote — liberate their states,” Simon said, and then played an audio clip from Trump at one of his daily coronavirus press briefings where the president spoke about the threat to the Second Amendment in Virginia where Gov. Ralph Northam has overseen the installation of stricter gun control laws. “Ron, I don’t think this is a time to hide behind euphemisms so let me ask you directly: Is this a call for armed insurrection in the United States?” Simon asked. “When you say one night the governors are going to call their own shots and then the next night you encourage people to resist their governor — put him under siege — and the legislature and you associate that resistance with guns through talk of the Second Amendment, you surely risk inflaming those who are most combustible.” “Does Trump actually want there to be bloodshed, no I don’t think so but does he want the show of support he is getting from these groups, well, why else would he be goading then on?” Elving said. NPR is a taxpayer funded entity, as described in a Knight Foundation report, saying, “NPR, PBS and other public broadcasters such as American Public Media and the far-left Pacifica Radio network get about half a billion dollars in funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting ($445 million in the 2017 appropriation), which gets all its money from the taxpayer.”
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Post by wishboned on Apr 19, 2020 17:08:46 GMT -6
thefederalist.com/2020/04/18/de-blasio-wants-new-yorkers-to-rat-on-neighbors-dont-do-it/De Blasio Wants New Yorkers To Rat On Neighbors. Don’t Do It. New Yorkers have done a great job flattening the curve of coronavirus. Now is not the time to start informing on each other. APRIL 18, 2020 By David Marcus New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio took to Twitter Saturday to urge his constituents to monitor, photograph and report each other if they aren’t strictly obeying his social distancing guidelines. Just fire off a photo to 3-1-1 of a few guys having a chat in a bodega and Hizzoner will send police officers, with guns and everything, to break it up. What could go wrong? Throughout the video de Blasio holds a creepy smile as he imagines millions of New Yorkers ratting each other out to help perfect his vision of government-constructed existence. We will be soldiers in his dream socialist army, pointing fingers and getting a nice pat on the back from the powers that be. It is a disturbing dystopia future to imagine. When I was growing up in Northeast Philly, there was an old lady named Mrs. Ferry who lived in the row house next to my big Aunt Mary. Mrs. Ferry would sit on her porch all day listening to the police scanner and holding a little notebook. If she saw you smoking, or fighting, or if you broke a streetlight playing lightball, she’d write it down. And when you got home that night your parents knew all about it. We do not want to live in a society of Mrs. Ferrys. We have recent evidence as to how horrifying it is to live in a country where everyone is potentially the police. Read a play by Vaclav Havel; listen to any story from communist dissidents about the fear of friends and neighbors. There is no terror any government can cause greater than turning citizens into each other’s jail keepers. Listen, if the guy downstairs is running an illegal speakeasy and 50 people a night are pouring in, sure, yeah. Say to him, “Listen, this can’t happen we have to stop this.” If he won’t, call the landlord or the authorities. But if you see some kids playing basketball, or more than one person in the ATM kiosk, cool down your trigger finger. Let it be. The irony of de Blasio’s sudden call for us to all start spying on each other is that New York has flattened the curve by more or less obeying the guidelines that have been laid out. The people understand the situation; they have reacted reasonably and will continue to do so. Introducing this radically anti-American idea that we should be informing on each other left and right when the fight against the virus is going well makes no sense. In fact, the only way it really does make sense is if the goal is to use this emergency to further empower the government by making all of us its agents. But we have shown this is needless and have frankly done a remarkable job. Now is the time when Americans have to trust each other and each other’s good judgment– judgment that has thus far more than passed the test. Now is not the time to turn on each other regardless of what Mayor de Blasio says. The American people are going through a lot of tests at once right now. The saving lives test. The trying to avoid total economic collapse test. And importantly the civil liberties test. In regard to this last one we have some choice. Under how harsh a watch from big brother do we want to spend our days? Do we want to become big brother ourselves? Isn’t that always the way? When we read “1984” we all imagine we are Winston, and in so doing entirely miss the point. This thing, that de Blasio wants us to do is a thing we cannot do. We cannot live in fear of each other, we cannot live thinking of ourselves as the eyes and ears of the state, we cannot live in panic driven paranoia. The bottom line is don’t listen to de Blasio. Use your best judgment, but don’t become a Storm Trooper in his clampdown brigade. We have enough to worry about without deputizing ourselves to be an annoyance to our neighbors. Let the mayor flex whatever muscle he thinks he has left after his shambolic handling of coronavirus. The people of New York will not become his secret police. If some site like 4chan isn’t planning on spamming this number with dick pics then I’ve lost my faith in the Internet.
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Post by soonernvolved on Apr 20, 2020 4:13:16 GMT -6
Democrats like to say as a talking point that the program is only helping big business but 74% of the loans were for smaller amounts under $100,000. Her latest excuse to punish business owners is because she needs to “fix the program.” What a demon! The program does not need fixing. It needs more cash! Businesses are shutting their doors as Pelosi fiddles at home.
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Post by soonernvolved on Apr 20, 2020 4:19:14 GMT -6
www.breitbart.com/the-media/2020/04/19/miami-herald-columnist-packed-beaches-will-work-nicely-to-thin-the-ranks-of-trump-and-desantis-supporters/Miami Herald Columnist: Packed Beaches Will ‘Work Nicely to Thin The Ranks’ Of Trump And DeSantis Supporters As some Florida beaches reopened under social distancing guidelines, Miami Herald metro columnist Fabiola Santiago tweeted on Sunday that Florida residents packing beaches “should work nicely to thin the ranks” of supporters of President Donald Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis. Santiago tweeted that “packed beaches should work nicely to thin the ranks of Trump/DeSantis/Gimenez supporters in #Florida who value money over health.” Packed beaches should work nicely to thin the ranks of Trump/DeSantis/Gimenez supporters in #Florida who value money over health. t.co/u35pOSBCiq— Fabiola Santiago (@fabiolasantiago) April 19, 2020 Reaction from Trump supporters was swift. Donald Trump Jr. commented that Santiago’s “disgusting” remarks not only expose her own bias but “based on their hiring choices” likely tells readers “everything you need to know about the Miami Herald as well.” You’re grotesque. A genuine embarrassment,” tweeted radio show host and conservative commentator Dan Bongino. Some pointed out that Santiago had nothing to say about the decision by three Democratic governors — New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, and Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont – to reopen marinas and boatyards also under social distancing rules. Others noted the lack of criticism about Manhattan’s Central Park still being open to the public while visitor centers and playgrounds have been closed until further notice. People magazine recently published photographs showing crowds in Central Park clearly breaking the “six feet apart” guidelines, with many not wearing face masks. On Friday, DeSantis gave local municipalities the green-light to decide whether to reopen their beaches only if it can be done safely and under strict social distancing guidelines. Some north Florida beaches reopened while many in central and south Florida remain closed. Newly reopened Jacksonville Beach only allows “essential activities” which include “recreational activities consistent with social distancing guidelines such as walking, biking, hiking, fishing, running, swimming, taking care of pets and surfing.” Beach-goers cannot sunbathe or bring towels, blankets or beach chairs. The beaches reportedly don’t allow “lingering on the beach without moving” or gatherings of more than 10 people. Santiago’s controversial tweet embedded a Miami Herald article sensationally titled, “Packed Florida beach offers glimpse of what may come when outdoor spaces are reopened.” The Herald story included two images of scores of people walking on the beach, but it was not clear from the pictures whether those photographed were violating the social distancing rules. The closeup images seem to show people keeping distance but those who can be seen were not wearing masks or other face coverings. The story itself does not report that anyone violated social distancing rules. At Friday’s White House Coronavirus Task Force’s briefing, Dr. Deborah Birx, Trump’s coronavirus response coordinator, was asked about the beach reopenings in Florida. Reporters did not similarly bring up the marina and boatyard reopenings in harder-hit New Jersey, New York and Connecticut or Manhattan’s continued opening of Central Park to the general public. “If the county health directors believe that that’s appropriate for their county, then I’m not going to second judge an individual’s approach to this,” Birx said of the Florida beach news. Update 9:23 PM April 19, 2020:
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Post by soonernvolved on Apr 20, 2020 4:33:52 GMT -6
www.breitbart.com/clips/2020/04/19/cnns-zakaria-blaming-china-for-coronavirus-spread-changes-nothing/CNN’s Zakaria: Blaming China for Coronavirus Spread Changes Nothing Sunday, CNN “Fareed Zakaria GPS” host Fareed Zakaria sounded off on President Donald Trump blaming China for the spread of the coronavirus across the world. Zakaria agreed that the Asia superpower “engaged in a cover-up” regarding COVID-19, but said blaming China for the spread of the virus does not change the fact that Trump was aware of the virus in January and downplayed its danger. President Trump now tells us China is to blame for the havoc that the coronavirus is wreaking across the world,” Zakaria opened his show. “He’s paused funding to the World Health Organization because he says it colluded with China keeping the facts hidden.” The CNN anchor argued instead of the United States playing the “blame game” with China over its actions to cover up their fault in the spread, the two countries should work together as the Soviet Union once did with the United States to help eradicate smallpox. Partial transcript as follows: The question is was Donald Trump telling the truth about China then, or is he telling the truth about it now? Let me be clear, with regard to COVID-19, China engaged in a cover-up and the W.H.O. did not push back enough, though both deny it. Local officials in Wuhan knew about the disease early but chose to minimize fears about it and punished doctors who spoke out. Beijing, for its part, kept a tight lid on information, refused help from the C.D.C., and gave the W.H.O. limited access to Wuhan. Some health experts say it is likely that China is still giving us unreliable data about the numbers of infected and dead. And China’s repressive regime has always controlled and manipulated information to serve its larger interests, but none of that changes the fact that Donald Trump was well aware of the potential dangers of the virus by late January at minimum and by mid-February at the latest. He made a judgment that the virus would not be a big problem for America, that it could go away in April with warm weather. He apparently worried that taking strong actions against it would spook the stock market. It is those misjudgments that have significantly worsened the COVID-19 crisis in America. Now, to deflect blame from himself, President Trump has decided to bash China. This compounds one bad policy with another. Whatever China’s mistakes, missteps and deceptions, the fastest way to defeat this pandemic would be to build a broad international alliance, to pool resources, share information, and coordinate actions. Right now, Washington is doing the opposite, restricting trade in key supplies, allegedly outbidding other countries for shipments of PPE and acting without even consulting its closest allies. China, meanwhile, has tried to scrub its own record by floating a conspiracy theory that the U.S. military created the outbreak in Wuhan. It has also tried to do undeniably good things like lending expertise to countries around the world and sending supplies to hard hit places such as Iran, Italy, Spain and the United States. During the Cold War, when the United States and the soviet union were mortal rivals, they still cooperated on a campaign to vaccinate the world and eradicate smallpox. Now, we are in the middle of a global pandemic, and the U.S. and China, the world’s two leading powers, are trading insults and one-upping each other in a childish blame game that will not save one human life anywhere.
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Post by soonernvolved on Apr 20, 2020 4:35:36 GMT -6
www.breitbart.com/clips/2020/04/19/dem-sen-coons-calls-for-3-6-billion-vote-by-mail-funding-we-ought-to-be-able-to-do-this/Dem Sen. Coons Calls for $3.6 Billion Vote-by-Mail Funding — ‘We Ought to Be Able to Do This’ In a Sunday interview with MSNBC’s “Kasie DC,” Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) called for $3.6 billion in funding to allow vote-by-mail in 2020 amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Coons noted people in the military and diplomats vote via mail and that President Donald Trump requested an absentee ballot for the upcoming election, advising if some states can vote entirely by mail, then it should not be an issue while there are shelter-in-place orders. It would ask us to give some flexibility to states in terms of match requirements and some dramatic additional resources, $3.6 billion,” argued Coons. “We’ve heard both Republican and Democratic secretaries of state, heads of state, parties and local election officials calling for this. in every election, hundreds of thousands of Americans vote by mail from overseas. Folks in our armed forces and our diplomatic core, President Trump has requested an absentee ballot for this election. If it’s good enough for our troops and diplomats and our president, I don’t see why a vote-by-mail shouldn’t be a feature for every election in this state by November if people request it.” He added, “It shouldn’t be a partisan issue. Look, there are five states that conduct it entirely by mail. Utah is one, Oregon is another. Utah is heavily Republican, Oregon is majority Democrat, in terms of who they send to Congress. So, I don’t think that you can predict what the partisan outcome will be based on whether folks have the ability to cast their votes by mail. A number of states have developed thorough security measures to make sure that they can track every single ballot, and they can confirm that the person casting that ballot is, in fact, the registered voter by signature match and by other measures. We ought to be able to do this to vote securely, if necessary, by mail if there is an ongoing pandemic problem with us in the fall. And, frankly, the lack of planning around several aspects here, around being able to vote by mail, around being able to have enough testing tracing resource us available too public health organizations around our country is a lot of why this pandemic keeps being such a challenge for us.”
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Post by soonernvolved on Apr 20, 2020 5:21:00 GMT -6
So, can we all go back to work yet? Stanford University researcher Dr. John Ioannidis presented his findings from a recent coronavirus study in Santa Clara, California. The research project looked at 3,300 people in Santa Clara County in California. The Stanford study revealed that 2.5% to 4.2% of people tested for COVID-19 were positive for antibodies. The data indicates that there are between 50 to 80-fold more infections in the general population than confirmed cases. This is a huge development. In describing his findings Dr. Ioannidis concluded that the coronavirus has an infection fatality rate that is in the same ballpark as seasonal influenza. Dr. Ioannidis added, “It suggests that even though this is a very serious problem, we should not fear. It suggests that we have solid ground to have optimism about the possibility of eventually opening our society and gaining back our lives.” Dr. Andrew Bostom also published a report Sunday on the COVID19 lethality. Dr. Boston also says today’s coronavirus may be no worse than the 1957-1958 H2N2 flu pandemic that killed over 100,000 Americans. www.andrewbostom.org/2020/04/covid19-lethality-unhysterical-data-are-emerging/One of the most striking features of covid19 disease is its overwhelmingly disproportionate lethality in those ≥ 65 years old, vs. those < 65. Stanford University Prevention Research Center’s Dr. John Ioannides, and colleagues, analyzed covid19 mortality data as of April 4, 2020 from European countries and U.S. states, or major cities, with at least 250 covid19 deaths (total deaths included=25,692). An analysis pooling data from New York City, Italy, and the Netherlands, for example, revealed that only 0.9% of all deaths occurred in those < 65, without known underlying co-morbidities. Given these findings and the more modest overall U.S. covid19 CFR based upon realistic population infection estimates (i.e., 0.13%), the CFR should be considerably lower still, in those < 65 years of age.
Ioannides et al proffered (on April 8, 2020) these increasingly evidence-validated, eminently rational recommendations for managing the covid19 pandemic going forward:
“If larger scale studies further document that the infection is very common and infection fatality rate is modest across the general population, the finding of very low risk in the vast majority of the general population has major implications for strategic next steps in managing the COVID-19 pandemic. Tailored measures that maintain social life and the economy functional to avoid potentially even deaths from socioeconomic disruption plus effective protection of select high-risk individuals may be a sensible option.”
Unaccompanied by mass economic lockdowns, the 1957-58 H2N2 influenza A pandemic—equal, at least, in virulence and lethality to the current covid19 pandemic—had only a negligible effect on the U.S. GDP, within the range of ordinary economic variability.
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Post by soonernvolved on Apr 20, 2020 6:47:34 GMT -6
www.dailywire.com/news/democrat-law-professor-calls-out-pelosi-for-contradictory-statementsDemocrat Law Professor Calls Out Pelosi For Contradictory StatementsJonathan Turley, a self-described Democrat who is a Constitutional Law Professor at George Washington University, called out House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday over multiple contradictory statements that Pelosi gave during an interview on “Fox News Sunday.” “Nancy Pelosi just said to Chris Wallace on Fox that she does not understand people publicly protesting civil liberties on lock down orders,” Turley tweeted. “However, this followed her defense of her calling people to join her in Chinatown in late February as a protest against discrimination.” Turley is correct, Pelosi, when asked by host Chris Wallace if she understood why protesters were pushing back on Democrats who were restricting their rights, Pelosi responded, “No, not really.” Turley highlighted another contradiction writing: “Pelosi said that ‘leaders take responsibility’ and do not blame others. However, when asked about her calling people out in mass to Chinatown in late February, she said it was because of what Trump ‘said about Asian Americans.’ Trump did refer to ‘the Chinese virus,’ not citizens.” Once again, Turley is correct. Trump never made negative remarks about “Asian-Americans,” and he called the coronavirus the “Chinese virus” three weeks after she encouraged people to visit Chinatown in San Francisco. WATCH: TRANSCRIPT: WALLACE: You, as you are right now, have been very critical of President Trump especially for what you say is the time that he lost initially in January and February in responding to the virus. But I — I want to point out that on February 24th, you went on a walking tour of Chinatown to try to promote tourism there and here is some of what you had to say. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PELOSI: That’s what we’re trying to do today is to say, everything is fine here. Come, because precautions have been taken. We think it’s very safe to be in Chinatown and hope that others will come. (END VIDEO CLIP) WALLACE: If the president underplayed the threat in the early days, Speaker Pelosi, didn’t you as well? PELOSI: No. What we’re trying to do is to end the discrimination, the stigma, that was going out against the Asian-American community. In fact, if you will look the record will show that our Chinatown has been a model of containing and — and preventing the virus. So I’m confident in our folks there and thought it was necessary to offset some of the things that the president and others were saying about Asian- Americans and making them a target. A target of violence across the country — hate crimes — (CROSSTALK) WALLACE: But — but — forgive me, don’t you think — don’t you think that you — you — when you’re about walking without any mask, I understand this is February not April when this happened and saying that there’s no threat. It’s perfectly safe there. Weren’t you also adding to this perception that there wasn’t such a threat generally? PELOSI: No. I was saying that you should not discriminate against — discriminate against Chinese-Americans as some in our administration were doing by the way they were labeling the flu and that, no indeed. And again, I think you — if you check the record and it’s current you will see that our — that Chinatown has been a model in all of this. And so, what we’re saying, look to them for answers, don’t look to them to place blame. WALLACE: As you know, protests against the stay-at-home orders are growing across the country. People are taking to the streets, pushing back against some of the more stringent restrictions in some states. Can you understand why they’re doing that? PELOSI: No, not really. Because what we have to do is — is — is shelter- in- place. That is really the answer. Testing, tracing, treatment, shelter- in-place, and I do think that it’s unfortunate — but you know people will do what they do. But the fact is we’re all impatient. We all want out but what they’re doing is really unfortunate because what is great though is the America — are the American people. The American people know that the good health of themselves and their families and their loved ones is what is important and that’s why you have seen such an overwhelming commitment to shelter-in- place, distancing — people distancing. Because really it is the key to how we will open up our economy. The health issue is the key to opening up the economy. Unfortunately, this — what you see there is, you know, they’re not respectful to whatever people think that they should say, but the fact is, this has to be science-based, evidence-based, data-based and evidence and the science and the data says shelter-in-place, testing, contact testing — tracing, treatment, quarantine is the answer to opening up our economy sooner. And I think, by the way, if I just may add. I do think is a major distraction from testing, testing, testing.
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Post by soonernvolved on Apr 20, 2020 6:49:10 GMT -6
www.dailywire.com/news/senator-barrasso-schumer-and-pelosi-have-slowed-down-helping-america-to-get-their-wishlist-metSenator Barrasso: ‘Schumer And Pelosi’ Have ‘Slowed Down’ Helping America To Get Their Wishlist Met Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) told Fox News host Maria Bartiromo on Sunday that Democratic leaders House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) have “slowed down” the federal government’s ability to get Americans financial help during the coronavirus crisis. Barrasso made the remarks in response to Bartiromo asking him about the Paycheck Protection Program, which ran out of money last week after Senate Democrats refused to replenish it. “There are small businesses and paychecks needing to be gotten taken care of,” Barrasso said. “There are people who are still applying for these loans. I see it in Wyoming. It’s been very successful, $350 billion already spent. It’s helped 15 million Americans stay on the payroll.” “The money — we had a vote Friday, and the Democrats blocked it. The money in that program is really paychecks for hardworking Americans, people who work for small businesses, which is over half of all Americans,” Barrasso continued. “I heard earlier on the news that Mnuchin and Schumer and Pelosi are working on a deal. Every Republican is going to want to scrutinize that, because we know that, when Schumer and Pelosi are involved, we know they slowed down the CARES Act because they wanted their wish list included.” Barrasso, who is a medical doctor, said that the country needed to get the economy back open but needed to do so “using science” and using precise metrics to track coronavirus cases across the United States. WATCH: TRANSCRIPT: MARIA BARTIROMO, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: President Trump is laying out a three-phase plan to reopen the economy. My next guest’s state has been much more impacted economically than health-wise in his state, because of the shutdowns and what it has done to the energy sector, tourism and agriculture. Joining me right now is Republican Conference chairman, member of the White House Task Force on Reopening the Economy, Wyoming Senator John Barrasso. Senator, it’s great to see you. Thanks very much for being here. (CROSSTALK) BARTIROMO: You are a medical doctor, so you clearly understand the health risks. Are you worried that you’re going to be opening the economy too soon, and we get a relapse? And tell us about the impacts that Wyoming has seen from coronavirus. SEN. JOHN BARRASSO (R-WY): Well, it is time to reopen America, to do it in a smart way, following the metrics, using science. But we need to get Americans back to work. Everyone in this country has been impacted by coronavirus, some more from the medical standpoint, others more from the economic standpoint. In Wyoming, for one, we have been very fortunate in terms of the disease. But the economy has been flattened, energy, agriculture, tourism, all of those things. And as an example of how we can start opening the country, we have a county in Wyoming, Maria, it is larger geographically than the entire state of New Jersey. So the sizes are so vast out here. And in that county, there have only been nine people who have tested positive. None have been hospitalized. The businesses have been shut for a month. The hospital itself is on life support because patients aren’t coming in for elective procedures. This is an area of the country and the economy that can be opened, using the criteria, watching all of the science. These are the people and the jobs, Maria, that I’m fighting for. BARTIROMO: Yes. I mean, Wyoming is an energy state. You’re looking at rig counts that have gone down. Already, we have a bankruptcy in the shale sector. So we may very well see more bankruptcies there because of that. What about the money and the stimulus going toward it? Are you going to have a vote on Monday about an additional $250 billion that’s going to go into that Paycheck Program? BARRASSO: Well, I sure hope so. The money — we had a vote Friday, and the Democrats blocked it. The money in that program is really paychecks for hardworking Americans, people who work for small businesses, which is over half of all Americans. I heard earlier on the news that Mnuchin and Schumer and Pelosi are working on a deal. Every Republican is going to want to scrutinize that, because we know that, when Schumer and Pelosi are involved, we know they slowed down the CARES Act because they wanted their wish list included. So I know members of our conference are going to want to take a scrutinizing look at what is in this agreement. BARTIROMO: Yes. BARRASSO: What we really need to do is put more money in the Paycheck Protection Program. BARTIROMO: Right. BARRASSO: That’s the one right now, Maria, that’s run out of money. BARTIROMO: Hold on. Hold on, Senator. I want to talk about that. This is an important issue that you’re getting to. We will take a break, come back with that. Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) BARTIROMO: Welcome back. We are back with Senator John Barrasso. And, Senator, you were going through the Paycheck Protection Program. You say it needs more money. It’s run out of money, right? BARRASSO: It ran out Thursday. There are small businesses and paychecks needing to be gotten taken care of. There are people who are still applying for these loans. I see it in Wyoming. It’s been very successful, $350 billion already spent. It’s helped 15 million Americans stay on the payroll. BARTIROMO: Yes. BARRASSO: There’s probably another 10 million who would be able to stay on the job. And we need these businesses to be able to be ready to be open when it’s felt safe to do so. And that’s why, as a member of the president’s task force… BARTIROMO: Sure. BARRASSO: … I have been saying, we need to do it scientifically, but we need to start now. BARTIROMO: You have also been talking about certain industries that might be able to open in a reopening. We know it’s going to be slow and a rolling open. So which industries do you believe can start getting going right now and opening? BARRASSO: Well, you can start construction right away, energy, agriculture. In certain office settings, you can do those sorts of things. So there are a number of places. You are going to still need to do all of the issues of handwashing, social distancing, taking care of our most vulnerable. But we need to start opening the areas where it’s safe to do it. And there are lots of places, counties like the one I described in Wyoming. There are counties like that all over the country. And that’s why it’s important to have governors involved, have people at the local level involved. That’s the way we can start slowly opening. There may be some bump up in new cases when that happens. BARTIROMO: Yes. BARRASSO: You need to make sure the hospitals have testing capacity and ICU capacity to take care of those people. BARTIROMO: Sure. BARRASSO: But that’s why we can, I think, slowly go phase one, phase two, phase three, and then a fully reopened economy. BARTIROMO: Senator, our viewers know that I was the one who broke the story on the test failures. We didn’t have enough testing. The CDC sends out the tests, and they have to call the governors back and say, don’t use the tests, they are defective. What happened? They were actually looking — studying the coronavirus in the same lab as the lab that they were making the tests? How come there’s such a disaster around these tests? BARRASSO: This is a permanent black eye for the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. They have failed us here. There’s a front-page story in The Washington Post today and in newspapers all around the country about the failures. BARTIROMO: OK. BARRASSO: Centers for Disease Control, they sent it to 100 labs. None of them worked. And we have been — we have lost about a month in testing because of their failures. BARTIROMO: Because of that. Senator, thank you. Thank you so much for everything.
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Post by soonernvolved on Apr 20, 2020 6:51:02 GMT -6
www.dailywire.com/news/senator-scott-pelosi-holding-small-businesses-hostage-as-economy-faces-devastationSenator Scott: Pelosi Holding Small Businesses ‘Hostage’ As Economy Faces ‘Devastation’ Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) called out House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on Sunday for holding small businesses “hostage” over the Paycheck Protection Program, saying that Democrats are negatively impacting people’s ability to pay their bills and feed their kids. “I always like to say that the Democrats who are holding this up, realize you’re not negatively impacting businesses, as much as you’re negatively impacting people’s ability to pay their rent, to pay their utilities, to feed their kids,” Scott stated, referencing the Democrats’ blocking of additional funding for the Small Business Administration loan program. “This is a serious situation, that we shouldn’t have a lapse in funding for the PPP program. We should tell Ms. Nancy Pelosi, please give us our paychecks. People need their paychecks. And stop holding it hostage in order to do something else.” “Going forward, I hope that this week, on Monday, the Senate is able to vote on a package that’s agreed upon with the House and the Senate. Tuesday, the Democrats get it passed,” Scott continued. “And Tuesday, one minute later, we start refunding, replenishing the supply of the Paycheck Protection Program.” Scott added that members of Congress have been getting hundreds of calls a day from constituents demanding that Congress get its act together because they are hurting financially. WATCH: TRANSCRIPT: MARIA BARTIROMO, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: The White House looking to open the country soon. The president outlining a phase three plan, as he assembled a task force on the issue. Senator Tim Scott, a Republican from South Carolina, is a member of that task force. And he’s also author of the new book “Opportunity Knocks. He joins me right now to talk more about the reopening. Senator, it’s great to see you this morning. Thank you so much for joining us. And congratulations on the book. SEN. TIM SCOTT (R-SC): Good morning. BARTIROMO: Nice play on words… SCOTT: Thank you. BARTIROMO: … because I know that you have been working on the Opportunity Zones across the country. SCOTT: Exactly. BARTIROMO: So I’m going to ask you about that. But, first, let me ask you about the opening of the economy. The president came out with three different phases in terms of doing that, saying that gyms can reopen in phase one if strict standards are met, elective surgeries can resume under phase one. Guidelines say, phase two for states with no evidence of rebound, and urging telework, schools staying closed in phase one. How worried are you that you open the economy too soon, and then we see a relapse of coronavirus? SCOTT: The president’s strategy is prudent. He still focuses on the necessity of isolating hot spots in order to mitigate the spread. If we’re looking at the fact that there are states where there is very or little presence of the COVID-19 and those states that are seeing a drop in the number of cases that has hospital capacity, it is prudent to make the first phase focused on getting the economy rolling in those areas where we have the ability to move forward without a strong concern of spreading the virus. BARTIROMO: So, Peter Navarro was just talking about the impact of a shutdown economy on American families, and the blow to your finances. And that also leads to its own set of sicknesses. Let me ask you about the assessment so far on the economy. We saw just last week 22 million Americans filing for unemployment benefits in just the last four weeks. SCOTT: Yes. Wow. BARTIROMO: We are expecting a recession, a contraction in the second quarter and the third quarter. How bad has it gone? The damage has been obviously worse in terms of health and people’s lives. But, on the economic front, how would you assess things? SCOTT: I think things are — we are in a position of devastation. And think about places in South Carolina like Charleston, South Carolina. Our unemployment rate was 1.5 percent, Maria, 1.5 percent. And, overnight, we saw thousands upon thousands of restaurant workers, retail workers, folks in the hotel industry driven to the unemployment lines. We have seen a 4000 percent increase in unemployment benefits in South Carolina. It is consistent throughout this nation. One of the reasons why the president has got to balance living and livelihood is because poverty also has a negative consequence that lingers for decades, if not generations. So he is understandably concerned not simply about our health. He’s done a great job of trying to balance that. But he’s also concerned about the economic health of this nation. And we both know that poverty kills. And so what he’s trying to do is to position this economy to come back with a vengeance. BARTIROMO: Right. SCOTT: I think, during his State of the Union speech, when he was talking about the great American comeback, he was talking, foreshadowing the necessity of a V-shaped recovery coming out of this virus before we even knew about a virus. BARTIROMO: Huh. SCOTT: So it’s really important for us to get back to work. BARTIROMO: Which is why you and your colleagues have been working on a whole host of stimulus programs. You’re talking about $7.5 trillion in stimulus thrown at this economy, when you consider the Congress, as well as the Federal Reserve, and all of the money being flooded on this economy. Let’s talk about this upcoming week and see if there is news to break here. Second Mnuchin says that the Congress should reach a deal today on supplemental funding for the Paycheck Protection Program. SCOTT: Absolutely. BARTIROMO: He said that he’s hopeful that the deal will happen on another $300 billion in small business funding, and that could be passed in the Senate on Monday and in the House on Tuesday. What’s your timeline in terms of additional money for the Paycheck Program? And how are you going to vote in the upcoming week for further stimulus, sir? SCOTT: Well, I support the PPP, the Paycheck Protection Program. I always like to say that the Democrats who are holding this up, realize you’re not negatively impacting businesses, as much as you’re negatively impacting people’s ability to pay their rent, to pay their utilities, to feed their kids. This is a serious situation, that we shouldn’t have a lapse in funding for the PPP program. We should tell Ms. Nancy Pelosi, please give us our paychecks. People need their paychecks. And stop holding it hostage in order to do something else. Going forward, I hope that this week, on Monday, the Senate is able to vote on a package that’s agreed upon with the House and the Senate. Tuesday, the Democrats get it passed. And Tuesday, one minute later, we start refunding, replenishing the supply of the Paycheck Protection Program. People are calling every single day. Hundreds are calling our offices, thousands, I’m sure, throughout this nation, because they want their paychecks. And we shouldn’t stand in the way of making that happen. BARTIROMO: Are you expecting any changes in terms of the structure of this program? Because your colleague Senator Lindsey Graham has said that, in South Carolina, you’re being paid more money to stay home than you are to actually go to work? Also, the structure of the — 75 percent of the money has to go right out the window to employees; 25 percent remaining to pay rent and other expenses may not be enough wiggle room. Are you expecting changes on that structure? And the fight right now is about what, putting more money toward hospitals and giving more money to the states? SCOTT: Yes. BARTIROMO: What specific issues are you wrangling with your Democratic colleagues over? SCOTT: I think that you make several good points there. First, we certainly need to make sure that we take a look at phase four, or CARES 2, depending on how you want to call it. Restaurants that are going to reopen, they are going to need more space, which means fewer tables. That means your overhead expenses are going to increase. Your labor costs may be static or fall down. So, if you have a program that requires 75 percent of the money to go to payroll, 25 percent for overhead, that will not work. The new normal may require businesses to have higher overhead expenses and few — and lower labor costs. We need to adapt to that reality. And we need to adapt very quickly. BARTIROMO: Yes. SCOTT: Gyms, another part of our economy, that needs higher overhead expenses and lower actual number of employees. So we’re going to have to do that, at the same time we’re balancing why we should reduce the unemployment benefits in the CARES Act. We are saying, if you make $24 or less, you could make as much, if not more, staying home. BARTIROMO: Yes. SCOTT: That is a problem. It’s a perverse incentive that only increases our unemployment claims, as opposed to encouraging people to go back to work. We need to work. We want to work. And we should not… BARTIROMO: Senator, I… SCOTT: Yes. BARTIROMO: I love your book, because it’s so empowering. It takes us through your story and your journey. And you have had some hard — hard hits there. President Obama endorsed Vice President Biden this week. And he talks about minorities, and tweeted about that portion of the population getting harder hit by coronavirus. Anything you can say about the black vote right now in terms of their feelings toward President Trump, as well as telling us in terms of why you wrote this book? SCOTT: Well, two things. Number one, President Trump is starting to see support from the weirdest corners of the world. And you hear — you heard the African-American Democrat state representative in Michigan praising Donald Trump and the use of chloroquine to help save her life. BARTIROMO: That’s true. SCOTT: You hear in Georgia here, right, my cousins next door, African-American state representative who is a Democrat saying that President Trump’s strong support of our economy and the African-American community, historically black colleges and universities… BARTIROMO: Yes. SCOTT: … the whole criminal justice reform, we’re seeing support from some very strange corners. BARTIROMO: Right. SCOTT: I still hold to my prediction that President Trump will see a 50 percent increase in African-American vote. BARTIROMO: Wow. Senator, it’s great to see you this morning. Thanks very much for being here, Tim Scott joining us there. SCOTT: Thank you very much.
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Post by soonernvolved on Apr 20, 2020 8:27:36 GMT -6
dailycaller.com/2020/04/20/congress-government-accountability-office-gao-coronavirus-covid-19-funding-donald-trump-administration-audit/Government Accountability Office To Investigate Trump Administration’s Pandemic Response The Government Accountability Office (GAO), an independent investigative arm of Congress, is preparing to open roughly 30 “engagements” into the Trump administration’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
The GAO, which received $20 million in new funding during the last round of coronavirus relief, plans to use its new budget to hire additional auditors to investigate numerous aspects of President Donald Trump’s response to the virus, according to Politico. Officials plan to look into the distribution of economic relief to individuals and small businesses, distribution of personal protective equipment, and implementation of nationwide testing. www.politico.com/news/2020/04/20/watchdog-trump-coronavirus-audits-192272?nname=playbook&nid=0000014f-1646-d88f-a1cf-5f46b7bd0000&nrid=0000014c-2414-d9dd-a5ec-34bc52a40001&nlid=630318“We’re moving forward very quickly,” Angela Nicole Clowers, GAO health care unit chief, said of the action, according to Politico. “We’re an existing institution and have a lot of institutional knowledge about all these programs. It gives us sort of a leg up.” Just weeks prior, Trump fired a wave of inspector generals who would have potentially looked into the administration’s coronavirus response, earning criticism from Congressional lawmakers in both parties. He created a new position, the special inspector general for pandemic recovery, in early April but nominated Senior Associate Counsel in the Office of White House Counsel Brian Miller to fill it. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi additionally formed a select committee dedicated to assessing the federal government’s coronavirus response. The committee will be chaired by South Carolina Democratic Rep. James Clyburn. (‘The President Gets An F’: Pelosi Criticizes Trump On Distributing National Testing, Backs Comments Where She Called Him A ‘Poor Leader’) The president has frequently clashed with GAO during his more than three years in office. The body notably found during the president’s impeachment proceedings that the administration’s handling of foreign aid to Ukraine back in 2019 was illegal. The White House did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller’s inquiry on the subject.
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Post by soonernvolved on Apr 20, 2020 8:29:19 GMT -6
www.dailywire.com/news/watch-leftist-journalists-rip-americans-protesting-lockdowns-nazi-confederate-death-cult-want-more-black-and-brown-people-to-dieWATCH: Leftist Journalists Rip Americans Protesting Lockdowns: ‘Nazi, Confederate Death-Cult … Want More Black And Brown People To Die’ On Sunday, leftist journalists appearing on MSNBC’s “AM Joy” vilified Americans across the nation who have gathered to call for opening the country from stay-at-home orders and lockdowns. Comments ranged from “They don’t care about America. What they care about is Donald Trump” to they “don’t care about these black and brown people who are dying” to “they are the Fox News, Nazi, Confederate death-cult rump of the Republican party.” Dave Zirin of The Nation ranted: They’ve gone from all lives matter to no lives matter. These folks are — let’s be honest about what they are — they are the Fox News, Nazi, confederate death cult rump of the Republican party and their very existence is a slap in the face not only to the health care workers on the front lines risking their lives every single day, but it’s also a slap in the face to the people who are actually dying from this virus in disproportionate numbers, black and brown people. These aren’t economically disenfranchised folks; these are small business owners; these are retirees; these are people who want their workers to be sent back to work, not themselves. It’s a complete and utter farce. It’s an Astroturf farce. And also, I think it needs to be said it’s unrepresentative of the Republican party as a whole. I just saw a poll that said 70% of Republicans want a national stay-at-home order. So this represents nothing except the narrow Astroturf interests and the hard-racist interests that combine and form the modern-day Republican party. Boston Globe opinion columnist Renee Graham pontificated: One thing I think is really interesting is how these protests have started after all the headlines the last week or so about the disproportionate effect the virus is having in communities of color. And so when I look at these protests, what I see are a bunch of white people essentially saying, “Oh, it’s affecting those people so why do I have to change my life for them?” So that’s what this is coming down to. In Boston, the numbers are the same as they are nationally. One of the public hospitals, Boston Medical Center, 82% of the corvid-19 cases are either black or Latino. These numbers are real and I think what you’re seeing out there in the protesters, who by the way are overwhelmingly white, which people aren’t really talking about, though it’s quite noticeable, is that they don’t care. You know, this isn’t about, you know they’re out there waving American flags. They don’t care about America. What they care about is Donald Trump and what Donald Trump has created. They don’t care about the people risking their lives to keep this country moving; they don’t care about empty, dangerous rebellion. All they want is another battle waged for their lost cause. This isn’t a protest. This is a temper tantrum. Michael Harriot of The Root chimed in: “Again, I disagree with the notion that we shouldn’t be covering this because I think it is more than just, ‘I don’t care about these black and brown people who are dying.’ I think what they’re saying quite clearly when you see the numbers, when you see the statistics, when you see the CDC data, is, ‘I want more black and brown people to die.’ If you want the government to open up, then you want more black and brown people to die. We see it happening in real time; we see it in Donald Trump’s tweets; we see it in the data; there can be no other outcome if you open up what they call their society or their business or the country…”
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Post by soonernvolved on Apr 20, 2020 8:34:05 GMT -6
thefederalist.com/2020/04/20/how-to-stop-china-and-the-left-from-controlling-the-world-through-intolerance/How To Stop China And The Left From Controlling The World Through Intolerance In the face of asymmetric intolerance, such as communist China's bully tactics, corporations rationally take the path of least resistance and slide into corporate leftism. Willis L. KrumholzBy Willis L. Krumholz APRIL 20, 2020 Many have pondered corporate America’s slide into “wokeism” and cultural leftism. A prime example is Nike paying Colin Kaepernick millions to be the face of an ad campaign because the athlete refused to stand during the national anthem, then removing a sneaker with the American flag on it from its shelves at Kaepernick’s request. Some people theorized this is simply corporate America appealing to its younger and relatively liberal customer base. While that’s probably true in part, the ultimate explanation might be both simpler and more profound: China has bent corporate America to its will. The Simple Explanation of Corporate WokenessA Harvard Business Review article from earlier this year conducted an admittedly limited survey of consumers’ views of when corporations engage in political activity. It found Democrats are much more intolerant of corporations that engage in conservative activism than are Republicans toward corporations that engage in liberal activism. More research here is needed to track what consumers actually do with their money, instead of what they simply say they will do. Nevertheless, the message to corporate America has been clear: Liberal activism doesn’t cost anything, while even latent conservatism might result in boycotts and media frenzies. In the face of this asymmetric intolerance, corporations rationally take the path of least resistance and slide into corporate leftism. It turns out a great many of the baffling frustrations Americans feel — from Nike paying Kaepernick millions, to Hollywood bowing to Chinese censors, to China holding an undue and sinister influence over the World Health Organization (WHO) — may be explained by a simple axiom: “The Most Intolerant Wins.” As we’ve seen in Hollywood, the media, Big Tech, and now the World Health Organization, often the most intolerant is China. In his 2018 book “Skin in the Game: Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life,” statistician, options trader, and professor Nassim Nicholas Taleb includes a chapter titled “The Most Intolerant Wins: The Dictatorship of the Small Minority,” in which he explains this widely applicable premise. For instance, peanuts aren’t found in most schools and airplanes. Someone with a peanut allergy will not consume products that touch peanuts, but someone without the allergy can easily eat foods without peanut traces in them. The most intolerant wins. Taleb closes his chapter writing, “Society doesn’t evolve by consensus, voting, majority, committees, verbose meeting, academic conferences, and polling; only a few people suffice to disproportionately move the needle. All one needs is an asymmetric rule somewhere. And asymmetry is present in about everything.” China’s Bullying of Corporate AmericaThe “Most Intolerant Wins” explains why China has been able to meld global institutions and corporate America. Hollywood cuts scenes, radically changes plots, and doesn’t release entire movies because China is much more intolerant than America. Not only will China not show an offending film, the filmmaking company, such as Walt Disney, risks being cut out of China altogether for even the smallest perceived offense. Likewise, corporate America bows to China because doing so won’t hurt its bottom line in the United States (yet), but not doing so will completely cut it out of the Chinese market. The Trump administration was in a dustup with 3M over that company exporting masks made in America overseas — even while U.S. health-care workers are critically short of masks — which resulted in the president invoking the Defense Production Act to force these masks to be sold in America. But that didn’t stop 3M’s CEO from essentially praising China in a softball interview with CNBC for being totally willing to send their protective equipment production outside the United States. Turns out, China isn’t allowing this equipment to be exported, despite claiming it has the virus under control. This glaring incongruity is being little reported in American media. Corporate mainstream media has taken to repeating Chinese propaganda, saying China is handling the Wuhan virus better than America and that it is “racist” to attribute the pandemic to the ineptitude, corruption, and possibly even ill intent of China’s government. Except that the virus is entirely due to the Chinese communist government, which is corrupt, dangerous, sloppy, and indifferent to human life. The media corruptly conflated saying that COVID-19 was a bioweapon with the much more realistic probability that the virus escaped an ill-run Chinese lab. Anyone who doubted China’s official government line, which has changed several times, was labeled a “conspiracy theorist.” Corporate media then repeated the claim that the virus came from a wet market, despite much evidence to the contrary, even after China had moved on to alternate and even more insane explanations. CNN just ran a story, straight from a Chinese propaganda outfit, with the headline, “China’s PLA Navy is controlling coronavirus and aircraft carrier’s deployment proves it.” Conservatives attribute this media malpractice to Trump Derangement Syndrome, but it has been going on long before President Donald Trump entered the scene. It’s also largely due to the most intolerant also winning in the media. Michael Bloomberg has openly admitted that Bloomberg News censors stories embarrassing to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) due to business concerns. For example, in 2013, Bloomberg News killed a story about the massive and ill-gotten wealth of CCP officials. Then it fired the reporter behind the story and tried to silence his wife. In a secret recording obtained by NPR, Bloomberg editor Matthew Winkler put the decision to kill the story this way: “It is for sure going to, you know, invite the Communist Party to, you know, completely shut us down and kick us out of the country. … So, I just don’t see that as a story that is justified.” A walk through the U.S. corporate media reveals conglomerates with ties to China. For example, NBC and Comcast, which own CNBC and MSNBC, have business ties to China. This includes a multibillion-dollar theme park being built in Beijing, and strategic ties with China’s internet search giant Baidu. These media corporations, especially when they are part of broader non-news media organizations with business in China, face a choice: Bend the news to China’s liking, or lose access to the Chinese market. CNN may get a day of conservatives complaining on Twitter for its China propaganda headline, but WarnerMedia and AT&T now have favor with the Chinese government, which lords over the world’s second-largest economy compared to America. Meanwhile, these companies face no reprisals from the U.S. government or American advertisers for such behavior, so for now, it’s without cost. ‘The Most Intolerant Wins’ Explains WHO HappeningsThe same principle applies to the World Health Organization (WHO). China is willing to bully and cajole, while America, committed to international institutions we built in the aftermath of World War II, takes a much more passive approach. China sees these institutions as means to an end — growing Chinese power — while America often sees global institutions as an end in and of themselves. Thus, the World Bank, mostly funded by America, gives loans to China. That’s also why the WHO, which until recently was mostly funded by America, was so intent on doing China’s bidding. Back in 2017, the head of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, was accused of covering up cholera epidemics in his home country of Ethiopia at the behest of the CCP, simply because China would have torpedoed his career if he didn’t. Most recently, the WHO has covered up for China regarding the coronavirus, largely because China was more willing to bully and act out if it was displeased. The WHO is so scared of what China thinks that a top WHO official cut off the interview with a reporter when she asked about Taiwan. Although not a WHO member, Taiwan is one of the only places in the world effectively dealing with the virus via testing and common-sense measures, without a draconian shutdown. How Does One Combat the Intolerant Minority?The “path of least resistance” strategy regarding intolerance has risks. The WHO is feeling this now, after Trump cut its funding. But an intransigent minority can be incredibly powerful, and the behavior is shockingly rational. This way of viewing things may even rationalize the left’s behavior about President Trump. Every complaint is turned up to “11” just to make people willing to vote to make the noise go away. For some Americans, this is counterproductive and creates a backlash, but for many others — especially millennials, a conformist generation — this strategy is incredibly effective. How, then, does one combat the “Dictatorship of the Small Minority”? One possibility is out-intolerating the intolerant. For example, America could try to emulate China’s intransigence, although this may be hard to do across the board given our freedom-loving inherent nature, which is also a great strength. Yet certain areas will call for this, as seen in Trump’s common-sense decision to cut off the WHO. Note House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has criticized this decision. Another step is to name and shame those who bend to an unpopular minority, especially the CCP. “Whores of China,” or WOCs, is a suggested epitaph. But both of these strategies may be ineffective in the long run, especially when combatting against strong financial incentives the CCP provides to those who would bend and break. Play Hardball Right BackThe answer is to make American policy the new path of least resistance. American corporations should no longer operate in an environment where America is playing nice while China is playing hardball. This may require some blunt-rule policymaking. The media is constantly complaining about corporate influence on politics. Very well, and media corporations that live in glass houses should not throw stones. Amazon and the Washington Post shouldn’t be co-owned. Nor should CNN be part of AT&T. We need a “Glass-Steagall” for our press. Congress should look into requiring news media corporations to be standalone enterprises, separate from entertainment media companies and with limits on shareholders who have other interests. This is in the spirit of the First Amendment, not in conflict with it. Likewise, the U.S. government should crack down on Chinese investment in U.S. movies. The government may think of imposing restrictions on the “export” of films to China. This is entirely warranted because we are in no less than a cold war. It’s baffling that people obsessed over Russia when China literally controls the movies we watch. Finally, the ultimate removal of the perverse incentive to take the path of least resistance will require systematically cutting ties between China and the United States. This means ensuring the independence of our health-care supply chains and onshoring much else. We should pursue something the Japanese are doing: paying manufacturers to bring jobs out of China and back to America. For now, the first step is to use the disinfectant of sunlight on those who have bowed to China’s intolerance. Congressional hearings would be a start. Willis L. Krumholz is a fellow at Defense Priorities. He holds a JD and MBA degree from the University of St. Thomas, and works in the financial services industry. The views expressed are those of the author only. You can follow Willis on Twitter @willkrumholz.
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Post by soonernvolved on Apr 20, 2020 8:39:27 GMT -6
thefederalist.com/2020/04/20/dont-let-washington-post-get-away-with-memory-holing-its-anti-kavanaugh-campaign/Don’t Let The Washington Post Get Away With Memory-Holing Its Anti-Kavanaugh Campaign Ruth Marcus and others at the Washington Post who led the effort to destroy Brett Kavanaugh's life based on unsubstantiated allegations know that what they did was evil. Mollie HemingwayBy Mollie Hemingway APRIL 20, 2020 The Washington Post has a problem. The newspaper led the massive effort against the nomination of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh by publishing and relentlessly hyping a completely unsubstantiated allegation of sexual assault against him. Now, the paper is leading Democrats’ efforts to bury a similar, if stronger, allegation of sexual assault against Joe Biden. To accomplish this dramatic turnabout, the paper is collectively trying to rewrite history, pretending the allegation against Kavanaugh had more basis than it did while also pretending that the allegation against Biden has less basis than it does. The Post’s anti-Kavanaugh operation had powerful divisions in both the news and opinion departments. It’s worth looking at both. Oppositional From The StartThe Post greeted the announcement of Kavanaugh’s nomination with trademark hostility, but their task was made difficult by the relative lack of controversy around the man. An early Post effort to derail his nomination by reporting he used his credit card to pay for expensive season tickets to see the Washington Nationals before being reimbursed by his buddies led to mockery. Twitter users imagined other Kavanaugh “scandals” such as “He neglected to add the plus 4 zip codes on all his Christmas cards,” “Didn’t rewind a VHS before taking it back to Blockbuster,” and “Sources say that Kavanaugh once failed to turn off his brights for an oncoming vehicle.” The Post’s reflexive and over-the-top hostility was even mocked by The Onion in their story, “Kavanaugh Nomination Falters after Washington Post Publishes Shocking Editorial Claiming He Forgot His Daughter’s Piano Recital.” As Kavanaugh’s nomination seemed inevitable, the desperate paper dramatically rolled out and sympathetically handled an unsubstantiated allegation against Kavanaugh from Christine Blasey Ford. Although she never had any evidence in support of her allegation — in fact she didn’t even have evidence she had ever met Kavanaugh, much less that he had tried to rape her — the Post’s legitimizing of the claim set off one of American journalism’s most devastating feeding frenzies. Millions of Americans watched in horror as nearly every media outlet joined the Post in the effort not just to keep Kavanaugh off of the Supreme Court but to destroy the life and reputation of the married father of two young girls. While the Post’s Emma Brown had been working with Blasey Ford since early July to help her craft a sympathetic telling of her allegation, she gave Kavanaugh just a couple of hours’ notice one Sunday morning that she was about to accuse him of being an attempted rapist when he was in high school. The several-thousand-word story could not have been more sympathetic to Blasey Ford. It accepted Blasey Ford’s claims at face value, allowing the story to be spun as if it were true even though Blasey Ford had no evidence in support of it. All of the many problems with the story, such as that it kept changing and lacked evidence, were papered over by Brown and her editors. A second story spun the fact that her family didn’t believe her as further evidence of her victimization. The resulting hagiographic profile was something any individual making unsubstantiated allegations could only dream of. The Post Reverses Course For BidenCompare the approach the Post took for Tara Reade’s allegation against her former employer, Biden. Far from breaking the story, the Post was finally forced to cover the allegation against Biden after a 19-day blackout when The New York Times ended their own blackout by finally covering it on Easter Sunday. (Easter Sunday is not known as a major news day, even when it doesn’t occur in the middle of a global pandemic.) During the 19-day blackout, the Democratic nomination battle remained in full swing. Those who worry about collusion between the media and official Democratic leaders will not be comforted by the fact that The New York Times removed one of its only critical lines and tweets about Biden — the data point that many women have accused him of unwanted touching — at the request of the Biden campaign. The Post’s Alice Crites was given the duty of burying the Reade story by conveying the information in as dry a manner as possible — the complete opposite of the riveting, sympathetic approach taken by Brown and her editors against Kavanaugh. The downplaying was so extreme, some of it had to be corrected. From her first line to her last, Crites’s skepticism of Reade’s account is the main takeaway. Blasey Ford’s story changed significantly in the six or so years she told it, from saying it was a physical assault to saying it was a sexual assault, from not mentioning Kavanaugh at all to mentioning him explicitly, and from saying she was assaulted by a gang of four boys to saying that it was only four boys at the party but two in the room (she continued to give inconsistent accounts of how many people were at the party throughout 2018). If they paid any attention to the inconsistencies, the Post gently attributed the shifting details, however implausibly, to a problem with therapist’s notes. When Reade’s story went from a claim of unwanted touching of the head and shoulders by Biden to an added claim that he also engaged in unwanted digital penetration of the vagina, that was presented in literally the first line of the story, the suggestion being that she was untrustworthy. You may note that Blasey Ford’s lack of veracity was never a major story in the media, even when it was on national display. Blasey Ford’s claim to be afraid of flying was major news in the Democrats’ campaign to delay her testimony. During the televised hearing, it came out that she personally listed one of her hobbies as flying to remote islands over large expanses of water to surf. That changed story didn’t result in even a mention at the Post, much less the lead to a story. In fact, the media attacked people who merely noticed the false statement. The bottom line is that after every major news outlet in America worked hard to validate Blasey Ford’s story, they were unable to. They found evidence that Kavanaugh was once a teenager, but nothing that supported her claim of attempted rape. Ever-more-ridiculous claims were put forth and accepted by the activist media, such as a client of Michael Avenatti’s allegation that Kavanaugh was the secret leader of a serial gang rape cartel that roamed the streets of suburban Maryland, a criminal mastermind so brilliant that he somehow evaded accountability even after six FBI checks. Media like to pretend that they were at least skeptical of that claim, but don’t believe them. The Post, for example, didn’t just run with the claim from Avenatti’s client Julie Swetnick, they suggested the client had strong credibility. “The 55-year-old Web developer has held multiple security clearances for work on government-related networks,” was the subhed to their article. Those skeptical and critical of Swetnick’s patently ridiculous account were accused of “slut-shaming” by the Post. While Blasey Ford’s claim was the least insane one put forth by activists and other Kavanaugh opponents, there were other problems with it beyond her failure to produce evidence she had ever met him. Her four named witnesses to the event all denied knowledge of it, some vociferously so. Even her lifelong friend Leland Keyser, who worked very hard to come up with anything, came to doubt her friend’s story entirely. And when she refused to say otherwise, mutual acquaintances tried to get her to change her story. Some U.S. senators thought the witness tampering so egregious that it should be prosecuted. Compare that situation to Reade’s. Whatever else you might say of her allegation, Reade at least has evidence that she met Biden, having worked for him in 1993. And she has evidence that she told three people about the alleged attack at the time she claims it happened in 1993. Blasey Ford was believed even though she never said a word of any attack for 30 years, never mentioned Kavanaugh for several more years, and couldn’t get any of her named witnesses to corroborate her account. Ruth Marcus’ Special ProblemSome media outlets, such as CNN, have instituted a strict ban on even mentioning the sexual assault allegation against Biden, even though they published 705 stories about Blasey Ford. But some of the biggest anti-Kavanaugh partisans can’t quite get away with that level of hypocrisy on account of how public their support was of the “Believe All Women” mantra that was deployed against Kavanaugh despite the lack of evidence. Michelle Goldberg at The New York Times admitted the lack of evidence against Kavanaugh but nevertheless wrote articles about how “this scandal has given us an X-ray view of the rotten foundations of elite male power.” She assured her liberal readers that there was no need to believe Reade because Reade, a Bernie Sanders supporter, had political views she disagreed with. No mention was made of the videotaped admission from Debra Katz, Blasey Ford’s attorney, that her client’s motivation was political and revolved around her extreme support of abortion. That political motivation was no barrier for those who shared it when defaming Kavanaugh. Washington Post deputy editorial page editor Ruth Marcus fits into this general category. She led the Post’s opinion page attacks on Kavanaugh. Marcus wrote a book on the Kavanaugh confirmation and I co-wrote a book with Carrie Severino on the confirmation. Our book, “Justice on Trial: The Kavanaugh Confirmation and the Future of the Supreme Court,” was a No. 1 national best-seller based on interviews of more than 100 of the key players — at the White House, Senate, Court, and outside groups — in the confirmation battle. Many of our sources told us in lengthy interviews they refused to speak with Marcus on account of how unfairly they believed the Post editorial page treated Kavanaugh supporters during the confirmation battle. Marcus is an unabashed liberal. She writes articles asserting that Trump staffers should quit to “save their souls.” Speaking of souls, not only does she believe that unborn children with Down syndrome should be killed, she has publicly said she would have done so herself if given the opportunity. It is an extreme understatement to say she shares — if not exceeds — Blasey Ford’s abortion motivation. Around the time her book came out last December, she wrote, “If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. If, like me, all you’ve done for the past year is research and write a book about Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, everything has a tendency to look like a Kavanaugh replay.” Four months have done wonders on Marcus, as now that a nominee for a prominent position has been accused of sexual assault, it doesn’t look to her like a Kavanaugh replay at all. Fancy that! Even before the accusations against Kavanaugh were public, Marcus was so invested in battling him that she was coaching Democratic senators on how to fight him. After the testimony was reopened, she was pushing Democratic messaging about the need to delay the confirmation vote at least another week. Between those articles, she argued that even though Blasey Ford had no evidence in support of her allegation, a full FBI investigation must be launched. (She does not believe an investigation of Reade’s accusation of a more recent event is necessary.) One of her reasons was that the allegations against Kavanaugh — attempted rape — were more serious than those against Clarence Thomas, who was accused without evidence of sexual harassment. (She does not seem particularly concerned that the allegation against Biden — penetration of the vagina with fingers — is more serious than those against Kavanaugh or Thomas.) Admitting there was no corroboration for Ford’s story, although she believed it in any case, she thought that forcing Kavanaugh to answer questions about it would help clarify some issues. (She does not think any such abasement is necessary for Biden.) “We need the fullest possible airing of the accusation against Brett Kavanaugh,” Marcus argued on September 15, 2018. In this article, Marcus regurgitated every unsubstantiated claim made against Kavanaugh, despite the complete lack of evidence. She also revealed that she also believed Anita Hill, who also argued without evidence that Thomas had harassed her. In Hill’s claim, also levied against an employer, her testimony was contradicted by evidence and testimony. Her colleagues said that if anyone harassed another, the direction was the opposite from what Hill had claimed. She claimed that Thomas relentlessly called her. Phone records showed the opposite. FBI agents reported that her story kept changing. That Marcus found herself on Hill’s side of the Thomas dispute, but not on Reade’s side in the Biden’s dispute, is telling. Once Kavanaugh and Blasey Ford had testified, Marcus was even more convinced, despite the lack of any evidence in support of Blasey Ford’s claim and the new evidence in support of Kavanaugh’s denial in the form of contemporaneous calendars he kept of the summer in question. “Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony was devastating,” Marcus opined. In this article, she conceded the faulty memory and other problems displayed by Blasey Ford, but nevertheless Marcus had an emotional reaction to the testimony in her favor. Marcus also wrote the Washington Post classic, “Does it matter what Kavanaugh did in high school? Well, yes.” In this article she attempted to justify the unseemly poring over of teenage jokes in yearbooks and other invasions of a former high schooler’s adolescence. Yet with Biden, who was accused of sexual assault dating to his time as a U.S. Senator when he was in his 50s, Marcus sees no benefit from investigating the matter. Disposing Of ReadeThis brings us, finally, to Marcus’s public disposal of the Reade allegation. It is absolutely stunning. It would be hilarious, if it weren’t so despicable what she and her colleagues did to Kavanaugh’s life. She concedes that Reade’s allegation of sexual assault is “difficult and important,” particularly for those who believed Blasey Ford. She says she “concluded” in her book that Blasey Ford was telling the truth that Kavanaugh was an attempted rapist. She echoes Blasey Ford and Katz’s demand that Kavanaugh must forever defamed with an “asterisk” next to his name. Nevertheless, she says she’s going to make a “good-faith effort to grapple with the seriousness of, and flaws in, the Reade allegations.” She asserts, without evidence and in contradiction of evidence, that Ford’s allegations are “on balance stronger” and simply doesn’t believe that what Reade claimed happened, happened. Marcus, who supported Hill, Blasey Ford, and Swetnick — but not former Democratic Sen. Al Franken’s accusers — says that it’s important to note that everyone suffers from biases, that outrage only over misbehavior by those with ideological differences is hypocritical, and skepticism about accusations only when made against those whose politics you share is intellectually dishonest. With that performative throat clearing out of the way, Marcus sets out to defend Biden and disparage Reade. It turns out #BelieveAllWomen, the metric the Post and other media outlets used to convict Kavanaugh with no evidence, is now “a dumb hashtag and a dumber approach to inevitably complex, fact-bound situations.” Marcus admits Reade has support for her claim that Blasey Ford never had. Reade told her mother, her brother, and a friend. Reade says she filed a complaint with Senate officials and complained to Biden’s staff, but Marcus doubts that. Nevertheless, she admits, “the contemporaneous evidence is inconclusive but stronger than that in the Kavanaugh case.” She quickly explains that this is no surprise, since Blasey Ford already admitted she never told anyone anything for several decades. Marcus says Reade’s failure to share therapist notes with the Post is sketchy since Ford made her therapist notes available “to reporters.” That’s not quite right. Even with the friendliest reporters imaginable, Blasey Ford allowed only a select portion of the relevant notes, according to the friendly reporters themselves. As for Blasey Ford, under oath she testified that she didn’t remember whether she showed Brown the therapist’s notes or her own summary of the notes. In either case, she flat-out refused to provide those notes to Senate investigators, even while claiming she wanted a full investigation. Telling Lies to Help Blasey Ford’s ClaimMarcus notes that Reade’s account shifted from a claim of unwanted touching to extremely unwanted penetration. She falsely states that Blasey Ford’s story “did not change over time.” As mentioned above, it did. From Rachel Mitchell’s report to senators of Blasey Ford’s own testimony, we also are reminded that, “Dr. Ford has not offered a consistent account of when the alleged assault happened.” First she said “mid 1980s,” then “early 80s,” then “high school summer in early 80s,” then she crossed out the word “early,” then summer of 1982, then in her “late teens,” then when she was 15. She failed to explain how she was suddenly able to narrow the timeframe. We are also reminded in that Senate report that “Dr. Ford has struggled to identify Judge Kavanaugh as the assailant by name,” according to marriage therapy notes and individual therapy notes, and never before Kavanaugh was a nationally known figure. The Senate report notes that Blasey Ford “changed her description of the incident to become less specific,” “has no memory of key details of the night in question” that could help corroborate her account, “has not been corroborated by anyone she identified as having attended—including her lifelong friend,” “has not offered a consistent account of the alleged assault,” “has struggled to recall important recent events relating to her allegations, and her testimony regarding recent events raises further questions about her memory,” her “explanation of why she disclosed her allegations the way she did raises questions,” her “description of the psychological impact of the event raises questions,” “Her account of who was at the party has been inconsistent,” and many other problems. Whereas Blasey Ford’s delayed disclosures and changing details were not a problem for Marcus, Reade’s “shifting account introduces a confusing element.” She wonders — but only of Reade — why her story shifted and why she hasn’t explained that shift. Marcus questions Reade’s motivation on account of her support of Sanders’ candidacy for the Democratic nomination for president. Blasey Ford’s liberal political motivation was well known by those we interviewed for our book. They told us how she scrubbed her “crazy liberal” social media posts before going public. The one public item about her related to participation in a pussy-hat protest of some kind. Her family talked with friends about her political motivation and strong support of abortion. Her attorney admitted that motivation on videotape. Of this well-known and obvious political agenda from Blasey Ford, Marcus writes, “The credibility question is the biggest hurdle for me with Reade. Ford did not strike me as a person who was coming forward because of political motivations or because she wanted publicity — anything but. Reade seems a much different and less reliable figure.” It would be hilarious if it were not so dangerous. Marcus admits that Biden has had many women accuse him of unwanted touching but suggests, again without evidence, that Kavanaugh had problematic behavior toward women. As someone who interviewed ex-girlfriends and acquaintances of him, I know that’s simply not true. It is true that Blasey Ford accused him of attempted rape. It is also true she has no evidence she ever met him. It is true that a classmate at Yale began to think, but can’t be sure, that Kavanaugh may have been at a party where something — she’s not sure what, exactly — happened. Such a charge doesn’t deserve comment, although other liberal reporters wrote an entire book about it. Like Marcus, their “gut feeling” about Kavanaugh was that he was an attempted rapist. Like Marcus, they’re not concerned by Reade’s allegation. And it is true that Trump critics put forth Swetnick to allege Kavanaugh was the leader of a serial gang rape cartel and various other similarly unsubstantiated claims about a nationwide rape spree. As for those false claims, Marcus thought he reacted too negatively to the charges. Finally, Marcus ends her unconvincing tap dance with a claim that other people are the real hypocrites. “Those who disbelieved and diminished Christine Blasey Ford face the challenge of explaining why they seem so much more eager to credit Tara Reade’s account.” Well, whether it’s Joe Biden or Brett Kavanaugh, both men deserve due process. Noting that Tara Reade at least has benefit of evidence that she has met the accused and contemporaneous corroboration of her claim makes her allegation stronger, but stronger than nothing is admittedly a low bar. Ruth Marcus and others at the Washington Post who led the effort to destroy Brett Kavanaugh’s life based on unsubstantiated allegations know that what they did was evil. They may try to rewrite history to make it seem that Blasey Ford had evidence in support of her claim. They may try to rewrite history to make themselves feel better. They can dig as furiously as they want, but there is no memory hole deep enough to forget their behavior. Mollie Ziegler Hemingway is a senior editor at The Federalist. She is Senior Journalism Fellow at Hillsdale College and a Fox News contributor. She is the co-author of Justice on Trial: The Kavanaugh Confirmation and the Future of the Supreme Court. Follow her on Twitter at @mzhemingway
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Post by soonernvolved on Apr 20, 2020 8:41:37 GMT -6
thefederalist.com/2020/04/20/democrat-governor-cant-explain-why-everything-is-shut-down-except-liquor-stores/Democrat Governor Can’t Explain Why Everything Is Shut Down Except Liquor Stores With virtually everything and every business in New Jersey shut down, why are liquor stores deemed essential business and allowed to remain open and operational? Paul Cavanaugh By Paul Cavanaugh APRIL 20, 2020 For as long as this pandemic has gone on, the left has shouted incessantly that we must “believe in the science and the scientists” and the experts and anyone else who cements the idea of shutting down an entire economy. Okay. Let’s trust the science and the experts and follow their advice to shut it all down. Would that satisfy the left? Of course not. Because it’s never enough. Once you give in to one demand, more always follow. Take the large-scale shutdowns in most states. The most controversial and newsworthy all seem to have a common theme: A Democrat governor. While the current events in states like Michigan and Virginia are extraordinary, we often don’t get a good glimpse of the decision-making because corporate media will always cover for Democrats. They never ask a difficult question and in the rare case they do, will let politicians off the hook with no real answer. That brings me to an intriguing interview from the other night when Tucker Carlson somehow got New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) to join his show for a hard-hitting 10 minutes. While no fan of Murphy, I do give credit to the governor for stepping out of his usual comfort zones of MSNBC and CNN, where he gets away with giving no real answers because the questions lobbed to him are largely slow-pitch softballs. A few minutes into the interview, Carlson asked Murphy the question I’ve been asking family, friends, and neighbors for weeks as I have been watching them lose their jobs and businesses. With virtually everything in the state shut down, why are liquor stores deemed essential businesses and allowed to remain open? While Murphy successfully handled Tucker’s previous questions with political pivoting, he could not find the words for this question, which was perplexing to me as a viewer and New Jersey resident. Did Murphy really not expect Carlson to ask this question? How could he not be prepared with something, anything to pivot away onto a preapproved talking point? As he stammered and tried to pivot off the subject, Carlson stayed with it. It was unique in this day and age for a politician other than President Trump to be grilled for an answer. Murphy finally came around to saying something about consulting with mental health experts who suggested it would harm people who need alcohol in their normal routine. Right. As if for millions of people stuck inside while parks, beaches, churches, and everything else remain shuttered, providing alcohol would help us get by. Give me a break. If anything, the “data” that the left constantly tells us we need to accept shows that alcohol (and drugs) are contributing to a spike in domestic issues as people are going stir crazy. Fortunately, after these off-the-wall responses from Murphy, Tucker implied the obvious when he asked, “I would hope these liquor stores aren’t allowed to remain open so that the state can generate tax revenue,” which is one of the two obvious reasons they are still open. The other reason is that if New Jerseyans can stay boozed up, we are easier to control while this mandatory shutdown drags into the summer. The most ludicrous part about this is that a Democrat governor insisting he is guided by science is ignoring it. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control guidelines as well as Surgeon General Jerome Adams have repeatedly warned us that smoking and consuming alcohol should be avoided right now for health reasons. So why are liquor stores allowed to remain open? For context, here are some of the places that are deemed non-essential and have been forced to shut down: Parks Beaches Places of worship Golf courses Recreational outdoor activities (basketball hoops being taken down, tennis courts locked, soccer netting removed from goals, etc.) Those are just a few examples of things where social distancing would be easy to accomplish, but we aren’t even given the opportunity to try. New Jersey is the second-hardest-hit spot in the country. At this point, just about all of us are connected to someone who has caught the Wuhan virus, and many of us know someone who unfortunately has passed away from it. We are all sympathetic to the issue at hand, which is why the country has yet to see a protest here in New Jersey like we’ve seen in Michigan, North Carolina, and no doubt soon other states like Virginia. But if it is truly an emergency situation and we are mandated to remain at home until further notice, is it really necessary to have people congregate in a condensed space to buy a product that has proven to enhance domestic violence, right when tensions for so many people who have lost their jobs, income, loved ones, and way of life are already at an all-time high? If you are going to “shut it all down,” then the government shouldn’t get to pick and choose the winners of this economic catastrophe: shut it all down. But that’s also the point: we shouldn’t all be shut down. Enforce strict social distancing guidelines on everyone, just like the liquor stores. The scientists and experts the left is constantly touting are telling us alcohol needs to be avoided right now for our health. Why are Democrats not listening to the experts?
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Post by soonernvolved on Apr 20, 2020 8:43:53 GMT -6
www.nationalreview.com/2020/04/coronavirus-response-ventilators-trump-administration-handled-potential-shortage-deftly/How the Media Completely Blew the Trump Ventilator Story By RICH LOWRY April 19, 2020 10:58 PM The administration handled the potential shortage deftly. NRPLUS MEMBER ARTICLE At a coronavirus-task-force briefing at the beginning of April, White House adviser Jared Kushner explained the approach that would — as events proved — get the country through its ventilator crisis. He was relentlessly pilloried, mocked, and distorted in the press for it. TOP ARTICLES 3/5 READ MORE Lockdown Diary, Budapest After nearly four years of unrelieved Trump hysteria in the media, it’s hard to rank the worst journalistic outrages, but how Kushner’s remarks were misreported and misinterpreted belongs high on the list. Much of the press coverage and subsequent commentary focused on one sentence at that April 2 briefing: “The notion of the federal stockpile was it’s supposed to be our stockpile. It’s not supposed to states’ stockpiles that they then use.” Cue the outrage. As CNBC put it, correctly, in a headline, “Jared Kushner slammed for saying the federal medical supply stockpile isn’t meant for states.” NOW WATCH: 'Most Americans Approve of Trump's Handling of Coronavirus' WATCH: 0:34 Most Americans Approve of Trump's Handling of Coronavirus The blue-checkmarks on Twitter descended in force. Representative Ted Lieu tweeted, “Dear Jared Kushner of the @realdonaldtrump: We are the UNITED STATES of America. The federal stockpile is reserved for all Americans living in our states not just federal employees. Get it?” Former director of the United States Office of Government Ethics Walter Shaub thundered, “Who the hell does the nepotist think ‘our’ refers to? It is for the American people.” Partisan outlets piled on. “Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and White House adviser,” Salon wrote, “claimed that the federal stockpile of medical supplies is not for individual states to ‘use,’ even though that is exactly the reason why the stockpile exists.” And so did mainstream outlets. ABC News rapped Kushner for his “inaccurate description” of the stockpile, which “actually is intended for states’ use.” In a piece for The New Yorker, Susan Glasser went even further. She wrote that the press briefing “will surely go down as one of the Administration’s most callous performances.” It was symptomatic, she argued, of a federal response that was a “failure by design — not a problem to be fixed but a policy choice by President Trump that either would not or count not be undone.” All of this was completely ridiculous and wrong. With even a little context, it was obvious what Kushner was saying: States shouldn’t be drawing on the federal stockpile just to hold ventilators in their own reserves while hard-pressed cities were running low. This was obvious from the very next sentence from Kushner: “So we’re encouraging the states to make sure that they’re assessing the needs, they’re getting the data from their local — local situations and then trying to fill it with the supplies that we’ve given them.” The proximate reason for Kushner’s comment about the state stockpiles was a dispute between the Trump administration and New York governor Andrew Cuomo. New York City was running out of ventilators. The administration had sent 4,400 but learned that 2,000 of them were being held by the state and hadn’t made their way to the city. The controversial sentence was part of a long answer setting out the administration’s strategy on ventilators that has, despite all the hue and cry, clearly worked. The emphasis — with Jared Kushner and his team in the middle of it, and capable leadership from Rear Admiral John Polowczyk at FEMA and Admiral Brett Giroir at HHS — was on data and shrewd allocation, so that ventilators did not go to states simply on request. There’s no doubt that the lockdowns, in bending the curve of cases downward, have played a role in averting any shortage — one of the points of the lockdowns in the first place, of course. But there was no guarantee that we would get to this place where we are today, with ventilators no longer a significant worry. At the outset, the country was looking at a daunting, perhaps impossible challenge. A chilling briefing at FEMA early on posited that the U.S. could be short 130,00 ventilators by April 1. The federal government had about 16,000 ventilators on hand in its stockpile and several thousand more from the Veteran’s Administration and the Department of Defense. It was possible the government could perform at the highest level — and still fall short. A couple of insights drove the administration’s effort to get its arms around the problem. Officials realized, as one White House adviser puts it, that there was “too much guesstimating” going on. New York, for instance, said it needed 40,000 ventilators. Then, the administration interrogated the request. What was that based on? It’s coming from public-health officials. Okay, how are they getting that number? Models. Plus, we don’t want to be short. It became clear that many governors didn’t know how many ventilators their states had, and they were driven by early models that were “doomsday scenarios,” as one senior administration official puts it. Governors were also acting on the normal impulse to want to be safe, and have more than enough ventilators on hand, just in case. “If you are a governor, which is natural, you are going to over-ask because you want to be over-prepared,” the official explains. A data team drawn from various government agencies and at the White House was created to get to the truth on the ground. It used hospital billings at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to estimate how many ventilators were in each state and how many were being utilized on any day, giving administration officials a more granular picture of what was happening in states than many governors had themselves. Another important realization was that FEMA could do just-in-time delivery. It could get states and hospitals ventilators within 24 or 48 hours. This created a lot of flexibility. The administration could wait to see how things really played out rather than making decisions based on models that forecast what the demand might be two weeks in the future. “When you started looking at it like that,” the official says, “the numbers went down dramatically.” And this is the key thing: The strategy was based on not sending states what they requested on their say-so. That was the opposite of the normal FEMA operating procedure. Usually, state and counties ask for things in a natural disaster, and FEMA sends them along as a matter of course. With an epidemic threatening the entire country, that way of doing things would have exhausted the federal resources immediately. This also meant that much of the press coverage get it exactly backward. The media portrayed as an inherent failure the fact that the administration gave states a portion of their requests. (“Trump sent Arizona a fraction of the ventilators it sought,” a Vox headline said. “Republicans still framed it as a big win.”) In reality, not giving governors what they wanted was integral to the success of the overall operation. If, for instance, the administration had tried to fulfill New York’s initial stated need for 40,000 ventilators, everything would have gone out the door to New York, and for no good reason. There was immense political pressure to send the ventilators anyway, although it would have been a mistake. “In the moment, that wasn’t 100 percent clear,” says the senior administration official. “There was a lot of pressure to send them all, because the pressure is basically, ‘How is it going to look if you’re holding in a stockpile and people need them?’” None of this is to say there weren’t real needs in New York and New Jersey. Some 8,000 ventilators were sent out from the reserve, many of them to those two places, which were at times operating on very thin margins. Another insight was that most ventilators out in the country weren’t being used, since the virus hot-spots were geographically limited. That meant there was a tremendous capacity to be tapped. This led to the Dynamic Ventilator Reserve. States and hospitals with a safe margin of ventilators not in use could lend them to places that needed them. The lubricant for the system was a federal guarantee that a hospital lending a ventilator would get a replacement in 24 or 48 hours if it turned out that it needed it back. This removed the fear and the risk of giving up ventilators. It also allowed the administration to effectively leverage in the here and now the ventilators that it will have in the future, when production ramps up. “A ventilator today is more valuable than a future ventilator,” the White House adviser explains. As for the future ventilators, FEMA acted quickly — much faster than is possible in the regular process — to get so-called notifications to purchase to ventilator manufacturers, so they could start work and hold their inventory, which ensured it wasn’t lost to foreign countries. The Defense Production Act was invoked with General Motors to get production moving as quickly as possible, and not back-loaded later in the summer. Last year, according to administration figures, the country produced 30,000 ventilators. This year, it’s going to produce something on the order of 200,000, and they are already coming in. “The balance now is growing daily,” the White House adviser says of the federal stockpile. “We are going to be swimming in ventilators.” By any measure, that’s a success, certainly compared with where we thought we’d be less than a month ago. If the media weren’t so devoted to gotcha idiocy, more people might know about it.
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