6.7.20: When The President is Spinning Out of Control, We All Are

How influential is the office of the presidency? So much influence that when the individual who occupies the office is spinning out of control it can literally spin the country out of control, which now a majority of Americans believe that is in fact what's happening.

The tragic events of 110,000-plus deaths from Covid-19, the subsequent economic collapse and the protests for racial injustice may have happened on another president's watch, but the chaos and division that Donald Trump has wrought on Americans and the world is fully manifesting itself.

The culmination came on Monday with the Trump Administration ordering the U.S. military to disperse a peaceful protest outside the "People's House" with tear gas so that we can all have this photo...

Your Bible? A Bible.

Sorry... This photo:

Offensive on so many levels, one doesn't even know where to begin: unconstitutional use of the military for a photo op? turning the U.S. military on American citizens? using the bible and religion as a prop? Ivanka Trump carrying the bible in her purse then handing it to the president? completely tone-deaf to what was going on around the entire country at that moment? desecrating a sacred church where every president since James Madison (4th) had come to pray?

After that new low even for this president, the expected residual ooze of misleading and inappropriate statements seeped from the White House. Meanwhile, in the real world, former military commanders such as Joint Chiefs Chairman Mike Mullen, fmr. Trump Administration Defense Secretary General James Mattis, fmr. Trump Chief of Staff General John Kelly, fmr. Secretary of State General Colin Powell, fmr. Seal Commander General William McCraven and fmr. NATO Supreme Commander Admiral James Stavridis all harshly condemned the president's actions and in essence explained that he is actively part of the problem when it comes to bringing the country together.

Yet while protests continue, the president remains a dividing force for racial justice and has yet to exclude invoking the Insurrection Act to fully employ the U.S. military to stop the protests. Appearing on today's program, Admiral Stavridis explained that if it comes to that point, current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Mark Milley will have a choice to make, either follow the order or hand in his four stars. The admiral also said that because Defense Secretary Mark Esper is a political appointee, he would have it easier on making the decision, but General Milley is a career soldier. And then there is abroad, in which Adm. Stavridis explained that because of Mr. Trump, America's moral authority (and thus its influence) and reputation are deteriorating rapidly. Even if Mr. Trump is indeed a one-term president, the damage he's already done to international relations and partnerships will take at least a decade to repair.

Who knows how long it will take this country to recover even somewhat from Mr. Trump's presidency, if ever. On multiple occasions, Kristen Welker described the press pool being shushed by the president when asked about the protests and what his plan would be for reform. Obviously, it's because the administration doesn't have a plan, but not only that. One is compelled to ask if the president even cares to have one.

Co-founder of Black Lives Matter, Alicia Garza explained it when Chuck Todd asked her about "Defund the Police." Ms. Garza said that what that meant was that instead of pouring tons money into militarizing the police, use the money for housing and education in black communities, not getting rid of the police force. Affordable housing and good public education are problems plague all demographics in the country but a Manhattan-type project should begin in communities of color.

Frankly, it won't happen under this "Law & Order" president, even if he is reelected. In terms of the election polls and the various crises that he has no aptitude or inclination to confront, Mr. Trump is like a wounded animal backed into a corner. In this case it means that invoking the Insurrection Act is not out of the question. The protests and the battle against white supremacy and our nation's original sin will continue. As The Washington Post's Eugene Robinson put it, "It will not be without conflict."


Panel: Kristen Welker, NBC; Eugene Robinson, The Washington Post; David French, The Dispatch


One more thing...
The NFL
"We admit we were wrong not to listen to players earlier."
                                  - NFL Commissioner Roger Goddell

Again, Mr. Robinson had it correct. Until they say his name and publicly apologize to Colin Kapernick before he's rightly standing on the sideline for his new team, Mr. Goddell's statement while a step in the right direction, comes up short.

5.31.20: The Frustration and Desperation of the Tormented in America

Where do we go from here?
Where do we start?

If those two questions can not be answered in a meaningful way then as a country we're lost. The individual who could provide the initial guidance to a vision for moving forward is the president of the United States. Unfortunately, we have a man as president (to say we have a president ill-suited to the moment would imply that he was presidential in the first place) who, as NBC's Garrett Haake reported from interviews in Washington D.C., no longer speaks in a meaningful way for the people or to the people.

Meanwhile, here's a short list: Minneapolis, Washington D.C., New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle, Oakland, San Francisco, Dallas, Baltimore, Sacramento, Boston, Las Vegas, Louisville, Salt Lake City, Houston, Philadelphia, Miami and let's not forget Atlanta.

These lifeblood hubs of America are literally blowing up because of the frustration and desperation of the tormented. One hundred thousand Americans died in three months, 40 million people are out of work, a third of Americans developing anxiety and depression, and then...

A white police office in Minneapolis is charged with 3rd degree murder and 2nd degree manslaughter in the killing of George Floyd - an African-American man, a human being with rights - ripping the scab off a wound that has been infected for 400 years.

We're overheating in an already hot summer that hasn't even officially started yet and we're only getting to a presidential election on which Donald Trump has no conceivable inclination to turn down the heat.

But in the moment, while local and state law enforcement restore order, the president should address the nation. As Joshua Johnson pointed out - the president's always matter, but can Mr. Trump provide words of sympathy and understanding while being strong.

Mr. Johnson also mentioned along the way in the panel discussion that without systematic changes, heavy-handedness will prevail. State Attorney General Keith Ellison (D-MN), DC Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) and Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance-Bottoms (D) all did make mention a different sort of element present at the protests, which will unfortunately only grow the anger and the numbers if those aforementioned systematic changes don't start to occur. But anger begets anger and white supremacists like the ones we saw in Charlottesville, the ones that Mr. Trump likes to send dog whistles to.

Did we say it was going to be hot this summer?

As with the coronavirus, we need leadership at a federal level or as Attorney General Ellison more diplomatically put it, more constructive help which would be a great start. In a more practical sense, the cities need more federal assistance. States going bankrupt is not an option despite what Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) would suggest, but both Mayor Bowser and Mayor Lance-Bottoms emphasized this point as it is truly an imperative, if only to prepare for a next wave of a pandemic which is sure to occur.

With the knowledge that Joe Biden is not going to pick a vice-presidential candidate until August, we find ourselves in the very rare position of agreeing with fmr. governor Pat McCrory on one point he made. A lot can happen between now and August. Ninety-nine percent of the time Mr. McCrory is clueless on presenting the right solutions or at the very least slightly tone-deaf as he was today. But Mr. McCrory also said as a Republican, Congresswoman Val Demmings (D-FL) worries him as a candidate a great deal. The two-term Congresswoman Demmings is the fmr. Orlando Chief of Police and pulled from her expertise to offer another way in which the federal government could act by re-implementing and build on national retraining programs for police forces and building relationships with their communities. From her informed position, she also explained that police forces are asking for this.

Chuck Todd asked Congresswoman Demmings if the president called her for help in this moment of crisis, would she help and she emphatically said that she would advising him to show compassion and that our diversity as Americans is what makes this nation strong.

Yes, Republicans look at an informed, steady hand of leadership and worry, no doubt she is one of the names at the top of Mr. Biden's list.


Panel: Teresa Maria Kumar, Voto Latino; Joshua Johnson, NBC; Pat McCrory, fmr. governor North Carolina (R)


A few more things...
1.
In response to a reporter's question yesterday about whether the president's supporters staging counter-protests would only escalate tensions, Mr. Trump responded with this:

"MAGA loves the black people."
                                  -President Donald J. Trump, 5.30.2020

This is just wrong on so many levels, again dog-whistle racism - a clear illustration of his us and them mentality at all times.

2.
Also, as Mayor Lance-Bottoms, we're beyond the tipping point in terms of systematic racial injustice and then how do blame a community for defacing symbols of that very thing:

Click on text to read the full story at The Washington Post

And talk about sticking it in an entire community's face, the United Daughters of the Confederacy? Really? 

We as descendants despite living in the 21st century are still united in representing symbols and a heritage of oppression, racism and slavery. 

As an law abiding everyday American, who just so happens to also be African-American, how would you like to walk by their headquarters everyday?

3.
Lastly, we don't usually feature screenshots from other news websites, but CNN's front page last night illustrated so many things unraveling on so many levels.

Click to enlarge

5.24.20: Taking Advantage of a Crisis

It's an unusual Memorial Day weekend to understate it, dramatically.  This column on this particular weekend traditionally puts the focus on the troops and the sacrifices they continue to make this very day, however, it's impossible not to be thinking about the 97,714 individuals who have lost their lives in the past three months from Covid-19 and the heroic efforts of all U.S. Healthcare workers who are putting their lives on the line for us here at home.

The most tragic is that of this writing the above number of Covid-19 deaths is already inaccurate as the total increases seemingly unabated. There is a race for a vaccine and in a joint interview with Dr. Dan Barouch of Harvard Medical School and Dr. Peter Hotez of Baylor Medical College, they acknowledged that there has been good news on this front and that 12 to 18 months is an imaginable timeline if everything breaks right in the development, but that's a big 'if.'

However, Dr. Hotez also made the point that with the development of a vaccine as such speed, the anti-vaccination lobby will certainly cast doubt on the effectiveness and safety of the vaccine. He stated that as many as 25% of the U.S. population would not take the vaccine even if it were available. He explained that the Trump Administration's designated name for the project is 'Warp Speed' which just helps to cast more doubt on vaccine effectiveness. It should be noted, as Dr. Hotez, pointed out as a medical expert on vaccination who has a child with autism, that he wrote a book refuting this claim making him public enemy number one, using his words, with the anti-vaxxers. In this column's humble opinion, the entire anti-vaccination stance stems from the conspiracy theories online that also push distrust of our public health institutions and government writ large.

But with Memorial Day upon us, all 50 states have reopened in varying degrees, and for the most part the governors, such as Mike DeWine (R-OH) of acting in accordance with scientific data and common sense on carefully reopening their respective states. As part of that reopening, governors are insisting that citizens wear masks. The emotional speech by North Dakota Governor, Doug Burgum (R-ND) emphasized the need to not make wearing a mask a political (red and blue) issue. After the clip, Governor DeWine said that he agreed with Mr. Burgum that this crisis effects all of us and that wearing a mask shouldn't be political, but that it's protection for your fellow citizen.

It's heartening to hear Republican and Democratic governors alike advocating this and providing model behavior. Unfortunately, as we've said before in this column, states are on their own as the federal government's response (i.e. the Trump Administration) has been abysmal, which was enforced every day this week by the president himself.

Monday: The president said he would have done nothing differently to combat the pandemic.
Tuesday: The president said he was taking hydroxychloroquine, which the FDA and medical researches could increase your chance of death.
Wednesday: The president said that he would withhold aid to states that mailed out applications for mail-in ballots.
Thursday: Mr. Trump went to a Ford Motors plant where they are making masks and didn't wear one in public, saying that he didn't want to give the press the photo-op (a photo was taken) because Mr. Trump wearing a mask doesn't send the right message. Huh?
Friday: The president said that houses of worship were essential and that he would override governors' decisions if they decided not to open them, despite public health risks. This is something the president doesn't have the power to do, but it's Trump so knowing what is legal and what is not never really matters to him.

As Andrea Mitchell pointed out, mask wearing shouldn't be politicized and governors are trying to tamp that down, however, the one person who is politicizing it the most is President Trump. Never has the president understood that he is the president for all Americans and in times of crisis, like this, the president should be working to bring people to work together.

Instead of taking responsibility, to which the president said he takes none at all, he has pointed the finger of blame at various entities and individuals, but in the past few weeks has been sharpening his ire toward China. In the interview with National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien, he compared the China's response (cover-up) of the Covid-19 outbreak to Russia's initial cover-up of Chernobyl. That's not going to go a long way for better relations, which are strained to say the least. Mr. O'Brien didn't really have a solid answer for what the U.S.'s response would be given Beijing's new crackdown on Hong Kong, which is seeing fresh protests today.

In a time of crisis, like now where the rest of the world is focused on the pandemic, President Xi's government is using the opportunity to crack down on Hong Kong. Chuck Todd asked Mr. O'Brien about sanctions, but even with those in place, it won't stop Beijing's actions. The panel, as well as this column, is that China will get away with it. The only voice that would stand up to this action would be an American one, but that's not going to happen for two reasons. One, Mr. Trump is desperate for a trade deal, which doesn't like it's going to happen and two, Mr. Trump is taking advantage of this crisis himself with the firings of 4 inspectors general in 6 weeks and the continued undoing of the Mueller investigation and the convictions that resulted from it.

President Trump has vacillated back and forth on being soft on China one minute and then being tough on them the next. The problems that we're seeing now between the countries (the world's largest two economies) is exacerbated by the lack of a consistent strategy and position on the part of the U.S. administration.

In a time when the president insists on politicizing everything to the detriment of us all, this column would like to wish that all Americans enjoy their holiday weekend and to look out for one another. Wear a mask, it's not for you but for the others around you - a small but selfless act.


Panel: Andrea Mitchell, NBC News, O. Kay Henderson, Radio Iowa; Jeh Johnson, fmr. head of Homeland Security

One more thing...
Chuck Todd signed off today, saying "Thanks for trusting us," which is so indicative of our time when so many outlets for information are not. The outlets of information that can not be trusted starts with the U.S. President, and until that changes America will see it's role in the world continuing to diminish.

5.17.20: "Vaccine or no vaccine, we're back." Yeah, baby!

"Vaccine or no vaccine, we're back." Yeah, baby!

The president called us warriors, willing to put our lives in danger, perhaps die, for the cause. And we are because we can't let the cure become worse than the disease. As the president explained, he's lost friends as have many people, but 90,000 dead Americans in two month is such a small percentage of the population. What did we lose in WW II? 420,000? Even that's a small percentage, and Covid-19 isn't even close to that.

Seriously, the administration has given it enough attention and haven't we all become tired of Dr. Anthony Fauci going on and on. There's something going on with him anyway and you have to ask if he can really be trusted? We're not looking in the rear view mirror. We need to get back to work and get the economy going. So grab a helmet and buck up.

From the world of the cosmically callous, it's back to reality...

By the way, the cause and the goal above all else is for Donald Trump to be reelected for another term as president, of course.

And as he sees it, he is running on three issues - one that's sent him packing, another that has gone south, and yet another that's flat out made up. Director of Trade and Manufacturing Peter Navarro said he's "not looking in the rear view mirror" in doing his other task of D.P.A. coordinator. Well, isn't that good for him, but everyone else is looking back over the past 3 1/2 years trying to decide if they want more of this.

The Covid-19 virus has sent administration packing and into complete switching-gears mode because it knows that it's never going to get a handle on something it never had a handle on in the first place. In the meantime, the economy tanked to historically low levels - this being the only thing he could have possibly run on. Mr. Trump is mistaken if he thinks damage that will take years to correct will come back well enough in a few months for him to make his case. And the third is the made up Obamagate to distract and sure up his base supporters, which incumbent aren't doing at this point in the race as it's already a done deal in most cases.

To Hell with the president's reelection for a moment, this is a serious problem for the American populace. The president of the United States, from the White House lawn no less, is propagating his own conspiracy theory, but reality has come crashing in. So sure, from the president's perspective, his section is taking on water, but we're in the boat with him. This is administration energy and attention to manufacturing a scandal for political gain while the public suffers. You be the judge of that.

 PBS's Yamiche Alcindor explained that the president was going back to his 2016 and going on the offensive, attacking President Obama, as well as Mr. Biden, as Mr. Trump's campaign advisors consider him part of the tick. However, the issue is that a conspiracy theory is originating from the office of the U.S. presidency this time around, not a candidate.

And Republicans on the Hill, they got nothing. As Politco's Anna Palmer explained, even considering the president's Obamagate attacks, Republicans are unwilling to break with him and in some cases coordinating.  Obamagate, what's that? Sounds good, I'll co-sign. That's about what you get from them these days.

When something like this comes from the White House, it pretty much blows up Clint Watts conspiracy theory bonfire model that first there's a spark, then kindling - more people sharing, and then gasoline - social media and influencer discussion. Well, the president of the United States skips right to the end, to our collective chagrin.

But Republicans' silence on that stupidity is not what offends. Since April 1st to this past Friday, the 15th, the Trump Administration has fired 4 Inspectors General, eliminating oversight of the administration on a wide-ranging basis. The last instance was Mr. Trump taking action at the request of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo who was in fact being investigated. Republicans on the Hill: Yeah, we get it. Forget about oversight and the rule of law for the time being. It's only when a Democrat is in the White House will they flex their full hypocrisy muscle.


Lastly, given all of the norm (and law) breaking on the part of Donald Trump as our president, we're not going to criticize Barack Obama for taking a dig at the current president. Some one who gets people to listen has to speak up. There's also the fact that it's like dismissed common knowledge that Obama would have done a much better job.

"...tore back the curtain on the idea that so many of the folks in charge know what they're doing."

"Some aren't even pretending to be in charge."

'Nough said.


Panel: Yamiche Alcindor, PBS News Hour; Peter Alexander, NBC News; Anna Palmer, Politico

5.10.20: The Message to Americans - Tragedy and Incompetence - Learn to Live With It

With unemployment claims topping 22 million and the death toll from COVID-19 approaching 80,000, the president preoccupied himself this morning with Michael Flynn and discrediting the Mueller Investigation instead of coming up with a national plan on how this country can move forward safely to bring back economic activity.

The two infectious disease experts on today's program respectively made statements that transcend. Jeffrey Shaman from Columbia University said that even though the Administration dropped the ball (our term) early on in proactive against the virus, we have to "pick up from where we are now," While Dr. Michael Osterholm said that we have to "learn to live with it."

However, without a national plan coming from a decisive Administration in the White House, pick up and and learning to live it become ever more difficult. Maybe it's just the thoughts of this column, but it's impossible to reconcile the president saying his administration is doing a great job when the country is staring 100,000 deaths in the face. And when the president this week nonchalantly says that over 22 million job losses were to be expected, it's downright depressing to think about where the president's head is at. Obviously, it's not on the millions of Americans who are suffering at this moment.

And in the midst of this pandemic, the Trump Administration is still backing the lawsuit to invalidate the Affordable Care Act, which would leave 20 million Americans without access to health insurance. When Mr. Todd asked Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) about this, Mr. Alexander said that when the individual mandate penalty was lowered to $0, no senator thought that this invalidated the entire law as the suit claims.

This is all in light of the fact that White House staffers in close contact with the president and vice-president tested positive for the virus this week. As Kristen Welker reported, White House staff has been shaken by this, even as they are instituting ramped up testing and contact tracing. However, ramping up these measures for the entire country is out of the question.

Chuck Todd's thread throughout the program was "Where's the plan?" which is a legitimate question but he drilled down on as if there would be an answer (a plan) coming. However, the reality is that there won't be a national plan. The president has left the states to make their own decisions without any federal coordination so that the country as a whole can emerge from this crisis. The president has called Americans 'warriors' in fighting this invisible enemy, but pragmatically what he is really saying is that many more Americans are going to die and that's just the way it has to be to get the economy moving again. The president has said that the economy will come back in the summer despite economists saying that it will take years to recover all the job losses. Given the unemployment rates for the different population segments, it's unlikely that the administration will focus on those hardest hit.

Robert F. Smith, CEO of Vista Equity Partners, explained that this is an opportunity for the United States to restructure the banking system because 94% of minority owned businesses are under-banked or are not affiliated with any bank at all. It would be wise to follow this course, but again it's difficult  to see it actually happening given that corporate allies of the administration will do their best to exploit the crisis instead of correctly the economy inequality that this crisis has laid bear.

Richard Haas said that many countries aren't seeing the United States that they thought we knew, and because of this they will increasingly go their own way, which will only increase instability. We can not speak for other countries' perceptions, but this isn't even the America that Americans once knew.


Panel: Peggy Noonan, The Wall Street Journal; Kristen Welker, NBC News; Richard Haas, President of the Council on Foreign Relations

5.3.20: Patchwork and Band-Aids

Today's watch word: patchwork. Used by both Dr. Tom Inglesby of Johns Hopkins and by infectious disease doctor Dr. Nahid Bhadelia to describe the United States' response to the Covid-19 pandemic. It stands to reason that there is concern about some states re-opening their economies too quickly because there hasn't been a coordinated national approach to combating the virus. All the states are in different stages, showing varying statistics, hence 'patchwork.'

Listening to state health officials from Alabama and Michigan respectively, they are taking different approaches according to the statistics and situation on the ground, as it were. However, they are basing their respective recommendations on facts and leave it to the governor to act equipped with an informed opinion. "It's not personal" is how Dr. Joneigh Khaldun from Michigan described it when discussing outside political pressure. Dr. Harris from Alabama explained it's present but that doesn't change the facts he presents.

However, Mr. Todd also asked Dr. Harris about Georgia with its aggressive reopening of their economy in lieu of statistics that show it's not safe to do so. Dr. Harris did express concern understandably but said that Alabama was prepared. The point here is that this is exactly where Administration and Federal response leadership is needed. The Trump Administration gutted the CDC (Center for Disease Control) which is the agency that would track and trace on a national level so that a state like Alabama could better understand what's happening in neighboring states.

But the federal response on several levels has failed. Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report explained that some politicians rise to the moment, which is why many governors' approval rating are so high. She also said that Donald Trump has risen to the moment like every other in his presidency with polarization and divisiveness.

Dr. Nahid Bhadelia explained that the Covid-19 virus acts to have the immune system attack itself. The growing partisan response, amplified shamefully by the president, is the virus that has been spreading across the country and the result is our democracy attacking itself. This is the consequence of Donald Trump's unfit leadership.

In the face of 1 million-plus infections and over 66,000 Americans dead in 2 months, the president said this week that the administration has done a 'spectacular' job, to use his word and his son-in-law described the administration's work as an 'American Success Story.' At this point, the only astute question to ask is, "What planet are these individuals living on?"

That brings us to today's operative percentage - 10 percent. Douglas Holtz-Eakin that in the months of April through June we'll see a 10% decline in national income; twelve percent is Great Depression era numbers. He also called the trillions of dollars CARES Act a band-aid. Dr. Bhadelia also explained that in areas where positive tests are over 10%, it's an indication that there is too little testing. All of this is on the federal government so it's ridiculous to equal what is actually happening with words like 'spectacular' and 'success.'

The potential answer to this lack of presidential leadership is in one fmr. Vice-President Joe Biden who has had to answer questions this week about a sexually assault allegation made by former Senate staffer Tara Reade. It's too soon to even judge and the only consensus that has come out of this so far is that there are no good players here. Mr. Biden, on Friday, flatly denied the allegation saying that it never happened, putting himself on the record and requesting full transparency. Given what we know and what has been said, Ms. Walter explained that this is a fight over who to believe and hypocrisy, with a slavering of the latter all over. Republicans are pointing out the hypocrisy on the part of the Democrats as Justice Brett Cavanaugh wasn't given the benefit of the doubt so why should Mr. Biden when it seems his accuser is more credible. But that's hypocrisy on the Republicans as well as there is no mention of the president's many accusers.

Frankly, at this moment we're just going to see how this one plays out because the current situation is allowing for putting any hope in any one person's hands, not even 10 percent.


Panel: Kasie Hunt, NBC News; Douglas Holtz-Eakin, American Action Forum, fmr. Budget Director; Dr. Nahid Bhadelia, NBC Medical Contributor

4.26.20: We Have Failed to Meet the Moment

Here's a statistic that Chuck Todd presented that illustrates clearly the tragedy of this virus:

12 weeks - 53,000+ deaths from COVID-19
12 years - 58,000+ U.S. military deaths in Vietnam.

When asked about the death totals, the president responded that he thought they did a 'great job,' and then goes on to explain to that it could have been millions. However, the reason it is not millions has very little to do with the actions of the administration. Aside from closing the borders, the administration has been sheepish about employing the Defense Production Act to supply hospitals and healthcare works around the country, and then have not put a national testing/ tracking plan in place to mitigate risk to the U.S. population.

What we're left with are mixed messages and ludicrous ideas from the president while his aides and medical experts try to clean up the mess. And from what we saw today during the interview with Dr. Birx, she is succumbing to the professional challenge of staying outside the Trump alternative reality bubble. After doing her best to once again dodge the question of her response to the president's comment about injecting disinfectant with he was 'still digesting information,' she gave one of many elliptical answers, particularly not clearly countering the president's other suggestion of using light and ultraviolet light to combat the virus.  Andrea Mitchell called her out on this very point and also said that right now, the credibility of the medical experts are in fact on the line. When asked about whether she would recommend that states reopen, like Georgia is doing, she talked about advising governors and state officials with granular data on each county, in effect a none answer. At present, Dr. Birx is completely cowed by the president.

The headline that Mr. Todd gleaned from the interview is that we will not be able to dramatically increase testing without a break through moment. That breakthrough moment has to come from what Dr. Michael Osterholm called the 'wild west' of testing. After the CDC dropped the ball on developing a test, the FDA opened it to the market so many of the test being developed are inaccurate. As Dr. Osterholm explained, the testing is a disaster because of this and it is preventing large-scale capability, saying that we have 'failed to meet the moment.'

Also, Mr. Todd asked Ms. Mitchell to weight in on the politics of it all on the part of the administration, but we'll say this: everything thought and hence answer the president has is through the political lens as opposed to a lens of governing, which he has never had interest in doing. Politics also played a part in Georgia's reopening as Stacey Abrams explained. Governor Brian Kemp (R-GA) is reopening his government, she said, because he is following the president's 'liberate' tweet campaign to the states. Vice President Mike Pence is also playing politics when he said that by Memorial Day (end of May) the coronavirus will be largely behind us. All three of these men, Ms. Abrams explained, are doing a disservice to the country with their words and actions, or inaction as the case may be.


Panel: Andrea Mitchell, NBC News; Dr. Vin Gupta, University of Washington Medical Center; Stephanie Ruhle, NBC News

4.12.20: The Metrics Are in the President's Mind

The flattening the curve in the fight against Covid-19 is... a good sign not so much as good news  because of the 20,473 recorded deaths in the United States as of this writing.

The Trump administration, according to reporting from NBC's Kristen Welker, is planning on opening the economy back up May 1, as opposed to what FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn said that they are looking at that date. Chuck Todd posed the question on whether opening up the economy will brake along red/blue lines, which went unanswered. Well the answer is 'yes, it will,' because there never has been a strong federal coordinated response to combating the virus, biggest case in point is the lack of nation-wide testing - less than 1 percent of the United States population.


It was good to hear that Dr. Hahn say that he's felt no political pressure and the FDA's actions reflect as such, but then again he explained that he was only confirmed in December and that he hadn't been through any pandemic exercises. This speaks to the deeper problem of gutting the federal government and leaving key positions empty or in 'acting' status that has plagued the Trump presidency.



Without national testing capacity in absence of a vaccine the economy will not fully recover anytime soon. You shouldn't hold your breath for a May 1st date, especially if the data is showing surges in outbreaks in other cities across the country. We remain on the virus's timeline.

As for the president, the most important metrics are in his mind when it comes to the decision. What could go wrong with that? Dr. Fauci said that the decision would be made collectively only to be overwritten by the president who said he alone would make the decision. As for the daily press conferences, they have ceased being relevant and certainly do not help the president's cause in looking like he's in charge. The majority of Americans have written off Mr. Trump's leadership during the pandemic and are looking to their state governors.

As the panel discussed, in lieu of not being able to be out at rallies, the president is using the press conferences as 'infomercials' citing Jon Meacham. However, by the end of each the product hasn't grown in appeal, quite the opposite.

All the blame Mr. Trump dishes out only serves as excuses at this point, yet still with the object of keeping his base focused on others such as the World Health Organization. The president attacked the WHO this week for being too China-centric, to which Dr. David Nabarro explained that his organization doesn't have the power to inspect and can only work with the data they receive from governments.

Continually planting seeds, the president also decried mail-in voting saying untruthfully that it's prone to fraud - start baking it in now that because of the potential need for mail-in voting the result will be illegitimate. So more significant than Bernie Sanders dropping out of the race was the Wisconsin primary example this week. Instead of 180 polling places for the city of Milwaukee, only 5 were open while endangering public health. The Democratic governor wanted to postpone it but the state's conservative Supreme Court overturned the decision, essentially sanctioning a suppression of the vote.

How it played out was instructive for November as Jon Meacham explained, but if Bernie Sanders doesn't give a full-throated endorsement with action to back to Joe Biden his supporters will stay home or vote third party or disastrously vote for President Trump. As Yamiche Alcindor explained, Joe Biden is expected to move to the left however moderately as are reflected in Mr. Biden's Medicare at 60 and forgiveness as some student loan debt. So Mr. Biden will do his part, but Mr. Sanders who surely understands the consequences has to make sure his supporters also understand, thoroughly so.

In the meantime, where ever you are, please stay safe and healthy.


Panel: Kristen Welker, NBC News; Yamiche Alcindor, PBS; Lanhee Chen, Stanford University; Jon Meacham, presidential historian

4.5.20: Donald Trump Has Ripped Up the Social Contract

"Meet The Press" was preempted half way through the program so we didn't get the full panel discussion but that in no way means that we will not have things to say about what, in particular, fmr. governor Pat McCrory (R-NC) said with regard to the pandemic response.

To start, the continuing conversation about what the states should be doing versus what the federal government response should be is a distressing one to say the least. This is a national crisis and requires a federal response. Hard stop. However, the president insists that the federal government is only a backstop for individual state responses to the pandemic. If we had a genuine leader in the White House, this wouldn't even be a discussion. The president refuses to take the lead because he doesn't want to take any responsibility. A real leader would take full responsibility, but Mr. Trump has shown that the phrase coined by President Truman that "The buck stops here," doesn't apply to him. Feckless. Indifferent. Irresponsible.

And Republicans are cowed by this man that they refuse to speak up and or just follow him blindly through this disaster. The first case in point is the aforementioned Mr. McCrory who said that he objects to the blame game and cited the example of Pearl Harbor where the public didn't blame President Roosevelt after it happened. That may be true, but Roosevelt didn't run away from responsibility to lead the nation through that time of adversity, like President Trump is doing now. Mr. Crory's comparison and argument are a joke.

Governor Asa Hutchinson (R-AR) for his part has not issued a state-wide stay-at-home order, but said that his state is following all the recommendations from the CDC and doing more than that. But what exactly is that if he hasn't issued that order? It's disingenuous at best and furthermore he is putting the citizens of his state and other states at risk. He explained that Arkansas confirmed an order for masks, but then was outbid by another state, explaining that they are competing with others for supplies. That simply shouldn't be the case and did not call for a national response. More irresponsible leadership.

Conversely, Governor Jay Inslee (D-WA) acted quickly and early with a state-wide order and the state has subsequently flattened the curve. He also explained that the state is not 'out of the woods' yet, but what does it matter if all states aren't following a national protocol? The virus doesn't recognize borders so in a way, what is, or in this case is not, happening in Arkansas is also happening in Washington. Mr. Hutchinson countered Mr. Inslee with a cheap shot that despite Washington's state-at-home order, citizens of Washington could still buy marijuana, a pointless comment. If the Arkansas governor finds that objectionable then he should close all the liquor stores and beer distributors in his state.

Are we blaming President Trump for the spread of the pandemic, no. However, his refusal or inability to take up the leadership mantle has made a dire, tragic crisis worse. As for his administration's part, the president had Sr. Advisor Jared Kushner give one of the briefings this week resulting in people questioning who exactly in the White House is running the pandemic response. And whether or not Mr. Kushner misspoke, to say that the national stockpile is 'ours' and not for the states is a gross abdication of the federal government responsibility to its citizenry so to even think for a moment that such a statement makes a bit of sense is ludicrous.

Unlike the Trump Administration, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte stated that public health comes first and foremost; that political decisions must be based on scientific evidence; and that it is the responsibility of government to maintain the social contract with its people. He said that he understands the great sacrifice of his people, but that his government will act to the best of their knowledge and with the help WHO he believes that his country is on the right path.

If only the Trump Administration had such clear thinking. More importantly, if Donald Trump himself had an ounce of empathy for the suffering and sacrifice of the American people, we would be able to rally to his side. However, like all the ones he reneged on during his business career, Mr. Trump has dismissed and ripped up the social contract between his administration and the American people.


Panel: Kasie Hunt, NBC; Helene Cooper, The New York Times; Pat McCrory, fmr. gov. of North Carolina.