8.30.20: Whiners Never "Own the Moment"

Earlier this week, the column spoke to a Californian, center-right independent voting friend for some perspective on the two presidential candidates. And while, he said he didn't disagree with many of the president's policies, but also said that the president showed no leadership combating the pandemic. The conversation was very much a referendum on Mr. Trump's presidency as he simply quipped, "Oh yeah, Biden could totally run the country." In the end, he said the one thing that bothered him the most, the deal-breaker, was that the president constantly whines and blames others, and not "owning up to things" (and using some derogatory words inappropriate for the column), as he put it.

So when Congressman and co-chair of the Biden campaign Cedric Richmond (D-LA) said that the president "has to own the moment," he makes a point. Any other individual who abdicated this much responsibility would be the object of universal scorn, but not Donald Trump. It's such an odd moment when you say that the President of the United States, the richest and most powerful country in the world, isn't man enough to take responsibility for his own policies, never "owning the moment." But as they say, here we are.

And where we are is that this week, a white police officer in Kenosha, WI shot Jacob Blake, an African-American man 7 times in the back. There are no excuses that can justify that action. Mr. Blake may not be the most model citizen and he didn't have a gun. Two "trained" police officers can not deescalate the situation or subdue an individual without shooting or killing the person? the 65-day sprint

In the ensuing protests in Kenosha and Portland, Trump supporters clashed with Left-wing rioters and three people were shot dead, and one other severely injured. Neither the Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows, or fmr. North Carolina gov. Pat McCrory specifically called out the shooting in Kenosha by the teenage vigilante, but did refer to the killing in Portland of a Patriots Prayer member, a right-wing group in Oregon. Mr. McCrory said the condemned all "bad shootings," which washes over some very disturbing facts.

The reason Republicans won't address it is not because they're afraid to answer that first question: Do you denounce a teenage vigilante taking the law into his own hands and killing two people? No, it's the follow up question that blows a hole through the "support of law enforcement" argument, hence the president's message. And that question is: How come the Kenosha police didn't stop and question a minor walking the streets with an AR15 while others are yelling to the police that he shot two people? Or why didn't the police do anything but say that they appreciate him being there and offering him water? 

Why? 

KellyAnne Conway, as a parting gift before leaving the administration, said that the violence in the streets is good for President Trump's campaign, which Hallie Jackson confirmed that the campaign is doubling down on this message as it thinks it's a positive one for Mr. Trump. Michael Schmidt of The New York Times described Mr. Trump running as if he is not in charge of the country and called his an unprecedented approach to the presidency. He's not only running as if he's not in charge, but he's governing this way as well making ideological policy decisions without caring about the negative effects. Just as President Trump said about the administration's pandemic response that he takes no responsibility at all, he's applying this more widely.

An administration with the only goal of playing only to its base will say what is necessary to placate it, despite reality, as we've seen. It was disappointing when Chuck Todd asked Mr. Meadows about what the president could do (and this is where Mr. Todd fumbled the ball, searching for the right phrase)... to make our streets safer? This gave Mr. Meadows the opportunity to filibuster with law and order rhetoric. Instead Mr. Todd should have asked what is the president going to say to the entire nation to console and bring peace? Or something to that effect.

Yamiche Alcindor of PBS explained from her reporting that leaders in the African-American community feel that the disproportionate rate at which black men are killed by the police (2 to 1 vs. white males) should be something this country can get right, yet these tragedies continue. Congressman Richmond did remind us that the president has indeed answered one question that he himself posed back in 2016. To the African-American community, Mr. Trump asked, "What do you have to lose?" African American men are getting the message that if they have an encounter with a police officer, it could be their lives. Eton Thomas, fmr. NBA player, explained that the current players are speaking out because they are worried for their sons, their community and themselves. He also went on to say that despite all the accomplishments and millions of dollars a black professional athlete might have, when they have an encounter with police they're thinking they could die at that moment.

Panel: Yamiche Alcindor, PBS; Hallie Jackson, NBC News; Michael Schmidt, The New York Times; Pat McCrory, fmr. governor of North Carolina

A few more things...

"Let's make America great again... again." A quote from Mike Pence. He's definitely not carrying the ticket, that's for sure. Vice President Pence, we say this only to help you so please excuse this column if we come off as offending you but: You sound like a complete jackass when you say this.

A pet peeve of this column... perpetrated today by Mark Meadows... "the Democrat party..." It's the Democratic Party. We're offended by this intentional grammar error on the part of all Republicans, but we're also offended by Democrats who let this slide because the goal of Republicans is to separate the Democratic Party from anything democratic. And to hear Mr. Meadows use it repeatedly today, not to mention by all his Republic Party friends, is like putting a nail in the ear and then dragging the ear accross a chalkboard.

Lastly, despite the utterly false rosy picture painted by the administration and its response to the Covid-19 pandemic, by this time next week, the United States will be over 6 million infection cases and over 185,000 dead.

 

 

8.23.20: The Dystopia that Trump Describes is Because of His Leadership

 It's half time in the political convention game with the Democrats concluding their convention last week and Republicans readying to start tomorrow. So what's the state of the race? First, keep in mind that the polls will tighten as we get into the first week of October and we haven't had any of the debates yet, meaning that we still have a ways to go.

With that in mind, the respective interviews with Trump Campaign Senior Advisor Jason Miller and fmr. South Bend, Indiana mayor Pete Buttegieg were instructive. The Democratic convention focused on character and the Covid crisis and was light on policy, in which Mr. Miller described it as a 'massive grievance fest,' and explained that the Republicans will present a completely different notion of what a Trump voter is from what is presented in the media. He also said that the convention will focus more on policy and their vision for the future, finishing that they would be telling a 'very beautiful story.'

The balloon that Mr. Miller was trying to blow up had already been burst at the top of the interview with Chuck Todd reminding him that 30 million people are receiving unemployment and that we're approaching 180,000 Americans dead from Covid-19. For politics and convention watchers alike it will be interesting to see how the Trump campaign addresses the pandemic because it cannot talk about the way Mr. Trump has been, painting a rosy picture when the reality on the ground is much different. 

Chuck Todd didn't ask Mr. Miller about Qanon, but he did ask about the audio recordings of the president's sister and former federal judge MaryAnne Trump explaining how the president lies all the time and has no principles. He did say it was 'shameful' that The Washington Post released the recordings a day after the president's brother had been laid to rest, but we would call it 'hardcore' instead. Ultimately, these recordings will matter little as they only reinforce what everyone... yes, everyone already knows, and it doesn't matter to Mr. Trump's base.

Conversely, to the legitimate point that the Democrats were light on policy, Mr. Buttegieg explained that it was a matter of detailing the policy plans that the Democrats put forth last week, but whether or not you want this policy vision for the country. (Mayor Pete does have a way of cutting through the clutter.) More importantly, where the fmr. Vice President Biden did give detail was in his policy for combating the pandemic. To this, Mr. Buttegieg said that as long as Donald Trump is president we will not have a national strategy or leadership on this crisis. One has to agree with this point, simply for the fact that if the Trump Administration had a national strategy, they would have already instituted it. 

Yet, the president tells us that the only thing that stands between the American dream and totally anarchy, madness and chaos is him. Spare us this very rare exception in this column, but that is total f**king bullshit. The dystopia that Trump describes is happening under his leadership. 

And this brings us back around to something that Mr. Miller said: We'll present a different notion of the Trump voter... The Trump voter, not the Republican voter. The Wall Street Journal's senior editor Gerald Seib wrote a book about this evolution of the party from Reagan to Trump and how it's moved in a populist/ nationalist direction. 

Former Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker (R) said that Mr. Trump's policies have been solidly conservative citing the massive tax cut and stance on abortion as a few examples. But not on deficit spending, trade, Russia, and the country's role in the world, Mr. Seib explained and posed the question of whether Trump's Republican party is aberration or not, depending on whether he wins reelection or not. 

We'd disagree with Mr. Seib as to whether it's a aberration or not because win or lose, the Republican party as we've traditionally known it [read: Reagan or Bush] is done. If Trump wins reelection, the party is solidly rooted in Trumpism. If he loses, which most likely would put the Republicans in the minority in not only the executive branch but also in the House and Senate, leaves the Trumpist Republicans free of governing responsibility putting them firmly in grievance stance, a position in which Trumpism thrives.

Either way, the Republican party is changed forever.

Panel: Kristen Welker, NBC News; Gerald Seib, The Wall Street Journal; Scott Walker, fmr. governor of Wisconsin (R)

 

8.16.20: The President is Sabotaging His Own Interests, in Addition to American Democracy

We have to say upfront that the location from which this column is written (in the U.S.) only receives mail from the U.S. Post Office two times a week. It used to be six so you tell us, do we have an ax to grind with regard to the postal service?

More on that in a minute...

More importantly, congress left town this week without a deal on a Covid-relief package for Americans in the midst of what Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) called today, a 'horror show.' He also used the phrase 'economic desperation' to describe millions of American families facing eviction and food emergencies, and the message from the White House and Congress is clearly that "you're on your own."

Now whatever you or more exactly a conservative congressperson thinks for the Democratically-passed House bill, it was passed back in May and then it sat on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-TN) desk for three months. Now, he may have thought that the bill was a piece of shat because it was passed with a Democratic majority, but the fact is he kept confirming judges while ignoring working Americans. It was only in the week that the benefits were to expire that he picked it, promptly handed it off and maintained a persona non grata position while the negotiations continued.

While locked in this stalemate, the president's mega-donor Louis Dejoy, now Postmaster General, is as President Barack Obama put it 'kneecapping' the post office so that Donald Trump can call into question the integrity of mail-in voting and explicitly said this week that the post office isn't going to get the money they need because he doesn't want mail-in ballots deciding the election. 

However, once again Mr. Trump is hurting his own interests. 

On top of the pandemic which negatively impacts every single American (5.3 million infections and 169,000+ deaths, as of today by the way), as Kasie Hunt pointed out, so does mail disruption and no one likes it especially during a pandemic when every American relies on it more than ever, especially in rural communities as NBC's Carol Lee pointed out. In his bid to win reelection, Mr. Trump will be suppressing his own base's vote. Rank and file Republicans understand this and probably applaud the effort to suppress the vote, but not at the expense of their own constituents. For them it's the delay vital services that the post office delivers to their communities that has set their collective hairpieces on fire.

However, a resolution for the post office is tied to the relief package which languished in the Senate so once again, thank you very little Mr. McConnell. 

The U.S. Post Office was an invention of Benjamin Franklin and until two years ago, the first post office in Philadelphia that his son managed was a functioning post office (since closed for tourism). Think about that for a second... the name of its originator; the duration. Then think that one of the things that the Senate does is vote of naming U.S. Post Office locations, which they usually name after themselves. Why tear down the buildings that carry your name? That's some legacy.

With all this said, it is still necessary to note that Senator Bernie Sanders made it very clear that this is a 'sabotaging of our democracy,' and you'd be pressed to disagree. Given that, Mr. Sanders rightly smacked down Mr. Todd's question about progressives maybe not being satisfied by the Biden/ Harris ticket. Progressive and moderate Democrats alike are all on the same page with Mr. Sanders in thinking that this election is about saving American democracy so petty squabbles matter little at this point.

If all this wasn't enough there is also the threat of election interference, which National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien politicized on today's program.  It's particularly sad since in the first half of the interview, he recapped what is genuinely good news - the historic normalizing of relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. Mr. O'Brien got a bit over his skis this week saying that this is Mr. Trump's Nobel moment... please. What's really not good is that he put Russia's active election interference measures on the same level as China and Iran only desiring (at this point) particular outcomes. The fact still remains is that the Trump Administration never intended to deal with Russian election interference in any meaningful way as long as it benefits him, which it does. 

Panel: Carol Lee, NBC; Kasie Hunt, NBC; Jeh Johnson, fmr. Homeland Security Secretary

Couple more things...

Once again, Joe Biden is part of an historic ticket, but not only is choosing Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) historic, she highly qualified having served at every level of government; you have to admit a gifted politician; and she is essentially a center-left candidate which melds very well with the Biden governing philosophy.

Lastly, (and liberals who read this, please unwedge your underwear) condolences to President Trump and his family, as the president's brother, Robert Trump, died this week at 71.

 

8.9.20: Relief Package Negotiations Suffer from the Original Covid Sin

Once again deference to working American families has been rebuffed as congress was unable to come to an agreement for pandemic relief. In comes the president to sign executive orders because he has not taken part in any of the negotiations, which have only added to the confusion, prompted more questions, and created a moral dilemma as to whether it is legal or not despite the intention.

The Administration's trade representative Peter Navarro said that if congress can come to agreement then there would be no need for executive action, which means that congress needs to come together and get a deal done immediately. Think about it this way, Americans are seeing the public health system overwhelmed, a decimated economy, little prospects, and now to have congress completely break down unable to pass relief. It becomes too much and provides some truth to the low-grade depression that Michelle Obama talked about in an interview this week.

However, Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) said that Democrats have been will to meet in the middle on the negotiations with Democrats at $3 trillion and Republicans at $1 trillion. Mr. Durbin also said that House Democrats passed a second relief bill back in May, but that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) sat on it until last week, and now he's not even involved in the negotiations. Talk about an abdication of leadership. The funny thing is, is that Democrats passed the bill in May because they saw the need for it then. The Republicans (Mr. McConnell) sat on because they maintained wishful thinking that we would need it because, frankly, they put their faith in the administration that the pandemic would be under control, and now are back to their spending reservations. However, the president is signing executive orders for a relief package, not because he wants to, but because his reelection prospects depend on it. 

The National Review's Rich Lowry brought up a point about spending that as a conservative he doesn't have a problem with the spending now because of the current state of the economy, but he had a problem with the spending when the economy was good. He didn't elaborate but wouldn't that be on Republicans who passed a $2 trillion tax cut that went primarily to the wealthy? As for congresspeople, Joshua Johnson explained that Mitch McConnell said that it's difficult to get a deal this close to the election, which Mr. Johnson unpacked explained that because of the tradition political positions and posturing on both sides, it makes a deal all the more difficult.

It all comes back around to the lack of a cohesive national response at the beginning and the administration's inaction and distribution of misinformation that has sealed the countries fate. We are now at 5 million confirmed coronavirus cases and over 160,000 deaths. In the past two weeks an American dies from Covid-19 every 77 seconds, but as the president says - It is what it is.

Lastly, for a bit of pure politics, as Kasie Hunt explained, it seems as though it's Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) versus the world in the Democratic VP sweepstakes. Ms. Hunt also said that there is a suggestion that the Harris people are playing political hardball by leaking opposition research on other VP candidates. One thing is for sure, no matter the party, the longer a political contest goes on and the closer to the deadline it gets, it assuredly will get uglier and uglier. The problem with not picking Kamala Harris at this point is that every other potential choice will be picked a part by the twitter-sphere and surely Democrats will damage their own representative ticket.  At this point, like everything else in the country right now, sooner is required over later.

Panel: Kasie Hunt, NBC News; Joshua Johnson, NBC News; Rich Lowry, The National Review

 

8.2.20: Has President Trump Given Up on His Job?

"Hydroxychloroquine is not an effective treatment for coronavirus or Covid-19."

                                                                                                  Dr. Anthony Fauci

Yet, our president tweets witch doctor videos to 84 million people that hydroxychloroquine prevents and cures coronavirus and that you don't need a mask, while Asst. Secretary of Heath at the Department of Health & Human Services, Adm. Brett Giroir MD, said on today's program that he wouldn't (he can't) recommend its use at all and that we need 90 per cent compliance with mask wearing to bring the amount of cases down.

This week, the CDC has the total number of deaths at 152K+ while all the other sources have U.S. deaths at 157K+. Five thousand deaths is not splitting hairs and maybe that's because hospitals no longer report the data direct to the CDC as it goes through the administration first, an administration that has botched the response from the very beginning.

There is still no national coordination, a 'plan,' from this administration and we're seven months into the heavy. We still haven't gotten testing down, by Adm. Giroir's own admission. He explained that 90 percent of the tests turnaround in 5 days, but that makes tracing and tracking futile. The admiral flatly disagreed with Chuck Todd when asked about private labs dictating the turnaround time, However, Mr. Todd should have framed the question differently because we are indeed at the mercy of utilizing private labs because they can turnaround results in 48 hours, which is the window Dr. Fauci recommends.

And where is the president? Out playing golf. As Andrea Mitchell reported, the president has taken himself out of the negotiations for the next relief package, sending aides instead for the day-to-day. In between shots into the rough, he's heckling from the sidelines, undermining the process. You don't expect such a cynical question from the MTP moderator, but we're at that point: Has Mr. Trump given up on the job?

It certainly seems so because the press briefing aren't helpful, footage of his campaign stops shows him going through the motions, and worst of all Republicans behind the scenes and in some cases in front of them (more in a minute) have been instructed to distance themselves from the president. Trump has completely lost his mojo.

Not only has he lost his mojo, he has also lost the trust of the American people as Robert Draper said. He never really had a great amount to begin with, but now with the coronavirus raging through red states, the botched-response rumors that they were hearing they now realize are true; hence trust eroding even further.

Because his leadership through this pandemic crisis has been so abysmal, he did what any authoritarian-leaning leader would do, flout the Constitution and call for a delay in the election. As if Mr. Trump ever really had any regard for the Constitution, even Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) spoke out in opposition to this notion.

As we know, the call for the delay is because he is losing in the polls so badly, Texas of all places is a dead heat. Heather McGhee explained that the president's racist dog whistling (foghorning?) about the suburbs isn't working as polls show that he's not only losing the suburbs but whites in general. Ms. McGhee also explained that just as significant (this column thinks even more so) as the president's words are his actions. The Trump Administration removed the Post Master General recently and inserted a Trump crony who is doing a system change as of this writing, making the post slower. In other words, eroding another institution. Don't mess with ____ing the Post Office! (fill in the blank) It was an invention of Benjamin Franklin after all.

Lastly, a quick comment on potential VP pick Congresswoman Karen Bass (D-CA). In a word: no. There's a lot to like about Congresswoman Bass: her experience in Congress and the ability to work with the other side, she's a happy warrior; she has great experience with healthcare and foreign policy; and she is correct in that to change Cuba, the U.S. has to have relations.

However, the opposition research about Ms. Bass's statements on Cuba and her having worked in country as a young adult will be a dagger for the Trump campaign that will use it to inflict endless cuts. So many that it will have an effect in Florida, the key swing state. It's a weapon that Democrats can not afford to put in Trump's hand.

Panel: Andrea Mitchell, NBC News; Heather McGhee, Board Co-Chair Color of Change; Robert Draper, The New York Times Magazine

7.19.20: More Human Wood on the Fire / Comment on the Passing of John Lewis

To begin, this column, inspired by individuals such as Congressman John Lewis (D-GA), is reminded to keep going despite being spit in a rain storm of politically-based content. Well, sometimes and at some point there is the thousandth cut, the final blow, the poison pill, the glob of spit in the rain... We enjoy the status and to keep writing it as we see it.

Congressman Jim Clyburn (D-SC) said there was no greater force in the civil rights movement who personified the goodness of this country. Today's cover of The New York Times:

Click for article

We would suggest that instead of the "conscience of congress" it should be the Conscience of America. Mr. Lewis taught this country at a time it didn't want to learn, but he recognized that it needed to. He sacrificed in blood for this country and stood of the right side of history when others just stood by. He overcame injustice and made his voice heard in the very halls of justice. In congress, he was a inspiring and inspired leader for all Americans.

Mr. Lewis embraced nonviolent protest and resistance to "restore America's goodness," as Congress Clyburn said the two spoke about. He also said that the Black Lives Matter movement reminded them of the 1960's. It can be bigger by invoking this hero to America, because there would be no progress without John Lewis.

Another principle that Mr. Lewis held close to his heart was his desire to help others. With that in mind we're going to nakedly transition into discussing the national disaster that is the corona virus running almost out of control across the south and west of the United States.

As of this writing, the White House is actively trying to block the Senate from additional federal funding for testing and tracing, which the states desperately need.

Click for video

Above are the blocks of states in the 'red zone' for infections leading the way to a one-day milestone of 75,000 plus cases. Chuck Todd interviewed two governors that aren't in said red zone, but are seeing cases spiking. All this, we remind you, with a president who is in denial that any of this is even happening.

But there is some good news... and some bad. The good news is that we can trust the science and the data coming from the refreshingly candid Director of the National Institutes of Health Dr. Francis Collins. The bad news is that the science and the data are not good.

Dr. Collins explains the turnaround time for test results nationwide is an average of three days, but in some states it's as long as eight days. Either way, it makes contact tracing and tracking of the virus an exercise in futility. Again, with a president in denial, we have no plan for a federal tracing and tracking program. Governor Jared Polis (D-CO) explained that when his state sends out tests to federal labs the response time is eight days; through private instate it's 1 to 2 days.

Dr. Collins explained that NIH is developing 'point of care' tests, the first of which is being deployed in nursing homes where the wait time for a result would be an hour. He explained that individuals should wear a mask when out in public, socially distance, et al pointing out that the data shows it helps. He also flatly stated that the wearing of masks should not be politicized and that everyone should do it.

However, Dr. Michael Osterholm of the University of Minnesota said there's still a lot of human wood to burn in this corona virus firestorm. (What a way to put it.) The way we're going, we're looking at 60 percent of the population, he said.

But he's not wrong. Take the mask example: Governor Mike DeWine (R-OH) said he is very concerned that Ohio is at a point where 'we could become Florida.' Everyone's dissing Florida right now, because Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) took one in the face, courtesy of the Covid-19. He went on television how great Florida was doing while doing nothing, and now the state is the epicenter for cases. Yet, Gov. DeWine has anti-mask protesters outside his capitol and his house. Though he talked around it, it's the reason why he hasn't instituted a statewide mandate on masks.  In Ohio, 60 percent of the counties the population has a mask mandate, which is 19 counties. Here's how it breaks down:

Click for Article

The largest red zone is in the center of the state and has no where else to start burning but outward. Soon, all those red dots will be connected. Governors, especially ones in states like Ohio, not only need federal money, they also need federal muscle to rally and educate people about public health, specifically how wearing a mask protects you, your family and your neighbor. (Again, president in denial.) But if we kept in mind, just for a moment, John Lewis and the spirit of helping one another, it would have been (shouldn't have been) an issue to ask people to do it.

Sadly, until we have leadership from the White House, one that cares about the public health of Americans, we're needlessly throwing more human wood on the fire.

7.12.20: The Plight of the Pitied Helpless Giant

A "pitied helpless giant" is how George Will described the perception that other countries around the world have of the United States because of our dismally tragic respond to the coronavirus pandemic. Mr. Will explained that politically for the president, this is worse than a 'Katrina moment' because we can compare our response to other countries and it's clear that we're failing at the task.

The last results from the CDC website, as of today, are as follows:

The total number of deaths just yesterday was 811. Even if the United States were to lower that number to 500 a day for the next 100 days, that would still total another 50,000 deaths by November.

The Asst. Secretary of Health and Human Services, Adm. Brett Giroir, M.D. said that we can bring this virus under control, but it has to be a collective effort with 95% compliance with community mask wearing. But that's simply not going to happen. Take for example, Texas governor Greg Abbott (R) who recently mandated mask wearing in his state, but the citizens of the state aren't buying in, not at this point. Adm. Giroir also made it very clear that all the health professionals in the administration have been very clear and consistent when it comes to mask wearing. This clear and consistent message certainly hasn't come from Mr. Trump.

Now, there are those who commend the president for finally wearing a mask in public on his visit to Walter Reed Hospital yesterday, but let's be honest here, that's 4 months late and 133,666 lives short. It's a failure of national leadership pure and simply.

Maryland's governor Larry Hogan said he didn't want to Monday morning quarterback, casting blame at who was to fault in February and March because it's a waste of energy and not where we are now, with which we agree. However, he was clear to point out that we needed a national testing and tracing strategy from the beginning. That's on the president.

The same president is now pressuring governors to open schools in their respective states irrespective of the data and community safety. Chuck Todd interview the public schools superintendent of Miami-Dade county, which at present has a 29% positivity testing rate. That's almost 1 in 3 people in the entire county. Mr. Carvalho said that they would be very aggressive with mitigation strategies, but that science would be guiding policy, not politics.

Speaking of politics, you may know that the city of Washington D.C. is literally built on top of a swamp, which makes adding to it much easier than draining it. Point being, our current president is "in his element," with his latest act of commuting the sentence of Roger Stone on Friday.  Read Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Op-Ed in The Washington Post today and you'll be concisely reminded of the crimes committed by Mr. Stone. Relieved of any jail time, which he deserves, Mr. Stone said that he would not 'roll' on the president meaning that he will not tells what he knows, clearly implying that the president is guilty of something. To again quote George Will, "This is mob talk."

As Kristen Welker said, Mr. Trump is trying to paint his opponent (Joe Biden) as a criminal while at the same time commuting the sentence of a real criminal. What do they say - that dog don't hunt.


Panel: Kristen Welker, NBC, George Will, syndicated columnist; Anna Palmer, Politico

7.5.20: America Has To Live with a Dual Viral Threat

The governor of Arkansas, Asa Hutchinson (R) was right when he said that we have virus fatigue but he didn't internalize why that is because he also said that in his state the number of Covid cases were down then they went up, then back down and now they're seeing a rise again. This translates in what we're seeing in other states such as Florida, Texas and Arizona - governors who opened their respective states too early and are now having to shutdown many businesses once again.

The fatigue is frustration.

Whatever you want to call it, this result is due to the initial lack of a national strategy to curb the spread of the virus, along with the president's fanciful denial back in January and February that it would magically disappear. Even this week, Mr. Trump reiterated this thinking when he said that the coronavirus would "just disappear, I hope."

And now as NBC's Peter Alexander reported, the administration's message is that we just have to live with it. It's one thing that this administration has gotten correct, we do now have to just learn to live with the coronavirus because the administration created these conditions. And for those who are hoping that in November a Biden Administration takes over and tries to implement a national strategy, it will fail because of the fatigue and the frustration of changing protocols and messaging. Also, the poison pill that is Donald Trump is unlikely to go away and will continue to sew seeds of dissent.

What a new administration may be able to do is to nationalize contact tracing, but as infectious disease doctor Nahid Bhadelia explained, the amount of positive cases could be so many that it would render contact tracing ineffective. By the November election we could be staring at 200,000+ Americans dead from Covid-19. So yes, we are now in a position where we're going to have to live with it because of Mr. Trump's magical thinking and irresponsible actions holding rallies where there is no social distancing or mask requirement.

And then there is the other 'virus' to contend with - Mr. Trump and his continuing strategy to divide America and pit groups against one another instead of uniting people.

Saddest of all is the fact that this political 'virus' is now presenting compounded danger for our troops in war zones. The story of Russia's GRU paying bounties to the Taliban for killing U.S. and coalition troops has been called a hoax by Mr. Trump. Take about frustrating... nay, it's infuriating. First, administration officials said that the president wasn't briefed even though this information was in the President's Daily Briefing and then the president says it was a hoax? Well, which is it because it can't be both. Fmr. National Security Advisor Susan Rice was spot on when she described this situation as a clown show, consisting of sycophants and weaklings in the administration. The president has no plans for a response and once again we see him taking the side of Vladimir Putin over the U.S. intelligence community. Then he has the gall to speak about American patriotism?

Danielle Pletka of the American Enterprise Institute described this in two parts. First, she said that if the president wasn't briefed, this is a dereliction of duty. If? The White House has been guilty of dereliction of duty since January 20th, 2016. However, she also said that this was an incredibly damaging leak about extremely sensitive information. But again, we have to examine the 'why' here. Why was there a leak? It's fairly evident that this information was leaked because the administration has known about this going back to 2019 and the president has done nothing about it. There is extenuating harm from Russia facing our troops in a war zone and what does the president do? He advocates for Russia to be included in the G7 again. So while Ms. Pletka frets over the leak, it is justified to put this information out to the public to try and force the president's hand and say something. But once again, we've learned that Mr. Trump will not socially distance his lips from Putin's butt.

America is confronted with a dual viral threat, and unfortunately we are just going to have to learn to live with it.


Panel: Danielle Pletka, American Enterprise Institute; Jeh Johnson, fmr. Secretary of Homeland Security; Peter Alexander, NBC News

6.28.20: Senate Republicans Can Not Unhitch Their Wagons

Lordie... No matter if you're discussing the pandemic, John Bolton or election politics, it all comes back to the all too frustrating common denominator - Senate Republicans. This one group is the hold up, the enabler, the shameless, the feckless, the problem.

Among the many things John Bolton said that this column disagrees with is that the Republicans should keep control of the Senate whether Mr. Trump is reelected or not. Mr. Bolton reasoned that a political party shouldn't be driven by the individual but the philosophy and it's that conservative philosophy that needs to be in place as a check for a stable republic. However, Republicans in the Senate jettisoned their conservative philosophy for Trumpism, which isn't really even an 'ism.' Following the whims of an individual is not a political philosophy, it's the abdication of responsibility. What Mr. Bolton is saying is that if Joe Biden is president, they'll find their conservative footing again. Well, isn't that convenient? They all swore an oath to uphold the constitution and in these past 3 1/2 years, they've collectively broken that oath by not keeping a corrupt president from unlawful action.

In the case of John Bolton, he thought that Senate Republicans would want to know the truth from the guy who was in "the room where it happened" during the impeachment trial and subpoena him. Think again. Under the leadership of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Senate Republicans had no interest, calling no witnesses. The bottom line is that if Mr. Bolton wanted to come forward and testify, he could have in the House of Representatives. And now he's worried that the republic would not be able to survive a second term of Donald Trump? Many Americans are worried about the same thing, but Mr. Bolton was in a position to do something about it. Instead, he cut and ran in the moment with an eye on a payout once he reached the other side. Mr. Bolton said that he sticks to his conservative philosophy, but if this is it, it's thoroughly compromised and needs to go. In other words, a Senate Republican majority needs to be sent home.

As NBC's Kasie Hunt explained, it is in June when the political bedrock is set for the fall election and many Senate Republicans have hitched their wagons to Donald Trump's, and it's too late to jump off. However, because of the spikes in coronavirus cases in namely Texas, Arizona and Florida, Republican senators are starting to grumble in an attempt to get their own voices back a bit, and Ms. Hunt reported that Senate Republicans, behind the scenes, definitely want a stronger federal response from the administration. They all know that the Trump Administration has handled the pandemic horribly. Mitch McConnell is now encouraging people to wear a mask, which can reduce the chance of transmission by 25 percent, but people on his side of the aisle aren't listening because the president refuses to wear a mask in any circumstance and will not encourage people to do so. His vice president can not even say the word 'mask' during a coronavirus task force press conference.

Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar this is a county by county issue that the federal government will be there to support counties and states as they need help. In his interview, he basically conceded that there is no national strategy and that the administration is essentially ignoring the 'pan' in pandemic. Without a national strategy one of the worries that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo mentioned was that the progress made in his state will be negated because other states haven't taken the necessary steps. All the administration's talk of counties and states was rightly interpreted by Mr. Cuomo who summed it up by saying that the states are on their own.

And because states on are their own with no national strategy to combat the spread and mitigate death totals, the rosy picture that Hugh Hewitt painted for January isn't going to happen. It was refreshing that Kasie Hunt called him out on his depiction of how great it will be if Trump is reelected - in January will be back at 3.5 percent unemployment, for example - so that this column didn't have to on that. However, in reaction to the president giving a nonsensical answer to what his second term priorities would be, Mr. Hewitt said that the president gave a Klayton Kershaw (Los Angeles Dodgers ace pitcher) windup but didn't deliver the pitch. We guess he could have said something stupider, but this comment was impressive in that respect. It's like he was trying to pull the best smelling crap from a pile of crap. Why Mr. Hewitt still has a radio show or platform is anyone's guess with these types of ridiculous comments.

Mr. Hewitt should do what the Senate Republicans have been doing with regard to the president's lawlessness, offensiveness, and impotent response to the pandemic. He should just say that he didn't see the tweet, put his head down and scurry away.


Panel: Kasie Hunt, NBC; Eddie Glaude, Jr.; Princeton University; Hugh Hewitt, Salem Radio Network

One more thing...
According to U.S. intelligence officials, Russians are paying bounties to the Taliban to kill U.S. soldiers. This story was reported in the New York Times, in which it also said that the president was briefed about it in March. The president said that he was not briefed on this, hence the administration has had no response. As much as we disagree with John Bolton, we're with him on this one thinking it's odd that a president would go out of his way to say that he was not briefed. Will Mr. Trump act? Maybe if he's pressured enough because he doesn't want to look anymore like he's in Putin's pocket than he already does.