What's Happening While President Irrelevant Fiddles Away

So much for "back to normal" by Easter!  And if you hadn't realized it, "15 days to slow the spread" is dead.  In a shocking discourse during which he accused CNN (yet again) of being "fake news", Trump suggested the continued shortage of masks in the nation's hospitals might be because healthcare workers are making off with them "out the back door."  Even worse, he accused, without evidence, hospitals of "hoarding" ventilators.  As I've said before, these quasi campaign briefings are full of blatant lies, lack any degree of empathy or leadership, and are increasingly irrelevant.  In the meantime:

There’s been quite a bit of discussion about what services are indeed considered essential, and therefore able to remain open and operational during the various stages of a shutdown. Bars and restaurants? Not so much. Abortion care? It depends on where you live. Gun shops? Crucial.  The Trump administration, potentially operating under the assumption that the novel coronavirus will one day manifest into a physical form so large we will be able to shoot it, deemed the firearms industry, which includes gun shops, critical to combating the current coronavirus outbreak. Prior to the list’s update, John Feinblatt, the president of Everytown for Gun Safety, had said, “Guns will not make Americans safer in the face of COVID-19. Gun stores do not deserve special treatment. In fact, a surge in gun sales will put many communities at greater risk if guns aren’t stored securely and if background checks aren’t completed.” So much for science and common sense.

Over 2,300 Americans have now died in the COVID-19 pandemic, due in large part to a government response that was delayed for weeks while Trump, conservative pundits, and his other allies suggested dire warnings of the pandemic’s potential spread were a “hoax” intended to make him look bad.  In the meantime, the increasing irrelevant Trump (who was forced to back off on his NYC quarantine) is obsessing over the ratings of his daily press briefings.  Yesterday, Trump boasted that the ratings of his daily press briefings rival that of the Bachelor or Monday Night Football-- saying, "Because the ratings of my news conferences are so high, "Bachelor finale, Monday Night Football type numbers,"  the Lamestream Media is going crazy."

As nations across the world refuse to open their ports, 10,000 people remain stranded on cruise ships around the world.  At least 10 cruise ships now find themselves sea with no place to dock-- even as COVID-19 infections mount dramatically onboard-- and passengers/crew begin to sicken and die.

in Utah, panicked citizens are now hoarding baby chickens. The Deseret News reports there has been a run on chicks since a large earthquake and the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.  Katy Cox, who raises chicks as a hobby but couldn’t find any at the Riverton IFA store, fears what will happen a year from now. “They grow up and become stinky and gross,” she said. “There may be a day when we have wild chickens all over Riverton.”

California Gov. Gavin Newsom says 170 ventilators shipped to Los Angeles by the federal government to deal with the coronavirus crisis were “not working.” The Los Angeles Times reports that the life-saving machines from the national stockpile are now being fixed by a Silicon Valley company Newsom visited on Saturday.

In the U.K., the country's Chief Medical Officer has said that the nationwide lockdown put in place to try to slow the spread of coronavirus could go on for six months and the country may not return to its normal way of life until the autumn.

Ignorant churchgoers all over the world continue to ignore the physical distancing advice of scientists and public health experts--  attending crowd-filled services and exposing countless additional people to the risk of catching the virus.   Even NY mayor has been forced to threaten police action against synagogues who ignore legal orders against public gatherings.


Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro continues his denial of the serious of the virus crisis.  While awaiting the results of a second coronavirus test earlier this moth, he left self-isolation to join rallies against Congress.  He shook hands with supporters in Brasilia, exposing hundreds to possible infection, while sending a message to millions that this was not something to worry about.  In a televised address last week, he repeated a now well-worn phrase. "It's just a little flu or the sniffles," he said, blaming the media for the hysteria and panic over COVID-19. A few days later, he clearly demonstrated his prioritization of the economy over isolation measures favored by the rest of the world.  "People are going to die, I'm sorry," he said. "But we can't stop a car factory because there are traffic accidents."  He also included churchgoing as an essential activity in his recent decree, which contained a list of activities excluded from the national shutdown order.   Two days after Bolsonaro’s pronouncement, a judge in Rio de Janeiro state suspended his decree. Cathedrals in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro are now closed.

Dare County, a popular summer vacation area in the state's Outer Banks, has established checkpoints around the county to stop visitors and non-resident property owners from entering.  For the last ten days, only permanent residents with proper identification -- including a permanent resident entry permit -- have been allowed to enter Dare County.

Mary Ellen Klas, Bureau chief for the Miami Herald and the Tampa Bay Times, was refused entry into the Florida State Capitol to attend a press briefing by the governor.  A reporter for the News Service of Florida was told that he would be shut out as well if he insisted that Klas be allowed to cover the press conference in person.  The Herald published an editorial last week that was critical of the governor’s leadership during the COVID-19 crisis,  Klas said later that the Governor's spokesperson Meredith Beatrice told her the state was refusing her access because she had requested “social distancing” at the governor’s briefings.   “I asked for social distancing. I didn’t ask to be excluded,” said Klas, who said she tried to attend the briefing because recent efforts to submit questions in writing had been unsuccessful. “We’d already had several days where they weren’t answering [our] questions.”  The decision to keep Klas from covering DeSantis’ press conference in person drew quick rebuke from the Herald, Times and some state lawmakers, all of whom warned that the state appeared to be limiting access to information during a time of crisis.  The Tampa Bay Times is the top newspaper in the state, ranked by circulation, and the Miami Herald is ranked #5.  “A worldwide pandemic is not the time to engage in petty politics,” she said. “Florida’s revered Sunshine laws were written to prevent actions such as this.”