…that’s a viral load [DOT 11/3/2020]

11/3/20 SplinterRIP 39

…it’s not quite up to the level of schadenfreude invoked by the CPAC/AIPAC cases but in another bout of irony so thick you could cut it with a knife & put in in a centrifuge to create some sort of serum…the sort you find in hollywood movies that only take about 10mins of screentime to produce…over in the UK

Coronavirus live updates: health minister Nadine Dorries in isolation after testing positive

…in any case…by the time this goes up it’ll be all over bar the counting but I don’t know as I aim to stick it out until the bitter end

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/democrats-vote-what-polls-show-biden-sanders-michigan-other-states-n1153246

…so I don’t know exactly what else we need to try to keep track of today

…not to worry, though…apparently the NYT has it all figured out

…from how dotard j chump hog-tied the GOP
…to what bernie “gets right” about the media
…to the shocking revelation that they haven’t been entirely honest about that Afghanistan deal
…& that – get this – you might not be able to gaslight a virus
…all the way to “the” apparently simple reason the left “won’t stop losing”

…so I guess we might as well just call it a day & all go back to bed?

…of course, for those who don’t go for the duvet day option…the DOW may or may not be done yo-yo-ing back & forth

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/markets/markets-rebound-dow-jumping-more-800-points-trump-stimulus-plan-n1153931

…but some things will apparently never change

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/10/what-does-prospect-perpetual-putin-mean-russia-future

…meanwhile

Trump Dismisses His Administration’s Briefing on Russian Interference

…while others, thankfully, might?

House Can See Mueller’s Secret Grand Jury Evidence, Appeals Court Rules
For the first time, Twitter applied its policy against fake and misleading videos and labeled one

…& others…well…it’s complicated

granting argument time to the solicitor general is a recent and curious phenomenon

…& of course…going back to the markets…there will always be a tweet for that…but my favorite is (technically) fake…although utterly believable, obviously

…I believe the technical term is “yeet”
avataravataravataravataravataravatar

39 Comments

  3. We have 8 Covid19 cases in my area. A small liberal arts college about an hour from me has shut down for the rest of the semester. The university in my city is telling faculty to get their classes ready for online instruction. My daughter works for the state and was warned of a possible government shut down. Her boss is letting them work from home already. And there’s a rumor that the city public schools are going to close next week, no official announcement though. Several of the surrounding counties have already closed their schools. And God help us, it looks like Joe Biden will be the Dem nominee for president.

    • We have schools all over the state closed, another university just went to all online classes for rest of semester & our governor is about to announce bans on gatherings of over 250 people. Does that mean all schools close? All sporting events cancelled? Several restaurants just announced closing for good and our tourism season is just starting (or NOT starting). Bernie barely winning even in our state? Crazy! Only good thing is I saw Trump shook hands with several people one step removed from Corona virus so we have some hope!

      • The stories about trump being a germaphobe are such bullshit. He’s willing to shake hands with people during a pandemic, continues to hold rallies in spite of his own administration telling people not to attend large events. Not to mention having unprotected sex with a porn star and all the other women he slept with including the young girls they passed around at Epsteins parties. here’s hoping he catches a bad case.

        Our governor just suspended all non essential travel for state employees, most of my daughter’s work is done traveling around the state. I hope she can figure out some work to do from home or she won’t get paid in the event of a shut down.

        • This seems like one time that Fox News misinformation could be a good thing as all the Trumpers show up to rallies not thinking they can get the virus & hopefully infecting our Orange virus.

        • Our Governor just suspended gatherings of over 250 people for the whole month. In King (Seattle), Pierce, and Snohomish counties.

          Major league baseball starts this month. They’re scrambling to figure out what to do about games. Not a complaint, just pointing out a Huge economic impact.

    • Currently we are at 7, I think, in New Orleans. They have canceled a couple parades we have this weekend. People are being such dipshits about it. Like, no one is “freaking out” but haivng a hundred thousand people in a crowd right now is exactly the stupidest course of action.

  4. Here’s a fun (not fun) article on how the email system of the office of the Secretary of Health and Human Services was shut down in the middle of dealing with the virus, leading to a big IT turf war between the secretary’s office and the Medicare office:

    https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/10/email-crash-coronavirus-hhs-125302

    The article unfortunately refers to it as crash or glitch — it seems clear that it’s actually more of a systemic problem than some accident.

      • That’s the meat of it, right there. “Sit down, children, and let us tell you what’s best for you. “

        Senator Warren isn’t helping matters by not endorsing Sanders. By holding off on an announcement it sends a message that she might go for Biden—which she might, but probably not until all the damage is done. I get that she’s pissed about how she’s been treated. That shouldn’t impact the knowledge that supporting Biden is an almost exact reversal of the things she wanted to do as President.

        • …I guess I have some sympathy for her position in that it isn’t clear she could have as much influence on how things play out with Bernie’s candidacy as she could dragging Biden around to doing some of that stuff?

          …& hell, she’d regret it if the other two went down with the virus & shed thrown away having at least some delegates in the bag…after all, if that happens & the only one who hasn’t entirely withdrawn is tulsi what-are-you-even-doing gabbard?

  6. The left “won’t stop losing” – I agree progressives need to focus more on winning. I don’t have time to read it right now, but I am bracing for the NYT’s hot take that if the left just stopped embracing leftist stuff, they’d win! Or maybe they need to FURTHER explain how they’d pay for stuff!

    FWIW I have a lot of opinions on what progressives get wrong but none of them are ideological or policy positiond.

    • it’s fucking annoying that everyone is bitching that bernie is staying in and ruining it for the dems again. i am no bernie stan, but he is more left than biden…by far. so basically, if the leftists were to start their own party, they would be dividing the vote and ruining it for everyone. when the leftists fight for left leaning policies within the party, they are dividing the party and ruining it for everyone. so basically leftists need to sit on their hands and do or say nothing until they’re needed to vote in order to help the dems have their way. and if they don’t, it is their fault for ruining it for everyone.

      • Thissssssss. I recently spoke to some anti-Bernie person (and I, too, am no Bernie stan), and they were like HE NEEDS TO SPLIT OFF AND MAKE HIS OWN PARTY, HE’S NOT EVEN A DEMOCRAT and I was like…is THAT what you really want?! I don’t think that’s what you really want. If he ran as an independent in November, he’d shave off like 30% of the Democratic vote at least.

      • I wouldn’t say he’s ruining it by staying in. Especially by the margins Biden is winning at this point. Even if he stays in till the end, I don’t see this ending in a brokered convention. Hell, staying in till the end will likely give him the ability to push Biden further left, so I’m not about pushing him to drop out.

        I am about accepting that his path the nomination isn’t existent anymore.

        What is going to ruin the general election is if his most toxic supporters start spreading the conspiracy theories of the Trump campaign and Russian bots. Because that’s what happened last time on my timeline. You spend 6 months doing that, and voting for Biden come election day is virtue signalling BS.

        It’s on all of us to make sure that we continue to promote Bernie’s ideas without that salty sharing of conspiracy theorist bs after the convention with “But Bernie just wasn’t good enough for y’all” style tags. Or better yet, not perpetuate that at all. Focus on his ideas, not attacking Biden voters.

        And leave Warren’s name out of your mouth (not you specifically) unless you’re promoting her policies. She wasn’t even polling above the viability threshold. Her voters are not making or breaking Bernie. His stans attacking her on every FB post about doing her damned job is vile. He is not entitled to her endorsement. This is misogynist scapegoating and needs to die in a fire.

        • One of the things I admire about Sanders is that after he lost the nomination in 2016 he worked really hard in the fall to promote Clinton, and he crossed the country to speak on her behalf.

          Due to the completely superficial nature of the campaign media, his work didn’t get nearly the coverage it should have. If he had disappeared in a funk, they would have covered it endlessly, but Sanders being a stand up guy didn’t fit the narrative they wanted, so they ignored it.

          Sanders will continue to speak out about the issues he cares about, but any pundit who mindlessly suggests he will kneecap Biden is hopelessly out of touch with who Sanders really is. They cynically expect every Democrat to be cheap hacks like Ted Cruz or Marco Rubio, but there are a lot of Democrats who actually care about issues and people.

  7. Watching the pundits get all excited about Biden winning all the states that haven’t swung dem in the general since the 70’s last night made me feel like I was taking the crazy pills. Bernie typically wins the blue states. We’re going to loose with Biden. Fuuuuck.

      • Biden is a long, long way from victory, but so is Trump.

        With the economy and coronavirus, I actually think that Biden is a mild favorite, but the big battle for progressives now is building the base and building bridges for what happens after November regardless.

        Sanders will most likely fall short just as Warren did, but together they moved the needle away from the center. M4A will be a longshot in the near term, but there is an opportunity for a major expansion in public healthcare and I think the immediate goals should be massive expansion of Medicaid — some conservative states are already moving there — and a public option.

        I think those two things will actually start a drain swirling for private insurance, and if you add in a lower eligibility age for Medicare and a significant upgrade for Obamacare, and you will see the health industry back pedalling a lot.

        Not nearly the same as what you’d get with a good national plan, but still something that really moves the country forward.

        Of course first we have to get through the latest Trump crisis, and hope he can’t think straight to make any more.

        • There is no rational, or mathematical path to victory for Bernie after last night. I know the race technically lasts for months, but it is effectively done.

          And I’m working to accept that, just like I had to accept the same for Warren after Super Tuesday.

        • in a no-covid19 world I would give fatty a small edge. the right is crazy about him. the dems aren’t as much enthused about biden. but covid19 is fucking everything up. it’s a one virus wrecking crew. and it’s not only the health implications. everything is shutting down. nobody wants go to crowded places. stores are empty. hospitals too. economic output will go down to the sewer…

            • …the annoyingly cynical part of my brain keeps chiming in with “you know, I bet right now there’s someone I wouldn’t like to have a drink with sitting in a room somewhere thinking ‘but if you think of it as an opportunity…'” & I realize that much as I strive not to…there is a sub-set of humanity for whom my general goodwill-to-all-men reserves are entirely insufficient

              …today, seattle…tomorrow the world…or possibly vice versa, I suppose…& the response from the top is…mike pence says remember to wash your hands & I don’t know if the president’s been tested for the virus?

              I mean, I get that the VP slot is traditionally ineffective but these standard bearers of the christian right are about the best evidence I can imagine for the absence of the deity they lean so hard on…unless bill hicks was right & god just has the sick sort of sense of humor that would plant fossils millions of years old on a world created mere thousands of years ago just to fuck with his creation

              …but then they do like their crosses still & like he said about that “if jesus does come back…do you think he ever wants to see another fucking cross?”

  8. As disheartened I am with Biden winning more states, I’m just as annoyed that the “establishment” thinks that it’s a done deal and everyone should praise Herr Biden exclusively from here on in so as not to be divisive.

    Looking at the map, I know Biden is going to win the majority. But Bernie shouldn’t have to drop out at this stage until more states get to vote and he gets one last chance to point out what people are voting for. There’s been a disconnect at the exit polls where the majority support M4A but are still voting Biden who only wants to do a patch job on the ACA. Biden and the DNC will not seek to meaningfully incorporate leftist policy positions, partly out of spite.

    Life can feel very bleak thinking about how this country will continue to let people suffer needlessly and tell progressives to go sit in a corner and be less shouty.

    • The establishment punditocracy may be hailing Biden now. But I guarantee that in a couple of weeks he will do something mild like say something nice but vague about bank regulations and it will all be gnashing of teeth how he is turning his back on their idea of the center and tilting too far to the left.

      He’ll make a campaign appearance with someone like Chance and they’ll be throbbing about how he’s sending the “wrong” signal to “working class” voters when he’ll be typically vague and contradictory in whatever he says.

    • I think it’s fair game to call out Biden’s issues. I don’t think it’s fair game to call Biden’s voters (or anyone not voting for Bernie) monsters, berate them for killing people, sentencing them to death, etc. And I’ve been seeing these conflated. Even after the difference is explained, in detail, on a post attacking American voters, not Biden.

      That needs to stop. The longer it continues, the less sway Bernie will have in swinging the party left for the general.

    • I here by name the following news cycle:

      Mad Max-Pandemic Edition

      Every news worthy story has a catchy handle. Just go with it.

      But seriously, this is really bad. Jim Wright had some points to be made about how ineffective the “travel ban” has been and why. Which made me even more concerned about the cancellation of out of country FDA inspections for US bound goods.

Leave a Reply