Monday, April 6, 2020

Trump Talks Up Ratings And Social Media Following At Coronavirus Briefings | The 11th Hour | MSNBC


Sen. Harris On Trump’s Virus Response: ‘This Guy Doesn’t Understand His Job’ | The Last Word | MSNBC

Lawrence: President Donald Trump Is Not A 'Wartime President' | The Last Word | MSNBC


Chris Wallace lays into surgeon general over Trump’s weak response


Coronavirus patient arrested on bus to Jerusalem

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/278320


Police arrested a coronavirus patient on a public bus on his way to Jerusalem Sunday.
The incident began when police received information from the patient's family, and a check by the police about his whereabouts revealed that the patient was most likely on a public bus making his way on Route 1, toward Jerusalem.

'He's a total disgrace': Trump defends firing U.S. intel watchdog

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-inspectorgeneral/hes-a-total-disgrace-trump-defends-firing-us-intel-watchdog-idUSKBN21M0KK


Atkinson’s firing prompted concerns among some Congressional Republicans and criticism from Democrats.

U.S. Senator Richard Burr, who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, praised Atkinson, while noting Trump has the authority to fire him.
“Like any political appointee, the inspector general serves at the behest of the Executive,” Burr, a Republican from North Carolina, said in a statement on Saturday. “However, in order to be effective, the IG must be allowed to conduct his or her work independent of internal or external pressure.”
U.S. Senator Charles Grassley, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, demanded a better explanation for Atkinson’s firing.
“Congress has been crystal clear that written reasons must be given when IGs are removed for a lack of confidence,” he said. “More details are needed from the administration.”

Trump's coronavirus mismanagement again undercuts his CEO image

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/05/politics/president-management-covid-2020/index.html

In his closing argument before the 2016 election, Donald Trump pointed voters toward his "under budget and ahead of schedule" new Washington hotel: "A metaphor for what we can accomplish for this country."
Trump pitched himself as a successful businessman and an executive, even though his actual record included a string of spectacular bankruptcies and lawsuits -- including an effort during the 2008 financial crisis to sidestep a $40 million debt to Deutsche Bank by invoking a "force majeure" clause likening the economic catastrophe to riots or floods. Rather than pay what he owed, he sued the bank claiming harm to his finances and reputation, eventually settling out of court.

He has insisted the virus "snuck up on us," faulting China for failing to give "earlier notice." Earlier, when minimizing the risks posed by the disease, he said China's "very hard" work would protect Americans.
He has blamed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for years in which it "did nothing" to upgrade testing systems. Earlier, at CDC headquarters, he called testing "perfect" and available to all.
As the damage has grown, so have Trump's attempts to absolve himself.
"I don't need to have the numbers double because of one ship that wasn't our fault," he said, explaining his desire to keep a cruise ship with infected Americans offshore.
"I don't take responsibility at all," he said of the administration's testing woes.

Ultra-Orthodox community feeling stigmatized over coronavirus allegations

https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Ultra-Orthodox-community-feeling-stigmatized-over-coronavirus-allegations-623673


“We have been turned into lepers and criminals.”  
These were the words of David Rubinstein, a resident of the ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak, one of the main epicenters of the coronavirus in Israel and currently on a full lockdown because of the severity of the outbreak there.
 

Sunday, April 5, 2020

Blackwell presses pastor: How can you be pro-life and keep your church open?


Fact-checking Trump's claims on national stockpile of medical supplies


Jake Tapper to Trump: This requires a plan. Do you have one?


Fact-Checking The Claims Made At Thursday's Coronavirus Briefing - Day That Was | MSNBC


חולה קורונה נתפס עם נוסעים באוטובוס לירושלים

https://www.kikar.co.il/354666.html



חוסר אחריות: כוח משטרה עצר היום חולה קורונה חרדי שברח מבידוד בחיפה ונסע באוטובוס 'אגד' לירושלים • עשרות הנוסעים נשלחו לבידוד • נהג האוטובוס קיבל קנס

Coronavirus Is Coming—And Trump Isn’t Ready

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/01/now-trump-needs-deep-state-fight-coronavirus/605752/

We all knew the moment would come. It could have been over Iran or North Korea, a hurricane or an earthquake. But it may be the new coronavirus out of China that tests whether President Donald Trump can govern in a crisis—and there is ample reason to be uneasily skeptical.
The U.S. government has the tools, talent, and team to help fight the coronavirus abroad and minimize its impact at home. But the combination of Trump’s paranoia toward experienced government officials (who lack “loyalty” to him), inattention to detail, opinionated rejection of science and evidence, and isolationist instincts may prove toxic when it comes to managing a global-health security challenge. To succeed, Trump will have to trust the kind of government experts he has disdained to date, set aside his own terrible instincts, lead from the White House, and work closely with foreign leaders and global institutions—all things he has failed to do in his first 1,200 days in office.

 Trump briefly withdrew from politics after his “birther” campaign against President Barack Obama was discredited, but his next big public splash was a virulent, xenophobic, fearmongering outburst over the West African Ebola epidemic of 2014. Trump’s numerous tweets—calling Obama a “dope” and “incompetent” for his handling of the epidemic—were both wrongheaded and consequential: One study found that Trump’s tweets were the single largest factor in panicking the American people in the fall of 2014. How paranoid and cruel was Trump? He blasted Obama for evacuating an American missionary back to the United States when that doctor contracted Ebola while fighting the disease in Africa. Fortunately, Obama ignored Trump’s protests, and Kent Brantley was successfully treated in the U.S.; he continues doing good works today.

Some of the world’s leading infectious-disease experts continue to serve in the administration, led by the incomparable Tony Fauci at the National Institutes of Health, and the level-headed Anne Schuchat at the CDC. These two, along with other leaders at key science agencies (and scores of men and women working for them), have decades of experience serving under presidents of both parties, and are among the world’s best at what they do.