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2020 Presidential Election, COVID-19

Like All Else, Trump's Inspector General Turnover Is about Pandemic

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April 7, 2020

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Trump's firing of IC Inspector General Michael Atkinson last night was surely retaliation for initiating the process that ended in impeachment. But it and related actions on Inspectors General were also at least as much about an effort to avoid all accountably for his actions on the pandemic.

Last Night, Trump Admitted that Jared Kushner -- Who Promised Testing in Big Box Parking Lots -- Had Failed

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April 7, 2020

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It may or may not be the Federal government's job to stand on street corners testing, but that is what he promised, and that is what Jared Kushner has utterly failed to deliver.

COVID-19, emptywheel

Understanding Covid-19 for Viral Newbies

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April 6, 2020

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These days we’re drowning in information about the pandemic, but without much context for understanding the virus causing it. With a never-before-seen virus, the best place to get that context is from looking at the history of previous diseases,…

emptywheel, FISA

The Scope of DOJ IG's FISA Review

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April 6, 2020

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A seeming millennium ago, last Tuesday, DOJ's Inspector General released a Management Advisory Memo describing the interim results of its effort to assess whether problems identified in Carter Page's FISA application were unique, or reflected…

2020 Presidential Election, COVID-19, Trump Administration

Research Misinfo/Disinfo: It's a Scam

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April 5, 2020

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The old Ukraine quid pro quo gang is back together -- Trump, his attorney Rudy Giuliani, John Solomon, and the right-wing choir. It can only mean it's a scam in progress.

Misc, Trash Talk

Coming Attractions: Emptywheel Live Music Trash Talk

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April 5, 2020

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Emptywheel Music Trash Talk is an idea long discussed, but the time may have come. Listen, this would be a kind of dead period anyway. Get ready to get live, get ready to rip up this juke joint. Fill the hills with the sound of live music.

COVID-19, Health Policy, Trump Administration

Masked Up, Ready to Go (Nowhere)

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April 3, 2020

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After the U.S. Surgeon General got all shouty-caps in Twitter demanding the public not wear masks, now the CDC is encouraging mask-wearing. What to do?

COVID-19, emptywheel

Michigan Is Using More a Pessimistic Model than the White House

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April 3, 2020

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The projections Trump is relying on (even while falsely pretending his recommendations match the model) say Michigan's initial COVID crisis will peak in less than a week. That's not what the state is saying.

Trump And Southern Governors Team Up To Kill Republican Voters

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April 2, 2020

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The New York Times analysis of when counties shut down average travel below two miles a day has a remarkable similarity to voting by county in the 2016 presidential election. The implication from these data is that Trump and southern governors are selectively killing Republican voters in the South.

If New York Got a Late Start, Then Trump Hasn't Even Started Yet

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April 2, 2020

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Trump is trying to explain New York's huge death toll from COVID-19 by claiming they got a late start in their response. But New York has always been -- and remains -- far ahead of what Trump has done.

Trump's Promise of Only 100,000 Deaths Assumes We Ignore Him

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April 1, 2020

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Effectively, an allegedly very sober President Trump yesterday said we might only have 100,000 deaths if people ignore him and one of his closest political allies, Ron DeSantis.

COVID-19, Science

Research Misinfo/Disinfo: Check Experts' Homework

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March 31, 2020

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This is the first of two posts about misinformation and disinformation using research information about the disease COVID-19 and the underlying virus SARS-CoV-2.

Horowitz

2016 Presidential Election, FISA, Mueller Probe

It Turns Out Carter Page Was Not Special

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March 31, 2020

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It turns out the errors in Carter Page's Woods File were not special. The applications reviewed by DOJ IG in the wake of the report on Page showed similar levels of errors.

COVID-19, emptywheel

Larry Hogan, Ralph Northam, and Muriel Bowser Asked for a Federal Testing Site ... Two Weeks Ago

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March 31, 2020

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Two weeks ago, Maryland's Governor Larry Hogan asked President Trump to set up a federal COVID testing site to make sure that critical federal workers could ensure they weren't infecting their colleagues. Yesterday, along with issuing a stay-at-home order, Hogan repeated that request.

COVID-19, Health Policy, Trump Administration, We Are All Fucked, worse than that

Three Things: Shit Got Real with Family and COVID-19

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March 30, 2020

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Right now some parent or parents are experiencing the nightmare I have hoped and still hope I won't have to face. Others are struggling and need our help.

2020 Election, COVID-19, Guns, Kansas, Republicans, Science

Straddling the COVID-19 Barbed Wire Fence in Kansas

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March 29, 2020

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Kansas Gov Laura Kelly (D) issused a statewide "Stay at Home" order yesterday, and beyond the impact on corralling the COVID-19 epidemic, it also is forcing some in the Kansas GOP to straddle a very nasty fence, like US Representative Roger Marshall.

New Orleans Is Drowning. Again.

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March 29, 2020

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There are sad parallels between the flooding of New Orleans after Katrina and the situation now faced there with COVID-19. It appears likely that once again, our country will fail large numbers of those who most desperately need our help.

Rural Roulette: The Three-Day Church Event

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March 29, 2020

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Tourists, visiting missionaries, grieving friends and relatives of a long-standing community member. These are the ties that link rural communities across the country to a global network of virus. Not only don't their local healthcare facilities have the resources to treat this disease, but residents are more likely to be older, in ill health, and lack health insurance.

Democrats, Elections

Support And Elect Moe Davis For Congress

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March 28, 2020

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It is always the right time to do the right thing. The right thing is Moe Davis for Congress in NC-11. The time is now. Support and vote.

COVID-19, Health Policy, Trump Administration, We Are All Fucked, worse than that

Dispatch from the War on COVID-19 [UPDATE-1]

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March 27, 2020

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Two foot soldiers offer testimony of the action from the front lines on the war against COVID-19 here in my home state, Michigan.