In Case You Missed it (v27)

Too busy last week trying to find toilet paper, hand sanitizer, and other supplies, leaving you with little time to read blog posts?  No problem - I've got you covered.

Last week's Sunday School included conversations with some of the administration's Coronavirus Task Force, including HUD Secretary Dr. Ben Carson. Being a doctor and all, I thought maybe he'd be able to provide some helpful information. I think George Stephanopoulos thought so too, but that wasn't what happened. The excerpt below is just one example of Carson either not being able to answer, purposefully ignoring the question he was asked and babbling about something else, or refusing to answer.

Switching gears, George wondered about the plan for the Grand Princess cruise ship (with 3500 people on board and at least 21 who've tested positive).

The cruise ship personnel and -- as you know, the vice president met with the CEOs of the major cruise ship companies yesterday, and they are coming up with a plan within 72 hours of that meeting --

But, George said, "the ship’s docking tomorrow."

The plan will be in place by that time. But I don’t -- I don’t want to preview the plan right now.

Because Sunday School was saved for the administration, our candidate feature was pushed to the Extra Credit post. That Guy from Vermont was all over the place, while Papa Joe was absent from all of the classrooms.  Here's an excerpt from TGFV's conversation with Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday.

On how he and Biden debate without cutting each other up and making it easier for Trump?

Well, Chris, that's the right question... So, Biden and I, no matter who wins this thing, will be together in defeating Trump, but now that it is a two-way race, it is important for the voters of this country to ask themselves two questions. Number one, which candidate is stronger in terms of being able to defeat Trump. And number two, what are the differences in a record.

We'll here more about that in tonight's debate, I'm sure.

Wondering on Wednesday? Why yes, yes I was, thank you very much for asking. One of the things that got me wondering was a crazy statement from someone at the NSC. Take a look.

And I wonder how it is that an NSC spokesman could make the following statement without snickering?

"From day one of the response to the coronavirus, NSC has insisted on the principle of radical transparency,” said the spokesman, John Ullyot. He added that the administration “has cut red tape and set the global standard in protecting the American people under President Trump’s leadership.”  (Emphasis added.)

Need an example of how we have NOT "set the global standard" under the president's leadership? Let's not try and wrap our arms around the entire response to the virus here in the US, let's wonder just about testing, OK?  Because testing, much more than hand-washing, is the key to identifying and dealing with the virus.

Finally, it was TGIF time, and with all of the churn stemming from all of the messages, mixed or straight up, it was nice to see what happened in a country that's been hugely impacted by the coronavirus.

On the plus side? All of Italy was singing today, it seems, or playing instruments and generally coming alive after being under lockdown for the past several days. From Sicily to Siena to Naples to Turin (all videos you can see in the link above), it was like a country-wide flashmob, and an act of beautiful fist-shaking at the virus which has infected over 15,000 and killed over 1,000 of their countrymen.

Also on the plus side? Americans will have lots of time to spend together, now that there aren't any sporting activities to attend or watch on TV. Maybe we'll develop a new-found appreciation for public displays of music...

So, that's last week's veritable pastiche. A bit of a slow week, mostly because I started more posts than I finished. Will try and clear the drafts folder this week.

See you later for Sunday School. Hopefully the guests will all be worthy messengers in the 'radical transparency' mode, no matter what the topic.