Sunday School 11/13/22

Here's your Sunday School classroom review for this week, starting with excerpts from interviews Dana Bash had with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI) and Gov-Elect Josh Shapiro (D-PA) on CNN's State of the Union.

Bash asked Whitmer if there were any national takeaways from her convincing, more-than-10-point victory. Focusing on the fundamentals was key, she said, "whether it's fixing the damn roads, or making sure our kids are getting back on track after an incredible disruption in their learning, or just simply solving problems and being honest with the people."

A governor can't fix global inflation, but what we can do is take actions to keep more money in people's pockets, protect our right to make our own decisions about our bodies. And all of this was squarely front and center for a lot of Michigan voters. And I suspect that's probably true for voters across the country.

On whether "this election was in any way a repudiation of political violence," Whitmer said she'd like to think so. 

Whether it is aimed at me or... a Republican congressman like Fred Upton or Peter Meijer here in Michigan, it's unacceptable. And my heart goes out to the Pelosi family. I think that this is a moment where good people need to call this out and say we will not tolerate this in this country. And perhaps part of that message was sent this election.

Finally, on how to keep Michigan 'blue' going forward, Whitmer said it was the agenda the Ds have been putting forward. Even with a "very challenging legislature," she said, it's all about the fundamentals. She's proud to be a Dem, and added 

I will work with anybody who actually wants to roll up their sleeves and solve problems... There's a seat at the table for anyone who's serious about solving problems and building the Michigan that ensures generations can thrive.

Shifting to Shapiro and how he did so much better than President Biden did two years ago, he said they went everywhere and talked to everyone, "no matter their party label." They

reached out to constituencies that, quite frankly, had been ignored for some time, from Latino voters to Gen Z. And we built a coalition around getting stuff done for people, focusing on the things that mattered most.

His message to other Dems, who, Bash said, "are increasingly a coastal party and have had trouble with particularly the rural voters and working-class voters, who used to be the core of the Democratic Party," on how to be more competitive?

I think it's just a matter of showing up, treating people with respect, and showing them how you're going to make their lives better, helping them understand how you can actually build a bridge between the parties to kind of take down the temperature and get real things done.

In the MTP classroom, What's-his-name talked with Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). 

Asked what he learned from the election, Cassidy said it was that

the American people want a way forward that actually focuses on ideas, ideas that will make their lives better, not just their lives but that for future generations. Those who are most closely aligned with the former president under-performed. Those who are talking about the future or who had managed their states well, they over-performed. The American people want ideas. They want a future.

He said he wasn't blaming Donald Trump for the Rs losing the Senate, he said he was "looking at it empirically." And, the Rs

need to have a debate about ideas. In that debate, we need to explain to the American people exactly where we think our country should go. And by the way, since I think using market forces to make the individuals' lives more free, more prosperous, is the way to go, I think we win that debate.

Warren said she learned "when Democrats deliver, Democrats win."

We fought for working people. That's the heart and soul of the Democratic party. And the voters said, "Yeah, that's what we want." The Republicans, by contrast, they were there for the billionaires and the billionaire corporations. They were extremists. They wanted to fight about conspiracy theories and the 2020 election. And voters said, "No, we need somebody on our side." So, Democrats fought, Democrats delivered, Democrats won. And that should inform what we do during the lame duck and what we do in 2023 and 2024.

And, asked whether she has "a concern that Democrats can't win if they're running against, say, normal Republicans, kind of like Chris Sununu or Mike DeWine" (governors of NH and OH, respectively), she said she doesn't have that concern. The Dems won, and President Biden won, she said, because they did the work, and because they "went big" on vaccines and testing, helping the unemployed, caps insulin and drug costs, getting corporations to pay taxes, and more. 

Every one of those things is popular. The Republicans, every single one of them voted against every provision I just described. The president's leadership put us in a position, every candidate, up and down the ballot, to talk about what Democrats fight for and what we deliver on. And by doing that, we were able to address the values and the economic security of people across this country. And it sure paid off. It paid off at historic levels.

Finally, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi talked with George Stephanopoulos in ABC's This Week classroom. 

Responding to his question on how the Dems did so well in the midterms, she said they didn't accept the pundits saying they couldn't win "because history, history, history." 

I’m very proud of our candidates, both our incumbents as well as our red to blue candidates... they had courage, they had purpose, and they understood their district. They also rejected calls from Washington about, oh, your message should change. No, our message was clear -- people over politics, lower cost, bigger paychecks, safer communities. And they knew the value of a woman's right to choose, they knew how important it was to protect our democracy, they knew the contrast between themselves and their opponents and that is what made them win... I hope that's a lesson, because really it depresses the vote sometimes when people say “it's all over” 18 months before the election. We never accepted that.

Asked about the steps Dems need to take to bring Congress - and the country - together, which she's talked about since the election, she said they've

always been taking that step because we honor our oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, and that should be a unifying principle for us. The -- when many of our bills, we worked very hard to make it bipartisan, bipartisan, bipartisan. And while the bills were bipartisan, the votes were not. So again, I go back to Abraham Lincoln. Public sentiment is everything. With it, you can accomplish almost anything. Without it, practically nothing. And the point I want to make is, when the public knows what is at stake and what's happening there, I think we'll see more cooperation, again, working together to produce a bill, but not having people vote no, take the dough, and make it look like we don't have bipartisanship, when, in fact, in the bills we do, but in the votes, not necessarily. Let the public know.

Chew on that last answer, and I'll see you around campus.

TGIF 4/8/22

Who had a week, and what kind of week was had? 

The House of Representatives referred two more Trump flunkies - Peter Navarro and Dan Scavino - to the DOJ for criminal prosecution for contempt of Congress. A bad week for them is a good week for us.

And let's throw another bad week into the mix: Will Smith, who resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences a week ago, has been banned from attending the Oscars or any other Academy event for ten years. The ban includes both in-person and virtual appearances. 

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson will become Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson - a good week for her, and for the rest of us. All 50 Senate Democrats and three reasonable Republicans voted for her elevation to the Supreme Court. Jackson, speaking to a Rose Garden gathering, said in part

In my family, it took just one generation to go from segregation to the Supreme Court of the United States.

Sens. Tom Cotton, Lindsey Graham, and Rand Paul had a bad week. Paul, for not being on time to vote against Jackson; everyone had to wait a reported 25 minutes for him to drag himself to the cloakroom, open the door, and toss a thumb's down before slinking away. The cloakroom vote was necessary because he couldn't trouble himself to put on a tie. Neither could Graham, according to reports, although he was wearing on earlier in the day. As for Cotton, he suggested that Jackson might have defended Nazis at Nuremberg, a comment so nasty that even John Roberts of Fox News challenged it. Cotton's a jerk, with or without a tie. 

Tiger Woods is having a good week; he's playing competitive golf again. Against almost all odds, Woods made the cut in the Masters, a tournament he's won five times. A mere mortal might have been killed in a similar accident, or ended up losing their leg. But Tiger Woods is no mere mortal, is he? 

Russia had a bad week; the Senate voted unanimously to strip the most-favored-nation (MFN) trade status from the country, and to ban imports of Russian oil products. The House also passed both bills, although not unanimously. Voting against the MFN removal? Marjorie Taylor Greene, Thomas Massie, and Matt Gaetz. Let's give them a heartfelt bad week round of applause.

The jury in the trial of four men accused of plotting to kidnap and murder Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer had an interesting week, which caused a bad week for the government and a good week for the four defendants. Two were acquitted; the jury failed to reach a verdict on charges against the others. It sounds like the jury believed the defense theory that the FBI went off the rails on this one; or, maybe the defendants truly had a jury of their peers?

In another high-profile case, a Minneapolis police officer who killed Amir Locke in February won't face charges. Body cam video released this week shows Locke, who was not a subject of the no-knock warrant being executed at his cousin's apartment, holding his legal gun in a manner that led to the officer to shoot him three times, within ten seconds of entering the apartment. To me, this deserves a horrible week mention - there are no winners here, that I can see.

Let's end on a good week note, OK? How about dogs being reunited through pet DNA testing? A Texas woman had adopted one of the pups; an Oregon woman adopted the other. The women had the DNA tests don on their dog and a match was made. The women via social media, and a play date was arranged. There's video - and who doesn't like cute pet videos?

TGIF, everyone. 

TGIF 2/19/21

Time to get this week into the books, starting with the bad week list.

Can we agree that Sen. Rafael Edward 'Ted' Cruz (R-TX), he of 'the vacation that spawned a hashtag industry,' belongs at the top of the list?  

You can find any number of links to articles referencing his really bad idea to run off to Cancun for a $300/night quickie vacation with his wife and kids, in the middle of a pandemic and a major weather event impacting his constituents across the Lone Star State.  Just know that having the police help make sure you get to the airport, lying that you were just dropping off your daughters in another country while they were on a school break, lying that you immediately knew it was wrong, lying about having a return flight booked, the next day, and having your wife's 'hey, come and join us in Cancun" text messages be made public is probably the new dictionary definition of a bad week. 

And those hashtags? Here are a few: #FledTed #FlyinCruz #CancunCruz and #CancunCruz -feel free to use them on social media. 

Sticking with Cruz, but taking a different tack, we have Donny Jr. He blasted the calls for Cruz to resign, saying that senators work in Washington passing laws and stuff, they're not really needed in their states and, you know, who doesn't need a vacation?  He also slammed those who attacked Cruz but gave "their Democratic governors" a pass as they violated their own executive orders and shut their states down. A bunch of people from 'left' Twitter pounced on Donny for not knowing that Texas hasn't had a Democratic governor in years - but that's not what he said or what he meant. He was talking about 

• Gavin Newsom (D-CA) who went maskless to a restaurant to celebrate a lobbyist's birthday, violating his own pandemic rules. Newsom is facing a likely recall vote in the coming weeks, in part because of that dinner. 
• He was talking about the husband of Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI) trying to get his boat in the water before Memorial Day, while the Gov was asking people to stay away from the lakes to reduce COVID spread. Whitmer eventually said her husband was joking, but no one was laughing. 
• He was talking about my Sonofa Gov heading down to Georgia to be celebrated, maskless and in violation of his own 'unnecessary travel' restrictions. 

I love a little righteous indignation as much as the next person, but be sure you understand what's being said before attacking - even before attacking someone named Trump. 

On the good week side of the ledger? Well, President Biden told the G7 that 

I am sending a clear message to the world, America is back. The transatlantic alliance is back and we are not looking backward we are looking forward together.

His message was well-received, at least by British PM Boris Johnson, who said "As you've seen and heard earlier, America is unreservedly back as the leader of the free world, and that is a fantastic thing." I'd agree with that. 

How about the 'tip war' going on in Cincinnati? Xavier and University of Cincinnati alums have raised over $34,000 for restaurant workers by ridiculously over-tipping on their bills. It started with a $1000 tip from a Xavier alum, which was topped by the $1001 offered by a UC alum, and it just keeps going. 

You've surely heard by now that NASA's Perseverance rover made it safely to Mars, after a months-long, nearly 300,000,000-mile journey. If you're interested you can follow the giant SUV-sized rover on Twitter. 

And there was good news out of Texas, even amidst all the trouble. An Austin man helped rescue over 100 stranded drivers; World Central Kitchen, founded by chef Jose Andres, has partnered with Houston restaurants  to provide over 2000 meals for folks impacted by the power outages. And, AOC, the Queens progressive, set up a website to raise money for 12 Texas organizations; her supporters chipped in $2M within 24 hours.

A restaurant owner in Chicago has been buying up all the tamales he can get from food trucks, which are struggling during the pandemic and the brutal cold weather. He uses his dozens and dozens of tamales to stock 'Love Fridges' - community refrigerators that folks in need can tap for meals as needed. Others are donated to homeless shelters. 

There's all kinds of good news out there; we just have to condition ourselves to look for it. 

TGIF, everyone.

Sunday School 12/27/20: Extra Credit

In yesterday's Sunday School, we heard from three members of the House -- one Republican and two progressive Dems. 

For your Extra Credit today, we've got That Guy from Vermont and three prominent governors. 

TGFV (Sen. Bernie Sanders), talked with Jon Karl on This Week with(out) George. Here are the highlights.

On Trump's messing around with the COVID stimulus bill (he did finally sign it last night), he said "what the president is doing right now is unbelievably cruel," pointing to folks who are losing extended unemployment benefits and who might be evicted if Trump vetoes the bill.  

My view is that given the terrible economic crisis facing this country, yes, we do need to get $2,000 out to every working-class individual in this country, 500 bucks for their kids. But you can't diddle around with the bill. Sign the bill, Mr. President, and then immediately, Monday, Tuesday, we can pass a $2,000 direct payment to the working families of this country.

He also said that, during the entire time he was lobbying for $2000, with only one Republican joining him, TGFV never heard from Trump or anyone else on the higher payment, including Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin.  He also referred to Trump as "an extraordinary narcissist, pathologically narcissistic."

He pretty much dodged the question on whether it was a mistake for the Dems to refuse the pre-election $1.8T relief bill, saying "at this moment, working families are suffering more economic desperation than any time since the Great Depression. We should be responding to that need" with no mention of Pelosi's decision.

And, finally, on whether the Biden cabinet is progressive enough, his answer is no.

Well, what I have said many, many times is the progressive movement itself probably is 35 or 40 percent of the Democratic coalition. And I believe that the progressive movement deserves seats in the cabinet. That has not yet happened.

He's like to see "strong progressives in the administration"  

who believe that healthcare is a human right, who believe we’ve got to make sure that public colleges and universities are tuition free and that we have to be aggressive on issues like climate change, racial justice, immigration reform.

Next, Karl talked with My Favorite Republican (MFR), Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan. 

On whether President-elect Biden is keeping his promise to reach out to Republicans, MFR says so far, so good. The two have already talked, and he's reached out to govs on both sides of the aisle - and not only is he reaching out, he "seems to be listening" to them and their concerns. 

I know your previous guest probably would like him to move more -- more to the left, but I've been pushing to try to keep him, you know, in a more moderate place where he's willing to reach across the aisle and work together with Republicans.

On what kinds of "damage" president Trump can do in the next three weeks or so (Karl mentioned the ridiculous pardons as one example), MFR says he "gave up guessing what he might do next." The veto of the NDAA has been troubling, he said, but the fooling around on the stimulus bill "really bothers" him.

... you know, both parties were so far apart in the House and the Senate, the Problem Solvers Caucus, some really bipartisan folks on both sides of the aisle, brought everybody to the table. They reached an agreement. Secretary Mnuchin worked together with them and made commitments on behalf of the administration. And then not eight months before or even eight days before, but after it was passed, then the president raises these objections... 

On Rs standing up to Trump, he says more of them are, and more of them will. He also said that while Trump will still have a voice in the party, it's going to be different after the inauguration, when he won't have as much influence. Perhaps worse, in my opinion, is the uphill battle he faces on a larger scale.

There's an awful lot of people that want to be the next Donald Trump. But I'm going to be fighting to try to return our party to its roots, and to become a bigger tent party to reach out, a more Reaganesque party, more positive, hopeful vision for the future.

 Now, since we've had an Independent, and a Republican, let's hear from a Dem - Michigan's Gov. Gretchen Whitmer who visited the Face the Nation classroom to talk with Margaret Brennan.

On whether people have learned the value of their local governments this year, Whitmer said she hopes so, adding that no governor wanted to be in the situations they're in, but "it was incumbent on us to rise to the occasion" given the lack of a broader national strategy.  She also said the governors who acted regionally, learning from and sharing information with each other, benefited everyone because each state's experts were collecting different information that could be helpful to their cross-state line counterparts.

I should note that Ohio's Republican Gov. Mike DeWine was also on in the same segment as Whitmer, and he was generally in agreement with Whitmer on most of the questions, but he did point out one area where they might have differences of opinion: who gets the vaccine. 

I think there's been a real consensus among what we call A1 group, which is the-- the first responders, our medical people, our EMS, people who are risking their lives every-- every single day, as well as where we've taken the most losses, and that is in our nursing homes. I think there's probably going to be more lack of consensus among people in general when you get beyond that first group.

That segued into the question of how 'essential workers' are being defined, as Brennan mentioned reading that Colorado may be putting ski resort employees on their list. Whitmer said it could vary widely from state to state, and that varying will probably speed up as the vaccines get out there. And, she said, they've going to be "doing the hard work" of identifying who is-- has the most exposure, who is out there in jobs that are, you know, come into contact with the public at greater numbers." 

Brennan also asked how Whitmer makes sense of the experience of the threats against her (I think the question included both the ones where her life was threatened but also the day-to-day stuff that they're all hearing). She said every governor is getting backlash of some sort, some because of the steps they are taking to keep people safe and safe lives (she's in that bucket), but she also noted that's not the case for everyone.

Other governors are getting a backlash because they haven't done enough and people have been dying on their watch. There are no easy solutions here, no clearly obvious solutions here. Yet, I believe that the right thing to do is to follow the science and to put people's lives first because we can and we will recover from the economic blowback, from COVID-19 that has run amok in our country. What we can't do is, you know, bring someone back to life.

The bipartisan collaboration between the governors generally, which MFR has often mentioned in interviews, as well as the regional collaboration such as the kind we've seen here in New York with neighboring states, is something I hope US Senators and Congressmembers learn from, and take with them to Washington when the new legislative session kicks off next month.  

I mean, there's no time like the present, right?

See you around campus.  

Sunday School 10/18/20

Folks, tonight I have for you an interview with Lara Trump who, along with Kimberly "The Best is Yet to COME!!!" Guilfoyle, is one of the $15,000-per-month hidden campaign payroll women who are close to Trump sons. 

Lara, who is Eric Trump's wife, sat down with Jake Tapper on CNN's State of the Union for a fascinating exercise in classroom futility. It started, as Tapper's recent sessions have, with his lament at the lack of availability of anyone - literally anyone - from the White House to talk about important things, or should I say, things related to the coronavirus. 

Tapper asked her about the president's rally the other day when Mr. Trump suggested that we "lock them all up" as the crowd chanted to lock up Michigan's Gretchen Whitmer. And what did Mrs. Trump think about all of that? Well, she said, "it was the president's Department of Justice that actually thwarted" the plot against Whitmer, and that in Michigan, she thinks people "still feel like they are totally locked down" and "want to get back to some normalcy."

When Tapper pointed out that policy disagreements are one thing, but this kind of rhetoric is unhelpful, and maybe "the president should tone it down when talking about people about home there have literally been threats against their lives," Trump said she can show him her own social media and threats against her and her children, and that "this is not just on one side..." Tapper said threats against her are detestable, but pointed out that Joe Biden isn't encouraging this kind of thing - and if he were, Tapper would be calling on Biden to tone it down as well. 

Seeing that her argument wasn't going anywhere, she turned to a different tactic.

Well, look, this is - he wasn't doing anything, I don't think, to provoke people to threaten this woman at all. He was having fun at a Trump rally... There are issues at hand here that are bigger than just keeping everybody locked down. So I think people are frustrated. And look, the president was at a rally. It's a fun, light atmosphere. Of course he wasn't encouraging people to threaten this woman. That's ridiculous.

That's one word for it, I guess. 

Tapper moved on to Trump's problem with women, like the ones in a video he shared who have concerns about how the president has handled the pandemic, and asked how she would respond to them. She hit all the required talking points, including slamming Biden on his "lucrative" connections to China, and added "we have therapeutics that the president, the president himself, has proven by using them and coming over COVID. He's done with COVID now, and they work." And, she added, "the president has done, actually, an incredible job, Jake, with the coronavirus."

Tapper tried to explain the numbers, including the highest death rate in the world. She said that "we're coming out of it, we're seeing the death rate decrease dramatically." And, 

We also have a huge population. Whenever you want to compare us to Canada, compare us to Europe. We're doing actually much better than Europe is... not only with the virus, but financially. We are. These are numbers. You can go look them up. 

"Look them up! Look them up!! Look them up!" Look up those pesky facts, if you want to. Perhaps she should?

And when she said "Joe Biden, with the socialist policies he's trying to implement, would actually ruin America," Tapper gave up and tried to shift to "some questions where we can get direct answers."

• "I assume the answer is yes," that the president tested negative before the first debate, but she wasn't there and didn't know for sure.
• "Again, I -- I don't work in the White House. You will have to ask the president that directly (whether he'll release a negative test for everyone to see before Thursday's debate). He just had COVID. He has now been cleared of COVID, so that means he's had a negative test. I'm sure he will have another one before he goes to this debate."
• "If we're asked to wear masks, we will absolutely do so" at the debate."
• "We know that people get out of the White House and they get very lucrative book offers. They get speaking engagements, where paid a lot of money, Jake, to go out and say very negative things about this president," regarding comments from General John Kelly.

Tapper moved on to comments she and the president had made about Joe Biden's stutter (here's my Sidebar on that), and asked her how it makes kids with stutters feel when she makes fun of people like them.

LT: First and foremost, I had no idea that Joe Biden ever suffered from stutter. I think what we see on stage with Joe Biden, Jake, is very clearly a cognitive decline. That's what I'm referring to. It makes me uncomfortable to watch someone on stage search for questions and  try and figure out an answer.

JT: You have no - you have - I can't -  it's so amazing - it's amazing to me that... "a cognitive decline." You...

LT: Well, when you're trying to tell me that what I was suggesting was stuttering... 

JT: I think that you were mocking his stutter.

LT:  ...I had no idea Joe Biden...

JT: Yes, I think you were mocking his stuffer.

LT: Of course I wasn't, Jake. Wow. 

JT; And I think you have absolutely no standing to diagnose somebody's cognitive decline, especially...

LT: I'm not diagnosing, I'm saying that we see the Joe Biden of today is not the Joe Biden of five years ago, of ten years ago.

JT: I would think that somebody in the Trump family would be more sensitive to people who do not have medical licenses diagnosing politicians from afar. Plenty of people have diagnosed (the president) from afar. I'm sure it offends you. You don't have any standing to say...

LT: I'm not diagnosing him.  What I'm saying, Jake...

JT: You just talked about a cognitive decline.

LT: ...is that we can clearly see that Joe Biden is struggling...

JT: I have one last question for your, Lara. You campaigned...

LT:  ... at many times on stage. And that's very concerning to a lot of people that this could be the leader of the free world. That's all I'm saying.

JT:  Thank you, Lara Trump.

LT.  I genuinely feel sorry for Joe Biden.

JT. I appreciate it.  I'm sure it was from a place of concern. We all -- we all believe that. Lara Trump, thank you so much.

And that was the end of their chat. 

Let me know your thoughts in the comments. Do you think Lara Trump is concerned about Joe Biden? Or do you think she's being a Trump and making the kind of comments her husband, brother-in-law, and father-in-law are known for? And how would we know for sure? Drop a comment, if you like.

See you around the virtual campus - masks on, of course.

In Case You Missed It (v57)

Let's stroll down short-term memory lane, shall we? Here's your recap of last week's posts.

For your Sunday School, I literally drew names to see what classrooms I'd visit, and I ended up with George Stephanopoulos and Jake Tapper, which is better than ending up with Chuck Todd, wouldn't you agree?  

George talked with Jason Miller, a campaign guy from the Trump team. 

Miller was happy to talk happily about how happy everyone is that Trump is happily getting over his case of COVID-19 and how happy his doctors are not telling us the truth and stuff, and when George pointed out that 72% of respondents in a recent poll said Trump didn't take the risk of getting COVID-19 seriously enough and had not even protected himself, Miller recited all the things that Trump did that were completely unresponsive to the question. 

George tried to help him out by giving some concrete examples: 

... the president had to take it head-on, but he didn't have to have -- hold rallies where people did not social distance, where did not wear masks. He didn't have to mock former Vice President Joe Biden for wearing a mask and reporters who wore masks. He didn't have to continue to go to event after event without wearing a mask.

Again, we have an epic fail from Miller: the president is one of the most tested people in the country...  anyone spending time with him is tested before hand, they keep their distance - 

 -- the closest I ever get to the president is about eight feet, maybe six feet, usually a pretty solid distance back. A lot of times it's more like ten feet. 

Eight feet, six feet, ten feet - don't ever go fishing with this guy, he'll turn a guppy into a shark... 

In the CNN State of the Union classroom, Tapper continued his 'take no prisoners, I'm going to say what people all across the country are saying, and I don't care' attitude. Some people find it annoying; I find it refreshing. Check the post for his conversation with Ohio's Gov. Mike DeWine, one of many who won't say a bad thing about the president if you stood them in the middle of 5th Avenue... 

Your Extra Credit post had another Trump campaign guy, Steve Cortes, in the Fox News Sunday classroom. His rose-colored-glasses are even rosier than Jason Miller's.  Wallace pointed out what everyone knows -- someone, or maybe everyone - wasn't telling the truth about the president's health. 

As to the doctor lying, or Mark Meadows lying, Cortes didn't want to talk about that but when Wallace asked if the American people don't deserve the truth, Cortes said yes, and he was the one giving it to us. And, of course,

... we talk directly to the patient, in this case the President of the United States, who tells us things are going great. The whole world heard directly from the doctor who said things are going great. I mean to me, if the patient and the doctor say things are great and you hear from both of them and see both of them, to me, that is sort of case closed, really.

Yes - when the man who has told over 20,000 lies in his short time in office says he's healthy, we should believe him.

Mid-week, I was Wondering on Wednesday about all kinds of stuff, including the head-spinning announcement that Trump was pulling his negotiators and that we wouldn't see any stimulus until after he wins the election. Take a look.

Will there be a stimulus payment for Americans who are struggling and those who are not? Will there be a bailout for the 'too big to fail' airline industry?  Do we have to wait until after the election, when Donald Trump says he will be elected, before we'll see a rescue plan - for anyone? Or, maybe, those hearty, wholesome, crime-free red states will get some stimmy, and us blue-staters will have to wait until... when, I wonder? But the big wondering is, what happens if we hold off on handing out any relief until after the election and (drum roll please) Donny gets sent packing?  Who gets the bump then? Blue states? Blue states and maybe purple swing states that voted for Papa Joe and Mom-ala? I mean, has Trump thought this through, I wonder?

We now know, of course, that Trump hadn't thought it through, and then he came out with a couple of different 'roid-influenced statements and now, honestly, I don't even remember for sure whether anyone's talking or not.  

Thursday was a two-fer; the first post brought my recap of the vice-presidential debate. I focused not the talkin points that Sen. Kamala Harris and VP Mike Pence gave, and not on zingers they were trying to inject into the Interwebs, but rather on their answers to specific questions they were asked. Here's a look at a couple of those.  First, a question to Pence (PQ), the leader of the White House Coronavirus Task force:

PQ. Why is the US death toll, as a percentage of our population, higher than that of almost every other wealthy country?

A.

That's right - no answer. And here's a pretty important question for Sen. Harris (HQ):

HQ.  have you had a conversation or reached an agreement with Vice President Biden about safeguards or procedures when it comes to the issue of presidential disability? And if not, and if you win the election next month, do you think you should? 

A.

Yeah, no answer to that one either.  Neither of them answered direct questions on the economy, or on abortion... We really need to change the way we do these darn things. (I've talked about this before.)

The second post was a Quick Take on the domestic terrorism plot against Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and law enforcement officers. Whitmer, you may remember, has been a thorn in the president's side on all things related to the pandemic, and he famously tweeted that her state should be liberated, around the time that armed protesters were gathering, confronting legislators and police, and what not.  Here are a couple of thoughts on that kind of thing, from Whitmer at the time of the tweet, and from LEOs announcing the arrests of the terrorist militia members.

When she was asked then whether the president's tweet might encourage more protests, Whitmer hoped it wouldn't, and "she also noted that people are feeling anxious about the pandemic and its economic fallout. And, she said.

The most important thing that anyone with a platform can do is to try and use that platform to tell people, 'We're going to get through this."

The collected federal and state law enforcement officers spoke of "elaborate plans" to kidnap Whitmer and overthrow the government, and referred to the "rather unprecedented" nature of the case - and, I'd suggest, the rather unprecedented state of affairs in the country today. 

...it does send a very vivid reminder that while we may be in a period of discourse, possibly even divisiveness and fighting across the nation, law enforcement stands united.

And finally, blissfully, it was time for your TGIF. I'd been reading lots of comments on lots of subjects, and used the post to recount some of them. Here's a couple for you.

Some people who think it's offensive to talk about the fly on Mike Pence's head think it's perfectly OK to call people names, including libtard. Apparently insECTS are must worse than insULTS. (I love that one!)

Some people think that white supremacists and BLM are literally the same people.(Not just Joe Biden literally, but actually - literally - the same people.)

Chew on that last one for a bit... I did, for sure. 

So that's it -- your veritable pastiche from last week.  See you later for Sunday School. 

Quick Takes (v53): Liberate Michigan!

Quick Takes

Well, well, well....

It would seem that when the president called for the liberation of Michigan, some folks may have taken him seriously.

Now, I'll say it right up front that there may be no connection at all between the men arrested today and the president's LIBERATE MICHIGAN! tweet, which was sent on April 17, 2020.  

As we learned back then, 

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has faced opposition from Republicans and business groups that argue she went too far in her April 9th extended and expanded stay-at-home 0rder. A Wednesday protest about the order in Michigan brought thousands to Lansing.

When she was asked then whether the president's tweet might encourage more protests, Whitmer hoped it wouldn't, and "she also noted that people are feeling anxious about the pandemic and its economic fallout. And, she said.

The most important thing that anyone with a platform can do is to try and use that platform to tell people, 'We're going to get through this."

Well, we all have seen lots of examples of the president using his platforms - Twitter, Instagram, the White House briefing room, and the hosts of his favorite shows on the Fox network - in a way that's completely inconsistent with what his own Coronavirus Task Force says people should be doing, and in some cases completely inconsistent with common sense, so it's probably not surprising that he would tweet something as inflammatory as he did. 

And while it wasn't just Michigan he wanted to see liberated - Minnesota and North Carolina were similarly blessed with tweets - Whitmer's been a particular thorn in his side.  

According to today's announcement,

The court filing alleges the conspirators twice conducted surveillance at Whitmer's personal vacation home in northern Michigan and discussed kidnapping her to a "secure location" in Wisconsin to stand "trial" for treason prior to the Nov. 3 election.

"Several members talked about murdering 'tyrants' or 'taking' a sitting governor," an FBI agent wrote in the affidavit. "The group decided they needed to increase their numbers and encouraged each other to talk to their neighbors and spread their message."

The collected federal and state law enforcement officers spoke of "elaborate plans" to kidnap Whitmer and overthrow the government, and referred to the "rather unprecedented" nature of the case - and, I'd suggest, the rather unprecedented state of affairs in the country today. 

...it does send a very vivid reminder that while we may be in a period of discourse, possibly even divisiveness and fighting across the nation, law enforcement stands united.

That's how it look from the perspective of Col. Joe Gasper of the Michigan State Police - and that united front "is the result of months of work" leading to both search warrants and arrest warrants in Michigan and in other states. If convicted of the charges, the men face the potential of life in prison.

Again, at least at this point, I haven't see anything concrete tying these folks to the president's ridiculous rhetoric, and it would be silly to make such a connection without evidence. But it would be foolish to ignore the potential for such a connection, especially since, according to this Reuters report (and many others over the past weeks and months) 

Internal U.S. security memos in recent months have warned that violent domestic extremists could pose a threat to election-related targets, a concern exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic, political tensions, civil unrest and foreign disinformation campaigns. 

FBI Director Christopher Wray said during congressional hearings in September that his agency was conducting investigations into violent domestic extremists, including white supremacists and anti-fascist groups. Wray said the largest “chunk” of investigations were into white supremacist groups.

Which, as we've seen, have been generally ignored by the president, his AG and others in his administration, in favor of promoting antifa and Black Lives Matter as the greatest threats to our domestic tranquility.

It's a sorry state of affairs, indeed. And it will probably get worse before the election, and after, regardless of who wins.  

Highlights from the DNC: Opening Night

I watched some, but not all, of the Democratic National Convention last night; that's my plan for tonight, as well. 
Fortunately for me, and for you, there's a full transcript of all of the night's festivities as well as news articles, videos and more. 

I'll save my comments for the end of the week, but I did want to share highlights from the speakers. Note that the comments below are excerpts and may not reflect the full remarks of any of the speakers. 

First up? My very own Sonofa Gov, Andrew Cuomo.  

Now, we need a leader as good as our people, a leader who appeals to the best within us, not the worst, a leader who can unify, not divide, a leader who can bring us up, not tear us down. That man is Joe Biden. Joe Biden is what I call America tough, tough in the best way. Tough that is smart, united, disciplined and loving. Joe Biden can restore the soul of America, and that’s exactly what our country needs today. 

Gretchen Whitmer.

Action begets action, progress begets progress. And when we work together, we can accomplish anything. After all, democracy is a team sport, especially now. It’s crucial that we rally together to fight this virus and build our economy back better.... Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will lead by example. It’ll be science, not politics or ego that will drive their decisions. They know the health of our people goes hand in hand with the strength of our economy. They know action begets action. Generation after generation, our nation has been defined by what we do or what we fail to do...let us act, let us heal as one nation. Let us find strength to do the work.

Governor Christine Todd Whitman. 

What am I doing here? I’m a lifelong Republican...But this isn’t about a Republican or Democrat. It’s about a person. A person decent enough, stable enough, strong enough to get our economy back on track. A person who can work with everyone, Democrats and Republicans, to get things done. Donald Trump isn’t that person, Joe Biden is.

Meg Whitman. 

I’m a longtime Republican and a longtime CEO. And let me tell you, Donald Trump has no clue how to run a business, let alone an economy. Joe Biden on the other hand, has a plan that will strengthen our economy for working people and small business owners. For me, the choice is simple. I’m with Joe.

Susan Molinari (NYC). 

I’ve known Donald Trump for most of my political career. So disappointing and lately, so disturbing... I’ve also gotten to know and work with Joe Biden on issues related to women, that are so important to all of us...That’s why I’m so proud to call him my friend, and honored to join and supporting his candidacy for president. He’s a really good man and he’s exactly what this nation needs at this time. 

John Kasich (OH).

I’m a lifelong Republican, but that attachment holds second place to my responsibility to my country.I believe the best of America lies ahead, but only when we rediscovered our shared belief in the United States of America for our children’s future, which can be bright, hopeful, and inspired if we choose to make it so...

We can all see what’s going on in our country today and all the questions that are facing us, and no one person or a party has all the answers. Joe Biden is a man for our times, times that call for all of us to take off our partisan hats and put our nation first for ourselves, and of course for our children. When America chooses the right path and pulls together, like we’ve done so many times before. Yeah, we can dream big dreams and we can see the top of the mountain as a United States of America with a soul that is a beacon of freedom to the entire world. 

Senator Doug Jones (AL). 

Alabama has shown me that even our deepest divisions can be overcome because each of us want the same thing, to be treated fairly and given the same opportunities, and the freedom to live with dignity and respect.

Now, some politicians try to pit us against each other, but I believe that Americans have more in common than what divides us. And in November, we have a chance to elect a president who believes that too. I’ve known Joe for more than 40 years. I met him as a wide-eyed law student, and he’s been my friend and champion ever since. The Joe I know is exactly the leader our country needs right now. He can bring people together to find common ground while standing up for what he believes is right. After years of bitter partisanship, he can unite our country and get things done for working families and everyone looking for a better future. Because it’s not about what side of the aisle we’re on, it’s about whether or not we’re on the side of the people.

In the final analysis. We are one people, one family, one house, the American house, the American family. Vice President Biden understands that and he is who we need as our next president.

Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (NV).

Mr. president, Nevada is not intimidated by you. America is not intimidated by you. We are united by shared values, shared history, and shared rights, including our fundamental right to vote. And this fall, we will send Joe Biden to the White House and we’ll flip the US Senate. With Mitch McConnell out of power and a democratic majority in the Senate, we will expand voting access and protect voting rights. To do this, America, we need you on our side...Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell know how to divide, but we know how to stand together and turn this country around.

Senator Amy Klobuchar (MN).

Unity isn’t about settling. It’s about striving for something more. It isn’t the end. It’s the means. It’s how we get stuff done. Unity is about reaching up toward a higher purpose, a better future for all of us.

Now more than ever, we need a president who will unite this country... We need a president for all of America. I come from the middle of this country where we believe in people joining together to solve problems.We seek common ground to reach higher ground. Joe ran for the same reasons I did... to cross the river of our divides, to bring this nation together, to be a president for all of America.

As I said, the day I endorsed him. “If you feel stuck in the middle of the extremes, in our politics, if you are tired of the noise and the nonsense, you have a home with me and you have a home with Joe Biden.” That’s why I was so proud to stand with him then, and across this great country. That’s why we are all now standing united behind Joe and my friend Kamala. Our nation’s motto is out of many, one. And as you’re about to see, it’s also the story of the democratic primary. Thank you, America.

Rep. Cedric Richmond (LA).

When we talk about the economy, it’s not just about the stock market. It’s about whether you can find work that really means something to you, instead of feeling like you’re supposed to be grateful just to get a paycheck.It’s about whether people who didn’t inherit millions from their parents can build a business from the ground up and have a real chance to compete. And it’s about whether in the richest country on earth, everyone, including women and people of color, feel included and empowered.

Economists will also tell you that Joe Biden’s plan to rebuild our economy will create millions of jobs. But Joe will tell you that his plan is about more than that because he’s seen the world from a different perspective than most politicians. He knows what it’s like to live in a real neighborhood, not just penthouse apartments. He knows what it’s like to take the train to work, not just a chauffeured limousine. That’s why he looks at our economic challenges the same way working people do. And he’ll solve them in a way that puts working people first. Joe Biden respects America’s workers because he truly understands the dignity of work.

Senator Bernie Sanders (TGFV).

Our great nation is now living in an unprecedented moment. We’re facing the worst public health crisis in a hundred years, and the worst economic collapse since the great depression. We are confronting systemic racism and the enormous threat to our planet of climate change. And in the midst of all of this, we have a president who is not only incapable of addressing these crises, but is leading us down the path of authoritarianism. This election is the most important in the modern history of this country. In response to the unprecedented crises we face, we need an unprecedented response, a movement like never before, of people who are prepared to stand up and fight for democracy and decency, and against greed, oligarchy, and bigotry. And we need Joe Biden as our next president. 

My friends, I say to you, to everyone who supported other candidates in the primary and to those who may have voted for Donald Trump in the last election, the future of our democracy is at stake. The future of our economy is at stake. The future of our planet is at stake. We must come together, defeat Donald Trump, and elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as our next president and vice president. My friends, the price of failure is just too great to imagine. Thank you.

Michelle Obama. 

I am one of a handful of people living today who have seen firsthand the immense weight and awesome power of the presidency. And let me once again, tell you this, the job is hard. It requires clear-headed judgment, a mastery of complex and competing issues, a devotion to facts and history, a moral compass, and an ability to listen. And an abiding belief that each of the 330 million lives in this country has meaning and worth.

So let me be as honest and clear as I possibly can. Donald Trump is the wrong president for our country. He has had more than enough time to prove that he can do the job, but he is clearly in over his head. He cannot meet this moment. He simply cannot be who we need him to be for us. It is what it is. Now I understand that my message won’t be heard by some people. We live in a nation that is deeply divided, and I am a black woman speaking at the Democratic convention. But enough of you know me by now, you know that I tell you exactly what I’m feeling. You know I hate politics.

But you also know that I care about this nation. You know how much I care about all of our children. So if you take one thing from my words tonight, it is this. If you think things cannot possibly get worse, trust me, they can and they will if we don’t make a change in this election. If we have any hope of ending this chaos, we have got to vote for Joe Biden like our lives depend on it.

It is well past time for our leaders to once again reflect our truth. So it is up to us to add our voices and our votes to the course of history, echoing heroes, like John Lewis, who said, “When you see something that is not right, you must say something. You must do something.” That is the truest form of empathy. Not just feeling but doing, not just for ourselves or our kids, but for everyone, for all our kids. If we want to keep the possibility of progress alive in our time, if we want to be able to look our children in the eye after this election, we have got to reassert our place in American history, and we have got to do everything we can to elect my friend, Joe Biden, as the next president of the United States. Thank you all, God bless.

Thoughts? Did they make their cases for Papa Joe? Were you moved or impressed by the Republicans making a plea for country over party?  Chime in!

Sunday School 5/3/20

Today's Sunday School gives the politicians a chance to talk with us about the coronavirus, reopening their states, and so on. This week, we'll have at least one Extra Credit post which will allow the medical professionals have a chance to chime in on things. There's probably enough for a second Extra Credit to handle the overflow from today - we'll see how it goes.

So, we've got five governors (yikes!) making virtual classroom visits - so let's get started withMississippi Republican Tate Reeves  and New Jersey Democrat Phil Murphy, who talked with Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday.

Mississippi was getting ready to lift its 'safer-at-home order on Friday, until they saw a spike in new cases. Turns out, Reeves said, the spike of nearly 400 cases that was reported Friday morning stemmed in part from a large number of tests "that came in from out-of-state private labs" and now they're back down to a more reasonable 110 new cases today. That explanation aside, though, Wallace noted that Mississippi still hasn't met the White House guidelines to begin the first phase of reopening.

Mississippi is different than other states, Reeves explained. He's talked with the Task Force, with Dr. Birx, and they agree that "sometimes the models are just different for different states." He said that the gating criteria from the Task Force don't really work for them, and that over the past 40 days or so, they've had pretty consistent case numbers without any spikes other than Friday's "data dump."

They did have some protests in very red Mississippi, but Reeves said most of them probably voted for him last year, and that they "were protesting for the 200,000 Mississippians that have lost their jobs in the last six weeks." And, he said, "I understand and I feel their pain, and we're doing everything in our power to get our state back open as soon as possible."

They also talked about a move by the Republican-controlled legislature, which wants to strip Reeves of his sole authority to spend $1B in federal aid the state received under the CARES Act. Reeves said it was "an absolute tragedy" that his own party was pulling a power grab

in the middle of an emergency. We have had long- standing, 40-year laws in Mississippi which recognized that in an emergency, you've got to have an executive. You've got to have someone that makes decisions and gets things done.

Reeves said he's still looking at whether a veto is in order, but said they "don't have time for committee meetings... we don't have time for politicians to cut deals." Instead, they need to get the money into people's pockets. Either way, he's "deeply disappointed" in them.

Gov. Murphy has different issues in NJ. The state is locked down, with parks and some golf courses (but not beaches) being allowed to open this weekend. Wallace wondered if Murphy will be in the position to reopen the state by Memorial Day. Murphy said "Listen, I'll be the happiest guy in New Jersey, if not America, if we are" but noted it's still too early to tell. He pointed to "very high" compliance with social distancing, and that's the kind of thing that they'll need to keep seeing to "get the best outcome" by Memorial Day. 

Wallace wondered about his state's protesters, and he said "I wished they'd do it virtually and not unsafely," noting they were out there without masks. But, he added. 

... -- we've got to make our decisions based on the science, the data, the facts. And they all suggest, as you -- as you rightfully point out, we're not out of this yet. Now the -- the fatalities, bless their souls, we have to point out are folks who were infected some number of weeks ago. So, in the here and now, hospitalizations are down, ventilator use is down, the positive curve -- testing curve is flattening. So those are all good signs. But we're not in the end zone yet.

As with Mississippi, Wallace noted that NJ hasn't meet the gating criteria, and that, as far as they can tell, no state has. He wondered whether Murphy thought his fellow govs were jumping the gun. Murphy said "my nose is pressed against the New Jersey glass, honestly," so he can't speak to what the other folks are basing their decision on, but he pointed out that his is the densest state in the densest area in the country, so they're making regional decisions and have to be "exceedingly careful."

As is required, I guess, he was glowingly complimentary about the president and getting assistance "in our hour of need" as far as supplies and PPE. Wallace wondered about the whole question of state aid, noting that Murphy had said "it's going to be Armageddon" if they don't get federal aid. Murphy was clear.

We need a big slug of federal, direct cash assistance. And it's not -- not just New Jersey and it's not just blue states... It clearly would be a huge win for the residents who are being served. It would be a huge win for those first- line responders and their families, working families. I think, frankly, it's a huge win for the president to be able to say, you know what, with this cash assistance, we were able to keep serving folks across the country in both red and blue states, and we kept folks employed at a time where we desperately need to keep folks employed.

We'll see if that's enough honey for the president to support the move.

Meanwhile, on This Week with George Stephanopoulos, Martha Raddatz talked with Ohio's Republican gov Mike DeWine. He's taking a phased reopening approach, bringing manufacturing, construction and some offices up first, then restaurants and retail after that. Raddatz noted his data shows a few days of downward curve, and a million residents file for unemployment. She wanted to know how he's balancing the competing risks.

DeWine's approach is to do two things at once - be very careful, continuing social distance and face covering requirements, but also start getting things opened back up. He mentioned having business groups figure out what would work for them, having them participate in the discussions and develop best practices for their sectors.

So we’re balancing it. We’re going to keep our eye on the numbers. We’ve had a fairly flat -- really for about two weeks with hospitalizations and that we’re certainly going to continue to keep an eye on that.

All employees will be required to cover their faces, regardless of sector, but customers will not have that same requirement, even though the gov "high recommends" they wear some kind of face covering. That was one of the orders that was reversed; he said they were issuing them very quickly but listened when people expressed different opinions.

Raddatz noted some polling that "Democrats are more concerned about contracting the virus while Republicans respondents would be more likely to get out if and when the rules change. Republicans are twice as likely to eat a restaurant, work out at a gym, and get a haircut...three times as likely to attend a sporting event, and four times as likely to stay in a hotel." She wondered what DeWine thought about the partisan divide. 

He said he wasn't really sure, but noted, "I think generally Republicans are less inclined to have the government tell them what to do," noting that's his philosophy for the most part but "we're in a health crisis" and so now, it's basically up to "individual Ohioans" and how they react and whether they'll continue to practice social distancing and stuff.

Jake Tapper talked with Michigan Democrat Gretchen Whitmer on CNN's State of the Union, where the conversation started with the protests we've heard so much about. She said she knows folks - including her - are unhappy about the stay-at-home orders, but the medical experts have to be listened to, and "displays like the one that we saw at our capital is not representative of who we are in Michigan."

There were swastikas and Confederate Flags and nooses and people with assault rifles. And that's the very - that's a small group of people, when you think about the fact that this is a state of almost 10 million people, the vast majority of whom are doing the right thing. And that's why we have seen our curve get pushed down.

Lives have been saved, the said; folks have to "not listen to the partisan rhetoric or these political rallies, or tweets, for that matter. We have to keep doing the right thing, the next right thing."

Tapper asked about the president calling the protesters "very good people," similar to what he said in reference to the Charlottesville protests, and wondered about that. She said that some of the "outrageousness" that happened "depicted some of the worst racism and awful parts of our history" and made the point that, in a global pandemic, we can't just negotiate ourselves out of it. And,

Whether you agree with me or not, I'm working to protect your life if you live in the state of Michigan. I'm going to continue to do my job, regardless of what tweets come out or what polls come out or what people think that is -- makes sense.

Tapper asked whether Whitmer agreed with Jared Kushner's assessment on testing that "the biggest thing holding us back is not supplies or capacity. It's the states' ability to collect more samples." Whitmer said that wasn't true; she and her counterparts "have never been able to get to full capacity because we are missing things in the supply chain. And that's part of why I think so many of us on both sides of the aisle have really called on more of a national strategy on these fronts."

Tapper wrapped up the conversation asking some questions about Joe Biden. Whitmer has said that she believes Biden, but she also believed Christine Blasey Ford, who didn't have contemporaneous accounts of what happened, which Tara Reade, Biden's accuser, has. Whitmer, "as a survivor and as a feminist," said victims need to be able to tell their stories, but that the stories have to be vetted. She's paid attention to Biden's defense. she's read a lot about the allegation, and she believes Biden when he says it didn't happen. And, she added, 

I really resent the fact that, every time a case comes up, all of us survivors have to weigh in. It is reopening wounds. And it is -- take us at our word, ask us for our opinion, and let's move on.

She wasn't criticizing Tapper, she said, but was sharing "some of the simmering anger" that survivors have every time they have to chime in on something they weren't involved in. And she reiterated that she believes and supports Biden.  

And finally, we've got Republican Larry Hogan of Maryland, who also sat down with Tapper. Their conversation started with something Larry Kudlow, Trump's economic advisor, said about there being a pause, where folks are not really sure what's next in terms of future help to citizens, states or cities. Hogan said he wasn't sure what to make of that, noting that "the message seems to sort of change almost on a daily, sometimes several times a day. I think we're making progress" on getting a fourth stimulus package, to help the states and to help people who need it, and that all the divisiveness and partisanship can be put aside. Proving the point, Tapper brought up sanctuary cities and states, mistakenly saying that Baltimore was on such city. Hogan corrected him, and also said 

So, exactly what I'm talking about though, Jake. There are people, the Democrats are saying, we'll do it if we get this additional funding for these other things. The Republicans in the Senate are saying, we'll do it if we get these other liability issues for businesses. Now the White House is talking about sanctuary cities. And I think everybody ought to stop talking about all of those things and just focus on getting people the help that they need without bringing all these other, you know, outside political issues into the debate. It's no time for divisive politics. It's time to get something done.

They talked about Hogan having supplies under guard, supplies that were flown in via passenger jet from South Korea to Baltimore's airport instead of to Dulles for fear that the federal government might confiscate them. Hogan said it was done because he had heard from his colleagues that they had supplies intercepted or diverted by the feds and he didn't want that to happen here, but that he's "working together with the federal government" and FEMA is going a great job. "It's not a concern any longer but honestly it was an issue that we were looking at as we flew them in."

The last part we'll cover here relates to protesters, several of whom "trekked more than 150 miles" to protest on both sides of Maryland on Saturday, and also about comments made by one of Hogan's fellow Republicans, Congressman Andy Harris, who said at the protest

I didn't wake up in Communist China and I didn't wake up in North Korea this morning. And tomorrow morning I should be able to go to the church of my choice and worship the way I choose. 

Tapper gave Hogan a chance to respond both to the protests, and Harris's comments. Hogan supports people being able to protest, noting "a couple of dozen people did so yesterday" and they "have every right to do that," He also noted

Sadly, we had far more people die yesterday in Maryland than we had protesters. 

Congressman Harris, I'm not sure where he woke up yesterday morning but maybe he confused North Korea and South Korea. South Korea is doing a great job on testing and we just saved the lives of thousands of Marylanders by getting those half million tests from Korea..he's obviously got the right to say whatever crazy things he wants to say. But, you know, I don't really need to respond to them.

As they say on that TV game show, "good answer!"

I hope you all took advantage, to the fullest allowed or recommended by your local and state politicians, of this beautiful day.  Keep social distancing, keep washing your hands, keep covering your face, and we'll keep flattening the curve together.

Don't forget to get your extra credit this week- and I'll see you around the virtual campus.