Sunday School 8/2/26

With all of the focus on the Democratic Socialists competing in Democratic primaries across the country, I thought I'd spend time with the OG DS, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who chatted with Kristen Welker in NBC's Meet the Press classroom yesterday. While some of Welker's questions were long, almost all of Sanders' answers were, so be prepared.  

Welker started by referencing a new poll showing that "one third of Democratic-leaning voters now identify as Democratic Socialists (DS)," and noted that, "quite frankly," DS candidates have been winning their primaries. And she asked Sanders if he was confident they could win in purple states. I'm going to try and break up his 470-odd word response into sections so you can catch your breath reading it.

Well, I am, but I’m mostly confident that the American people know that our country today is moving in a very, very bad direction at a time when we have more income and wealth inequality than we’ve ever had in the history of America. What’s going on now makes the Gilded Age of Rockefeller look like an egalitarian utopia. What’s going on now is that millions of our people, right now, in the richest country on Earth, they’re struggling to put food on the table, pay for health care, pay for their rent, pay for their mortgage.

You got half of all the workers who have nothing in savings as they face retirement. Or you’re facing seeing kids unable to afford to go to college in the richest country in the history of the world. So people all over America are looking around, they’re saying, “Hey, wait a minute. The very richest people are becoming richer. Elon Musk himself, one man, owns more wealth by far than the bottom half of American households. What in God’s name is going on?”

And people look at the Republican leadership and Donald Trump, and they say, “You know, this guy’s worried about a Reflecting Pool. I can’t afford my retirement. He’s starting a war in Iran, costing us huge amounts of money, killing innocent people. 18 American servicemen are dead. What are they doing?”

And then you look at the Democratic Party leadership, which also gets their money, like the Republicans, from very wealthy people, and people are saying, “Is the Democratic leadership representing ordinary Americans?” And I think people look at the Republicans, they say, “No, they’re out of touch,” look at the Democratic leadership, say, “No, they’re out of touch.

We need a government, a radical idea, that works for all people and not just for wealthy campaign contributors.” And that’s why, from New York City with (Zoran) Mamdani, and in Colorado, and in California, and in Montana, and I think you’re going to see it in Michigan, people are saying, “Enough is enough. You know, let’s get a government that represents all of us.”

And I’ve got to tell you something, Kristen, that part of the exasperation that the American people are feeling, it’s not just an economy which is rigged. They’re looking at a corrupt — underlying corrupt campaign finance system. And what you’re seeing in Michigan right now is AIPAC, other billionaire-funded super PACs, putting tens and tens of millions of dollars against Abdul El-Sayed. In Minnesota against Peggy Flanagan, same thing.

So we’ve got billionaires buying elections, government working for the billionaires, and ordinary people saying, “We want change.” And that is why progressives, democratic socialists, are doing so well all over this country. They’ve got an agenda that speaks to the needs of working families. They’re prepared to stand up to the oligarchs.

Since Sanders mentioned Michigan, she wondered how confident he was that his endorsed candidate, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, could "pull out a victory" in Tuesday's primary against the establishment candidate, Congresswoman Haley Stevens.

Look, he has taken on –I’ve never - you know, I’m not a political scientist. I cannot recall where a major candidate was outspent so much by super PACs. I mean, they’re spending tens and tens of millions of dollars against him. The polling recently looks good, but polls don’t win elections, people do. So I would hope that, in Michigan and later next week in Minnesota, people understand the importance of this election. What’s it about?

It’s not just whether Abdul can win or not, beat Haley Stevens. The question is whether or not we live in a democratic society where a candidate fighting for working people can take on tens and tens of millions of dollars of AIPAC money, special interest money. And I hope very much that Abdul is - and I’ll tell you why, and a kind of selfish reason. Everybody in America understands that our current health care system is totally broken. We’re spending unbelievable amounts of money, twice as much per capita as the people of any other country. 85 million uninsured, underinsured. Prices way high.

Dr. El-Sayed is somebody I need in the Senate as he fights for Medicare for All. He’s a doctor. He has seen the broken health care system. We need him to make sure that every man, woman, and child in this country has health care as a human right, as is the case in every other major country on Earth.

Welker noted that Sen. Gary Peters, whose seat is up for grabs, has backed Stevens to replace him, saying

You have to have a candidate who understands that winning a general election doesn’t mean just turning out Democrats. You also have to appeal to a broader cross-section of your state, and Michigan is a true purple state.

To Sanders, she posted this question: "What do you think Dr. El-Sayed will have to do in order to turn out moderates and independents to win a general election if he does win on Tuesday?" In a nutshell, Sanders explained El-Sayed can win because working-class Republicans are in the same boat as all working-class people, and they know the system is broken.

You are struggling to figure out how you’re going to retire with dignity. You understand that the current campaign finance system is broken. You understand that workers need decent wages, and El-Sayed is fighting for a livable minimum wage. And by the way, if you’re a Republican, you know maybe we should be investing our money into Michigan, into Vermont, into America rather than giving the extremist government of Netanyahu and Israel tens of billions of dollars to continue their atrocities against the Palestinian people - I think if you’re a working-class - ok - if you’re a working-class Republican in Michigan, I think you’re going to listen to what El-Sayed says. You’re gonna - and I think many of them will end up voting for him. Independents as well, of course.

Welker asked if El-Sayed should "speak with the same clarity" as Sanders has on the issue of Israel as a Jewish State. El-Sayed has said he "often struggles with the question of whether Israel has the right to exist as a Jewish state.”  Here's the non-answer:

Look, I think right now the immediate issue of the moment is whether or not we continue to put tens of billions of dollars into the extremist Netanyahu government, which has killed 75,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, wounded 150,000, destroyed their infrastructure. And what the American people are saying overwhelmingly, Democrats, many independents - the majority of independents, and many Republicans, especially younger Republicans, “We’ve got better things to do with our money than to continue to fund the military of Israel.”

They talked a bit about the Maine primary, where Troy Jackson was chosen to replace Graham Platner after widely-reported scandals. Sanders knows Jackson; he'd endorse him if he was asked, and said "I look forward to working with him in the US Senate." And, on comments from Sen. John Fetterman (Kinda D- PA) about Sanders supporting Platner, Sanders suggested that Fetterman "was reflecting the views of about 19% of the Democrats" in PA and is "way out of touch with the people of America."  And, when she asked if he had any regrets about endorsing Platner, he turned to his standard lines:

I’ll tell you, you know, I think right now we’re looking at a campaign in Michigan, we’re looking at a campaign in Minnesota. The people of this country right now are sick and tired of establishment politics and establishment policies. They want change and I and other progressives are going to do everything that we can to bring about those changes.

Finally, they talked about who could carry the progressive banner into the next presidential race, which will be the first without him since 2016.

Kristen there are — one of the untold secrets in Washington is in the U.S. House of Representatives, for example, you have many, many really strong progressives. Many of them are young. Many of them are women. Many of them are people of color. And we have elected many of them. And I think as a result of this election cycle, you’re going to see a lot more coming to Washington. I think as a nation, and by the way, with all due respect, the media spends too much time worrying about who’s going to be a president in two and a half years.

Right now, we have enormous problems facing this country. We’re looking at heat waves all over the world. You’ve got climate change. We’re looking at the big tech oligarchs pushing AI and robotics down our throat. Congress is doing very little to protect working people in that. We’re looking at massive levels of income and wealth inequality, a corrupt campaign finance system. My suggestion is, as a country, as a Congress, as media, let’s focus on the important issues facing working people. Two and a half years from now is a long time to a presidential election. I’m sure it will unfold itself.

I had hoped there'd be more questions about the Democratic Socialists of America platform, and to what extent the DS candidates support the platform. We'll have to wait to see if any of them win in November before anyone starts asking about that. 

For his part, Sanders was Sanders - his answers, in my opinion, were entirely predictable. What do you think?

Wondering on Wednesday 2/28/24

Ready... set... wonder!

Ronna McDaniel is stepping down as chair of the RNC after the Super Tuesday primaries in March. I wonder if she’ll have to get permission from her family to go back to using her maiden name, which she used before Donald Trump frowned on having anyone named Romney involved in the party leadership.

Sen. Mitch McConnell announced he’ll step down as leader of the Republicans in the Senate after the November election, but will serve out the remainder of this term. I sort of wonder if he announced this so he won’t have to endorse Donald Trump? I also wonder if he’s got the courage to do the right thing and pass on making that endorsement.

Michigan Dems held a primary yesterday, and over 100,000 Dems -13% of the total - voted 'Uncommitted,' while 81% voted for President Biden. I was not surprised that Biden did the right thing after the results were announced.

In his statement late Tuesday evening, Biden thanked “every Michigander who made their voice heard today,” noting that “exercising the right to vote and participating in our democracy is what makes America great.”

A couple of things on this one. As I noted previously, I wonder why we all don't have the chance to actively vote for nobody, whether it's ‘uncommitted' or 'none of these candidates,' as they can in Nevada. Second, I wonder why the media can't help tripping over themselves trying to cement a connection between a protest vote in a February primary and the presidential election (checks calendar) over 250 days away. And then I laughed and laughed at the stupidity of my wondering.

I support the protest vote, and the protest; I often wonder if we are doing enough to pressure Israel to at least ensure that sufficient humanitarian aid is reaching the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who are guilty of nothing other than living in Gaza. And if you want to make the argument that "Hamas was elected, so everyone in Gaza must support them," I can't help wondering how you handled the whiplash of going from being an Obama Democrat to a MAGA Republican to a Biden Democrat over the last three elections... I'd love to hear about that, if you're willing to talk about it.

The Supreme Court announced it will hear arguments in April on whether or not a US president has complete immunity - up to and including going as far as having SEAL Team 6 murder a political opponent - or if he's just like any other American thug, and subject to our criminal justice system.  By delaying arguments for five weeks, they're playing into his hands, I think, and that's frustrating. I wonder why there isn't a way for the Supremes to act more expediently when the case is both critically important and significantly time-constrained, unless they're acting exactly as fast as they want to, in which case we might have to wonder about other things, right?

Donald Trump has said he’s unable to come up with the full bond amount in his NY business fraud case. He maintains he can come up with $100M, but getting to the full amount ($355M not counting the daily interest accruals) is impossible, without having to sell off properties.  And I wonder which he’d pick -  Trump Tower, with its 30,000 square-foot penthouse? 40 Wall Street? 

But wait – I wonder if he even can sell any of the NY properties? Would that count as "doing business' in NY, which is prohibited under Judge Arthur Engoron’s decision? And if he has to go elsewhere, would he pick Bedminster, where the buyer would get not only a golf course but also Ivana Trump's burial site? Trump Winery in Virginia?  Or – gasp – Mar-a-Lago, which is worth $27M (accountant valuation), $517M (Trump loan application), or ONE BILLION DOLLARS (Trump's personal opinion)?  There’s just so much wondering on this one. 

And speaking of the Engoron decision, in case you’re wondering, the GoFundMe set up to allow Americans to help their billionaire best friend pay the judgment has raised more than $1.28M from some 22K donors. 

What's on your wondering mind tonight?

Sunday School 2/25/24

Your Sunday School for this week starts with Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) who talked with Martha Raddatz in the This Week classroom. 

Their conversation started with the activist Alabama court ruling that frozen embryos are people, too. That ruling has caused some IVF facilities in the state to suspend services as they try to figure out what the risks are, and whether they can continue offering services. 

We've seen this before, of course, when abortion clinics closed in many states as providers simply aren't willing to take the chance of facing criminal charges for treating their patients.

Duckworth wasn't surprised by the ruling - it's more than that. She's been afraid of this - and talking about it - since 2018.

I said if Neil Gorsuch gets put on the Supreme Court, if Amy Coney Barrett gets put on the Supreme Court, we're going to have an erosion of Roe v. Wade, and even back in 2018, I said, IVF is next. They said they're coming for IVF. So, unfortunately, I wasn’t surprised. I’m devastated for those families that are trying to start families, but I was not at all surprised.

Raddatz noted the decision doesn't overtly ban IVF, but Duckworth, speaking from experience, said that by ruling a fertilized egg is a child, it puts the treatment in jeopardy. Both of her daughters were conceived via IVF; three of the five fertilized eggs were nonviable. With her consent, her doctor destroyed them, and under the Alabama ruling, 

that would be considered potentially manslaughter or murder. Basically, Republicans have put the rights of a fertilized egg over the rights of the woman, and that is not something that I think the American people agree with.

Duckworth has introduced a bill "multiple times and in multiple congresses", most recently last month, that would protect access to IVF nationwide. Raddatz noted that the Republican Senate campaign team "is instructing their candidates to, quote, clearly and concisely reject efforts by the government to restrict IVF," and wondered if there'd be enough support now to pass the bill.

It's been crickets since the Alabama ruling. And let's make it clear. Republicans will say whatever they need to say to try to cover themselves on this, but they have been clear and Donald Trump has been the guy leading this effort to eliminate women's reproductive rights and reproductive choice...not a single Republican has reached out to me on the bill... let's see if they vote for it when we bring it to the floor.

She said the Dems will run on this. And speaking of running, Raddatz brought up Trump's 20-point win in the South Carolina primary. Duckworth, who's a co-chair of the Biden/Harris campaign, said it doesn't really change things.

I think what we talk about, again, is that Donald Trump has been very clear about what he's doing. He's not running for president for the American people. He's not running for president to take care of working families. He's running for president for himself. That's all he cares about every single day. President Biden, in contrast, gets up every day and works hard to protect the American people and works hard to make sure he delivers for working families across this country. The choice is very clear and we just need to continue to hammer home that message.

She agreed with Raddatz that exit polls do give them pause (veterans voting for Trump, for example, after his ridiculously insulting "where's her husband?" stuff), but then, Duckworth said, that's not new. And she reiterated that Trump has

shown us over time who he is, and he's a guy who cares about no one but himself. You know, I have often thought when I go into work with my colleagues, and I assumed they loved America as much as I love America, that we just look at the problem from different perspectives, but we can come to a compromise. Donald Trump cares about one thing, Donald Trump. 

I think most of them think that - or, maybe they used to think that, pre-MAGA. 

Down the hall in the Face the Nation classroom, Margaret Brennan talked with Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI); their first topic was this Tuesday's primary and how the state's large Arab/Muslim population might impact the voting.

Brennan said there's a "protest effort underway to vote uncommitted" to let President Biden know they're unhappy about what's happening in Gaza, and she asked if this could damage Biden. Dingell explained there are actually two protests.

One is an 'abandon Biden' campaign, but the other, the major campaign that has made over 100,000 calls – we'll see how many people vote on Tuesday – (is) trying to make sure the president hears them.

Their concerns? Family in Gaza; family members they have lost (20 or more, in some families); the lack of food, medicine, and water (the salt water they're drinking is almost gone); and more.

I don't sleep at night... The sanitary conditions on the ground, there's – I mean, one woman, the aunt of somebody, goes to the bathroom once a day. There – a month ago, there was one toilet for every 220 people, one shower for every 15,000 people. It's a nightmare. And they're scared for their families and they're worried.

A cease-fire is needed, and "when we get a cease-fire...then we sit down... and talk." Until then it's personal, not political. Brennan said she understood that, but at the same time, she noted that Benjamin Netanyahu said "that he is going into Southern Gaza whether President Biden likes it or not," and she wondered if Dingell thinks we're "doing enough to get Americans or families of Americans out of harm's way."

Dingell noted that we don't know what's happening in the various negotiations that are going on, with involvement from the CIA, the National Security Council, and others, including the president.

People need to understand that – what is going on in Rafah right now. The population of Gaza is approximately 2.2 million people; 1.5 million of them have been forced into Rafah... you know, we can argue about the numbers. Nobody denies that 12,000 children have already died... Doctors Without Borders have talked about 1,000 children who have lost limbs, the number of children that don't have families. It would be outrageous for further innocent civilians to be killed. I know that the White House is working very closely with a number of other countries to make it clear that we cannot continue this loss of life.

She's been assured by the White House that "the president is very engaged in delivering very direct messages," and that "in private conversations...he's working towards a temporary cease-fire."

Brennan asked if it was "a mistake" for Biden to not meet with anyone from the Arab/Muslim community. Dingell believes "he is going to need to do that" and that "this community is pretty angry right now." She said she gets protested, even though she's one of the folks who has been "the most empathetic and has been working this issue very hard." Biden did send people out, and

they developed relationships or connected with people that from both sides I've heard that they've got ongoing conversations. And that's got to continue.

And Dingell explained that Michigan's a purple state, and "It's been a purple state as long as I've been doing presidential elections." The Israel-Gaza war is a "very important issue here" but there'll be other ones too. Dingell fought to have Michigan be an early primary state for things like this.

I want to be talking about this issue now, in February -because it will matter in November - and not on October 15th, which has happened too many times in previously presidential elections, that issues that matter in November aren't talked about early.

Touching on the Alabama decision, Brennan asked "Is the concern about reproductive health care access enough to cancel out these negative headwinds?" Dingell noted the state's "unprecedented turnout two years ago" when abortion was on the ballot, and said they've got work to do again this year.

We've got to get young people, we've got to get women, and we've got to go into union halls. And it's great that we've got the union presidents and the union organizations endorsing, but we've got to go in those union halls and draw the comparison, remind people about what Donald Trump did and didn't do, he talked, didn't deliver, and about what Joe Biden has delivered on.

Dingell sees this issue as similarly motivating for voters. especially women who might have thought they were safe and their rights were protected

and now we've seen what the Alabama court has done in terms of IVF... I think a lot of women are going to be very emotional about their women's health decisions should be made between them, their doctor, their faith, and their family, and the federal government's got no business in it. Or state government.

I can't argue with her on that.

See you around campus.

Let's Fight This - TOGETHER!

A Special Message from

the Twice-Impeached 

45th President of the 

United States

They've got it all wrong, the Lame Stream Media, the liars on CNN and MSDNC and the failing New York Times and the Bezos Washington Post and all the rest... they've got it All Wrong. 

Let me give you the Truth about what's happening here. 

First of all, I didn't lose the election. 

I didn't lose the election, so there was no reason for me to pack anything, so I didn't pack anything, because I won and wasn't going to be leaving. And I'd still be your President, Right Now, and there wouldn't have been a problem if only Georgia had found those 11,780 votes like I asked them to, and like Lindsey asked them to, and like Rudy asked them to, and like everyone else asked them to. 

Or Arizona, too, if they had done the right thing. Or Michigan, or Nevada, or  Pennsylvania, or Wisconsin. So if they had just done the right thing, none of this would be happening right now, and all my documents would be safe and the Country would be safe, our Borders and our Stock Market and our Taxes - everything would be safe, if they had just done the right thing. 

But they didn't and when that wimp, that un-American, un-Patriotic traitor Mike Pence refused to do the right thing and send it back to the states like he was supposed to, I was stuck. I swear, my Secret Service guys should have just grabbed him and stuffed him in the SUV. Worthless. 

Anyway, Melania was so frazzled that we were leaving - she had more decorating to do, and stuff to document just like she was doing on January 6th and didn't know anything about what was happening, she really didn't - she was upset, she loved it here - she just started throwing stuff in Tupperware bowls and tubs and stuff, even the jewelry I gave her, the ungrateful wench. 

And there I was, alone. Jared was, I don't know, showering all day long or counting his Saudi money with his crook of a father - why did I pardon him again? 

Those worthless sons of mine were probably out golfing or something, or maybe Donny Jr was home waiting for what's her name, the "The Best is Yet To Come!" girl I paid $60,000 to for introducing Don Jr. to the crowd at the Ellipse on January 6th - what a waste of money she is! And how on earth was she married to that incompetent commie nutjob in California, Gavin Newsom? And now she's my son's fiancé? What did I do to deserve this?

And my beloved Ivanka was home with those Beautiful grandchildren of mine, aren't they Beautiful? They are the most beautiful grandchildren a man could have, right? Just Beautiful, through and through.

So the staff people, the ones that I hadn't scared off,  the staff came running up to the residence with boxes every day, packing, packing, boxing up everything they could get their hands on, I don't even know what they put in all the boxes, the stuff was just thrown in, all willy-nilly, and then the boxes were stuffed in the truck and off everything went to my Beautiful, Historic, Important Mar-a-Lago, the most Famous house in all the world.

I barely managed to get my hands on the compromising photo books, and my pictures of Vlad - it was crazy.

And then, when they reached out to me last year, I had no idea there was anything being stored at my beloved Mar-a-Lago that I wasn't supposed to have. I thought I had taken care of most of the stuff anyone would worry about; that was ripped up and disposed of at the White House. 

And what about that Crooked Hillary flunky, Maggie Haberman, the third-rate NY Times reporter - half the kid her parents were, for sure, sharing those pictures... who takes pictures of other peoples' toilets?

And remember when I complained about having to flush and flush and flush? Yeah, well now you understand right? Damn 'green' toilets. You gotta flush and flush and flush them, it's a mess. Horrible.

And in January when I gave them boxes, they were boxes I had never even seen before, maybe someone found them in the back of Melania's closet, that's why I didn't know anything about them. And so, they took the boxes and I thought that was it. They even got back that meteorological map of Dorian - just like I told you, Alabama was in danger the whole time! 

And then they said other stuff was missing.

And so I let the lawyers handle everything, and they all said we gave everything back, and that's what they told them, so I just assumed that there was nothing left. They even signed something, saying they had given everything back, I didn't even know we had anything, I didn't pack anything.

And then we heard from them again - good lord, don't these people have anything do to other than pester me about boxes of stuff I know nothing about? Why aren't they trying to put Crooked Hillary in jail? Why the hell aren't they publishing all the stuff off Hunter's laptop, all the Biden Crime Family stuff, instead of trying to pretend there's a Trump Crime Family? What a lie! Everything I have, I've earned the hard way, ever since I was a kid. Even my bone spurs, hard-fought battle but I got them.

'Put a new lock on the door', they said - 'it's not secure enough,' they said. So we did, and even that wasn't good enough, they wanted the camera footage and they sent a subpoena, and still we were cooperating with them, just like from the beginning when the White House Staff filled the boxes and put them in the truck and then they came and picked stuff up. 

Just like I've said all along, if they wanted the boxes back, I would have given them back, but they never asked. And once they sent the subpoena, why should I give them back the boxes? Just because they sent me a subpoena? 

I've gotten hundreds of subpoenas in my life, and I never just do what they ask me to, that's ridiculous, especially when Trump is under attack, all the time, my entire life. I've been sued more times than anyone in history! My legal files are the biggest you've never seen! They're massive, way bigger than Obama's! I can show you - mine are bigger, no question about it.

And it doesn't matter anyway, because I declassified everything - every single piece of paper, photo, post-it note, article, white paper, briefing book, eyes only piece of paper they shoved under my nose - I declassified it ALL - all at the same time. They must know that, everyone knows that - I can do it, and I did it, and all of this is stupid. Nothing is classified anymore, I declassified all of it, I stood right there over the boxes. 

Oh, wait that's not how I did it, I had no idea what was in the boxes, the staff took care of that. But I declassified everything, everything in the residence was declassified, even if it wasn't classified in the first place. 

And even if I didn't, it doesn't matter, because all of this is old stuff now, since they kicked me out of my White House in January 2021, that bastard Mike Pence, we should have hung him, just like I said. So how can something a year-and-a-half old be a threat to Our Great Country? 

Well, it was Great once, now it's a Third World Country with the libs and Sleepy Joe and Carmella and Drunk Nancy and Cryin' Chuck and the Radical Left Squad and the Woke Mob in charge - what a Mess they have made of our Beautiful Country, right? Antifa and BLM and all the rest...

And now that we've got this NEW Witch Hunt, after the Fake Russia Russia Russia and Impeachment#1 and Impeachment #2 and Mueller's Fake Witch Hunt, now we've got another one to deal with and I tell you, real Americans are just not going to stand for this anymore! We must FIGHT to get Our Great Country back again. And that's exactly what I'm going to do.

Because these documents that I never took and didn't know I had and they could have had back at any time just by asking for them and they're not top secret any longer because it's old stuff on old paper, and besides, I declassified EVERYTHING, and this RAID on my Beautiful Home, the most Beautiful, Famous home in the world, ask anyone, this Raid and this Unlawful Search - they touched Melania's clothes, can you believe that? I think one of them even put on her I Don't Care Do U? jacket, we saw that on the camera, I'm sure we did.

These are just the tip of the iceberg that's going to hit Our Country if we don't stop the woke mob, the lazy liberals who are trying to turn us into a Fourth World Country and if there weren't any of those last week, we're the first and best Country ever to become one. And don't believe any of that Climate Change crap; if it was so warm, why do we still have icebergs? And that iceberg aiming for America right now? 

Civil war, I tell you. Some people are saying we're on the verge of a civil war.

I even called Merrick Garland - and have you ever heard anyone so wimpy? His mother Judy, boy could she sing, right? He sounds like a little kid up there, trying to convince his parents he wasn't out drinking with what's her name, that Renate person... oh wait, that's a different judge, never mind. 

Anyway, Garland, I called him, asked him what I could do to calm things down after HE raided MY house, SEIZED my documents that I never had and even if I did have them, it doesn't matter because there's nothing wrong with it, and besides, I declassified everything back in January before I left Washington so I wouldn't have to be there for the Fake Inauguration of the Fake President. 

Here I am, trying to help, and what do I get? NOTHING! Merrick Garland, he didn't even take my call. We get nothing, Patriots - you and I, we get nothing. But that's all going to change. 

With your help, and your prayers, and your donations, we will Fight this Together! We Love You. You are all Beautiful, Special people. Stand back and stand by, and if you do that near an FBI office, that's even better. 

We Love You. 

And we will fight this together.

Rush your Generous Donation to the

Protect Melania's Wardrobe and Keep The "Justice" Department 

and the Liars at the FBI from Ruining Our Great Country PAC

right away (you can just ignore the highlighted box

making this a daily contribution - that's just a joke). 

We love you. And together We. Will. Save. America.

And if you donate within the next 45 minutes, we'll make sure

the President sees your name at the top of the list of America-loving Patriots.

And if yours is the lucky name he circles with his Presidential Sharpie,

you could win tickets to his next rally. 

And remember to vote against

Liz Cheney. Even if you don't live in Wyoming. 

Thank you for your support. 

You're a helluva Patriot.

Sunday School 12/26/21

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You goddamn old senile (EXPLETIVE DELETED). You're as old and ugly as Biden. You ought to get the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) off the planet, you (EXPLETIVE DELETED) foul (EXPLETIVE DELETED). They ought to (EXPLETIVE DELETED) try you for treason. (EXPLETIVE DELETED) you and every one of your scumbag (EXPLETIVE DELETED) friends. I hope your family dies in front of you. I pray to God, if you got any children, they die in your face. 

In this week's Sunday School, we learned that the diatribe above was left in a message for Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI). Dingell and her friend and colleague, Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI), stopped by CNN's State of the Union classroom via pre-taped interview.

Dana Bash hosted the two Michigan representatives, and asked about what she described as a feeling "like a hostile work environment" where things "are reaching a boiling point" on Capitol Hill.

Upton agreed, saying "It's pretty toxic. There's no question about it." He pointed to a recent situation when "one of our members had their words taken down," which only happens when someone refuses to apologize for whatever it was they said. (He could be referring to circumstances surrounding the House censure of Rep. Paul Gosar, not sure.)

Dingell said she's been getting, on average, several threats a week like the one that opened our post, dating back a couple years to when her husband, Rep. John Dingell, passed and she got put in "that Trump hate tunnel." She said the threats don't prevent her from doing her job - and she's not trying to normalize them. It's the opposite, in fact.

I want the American people to think about what's happening in our country, that this kind of hate, this fear is happening in communities across the country. You know, if you even look at that horrific shooting that killed children in our state...he was living with parents that had some of that. We need to really worry about our democracy, and find a way that you can disagree with people and do it in a civil and agreeable way. And it really does have me very worried.

Upton echoed her concerns, pointing out that there have been copycats after the Oxford shooting, so "we have had a number of schools across our state that have been closed all over because of some of the threats, one of them in my district by an 8-year-old."

They both agreed when Bash asked if they're "connecting the toxic environment on a national political level to what you're seeing on a local level."

So, are we screwed? Have we lost who we are? Is it hopeless? Nope. Dingell said she doesn't "want to be all negative here," pointing to positive experiences with constituents, and that

-- we're Fred and Debbie. We don't want to be anything but Fred and Debbie, including from you, Dana. And people talk to us, but there is a lot of fear and hatred and people scared about what's going to happen to themselves. And we need to listen to each other more. And we need to -- if you look at de Tocqueville, who came over in the early 1800s and talked about the strength of democracy, it was community. And we have got to remind ourselves, in community, that coming together really is the pillar of our democracy.

Upton noted that he worked for Sen. Bob Dole (R-KS), and how "it was a whole different climate back then."

And it was a reminder to all of us that, 'how do we get the trains to run on time?' 'How do we work together, be -- maybe disagree on issues, but not be disagreeable?' And that's -- he had the best wit, but he got things done. He had wonderful relationships with either Republicans or Democrats down at the White House or certainly with his colleagues in both the House and the Senate.

How different things are now, at least as far as we know? I say "as far as we know" because there aren't enough interviews like this one, colleagues from across the aisle talking about their shared experiences and shared outlooks, for us to think that this is the norm, and what we see in other classrooms is not the norm: A Dem followed by someone from the GOP (or vice versa), discounting both policy and personality as if there's only enmity, never amity.

Dingell noted that she and her colleagues - even Upton - could have "very strong disagreements" on policy and still be friends. Upton's response? "And I will always make her laugh at the end of it."

The final question from Bash? "What can people look to, beyond the vitriol, to see their government actually working? Is there some bright light -- or maybe dim light that you can show that exists?" Here's Dingell's take on that.

Well, I mean, I think it has to be a bright light... I have a lot of other friends on the other side of the aisle. And what we need to do is to, all of us, get back to just remembering how much we have in common, just respecting each other, treating each other with dignity. And I say to everybody, a little act of kindness towards anybody can make the difference in that person's day, week, or life.

And here's Upton's: 

As we look towards '22 coming, it's going to be a tough year. We see it in Michigan. We're the number one hot spot in terms of COVID. What can we do, working together, to try and help our hospitals, our heroes, our workers, families to make sure they don't get this? I just had a neighbor die of COVID... I mean, if we don't work together, we're not going to get this thing solved.

Bash thanked them "for this image, this discussion to show there is bipartisan discussion and relationships, even in this tumultuous time..."  

Hopefully elected officials - and yes, regular folks like you and me - found some of that 'discussion' thing and that 'relationship' thing under their Christmas trees. And before you yell at me, 'Christmas trees' here refers to the spirit of the multiple holidays people celebrate late in the year, and to the increased light that comes with the solstice, and to the sense of humanity we demonstrate in times of pain or tragedy. 

We just need to figure out how to demonstrate it before we inflict any more pain or tragedy on each other.

See you around campus.

Wondering on Wednesday 1/27/21

Ready... Set... Wonder!

Where to start the wondering tonight? 

Well, there's that happy little domestic terrorism bulletin today, from the Department of Homeland Security. 

The Acting Secretary of Homeland Security has issued a National Terrorism Advisory System (NTAS) Bulletin due to a heightened threat environment across the United States, which DHS believes will persist in the weeks following the successful Presidential Inauguration. Information suggests that some ideologically-motivated violent extremists with objections to the exercise of governmental authority and the presidential transition, as well as other perceived grievances fueled by false narratives, could continue to mobilize to incite or commit violence.

Now, DHS goes on to say that a 'bulletin' only "describes current developments or general trends," so there's no new credible threat - but if anyone doesn't believe there is a general trend here,  I wonder where they've been for the past several months, or if they were paying attention today when one of the guys charged in the plot against Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer turned on his co-conspirators and will testify against them.

Ty Garbin, 25, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to the kidnapping conspiracy, marking the first conviction in the bizarre case that made national headlines in October. Fourteen men were accused of plotting to kidnap Whitmer and discussing plans to attack the state Capitol building and a police facility, and possibly take out Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, too. Prosecutors allege the group, which included several militia group members, were frustrated over strict COVID-19 lockdown orders in Democrat-run states

I wonder how many more of these we'll learn about, through the investigations into the insurrection in DC?

And speaking of the insurrection, yesterday members of the Senate were sworn in to do "impartial justice" as jurors in the second impeachment trial of Donald Trump. One of them, Kentucky's Sen. Rand Paul, led a failed procedural vote, which is alternately described as a vote to immediately debate the constitutionality of impeaching a president that's already out of office, or declaring that the impeachment is unconstitutional. Either way, 45 Republicans voted with Paul, who declared victory even though his vote failed.  

Also wonder-full was that Mitch McConnell voted with the other Rs on Paul's motion. And, of course, that McConnell was the one who set the schedule for the Senate that precluded them from doing anything with the impeachment until after President Biden's inauguration. I wonder how seriously he wants us to take him for his comments the day before the inauguration. Let's reminisce, shall we? 

The mob was fed lies. They were provoked by the president and other powerful people. And they tried to use fear and violence to stop a specific proceeding of the first branch of the federal government which they did not like. But we pressed on.

"We pressed on." So, let's move on? I guess that what his vote means?

I wonder what House Minority leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy and the #IMPOTUS are going to chat about tomorrow at Mar-a-Lago? Trump is not a Bakersfield, CA resident and so is not one of McCarthy's constituents. And, of course, the former president is just a regular private citizen now, according to Republicans, so what's the need to go and hang with him? 

McCarthy made the news for something else, let's see.  Oh - I remember - an appearance on Fox News - shocking, I know - in which he said that Biden's first week in office (that would be three days, but who's counting) he had done more to benefit Russia and China than the United States. And that 'unity' is what the Rs are working on. Now, there's really nothing there to wonder about - he's being true to form, and Judge Jeannine is also being true to form. 

But the next day, also on Fox, we learn that Biden might be 'upsetting China.'

"Now by putting these more restrictive 'Buy American' policies in place, we are further exacerbating some of the trade problems that we've had," (Brandon Arnold) opined. "It's annoying people to the north, it's annoying other countries."

"We have to tread lightly here," ((host Ainsley) Earhardt agreed. "Because we want companies in America to do well but, also, we need [personal protective equipment] from other countries. Then we don't want to do anything to upset that relationship, maybe with China or someone else -- even though China is such a big threat."

I wonder which one of the shows I should believe? I'm so confused.

Sunday School 10/18/20 Extra Credit

For your Extra Credit, I bring you Margaret Brennan's Face the Nation interviews with current DNC head Tom Perez and former RNC head and former Trump Chief of Staff Reince Priebus.

Perez was up first; Brennan wondered about the polls, and more importantly whether the Dems had done enough to drive the kind of voter turnout, whether by mail, or early voting, or voting on Election Day.

Perez said he cautions people to "never get on the 'poller-coaster'," and that they're not taking anything for granted - and he pointed to enthusiasm "all over the country." He said Dems turning ballots in, including a whole lotta Dems who didn't vote in the last two elections.  And they're still focusing on the battleground states.

Brennan mentioned polling from Arizona showing 56% of likely voters blame the Dems more than the Rs for not getting a stimulus bill passed, and wondered if holding out for a big bill might backfire on them. Perez had a bit of an issue trying to answer this one, starting out by pointing to the Amy Coney Barrett SCOTUS nomination, and the bill the Dems passed back in May that the Rs ignored, and what not, eventually landing on how the Dems have been fighting and that this is a "health care election." Brennan pointed out that "fighting, talking and doing are two different things," and that the 'not doing' is why people were pointing fingers at the Dems. 

She moved on to a recent court loss, where the Rs won on a ruling that mail-in ballots must be received by 8PM on Election Day in Michigan, and wondered how that might impact things. Again, Perez meandered around, talking about what happened in Wisconsin back in April, and energy, and early voting and what not. But, when Brennan asked, "so, you don't see this as damaging?" here's what he had to say.

Well, I would rather-- I-- I believe democracy works better when everyone can cast their ballot and every ballot is counted. We're in an unprecedented pandemic here, and courts in other states have allowed votes that were postmarked by Election Day to be counted as long as they're received within a short period of time after Election Day. This court did it differently. I disagree categorically with that ruling. But we are moving ahead in Michigan. We're moving ahead everywhere. And again, the pandemic in Michigan-- the pandemic everywhere. This is a crisis. People understand this President has no plan. His closing argument in Michigan is "lock her up." He's fanning the flames of division. He doesn't have a plan for the coronavirus. He doesn't have a plan--for the economy. He's divisive. Joe Biden is bringing us together...People in Michigan remember that it was Joe Biden and Ba-- Barack Obama who saved the auto industry--when Republicans were letting it die.

 And that was that. Let's see how Priebus did during his turn, starting with the first question: is he concerned about the president's chances, as was reported in the Sunday paper?

No, not at all. In fact, I'm not concerned about that at all. I'm-- I'm-- I'm concerned about early vote. I'm concerned about absentee ballot voting, but I'm always worried about early vote and absentee ballot voting. I haven't reemerged. I have always been helpful to the President, helpful to the RNC. But, look, you know, early vote and where we're-- we're at in a pandemic and having five times more people vote in Florida than ever before, these are unprecedented times. The polling is all over the map. This is something that's going to come down to the wire, and I hope and expect the President to win.

About battleground states, he said poling is tough, and talked about the demographics, "working class white voters, suburban women... rural parts of the country" and how the president is winning, and

pushing thirty points ahead in rural America with enthusiasm off the charts. Yes, it's a little bit down in the suburbs. But the hard thing for these pollsters, Margaret, as you bring up, is that they can't measure this kind of disparity between the rural parts of this country and what's happening in the suburbs.

Brennan asked if he thought Trump was going to win Wisconsin, and Priebus seems to think that's the case. He compared Trump winning in 2016 after being down six-and-a-half points on average in the polls, plus the Libertarian Gary Johnson got over 100,000 votes, so it sounded like he thinks so. 

And when Brennan pointed out that Trump's base, the white, non-college-educated voter that turned out in droves for him shrinking, at current polling anyway, Priebus said 

I mean, you know, clearly, I think one of the things that you're going to see over the next couple of weeks is that the President's going to be pivoting, talking about the economy. I think this upcoming debate is going to be really important that the President is that, you know, likable, fun, have a good time. Let Joe Biden speak, and let Joe Biden defend the Obama economy. Let him defend why ISIS was running wild and burning people in cages...

They agreed it's hard to predict what's going to happen, particularly with the pandemic looming large, and that it's hurting the president with voters. In response, Priebus fell back on the go-to talking points, the China travel ban, the task force, the CARES Act, and added

Well, look, I mean, granted, Margaret. Sure, no one likes what's going on in this country. No one likes that their kids are at home and no one likes that a lot of these states are shut down by Democrat governors. That's all true-- but the question is would this person over here, Joe Biden, have done things better or differently?

He also said he thinks Thursday's debate will make a difference for the president. 

"We'll be watching," Brennan said. I'll try again, but how long I last all depends on which ring of the circus we're facing.

See you around the virtual campus. And if you submit your comments to me after the debate on Thursday, you'll really get some extra credit!

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.  

Sunday School 9/6/20

So, what was cooking in the classrooms today?  Let's wander around the halls.

Because of the focus on the upcoming election, or rather on voting in the upcoming election, I spent my time with Chuck Todd on Meet the Press.

Here's how he set the stage:  According to a new NBC News/Survey Monkey poll, 52% of Americans plan on voting early (33% by mail, 19% in person) but 54% of those who lean Republican say they'll vote in person on election day, while 71% of those leaning D plan on voting by mail or by voting in person during the early voting window. The consequences of that are our worst nightmare: Trump leads on election day because the Rs who vote in person have their votes counted right away, while the Biden camp picks up speed only as the mail-in votes get counted.  Who know what will happen under those circumstances, given the incumbent, and given the US Post Office has already told states things could be kind of scary come November, and then there's all the lawyers waiting to get involved, and so on...

Guests on the show included Republican Frank LaRose, Ohio's Secretary of State; Democrat Jocelyn Benson, who holds that same position in Michigan, and Karen Brinson Bell, the State Board of Elections director in North Carolina. Here are some highlights.

• Brinson Bell said they've "been optimistic the entire time" in NC, and that it's not her state's first rodeo with the process. She did say they're trying to get out more ballots than usual, but they had their primary (pre-COVID), they had a small election in June, and they're ready for November.
• LaRose said Ohio had an all-mail ballot primary, and they learned a lot from that, including that "our boards of elections are incredibly well positioned" to handle the absentee ballots. And, he mentioned recruiting poll workers (they need 35,000) and "getting accurate information out to voters."
• Benson said in Michigan, voters have lots of options, including voting by mail, using drop box for their ballot, voting early in person, and voting in person on election day, when all precincts will be open. She also noted that in every election this year, "turnout has doubled, putting (them) on track to have Michigan's November election be the highest turnout ever" in the state's history.

Benson said there's been "near constant communication" with postmasters and postal leaders, trying to ensure "the system works, that citizens can receive their ballots and return them on time." The drop boxes are "a workaround" for folks who aren't comfortable mailing the ballots in, or who wait until the last minute. But, she said, 

we're now also facing a perception issue. That the changes in the postal service, if nothing else, have created confusion and chaos where none existed prior. And so, the voter education and the confidence-boosting we now have to do and will do to ensure voters feel confident that their vote is sent through the mail and will count is a key part of our work moving forward.

In Ohio, La Rose said that the drop boxes are under 24-hour surveillance, and are emptied daily by a bipartisan team from the county Boards of Elections. Also, "whether they mail in their absentee ballot or whether they use the secure drop box at the Board of Elections," ballots can be tracked online the same way you can track a package. 

North Carolina's Brinson Bell said ballots started going out last Friday to nearly 600,000 voters who requested one, and that they can process absentee ballots before November 3rd, and that they count their early voting ballots, which could be 50% of the total cast. All in all, "even by the close of polls on Election Night, we may be reporting as much as 80 percent of our voter turnout and how they've chosen... at the time that the polls close."

Michigan can't do the same, Benson said - they don't start processing until Election day, but she seemed to think that Todd's question about Thanksgiving and the Michigan results to be coming together was silly. 

No, but we should be prepared for this to be closer to an Election Week, as opposed to an Election Day. I mean, the bottom line is we are not going to have the full results and a counting of all of our ballots on Election Night. We already know that. We've asked the legislature to make changes to the law to give us more ability to be prepared and count those ballots more efficiently. They have not acted for reasons that I don't fully, completely understand.

They're making changes to "more efficiently and securely count those ballots," and she said she's "laser-focused on accuracy."

And if it takes a few extra days to ensure we have a full and accurate counting of the results of every race, that's what it's going to take. And we're going to be transparent throughout that whole process to make sure every citizen knows exactly where we are in the counting process and how many more ballots we have to get through.

And in response to Todd's question about concerns "people may take the delay in getting all the results in Michigan to declare a phony winner?" she said she had concerns, 

But to me, that's just going to be another example of the type of misinformation and disinformation that we're seeing multiple ways from multiple platforms and voices in this election cycle. So, we're going to counter that misinformation with truth and accuracy.

Being "that source of trusted information," of facts and data, is going to be important for all of the folks in charge of elections this year, 

as we seek to cut through lots of different rhetoric that's going to only be increasing in the weeks coming up to Election Day and beyond.

Frank LaRose was asked about a bill submitted by Florida's Sen. Marco Rubio that would change the date electors meet, pushing it out a few weeks to January 2nd, because "states may need more time. They may need more time to certify and don’t -- it's an artificial date, the December 14th. It’s not in the Con -- you can shift that around." 

La Rose said Ohio's electors are planning on meeting on December 14th, and that they count ballots on Election Night, and report an "unofficial tabulation." They'll count everything that was legally cast, they'll count everything "over the next 10 days" after Election Day.

We're even changing the way that our Election Night reporting is done on our website to make it clear that there still may be tens or hundreds of thousands of outstanding absentee ballots. We expect those to come back in. Whether it's one of my former military teammates who's serving overseas, or maybe an Ohioan that just procrastinated and waited till the last minute, as long as those ballots are legally cast, they deserve to be counted. And so again, Election Night, yeah, we'll give a snapshot of those results. But the final tabulation is what really matters.

I don't always agree with Chuck Todd, but today I did, when he said

I appreciate all of you. Good luck. We're all counting on all three of you doing an outstanding job. This is one case where, regardless of party, everybody wants all three of you to succeed. 

Indeed we are - them, and all of their counterparts, regardless of their redness or blueness.  

See you around the virtual campus, masks on as always.

Sunday School Extra Credit 5/3/20

In our Sunday School post this week, we heard from five governors In this Extra Credit post, we'll give the medical folks their turn.

First up? Dr. Deborah Birx, who talked with Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday. Now Birx has been a regular on the shows, replacing Dr. Fauci as the face of Trump's medical and household disinfectant task force, so we'll move here stuff pretty quickly. (As an aside, I miss Dr. Fauci.)

• She thinks the gating criteria and the phased reopening guidelines are a "pretty firm policy" even though no state has met them and many are reopening anyway. And she said that states have been asked to make all of their data public, including where they are with the gating criteria. She pointed to Florida, a state that has had issues around reporting COVID-19 data, as a example of a state doing that right.
• Protesting without masks is "devastatingly worrisome" to her personally, and people need to protect each other while voicing discontent. We'll have to see if that happens; it seems unlikely based on what we've seen so far.
• On paper, at least, it's possible there'll be a vaccine by January of 2021, by moving forward with multiple candidates and compressing the phases without sacrificing safety. But, "it's whether we can execute, and execute around the globe."  

Next up we have Dr. Tom Inglesby talking with Chuck Todd on MTP. Inglesby's from the Center for Health Security at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He expressed some concern about states moving forward, while recognizing that they're not all the same from a COVID-19 standpoint. He focused on areas being able to "rapidly isolate and trace contacts" and diagnose everyone who has symptoms of the virus as being the 'least risky" places to begin reopening. He said it's going to be two or three weeks before we'll know the impact of the reopening, due to the incubation period of the virus.

He said that "it's like a patchwork across the country" in terms of access to and "the operations around" testing, in contrast to what the White House has maintained. He noted in some places the percentage of people testing positive is very low, while in others it's very high, and said "that's worrisome." And more diagnostic testing is important because we're not capturing the mildly or moderately sick folks now, so we "can't break their chains of transmission."

Finally, on whether he's worried about a "bad fall outcome" if we don't see advancements on treatment or a vaccine, Inglesby is worried even before we get to fall. 

Nothing has changed in the underlying dynamics of this virus. If we stop social distancing all together tomorrow, we would recreate the conditions that existed in the country in February and March. So what we need to do is continue, to our best possible effort, all the individual efforts we're making around social distancing...the extent to which we're able to do that over the next couple of months will dictate how we do as states and as a country.

Because, as he reminded us, in the fall we'll still have COVID and we'll have the flu, at the same time, and together they'll impact hospitalizations, and

...I don't think people should think that there will be a lull. That just because the summer's coming we're going to have a lull before the fall. It'd be wonderful if that happens. But I don't think we should at all assume that at this point given the nature of this virus. 

Dr. Ingelsby was not the only expert sitting down with Chuck; he also talked with Dr. Scott Harris from the Alabama Department of Public Health and Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, who's with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

Harris said that they reopened in Alabama in a very gradual way, not a full 'phase 1' thing like was in the WH guidelines, given how things were going there. He also said that testing is "really unevenly distributed" with folks in rural areas facing more barriers, such as transportation or access to a health care provider.

In Michigan, Dr. Khaldun said, they have seen burdens on hospitals, capacity not being where it needs to be and testing also falling a little short. He's "cautiously optimistic" but they "need to be very careful." They're looking at regional data on a daily basis, tracking outbreaks, and also paying attention to hospital capacity and what not - basically, every region of the state is different.

Chuck asked them if they were feeling pressure to move things along and speed things up. While Khaldun said no, Harris said the pressure is "significant," noting that lots of folks in his state don't have an option to make a living now, and they need to try and "balance the health of the economy with the health of average Alabamians." He agreed that, with Georgia being more aggressive with reopening, they have to be careful and he plans to watch what happens there closely. And, he said,

...we certainly will consider dialing things back if we see an increase in cases... I think that's the approach - that probably all states would want to take.

And finally, Chuck had Sir John Bell, from Oxford University to talk about a vaccine that's being tested there that shows some promise - and is ahead of some of the other vaccine projects. Referring to a colleague saying there was an 80% chance their vaccine would be "at least somewhat successful, in the next year," Bell was a little bit more circumspect. He said that was high, but the likelihood of success goes up every day.

They're looking to start some human trials, so they need to be able to test where there are outbreaks. Bell said there's no shortage of disease in the UK, and they've already given the vaccine to around 1,000 people, but they want to ramp up quickly.

We've consolidated a phase one and two programs because we are pretty confident that the vector itself is safe because it's been used in about 5,000 people already up to now. So that's allowed us to really accelerate the phase one program, and we hope that there would be enough disease that we would get evidence that the vaccine has efficacy by the beginning of June.

Chuck wondered if there was any chance their drug could be used as a therapeutic if it doesn't work as a vaccine, or how helpful the therapeutics like remdesivir are in terms of developing a vaccine.
Bell said remdesivir works completely differently than what they're doing, so there's probably no connection between them, but "both could be helpful steps" to get the virus under control.

On whether everyone's going too fast, and if safety protocols could be overlooked and what's being done to prevent that, Bell said that the efficacy of the vaccine, to generate "strong antibody responses" is good, but "the real question is whether the safety profile's going to be fine." And that's what the clinical studies focus on. They did all the preclinical work, he said, including "mouse, ferret, primate" tests which it sounds like some others might not have done.

And now, we're being very careful in the clinic to try and monitor exactly what's happening. But, you know, that doesn't mean there won't be safety signals, because there may well be. And we'll be on the alert to see if we can see them.

He said that there'll be data on the primate tests this week, referring to it as "an important milestone." After that, they'll look to see whether the vaccine worked to "largely eliminate" the disease in test group compared to a placebo group. 

...we'll probably get a signal based on current levels of the disease. We'll probably get a signal in early June. We're ready to move trials overseas if the disease peters out in the U.K. So we've got sites already in play in other bits of the world where it's active. So we're pretty sure we'll get a signal by June about whether this works or not.

And whether this will be like the annual flu vaccine, or just used to protect against this particular coronavirus, Bell said

... I suspect we may need to have relatively regular vaccinations against coronaviruses going into the future. That... of course remains to be seen, but that's my bet at the moment, is that this is likely to be a seasonal coronavirus vaccine.

 So, there you have it, from a host of experts:

• reopening is going to happen (hopefully carefully and with respect the relevant regional data), whether we're ready for it or not;
• we're not going to see a national policy on who can do what when, all we have are the guidelines we've already been given;
• there's a chance we'll see a vaccine sooner than later, although we don't know what kind it is; and
• we must continue to practice social distancing for the foreseeable future. 

You know the drill - wash your hands, cover your face, keep your distance - and I'll see you around the virtual campus.