Wondering on Wednesday 4/13/22

Ready... Set... Wonder!

Do you think, if people ever got their heads out of Hunter Biden's laptop, they might wonder how on earth Jared Kushner managed to get his hands on $2,000,000,000 of sovereign money from Saudi Arabia for his new private equity fund, called Affinity Partners?

Do you think wonder how Kushner got the investment, against the better judgment of the panel that screens investment opportunities for the Saudi billions, and why that panel was overruled by Jared's WhatsApp messaging friend, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, given these issues:

the "inexperience of the Affinity Fund management"; the possibility that the kingdom would be responsible for “the bulk of the investment and risk”; due diligence on the fledgling firm’s operations that found them “unsatisfactory in all aspects”; a proposed asset management fee that “seems excessive”; and “public relations risks” from Mr. Kushner’s prior role as a senior adviser to his father-in-law, former President Donald J. Trump...

I wonder if any of them ever think about why they're so quick to find fault with inexperienced, unqualified oh-what-a-jerk-he-is Hunter Biden currying favor with other countries while his father was a senator or even when he was vice president, and don't give a MAGA-hat's worth of crap about what Jared is doing now? And may have done before, in his role as an official representative of the United States? 

I wonder why the jerks who get in fights on airplanes because oh-the-horror-they-have-to-wear-a-mask don't just pack their families and their freedom into the SUV and drive to wherever the heck they want to be, instead of getting on a plane in the first place?

I wonder if Mark Meadows regrets saying his official residence was a rusty trailer on Scaly Mountain? He's been removed from the voter rolls in NC, the state where "his" trailer lives, while an investigation is conducted into potential voter fraud. Or, if he at least regrets the 'Scaly Mountain' part?

Lauren Boebert, who represents a couple of people somewhere, I guess, wondered out loud about the recent election in France.

The socialist nation of France held elections today.

In that election there was no mail-in voting, early voting, or use of voting machines.

There was a mandatory proof of ID to vote.

Why can’t we get that basic election security here?

I wonder if she's figured out yet that we can't do here what they do there, because (a) we're not a socialist nation, (b) we don't have one set of election rules that everyone must follow, (c) we don't have automatic voter registration, and (d) she doesn't want us to be or have any of those things?

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott bused illegal immigrants to Fox News in Washington DC so their 'coming to America' moment could be memorialized for eternity. He also set up state inspections of commercial vehicles crossing the Texas/Mexico border through legal checkpoints in another stunt to draw attention to the border, immigration, and how effective he is as governor, or something. 

He's so effective, he's causing his own set of supply chain issues, much to the dismay of truckers, the Customs and Border Protection folks, the Mexican government and, you know, consumers everywhere. 

Oh - did I mention the truckers blocking the Mexican side, in protest of Abbott's initiative? I wonder if Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Cancun) will go visit the truckers and share their 'Freedom from Stupid Texas Mandates' message with right-wing media outlets? Or was that only good for his home country of Canada?

What are you wondering about tonight?

Sunday School 9/5/21: Extra Credit

For your Extra Credit this week, we're talking COVID. 

Why? As schools here in my neck of the woods prepare to open this week, schools in the early-opening states are already in the thick of the COVID quagmire, with at least 1,000 from 31 states reportedly having stopped in-person learning, and over 10,000 students and staff across 14 states exposed to the virus - and that was as of mid-August. School board meetings are becoming battlegrounds as parents fight mask mandates, vaccine requirements, and 'fascism' being perpetrated on them by their neighbors on the boards.

Here are some highlights from the Meet the Press classroom, where Mr. Both Sides Now, Chuck Todd, talked with governors Andy Beshear (D-KY) and Larry Hogan (R-MD). They've both got veto-proof legislatures - of the opposite party - in their states, which makes things interesting, to say the least.

Beshear said if he had the ability to do it, there'd be a mask mandate in his state, where they're setting case records and hospitalization records, but he's been limited by the legislature on that. What he has done, though, is send the National Guard to help hard-hit hospitals with logistics, and they've taken over testing in those hospitals, so staff can be freed up to do patient care. And, they've got FEMA teams, and are deploying nursing students to help with staffing.

We are hit very, very hard. But we are going to continue to fight. When you're at war, you don't get to cry about what you can or can't do. You've got to do your very best every day because this is a battle of life versus death.

Meanwhile, Maryland has one of the highest vaccine rates in the country, something Hogan is very proud of; 81% of all eligible folks, and 95% of seniors, are vaccinated. In response to Chuck playing the 'if yours was a red state, that wouldn't have happened' card, Hogan noted there have been "tremendous disinformation campaigns, and people are believing things that are simply not true,"

but it's not just in the red areas where we're having difficulties. We're one of the states with the highest percentage of minority populations. And in some of our urban areas, we have similar challenges. But we're doing really well. And I'm pleased with the results of where we are. It's convincing those last, you know, 19 percent of our people that they've got to take action. That's where we're focused on.

Chuck asked Beshear if there are just some people that won't listen to him, and if he's looking to get others involved in trying to convince folks to get the vaccine. Beshear pointed out that misinformation isn't a red or blue issue, it's a "fact versus fiction, or a sometimes sane versus insane issue."

We are well past, I think ... across America, the populations that are going to listen to a government official and take the vaccine because of it. We're probably past even the point where a local official, a pastor or others. Where I think we're at is where people are going to have to break that Thanksgiving dinner rule. They're going to have to call or go see that person they love and care about that is unvaccinated, and they're going to have to put their relationship with that person on the line because they've never been at greater risk. And I think it's that type of caring, and the person who is willing to do that and to make that sacrifice that will finally get through to those that are not vaccinated. That's what we're seeing here in Kentucky. And we need all Americans to do it. Yes, you might lose a friend because of that conversation.

Next, Chuck said that "it's clear the Biden administration can't speak to those folks that need to be spoken to," referring to supporters of Former Guy, and asked Hogan who should speak to them, and for his advice for the COVID task force on "how to talk to the Trump folks."  Hogan said he's been critical of both the Trump and Biden administrations when he "thought they were bad on messaging" and otherwise not being helpful. 

I mean, we're getting some mixed messaging out of the administration, out of the CDC, the FDA, and the White House. And, you know, we need clear guidance on these booster shots because it undermines, you know, the credibility of it. And so, they came out with -- I guess they slipped and pre-leaked an announcement about booster shots with all three vaccines and then had to backtrack it and say you can only use Pfizer. What about the people that took J&J? What about the people that took Moderna? They haven't messaged properly about how to take care of these breakthrough infections. Like, look, it does prevent hospitalizations and death, or greatly reduce it. But it's not stopping, you know, people from getting breakthrough infections. So, I think the messaging was not clear with either administration. And I think that's one of the ways we've been successful in our state is a clear, direct messaging that people can believe in and listen to. And that's been a problem all over the map.

No argument with Hogan from me on this - messaging has been an issue from the very beginning of the pandemic, both on the side of "let's minimize this so we don't crush the economy" side and on the "OH. EM. GEE. The sky is LITERALLY falling and it going to hit us in the head!" side. And on all the other sides of the pentacontagon. 

The final portion of the interview touched on the Texas abortion bill, which I covered in yesterday's Sunday School post, and on "the larger challenge of polarization," as Chuck described it. I should note that this was the part of the conversation Todd said he was "lifting up" and "going to play political analyst" for, both of which I thought were mildly amusing. 

Both of you have benefited when the other party went too far, right? I could argue that's why you're both governor today. Certainly why you may have a second term, Governor Hogan, and why, Governor Beshear, you're there. Is that the only way to cut through polarization, Governor Hogan? Is when the other party goes too far and then the voters create a check? Is that about it? Because it doesn't seem as if the middle ground gets represented unless one party goes too far.

Hogan said Todd had an "interesting idea, and that it was possible" that's what happened in Maryland. He referenced the 43 consecutive tax increases implemented by his Democratic predecessor), saying "even the Democrats go frustrated" about that.

...but I think right now in America, there are certainly people on both ends of the extremes, on the left and the right, who get all of the attention. The ones that are making the most noise. And that's what we hear about when we're watching television. But about 70% of the people actually just are somewhere in the middle. They're moderate or right of center, left of center. They really want their elected officials to try to figure out a way to do something about this toxic politics. And they want us to work together to come up with real bipartisan, common-sense solutions. Turns out that's the most popular thing in America with most voters.

Regular readers may recall that I've previously referred to Gov. Hogan as my favorite Republican. I don't always agree with him, but I never argue with his understanding of what us purple folks in the middle want: common sense, collaborative efforts from the people we elect. 

Is that where you are on this stuff? Or are you out there in the noisy wings? Let's talk.

See you around campus. 

Sunday School 3/7/21: Extra Credit

At the end of Sunday School I promised I'd have some of the COVID discussions from yesterday's classrooms, so let's dive in. First up? Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, who spoke with Jake Tapper on CNN's State of the Union. 

On him relaxing guidelines in his state, Reeves said the people who've been saying for a year to follow the data "now want me, when things are going down, to completely ignore the data." He said he's "less concerned about the number of cases and more concerned about our objective," which has never been to be virus-free. Rather, it's to "ensure we protect the integrity of our health care system" and that anyone who gets the virus gets good care.

And, he said, they are trying to protect both lives and livelihoods, as he ignored Tapper's question about the surge in cases and deaths that happened the last time he lifted the mask mandate. He trusts his citizens to "make good decisions."  Reeves continues to not only recommend people wear masks, he encourages it, saying

If you have not received the vaccination, and you are going into a large crowd, or if you're going out to dinner, I strongly encourage Mississippians and people across the country to wear a mask, because I believe that it does, in fact, reduce the ability of individuals to spread the virus. No question about that, Jake.

Notably, only about 9% of Mississippians have been fully vaccinated, according to Tapper, but Reeves said they did 28,000 on Friday, and they're doing a lot better now than in the past. 

Dr. Ashish Jha, from Brown University's School of Public Health, is a regular on ABC, and he was in the This Week classroom with Martha Raddatz. She asked him about teachers still not wanting to get back in the classroom. He advocated for teachers being prioritized, and said he believes

most teachers are going to be perfectly willing to go back. It's safe for them. It's safe for the kids. There may always be some outliers. But we have to deal with that. I think there's no question of public health and safety when we think about vaccinated teachers in schools with good policies.

He also questioned states lifting the mask mandates, saying that "is not just about personal choice" and comparing it to impaired driving. 

 -- if I were to drink and get behind the wheel of a car, it's not just a personal choice that I'd be putting my life at risk, I'd be putting other people's lives at risk. That's why we have laws against that kind of behavior. When you wear a mask, you're not just protecting yourself, you're protecting people around you.

He's still optimistic on "what the summer will bring" in terms of getting back to normal; we'll have "plenty of vaccines for everybody and most Americans will have gotten vaccinated" by then. The changes made in Texas, Mississippi and other places can slow that timeline down, and put people at risk of getting infected - and dying.

And given how close we are to the finish line, anybody who gets infected today and dies in three or four weeks is somebody who would have gotten vaccinated a month from now. This is why it's urgent to just keep going for a little bit longer. I think a lot of these restrictions can start coming down later April, certainly by May, but not right now. 

And finally, Chuck Todd talked with White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Jeff Zients on Meet the Press. Chuck asked about the difference between "having enough vaccine for every adult American" and getting every adult American a shot. In fact, Chuck asked the question twice, without getting a real answer - the best he got was 

So, our goal is to get as many Americans, all Americans, vaccinated as efficiently and as fast as possible. But I want to emphasize equity and fairness is as important as speed and efficiency.

They also talked about people maybe holding out for the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines instead of the Johnson & Johnson one. Zients said we have "three safe and very effective vaccines" and that folks should take the first one they're offered, and that the administration is working to ensure even distribution of all three of them.

They also talked about vaccine equity, with Chuck sharing that the most African-American ward in DC, which has the most COVID deaths, is not getting the most vaccines. Zients is aware that type of thing is happening "in too many parts of the country" and it's unacceptable, it's not fair and it's not equitable. 

We need to bring vaccines to people where they are, which is why community health centers are so important. They serve over 30 million Americans. Two-thirds of those that use community health centers live below the poverty line. Sixty percent come from communities of color.

The community health centers, the mobile units, and the pharmacy program are also focused on hard-hit areas. He also said they're working with states on vaccine supply, access issues, and support for folks trying to get signed up.

Many governors and states have improved their access. But we need equal access across the board. We need to fix this problem. We need to hold ourselves accountable to both speed and efficiency, but fairness and equity in the distribution of the vaccine.

See you around campus. Please get vaccinated as soon as you're able, and keep making good decisions about mask-wearing and social distancing. 

Sunday School 11/15/20: Extra Credit

In this week's Sunday School, I focused on the Georgia Senate runoffs. For your Extra Credit, I wanted to spend some time with the experts and the pandemic. 

First up: Dr. Michael Osterholm, from the University of Minnesota, now a member of the Biden COVID Advisory Board. He told Chuck Todd on MTP that, at least for the next three weeks, the numbers are going to continue going way up because there are people "in the pipeline, meaning they're already infected." Still, he said, "our future's in our hands."

Right now, he said, the goal is to try and get through to summer when we'll have the vaccines and that we need to "focus on what's going to make that difference" to allow us to get there. And that's going to take a different approach - a national one, to help the state and local officials.

You see the governors struggling right now. They want help. I have actually talked to five governors in the last two days, all of whom said, "Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could all at least be on the same page? But right now, you've got -- my state is surrounded by four other states and they all have different recommendations.” That, by itself, is what we're talking about -- standardizing how we're all going to approach this. This virus doesn't care what party you are. It doesn't care where you live. We have to understand that that's what we have to work on right now.

As to how close we are to the breaking point of our health care system, he said his worst fear is we end up like other countries, 

People literally were dying in the waiting room of emergency rooms after spending ten hours just waiting to be seen. That's going to start happening. The media will start reporting it and we will see the breadth and the depth of this tragedy. That, I hope, will not be the way that we finally decide to reduce our risk, this idea of swapping air. We've got to stop doing that. And so, I think it is the health care system’s breaking, literally breaking, that will unfortunately bring us to a sense of reality of what we must do in the short term.

If we have a few more weeks of our current level of activity, that will happen here, he said.

Dr. Anthony Fauci talked with Jake Tapper on CNN's SOTU; he hoped that we would double down on wearing masks, hand washing, social distancing and avoiding crowds, knowing that we've got good news on vaccines but it will take a little time to get them. And, he agreed, it's possible we could see another 200,000 deaths in the next four months.

He also said that additional lockdowns "will likely happen" but not a national lockdown.

...I think what we are going to start seeing in the local levels, be they governors or mayors or people at the local level, will do, as you said, very surgical-type of restrictions, which are the function equivalent of a local lockdown. But we're not going to have a national lockdown. But if things really get bad, and you put your foot on the pedal, and yet still you have the surge, you may need to take the extra step that you're talking about.

Having effective vaccines on the horizon - Pfizer is likely asking the FDA for an Emergency Use Authorization, and the Moderna vaccine may be even more effective than Pfizer's - is great, but Fauci pointed out,

...we have to get people to take the vaccine. So, if we get the overwhelming majority of people taking the vaccine, and you have, on the one hand, an effective vaccine, on the other hand, a high degree of uptake of the vaccine, we could start getting things back to relative normal as we get into the second and third quarter of the year, where people can start thinking about doing things that were too dangerous just months ago.

But, he cautioned, just wishing those things were so isn't enough. We have to make it happen, and he emphasized, again, we have to do the "fundamental public health things" to get us where we want to be.  

And, on the lack of cooperation with President-elect Biden's team, Fauci was clear.

... it's very clear that that transition process that we go through, that time period of measured in several weeks to months, is really important in a smooth handing over of the information, as well as -- it's almost like passing a baton in a race -- you don't want to stop and then give it to somebody. You want to just essentially keep going. And that is what transition is. So, it certainly would make things more smoothly if we could do that.

As a public health measure, it's "obvious" that it would be better for the American people if the teams worked together. 

Martha Raddatz had Adm. Brett Giroir of the current administration's Coronavirus Task Force, and Dr. Atul Gawande of the incoming administration's Covid-19 Advisory Board in the classroom at This Week.

Giroir was first, and he too expressed optimism about the Pfizer vaccine, saying it "is a game-changer. It will bring an end game to the pandemic," but also noted cases are up, hospitalizations are up, and mortality is up.

We know what to do, he said: physically distance, wear a mask, and said

We're going to have to do things like limit attendance or close bars, close indoor restaurants, because that's very important. If we do these things, combined with the testing that we have, we can flatten the curve. If we do not do these things, the cases will continue to go up.

He also said "we could have 20 million doses" of the vaccine by the end of this month, and a similar number by the end of December.  

Raddatz asked him about getting people to do things we need to do, and he said "we all have to communicate very clearly that the science is clear, the evidence is overwhelming, whether you want to look at microbiological data or you want to look at epidemiology, city by city, state by state, country by country, that masks do work."

So, across the board, whether these are local mandates, whether these are voluntary, whether these are public service messages, we have to have the American people wear a mask when you can't physically distance. 

Raddatz noted there's one person who's not shouting that message, but Giroir wasn't concerned about that, because Pence and other Cabinet members are engaged. And on the transition, specifically on the head of Operation Warp Speed asking to be allowed to contact the Biden team, the only thing that was missing was the chicken to go with his waffles.

I can say, from my point of view, that the GSA controls the transition process. My team, all the docs that work for us, we want to be extremely transparent. We are extremely transparent with the media, with outside experts, with public health experts, some of which are actually on team Biden advisers.

Asked for a simple yes or no, "is it important to be able to talk to the Biden team at this point?"

Look. I want to be as transparent as possible with everybody. This is not a political issue. This is an issue of public health and saving American lives. And I think there's nothing more important than that. 

So, sorta kinda "yes," but definitely not, "Yes, it's critical and I'm going to press the White House to let us do exactly that."  Got it.

Moving to Dr. Gawande, Raddatz started by asking what he thought of Giroir's comments on the transition. He said he could hear in Giroir's voice that he wants to share the info.

Look, working with the (Biden) transition team, they are...ready to go, and are getting all of the information they can. But it's in the nation's interest that the Transition Team get the threat assessments that the team knows about... understand the vaccine distribution plan, need to know where the stockpiles are, what the status of masks and gloves. There's a lot of information that needs to be transmitted. It can't wait until the last minute. 

On stopping the surge, Gawande says first we need "a clear voice from the top backing the national comprehensive plan. And we've lacked that." We'll have that going forward. Second? Wear a mask. And, about the 'freedom' argument?

What I would say and I want to say to those citizens (who oppose masks) is simply that when a person goes into a store and does not wear a mask, when they go to a public gathering and they're not wearing a mask, they're hurting everyone's freedom. They are putting people in danger. Moreover, they are turning people away from shops and stores and that's hurting jobs. That is the critical mix of things. Opposing masks is like opposing washing hands, it's not political. We can pull together. We can do this.  

She asked him to clarify whether or not there'll be a nationwide lockdown (which Dr. Osterholm mentioned last week). He said they're not supportive of it and there's not a scenario that would make that necessary, "because we can get this under control."

The critical parts are understanding what we've learned since we did a nationwide lockdown in early April. And that is, that you can have targeted measures building on mask-wearing to include widespread testing, to include dialing up and dialing down capacity restrictions, and those measures need to happen on a more localized basis.

He pointed to NY's zip code-by-zip code restrictions, which is "quite effective. We do not need to go to a nationwide shelter-in-place shutdown."

So, when you hear the president say it's definitely going to happen, tell him to put it in his pipe and smoke it. And remind your friends that it was the Trump Administration that put in place the nationwide lockdown that we had earlier this year. If you do that, I'll give you even more extra credit. 

See you around campus - mask on, of course.

Wondering on Wednesday 10/14/20

 

Ready... Set... Wonder!

Where to start with this week's wondering? Well, there's the Amy Coney Barrett hearings in the Senate, where (at least yesterday, anyway) many of the questions were silly (what's on your notepad, young lady? And whatever it was that Sen. Mazie Hirono was talking about, for example). Today, many of the questions from both sides were about the Affordable Care Act, which several Republican state Attorneys General sued to toss out. One of those states? Indiana, Barrett's home state. 

I mention that, because according to a few reports, she said she didn't know that Trump ran on, and continues to run on, getting rid of the ACA. I wonder how anyone in a state that's part of the suit to kill it can pretend to be unaware of his position, certainly not someone who was just appointed to the bench in 2017 - during, of course, the Trump administration... How stupid do they think we are, I wonder?

If you're of a certain age, you probably remember the threat of things being put on your permanent record...And today, with a particularly insane tweet from the president mocking the elderly, the infirm, residents of senior housing, nursing homes, rehab centers, and, of course, Joe Biden, I thought of the old 'permanent record' thing. And I wonder what it will be like for folks in the future to read through our history, from Bush to Obama to Trump, and wonder what the hell happened to our country? And I wondered how weird it would be to look at that permanent record, at some point in the future, and find out what happened to the person who added all this crap to it.  

 

I also have to wonder, only for about three seconds or so, why the powers that be on the peacock network decided to host a town hall meeting with IMPOTUS at the same time Joe Biden is doing a town hall on another network. Three, two, one, money. Simple, right?  I mean, it's not because they feel a compelling desire to have Americans hear from Trump, the man who never shuts up. It's not that they are at all interested in having people hear from Joe Biden, because they don't care about that, either. On the plus side?  Nah, there is no plus side. 

My Sweet Baboo and I went for our third and likely final fall foliage road trip of 2020 today, and there came a time when finding 'facilities' and food was more important than looking at pretty stuff. We stopped at a diner we've driven by without stopping at least a couple dozen times over the years. I don't have to wonder anymore about the food - it was delish. The facilities? Clean, well appointed and not in use when we arrived - a huge plus.  

Two gentlemen and  'face coverings required for entry' signs attracted my attention.  Gentleman A came in with who appeared to be his wife and two kids, fully and appropriately masked. However, his mask was tucked firmly against the underside of his nostrils. Gentleman B, one of two who arrived together on separate motorcycles, apparently didn't have a mask or doesn't wear one, but he tried to rise to the occasion today by holding his t-shirt in his teeth and tucking his nose down so it pointed into his shirt. 

And I wonder, first of all, why they thought what they were doing was appropriate and in keeping with the requirement? And secondly, why did the waitress allow them to come in when clearly the potentially dangerous parts of their faces were uncovered? And finally, specifically regarding Gentleman B, how on earth did I keep from busting out laughing? 

I wonder about other stuff too, like what a crushing blow it must have been to the president when Snitty Snitty Bill Barr's DOJ investigation into the 'unmasking' of Michael Flynn ended with no substantive findings and no charges - in effect, a highly awaited "October Surprise" that wasn't. Trump has repeatedly said that Barr is either "going down as the greatest AG in the history of our country, or he'll go down as just a regular guy." I doubt the latter will happen, after his shenanigans and statements and obfuscations and all that, but Trump can dream, I guess. I mean, clearly he does that, right? No need to wonder about that at all.

And finally, we learned today that Barron Trump also had tested positive for the coronavirus, but has since tested negative. I'm happy about that, I really am. I'd wondered about his health during the time that both his parents were infected with COVID. I'd also wondered about Melania's health as well, since we were not hearing about that. Today we learned that she has now tested negative for the virus, and I'm happy about that, too.  

When the president was asked about Barron, after Melania's note was published on the White House website, his answer? "Barron's fine. And Amy's doing a fantastic job, and we're heading out to Iowa, and we have a big rally, a lot of people, as always, but we have a lot of people and we look forward to it. Again, Amy I think is doing an incredible job." I can't help wondering what it feels like to be the person the question was actually about.

What's got you wondering tonight?

TGIF 9/18/20

Ready for some good week/bad week stuff?

If you're the island nation of Puerto Rico, a US territory that's "surrounded by water, big water, ocean water," and you've been waiting for the president of the United States to respond appropriately to a hurricane that happened three years ago, congratulations - this is your lucky day!

Yep -- it seems that, with a little more than 46 days before voting ends on November 3rd -- the president has found a way to send $13 billion dollars in aid to the island, with most of it designated for repairs and upgrades to the power grid.  And, in his typical modest way, Trump president downplayed his own role in things.

I have to say, in a very nice way, a very respectful way - I'm the best thing that ever happened to Puerto Rico. Nobody even close.

He's right on one thing: nobody even close to the cad who threw paper towels to the crowd in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Maria, I have to say, in a very nice way, a very respectful way.

Who else, let's see... How about the CDC? If you've been exposed to coronavirus, but you don't have any symptoms, don't bother getting a test, unless of course you've been exposed to coronavirus but you don't have any symptoms, you better get yourself tested! 

I can't even imagine what it must be like to be a scientist or medical professional at the CDC these days, these months, putting up with the incessant drip drip drip of antagonism from the president, constantly sowing his seeds of doubt about your expertise, your experience, your job, your role in helping promote and preserve public health in the country, which is subservient to his role in tooting his own damn horn and promoting and preserving his chances for re-election. I can't even imagine.

The Big 10 will be playing football this year after all, although not a full slate, or even ten big games per team. And that the schools in the conference revisited a decision they said would not be revisited says something about them that is, well, less than ideal, according to this op-ed in USA Today.

And how are they doing it? With a mountain of daily antigen tests, special delivery for Big Ten football teams only. Rapid tests for football players, but apparently not for the elderly in Ann Arbor or Columbus or Evanston, or for school children and teachers in Bloomington or New Brunswick or Minneapolis, or for students paying for their education amid the outbreaks in East Lansing or Madison or College Park...

Or, there's this: 

Or, we could call it the Trumpeting of the Big Ten. It was just two weeks ago that Trump, desperate to win votes in Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania, told the conference to play football. Originally, the league stood its ground. Rutgers president Jonathan Holloway aptly called it “cheap politics.” But wouldn’t you know, the university presidents ended up following right along, giving Trump exactly what he wanted.

The presidents plural deny caving to Trump, who nonetheless took at least partial credit, tweeting how he helped make it happen.  

One thing that he probably helped make not happen? An effort by the US Postal Service to send 650 million masks through the mail in an effort to try and reach all Americans, which was nixed by the White House, it seems. 

"There was concern from some in the White House Domestic Policy Council and the office of the vice president that households receiving masks might create concern or panic,” one administration official said in response to the scrapped mask plan.

My guess? Similar to the whole thing with mail-in voting, mailing out masks could lead to rampant fraud, right? You know - people in Red states wearing masks and protecting themselves and others from the coronavirus.

And I also can't even imagine what the coming days will bring, as we learn tonight of the passing of the Notorious RBG, Associate Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. May she rest peacefully. 

And let's remember these two words: Merrick Garland.

TGIF, everyone.