Crooked Media - What A Day: Yawn with the Wind

Wednesday, June 10, 2020
BY SARAH LAZARUS & CROOKED MEDIA

-WH Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, about someone other than her boss

The U.S. remains in the throes of an uncontained coronavirus outbreak, yet states continue to reopen and President Trump has lost all interest in protecting the health and safety of American citizens. This has fallen far enough under the radar that today a CDC official straight up reminded everyone, “we are still in a pandemic.”

 
  • The U.S. surpassed 2 million coronavirus cases today, with case numbers on the rise in at least 21 states. Arizona, which began reopening on May 15, has seen a spike so alarming that state health officials have called on hospitals to “fully activate” their emergency plans to increase ICU capacity. To make matters worse, inconsistent data reporting means we don’t know how dramatic many of those increases really are. At least 24 states have not been following the CDC’s guidelines on reporting probable coronavirus cases. Those states include some of the largest: California, Florida, North Carolina, and New York.
     
  • With about 1,000 Americans confirmed to be dying from the coronavirus each day, and new hot spots emerging across the country, the Trump administration has simply stopped talking about it. It’s now been over a month since the White House ended its daily coronavirus briefings (which, okay, small blessings). Trump rarely joins his own coronavirus task force, which now meets only twice a week, Dr. Anthony Fauci and other top health officials have largely disappeared from national television, and Trump is prepared to resume campaign rallies next week. The result is a confusing messaging environment that will give many Americans the false impression that the crisis is over. 
     
  • This is, of course, exactly what Trump wants. Addressing the new surges in case numbers last week, Trump once again blamed those pesky, meddling tests: “Remember this: When you have more tests, you have more cases. I say to my people: Every time we test, you find cases because we do more testing.” Public-health experts are in agreement that the surges are real, and attributable to relaxed social-distancing requirements. But since he brought up testing, let’s note that states are still scrambling to figure out how to ramp up testing without federal coordination, and the resulting variations in test reliability and policies governing who can get tested have made reopening decisions all the more difficult.

The good news is, there’s increasing evidence that widespread mask use can help mitigate the virus’s spread. 
 

  • The bad news is, the president convinced a swath of his followers that masks are for effeminate liberal cowards. Nevertheless, mask up, LibCows™: A British study found that regular mask use by 50 percent or more of the population reduced COVID-19 spread to an R value (disease reproduction rate) of less than 1.0 (each person infects less than one person, on average, and the virus eventually dies out on its own). Researchers found that people wearing masks in public at all times is twice as effective at bringing down that R value as when people only wear masks after symptoms appear.
     
  • We’re beginning to see how powerful the effect is in practice. Here’s a useful microcosm: Last month, two hairstylists at a Great Clips in Missouri tested positive for COVID-19, after interacting with 140 customers and six coworkers. The incubation period has since passed, and no new Great Clips-related cases were found. All stylists had been required to wear masks, in addition to other precautions. 

The official U.S. death toll now stands at over 114,000, and health officials’ dark predictions have come true: States’ premature easing of lockdowns have caused new outbreaks—with a more lethal second wave still potentially ahead. The White House will blame the protests against police brutality (even as Trump uses them to justify holding huge rallies), but the surges we’re seeing now are a direct result of the Trump administration pushing states to reopen weeks ago.

If you haven’t already heard about our Adopt a State program, it’s not too late to jump on board. We had over 16,000 people join us live for the first training session last week, and it was insanely inspiring. To quote Tommy Vietor, "I'm ready to run through a brick wall."

We have three more trainings coming up, all about digital organizing and how you can do it yourself. You'll hear from experts at organizing together 2020 and + JJTD about different strategies. If you want to join, sign up to adopt a state at  votesaveamerica.com/adopt—we'll send you all the details you need. The next training is this Thursday at 5pm with Jon Favreau about storytelling for organizing.

The former judge appointed to argue against the government’s move to drop charges against Michael Flynn has accused the Justice Department of exercising a “gross abuse of prosecutorial power” to protect Trump’s political ally. Retired federal judge John Gleeson ripped Attorney General Bill Barr a new one in assessing the Justice Department’s handling of the case, noting that the government is required to request permission to drop charges precisely to safeguard against prosecutorial corruption: “Even recognizing that the Government is entitled to deference in assessing the strength of its case, these claims are not credible. Indeed, they are preposterous.” Gleeson argued that Flynn committed perjury by rescinding his guilty plea, and recommended that the judge overseeing the case proceed to sentence him on the false-statement charge he admitted to in 2017.

George Floyd and Derek Chauvin, the police officer who killed him, not only knew each other, they reportedly had a tense history. Previous news reports suggested that Floyd and Chauvin worked security at a Minneapolis nightclub at the same time. Another worker at the club has now told CBS news that the two definitely knew one another, and “bumped heads” over Chauvin’s aggressive treatment of club customers. If that’s true, it would dramatically change the context of the incident, and could be a significant factor in whether prosecutors elevate Chauvin’s charges to first-degree murder.

Landing makes it simple to move where and when you want, even if you're not sure what's next. Enjoy a beautifully furnished apartment — in some of America's most interesting cities — and transfer within the network or move out any time with 30 days’ notice. There are no long-term leases and no deposits, so you can work from anywhere for as long as you want.

LeBron James and a handful of other athletes and entertainers have launched More Than a Vote, a new group aimed at protecting black voting rights.

Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo announced that the force would immediately withdraw from contract negotiations with the police union.

Virgina protesters toppled a Christopher Columbus statue and threw it in a lake, Massachusetts protesters beheaded a Columbus statue in Boston, and Minnesota protesters tore down a Columbus statue outside the state capitol. Incredibly satisfying every time.

NASCAR has banned Confederate flags at all of its events and properties.

IBM announced it will no longer produce facial recognition technology, and Amazon has banned police from using its facial recognition platform for one year. 

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Older messages

What A Day: OANNing the libs

Wednesday, June 10, 2020

When they go low, Migos high Tuesday, June 9, 2020 BY SARAH LAZARUS & CROOKED MEDIA -White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, bragging With his approval ratings tanking and his advisors

What A Day: Bowser, the final boss

Friday, June 5, 2020

It's-a me, the Third Amendment Friday, June 5, 2020 BY SARAH LAZARUS, BRIAN BEUTLER, & CROOKED MEDIA -Former Trump criminal lawyer John Dowd, in an email he may regret...forever After tens of

What A Day: No laughing Mattis

Thursday, June 4, 2020

Well, we found the voter fraud. Wednesday, June 3, 2020 BY SARAH LAZARUS & CROOKED MEDIA -A responsible citizen on an LAPD Zoom call Police across the country have arrested more than 11000 people

What A Day: What in God's name

Wednesday, June 3, 2020

A monumental yikes. Tuesday, June 2, 2020 BY SARAH LAZARUS & CROOKED MEDIA -A bishop in front of St. John's Church, doing the Lord's work Peaceful protesters continued to gather in cities

What A Day: Blubber baby buggy bunker

Tuesday, June 2, 2020

1968 but with K-pop. Monday, June 1, 2020 BY SARAH LAZARUS & CROOKED MEDIA -Donald Trump, hovering a hand over the Bill Barr Activation Button Police fired tear gas on peaceful protestors outside

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