Night Owls, a themed open thread, appears at Daily Kos seven days a week
Monday, before leaving his outdoor press conference at the White House in a huff because of a couple of “nasty” women reporters doing their jobs, Donald J. Trump—flanked on both sides of the podium by signs claiming “America Leads the World in Testing”—said that “we have met the moment, and we have prevailed” on testing for the coronavirus.
In case you’ve been out of the range of all media except for poetry journals for the past three months, you’re probably familiar with the fact that Trump has been saying something similar about testing since February. Plenty of tests, he has said. Anybody who needs one can get one, he has said. And, in the past few weeks, he has frequently asserted that not only has the United States conducted more virus tests than any other country (which is true), it has also conducted more than the rest of the world combined (which is malarkey and has been debunked repeatedly). In fact, the U.S. has conducted around 20% of tests worldwide.
What really matters is not that raw test count, which is 9 million. What matters is the percentage of the population that’s tested, the tests per capita. Right now, that works out to 2.7%. Thirty-seven other countries, including several major ones, have much higher test percentages.
But never you mind. Trump can still salvage something for which he can shout USA No. 1! while campaigning for re-election: USA No. 1 in COVID-19 cases. USA No. 1 in COVID-19 deaths.
Prevailed? Met the moment? No matter how much disinfectant is used, no way can the stink of those outright lies be wiped off the microphone. We didn’t test enough at the beginning. We still aren’t. The consequences are lethal.
TOP COMMENTS • HIGH IMPACT STORIES
QUOTATION
“Without equity, pandemic battles will fail. Viruses will simply recirculate, and perhaps undergo mutations or changes that render vaccines useless, passing through the unprotected populations of the planet.” ~~Laurie Garrett (2011)
TWEET OF THE DAY
BLAST FROM THE PAST
At Daily Kos on this date in 2010—Financial Reform: Back to Work:
If the Senate has any prayer of getting through financial reform by the stated goal of the end of this week, they'll have to work at warp speed. Given that warp speed for the Senate is at most a half dozen amendments a day, that goal seems unattainable, particularly since as of the deadline for the calendar, they only had two amendments slated for consideration.
The important amendment up today is Bernie Sanders' fed audit, which Republicans successfully postponed from last week by the critical need to have Bob Bennett in town to vote on it, since it was going to be key to his reelection. We all know how that worked out. The amendment, as modified with the assent of Dodd, has the support of the White House. It also has the grudging support of Ron Paul, a cosponsor of the Grayson fed audit in the House. Also being considered today is Republican Sen. Vitter's substitution for the Sanders' amendment, which will have the same language as the Grayson/Paul amendment. It's unlikely to pass, as support has coalesced behind the Sanders amendment, but with the fed audit existing in the Senate bill that goes to conference, there's more of a chance of a tougher final provision.
Unfortunately, the Kaufman/Brown SAFE Banking Act that would have limited the size of financial institutions failed last week, but a few other pending amendments could still strengthen the final bill. Maria Cantwell is a lead author of an amendment which would restore Glass-Steagall, and has said "I don't think I could vote for cloture without a vote on Glass-Steagall."
On today’s Kagro in the Morning show: The White House tries to pretend it's safe to reopen, and walks into its own outbreak. Greg Dworkin and others remind us the Gop's "Death To America" platform just isn't a winner. A big week upcoming in the courts: Flynn’s case, and Trump's taxes.
RadioPublic|LibSyn|YouTube|Patreon|Square Cash (Share code: Send $5, get $5!)