Fwd: 'Call your own shots'
Among those in a blind rush to reopen the economy, two themes have emerged that are counterproductive and inconsistent with respect for the sanctity of life. First is the idea that “2 or 3%” of the population—which equates to millions of Americans—is an acceptable loss on behalf of the economy. The second is the complete disregard for the strain on healthcare workers and resources that such a spike in infections would cause. Everyone wants a return to normalcy, but restarting the country before we are ready—specifically, before robust testing is in place, which experts say is necessary to track and respond to infections before they spread too broadly—will neither save lives nor jobs. The economy will recover when people feel safe, so the best moral and economic strategy is prioritizing life. —Evan McMullin
1. Trump's plan to LIBERATE the US
As state governors around the country form regional alliances to plan for a gradual reopening of the economy amid the coronavirus pandemic, President Trump seemed to back down from earlier statements about his "total authority" to decide when and how to do it. At his White House briefing yesterday, he introduced phased guidelines for rolling out a restart, saying, "Every state is very different. If they need to remain closed, we will allow them to do that." Still, there's no mass testing plan, which has been the key to success in other countries that have loosened social distancing restrictions. —The Wall Street Journal
— 'LIBERATE!' Today, the president issued a call via Twitter to "LIBERATE" Minnesota, Michigan, and Virginia—all states where demonstrators have gathered this week to protest stay-at-home orders issued by Democratic governors. Contradicting his own acknowledgment of the governors' authority, Trump's tweets suggest citizens should disobey state orders, as well as his own federal social distancing guidance, which is in effect until the end of April. —Politico
— Problem? What problem? At least one governor concurs with Trump. Even though the Smithfield Foods' meat processing plant in Sioux Falls, S.D., is, in and of itself, one of the largest coronavirus hotbeds in the U.S., with about 735 cases, South Dakota's Republican governor, Kristi Noem, has yet to issue a stay-at-home order in the state. —Forbes
— You're either for me... Michael Caputo, a Trump loyalist who attacked allegations of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, and wrote a book and produced a documentary entitled "The Ukraine Hoax," has a new line of work. Despite having no backgound in healthcare, he's been named assistant secretary for public affairs for the Department of Health and Human Services. In the middle of a pandemic. Ugh. —The New York Times
— ...or against me. Sen. Mitt Romney, the only Republican senator to vote in favor of Trump's removal from office last February, was the only GOP senator who wasn't asked to be on Trump's bipartisan task force on reopening the country. What a coincidence. Meanwhile, several of the nation's CEOs, who Trump claimed are advising him on the economic restart, were unaware of the president's new guidelines. —CNN
More: US now has 22 million unemployed, wiping out a decade of job gains (The Washington Post)
2. Tabatabai & Clarke: COVID-19 isn't stopping Iran
"Every country is grappling with the coronavirus in one form or another. So is Iran, which has itself been devastated by the pandemic. And while many would suspect that a country suffering from economic disaster and a major health emergency would be unable to focus on much else, Iran's proxy forces give it an option to continue its efforts to compel the United States to reduce its presence in the region." —NPR
Ed. Note: Ariane Tabatabai is an adjunct senior research scholar at the Columbia University School of Public and International Affairs. Colin Clarke is a senior research fellow at The Soufan Center and an assistant teaching professor at Carnegie Mellon University's Institute for Politics and Strategy.
More: Nearly a dozen Iranian vessels come dangerously close to US military ships in the Gulf, Pentagon says (CNBC)
3. Coronavirus around the globe
A pro-Iranian influence operation is spreading disinformation suggesting that the U.S. government created the novel coronavirus, according to a new report from Graphika. The International Union of Virtual Media, which hosts and creates pro-Iran and pro-Palestinian video reports, news articles, and memes, has released content on social media platforms in recent weeks blaming the U.S. for creating the coronavirus and alleging that U.S. sanctions against Iran are hurting its ability to combat the disease. —The Verge
— Mexico. Suspected coronavirus deaths among workers for U.S. companies operating along the border in Mexico have triggered multiple protests, with workers from Honeywell International Inc., Lear Corporation, Regal Beloit, and Poly demanding safer conditions or shutdowns with full pay.
— Canada. Canada's border restrictions with the U.S. will remain in place "for a significant amount of time" as the two countries fight the coronavirus pandemic, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said yesterday. With 30,000 confirmed cases and 1,200 reported deaths, Canada's COVID-19 caseload is significantly smaller than that of its neighbor to the south. —Reuters
— China. Even as the Chinese city of Wuhan has revised its death toll up by a full 50%, China is trying to paint a picture of itself as a model for taming the disease, and as the world's savior. In the absence of global leadership from the U.S., China is using the pandemic to enhance its global power and deflect public criticism at home. —The Economist
More: As coronavirus fades in China, nationalism and xenophobia flare (The New York Times)
4. Gaspard: Keeping the world safe for democracy
"COVID-19 is a threat not just to public health, but also to human rights. Throughout history, crises like the current one have served as a convenient pretext for authoritarian regimes to normalize their tyrannical impulses. ... As we take the fight to COVID-19, we also must do everything we can to protect the health of our democracies. More to the point, we must recognize that, in many ways, defending public health and defending democracy are two fronts in the same battle." —Balkan Insight
Ed. Note: Patrick Gaspard is a former U.S. ambassador to South Africa and the president of the Open Society Foundations.
More: Kendall-Taylor & Nietsche: The coronavirus is exposing populists' hollow politics (Foreign Policy)
5. Cities to POTUS: Pay your bills
For some U.S. cities and towns, the best way President Trump could help them fight COVID-19 is by paying his outstanding bills. Fourteen municipal governments want Trump's campaign committee to pay off a combined $1.82 million worth of public safety-related debt connected to the president's "Make America Great Again" campaign rallies, according to local officials and public records.
— Campaigns should always reimburse already cash-strapped cities for police and public safety costs, argues Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, whose city is owed nearly $543,000 from an Oct. 10 rally. "But during this crisis, that loss is even more pronounced—$150,000, for instance, could pay for emergency rental assistance for 100 Minneapolis families," Frey said.
— Though Trump frequently touts his support for law enforcement, the Trump campaign has indicated it is not responsible: "It is the U.S. Secret Service, not the campaign, which coordinates with local law enforcement. The campaign itself does not contract with local governments for police involvement. All billing inquiries should go to the Secret Service."
— The Secret Service, however, receives no funding from Congress to reimburse municipal governments for local public safety protection, and the campaign has not indicated whether it supports Congress appropriating federal tax dollars for future rallies. —The Center for Public Integrity
More: Army decides a pandemic is a good time to give GOP donors $569 million to 'Build the Wall' (The Daily Beast)
6. Coppins: Trump's revisionist pandemic history
"On February 28, Donald Trump stood before a crowd of supporters in South Carolina and told them to pay no attention to the growing warnings of a coronavirus outbreak in America. The press was 'in hysteria mode,' the president said. The Democrats were playing politics. This new virus was nothing compared with the seasonal flu—and anyone who said otherwise was just trying to hurt him. 'This is their new hoax,' Trump proclaimed, squinting out from behind a podium adorned with the presidential seal. Six weeks later, the coronavirus has killed more than 25,000 Americans, the U.S. economy has been crippled—and Trump is recasting himself as a pandemic prophet." —The Atlantic
More: New study says Trump has 'dangerously undermined truth' with attacks on news media (The Washington Post)
7. 'Corruption in its purest form'
Despite a last-minute vote of confidence from President Trump, Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Daniel Kelly was soundly defeated by challenger Jill Karofsky in an election earlier this month. However, that small detail may not stop him from participating in a ruling that could disenfranchise thousands of voters in the state.
— Kelly had initially recused himself from the case due to the election, though Karofsky accused him of signaling to Republicans that he would vote in favor of purging voter rolls if they helped him win. He didn't win, but since Karofsky won't be seated until August, he has a chance to make good on those assurances all the same.
— Michigan redistricting lawsuit thrown out. A federal appeals court has thrown out a lawsuit from the Michigan GOP claiming that a newly-created independent redistricting commission violates its constitutional rights. The Sixth Circuit rejected the argument, and will not block the commission, which has some of the strongest anti-gerrymandering rules of any such commission in the country. —Raw Story
— Lawsuit filed in Maine over RCV. Advocates for Maine's ranked-choice voting system have filed a lawsuit in state court seeking to block a challenge to a new law that would expand the policy to presidential elections. In February, the Maine Republican Party announced a bid to repeal the law through a people's veto, which would set up a November referendum on the law and prevent its use in the 2020 presidential election. —Bangor Daily News
8. The Economist: The urgency of vote-by-mail
"How to hold an election in less than seven months' time might not seem like a pressing problem when there is so much else going on. Yet election officials from states that already know how to run socially distanced elections warn that it takes time to build the systems needed to make voting by mail secure, and to train people to use them. If America wants to be certain of carrying out a proper national election in November, the time to start preparing is not October. It is now." —The Economist
More: Coronavirus-spurred fights over vote-by-mail and the Post Office are coming to Congress (Yahoo News)
9. No time for business as usual in the House
With the coronavirus continuing to spread and related travel restrictions still in place, House members are seeking alternatives to voting in person. The idea of voting remotely via technology is not favored by congressional leadership, so House Democrats have crafted some creative options. They're now pushing to allow members to vote by proxy.
— Leading the effort is House Rules Committee Chair Jim McGovern. McGovern's idea requires that lawmakers choose another member to vote on their behalf. This would allow those who are unwilling or unable to make the trip back to Washington, D.C., to vote.
— To make this proposal a reality, Speaker Nancy Pelosi would need to reach a deal with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to ensure that the rules change could be implemented by unanimous consent or voice vote.
— The House is currently conducting business through unanimous consent or voice vote, which can speed up the passage of legislation and allow members to remain at home. The risk is that it only takes one member to object and demand a recorded vote, requiring more than 216 members to return to Washington. —CNN
10. An American Story: A prayer and some peace
As James C. Campbell lay in his hospital bed, dying from the coronavirus, he was all alone. Fearing he would pass, his family asked that Jennifer Holton, a nurse working at Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center, bring an iPad to him so they could pray together in his final moments. Unable to bring an iPad or a phone into the room, Holton got the names of all of James' kids and prayed with him, using their names.
— "I just said, 'OK, give me names. Give names of every family member, and I'll go in there and pray with him and let him know y'all are thinking of him and missing him...' [Then] I just went up to him, held his hand, and just spoke to him. He wasn't awake, but hearing, they say, is one of the last things to go," Holton said.
— James would live five more days, giving some of his family members a chance to say goodbye in person. The family was required to dress head-to-toe in protective gear and were only allowed in the room two at a time.
— The coronavirus continues to change how patients are treated, how they die, and how they are mourned. Lives end quietly, with little contact with family, and discreet funerals. For these reasons, healthcare professionals like Jennifer Holton, going above and beyond to give a family closure, will always be admirable. Great job, Jennifer! —BuzzFeed News
Ed. Note: We are spotlighting ways that Americans are helping each other through the coronavirus crisis. Would you like to suggest an "American Story" from your local news? If so, please forward a link to the story to editor@topline.com. Thank you!
In this time of isolation and high unemployment, one of Trump's "brilliant" ideas is to stop supporting the USPS? I hope at election time people remember who Trump really supported—big businesses, not the people. I stopped watching anything that showed Trump talking. Actually I did that too during the election in 2016, because I couldn't stand to listen to him even then. I applauded any network that refused to air his rantings. I do like the idea of giving up asking him any questions and just direct them to the real experts, and to stop wasting our time trying to bait him into a rant.
—Donna H., Pennsylvania
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