 11 March 20
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 10 March 20
Ryan Bort | Matt Gaetz, Who Mocked Coronavirus by Wearing Gas Mask on House Floor, Is Now in Quarantine
Ryan Bort, Rolling Stone Bort writes: "Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) announced on Monday that he is quarantining himself after being informed that he came into contact with an attendee of the Conservative Political Action Conference who tested positive for COVID-19." READ MORE  Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) introduces Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) during a campaign rally in St. Paul, Minnesota. (photo: Chip Somodevilla/AFP/Getty Images)
Bernie Sanders Has Brought Out the Muslim Vote in Ways I've Never Seen Before
Sajida Jalalzai, The Washington Post Jalalzai writes: "Last fall I joined 30,000 Muslims gathered in Houston, Texas, to attend the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) convention, the largest annual Muslim assembly in the United States." READ MORE  'It's definitely not just the flu,' Tucker Carlson said. (photo: Brendan McDermid/Reuters)
Fox Business Host Claims Coronavirus Is 'Yet Another Attempt to Impeach' Trump
Martin Pengelly, Guardian UK Pengelly writes: "Criticism of Donald Trump's response to the coronavirus outbreak is 'yet another attempt to impeach the president,' Fox Business host Trish Regan said on Monday night - even as, on Fox News, so-called Trump-whisperer Tucker Carlson seemed to appeal directly to the president to 'tell the truth' about the gathering crisis." Trish Regan says media is using virus to ‘destroy’ president while fellow host Tucker Carlson asks Trump to ‘tell the truth’  riticism of Donald Trump’s response to the coronavirus outbreak is “yet another attempt to impeach the president”, Fox Business host Trish Regan said on Monday night – even as, on Fox News, so-called Trump-whisperer Tucker Carlson seemed to appeal directly to the president to “tell the truth” about the gathering crisis.
Covid-19 is a respiratory illness transmitted by coughs, sneezes and physical contact that is spreading around the world. It can be fatal, particularly among the elderly and infirm. On Monday, figures from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) put the number of US cases at 423, in 35 states and Washington DC and with 19 deaths. Other estimates were higher.
The Trump administration has been criticised for a scattergun response including insufficient testing and cuts to key authorities which handle public health crises.
Trump himself has been criticised for playing down the severity of the outbreak, for making false claims about the nature of the virus and for politicising the problem – in part by repeatedly claiming his opponents and the media are politicising it.
On Fox Business, Regan launched a full-throated defense of Trump. A “chorus of hate”, she said, “being leveled at the president is nearing a crescendo as Democrats blame him and only him for a virus that originated halfway around the world.
“This is yet another attempt to impeach the president and sadly it seems they care very little for any of the destruction they are leaving in their wake. Losses in the stock market, all of this, unfortunately just part of the political casualties for them.”
Monday saw massive falls in US stock markets, the worst since the 2008 financial crisis.
“You know,” Regan said, “this is a time to be united, not to be pointing fingers, not to be encouraging hate. And yet what do we see? We see the absolute opposite from the left tonight.
“… The hate is boiling over, many in the liberal media using … coronavirus in an attempt to demonise and destroy the president.”
The show then cut to a montage of media figures – and Joe Biden, Trump’s likely challenger in November – criticizing the president, some suggesting this could be Trump’s Katrina, a reference to the hurricane which in 2005 devastated both New Orleans and the reputation of George W Bush.
“I see,” Regan said. “This is impeachment all over again. And like with the Mueller investigation, like with Ukrainegate, they don’t care who they hurt.”
Last week, Trump himself drew a parallel between the coronavirus outbreak and his impeachment. In a much-criticised visit to CDC headquarters in Atlanta, Trump said coronavirus tests administered by federal authorities were “all perfect like the letter was perfect, the transcription was perfect”.
That was a reference to a White House version of a call with the Ukrainian president which Trump claims shows he did not apply improper pressure to investigate his political rivals but which most observers say in fact shows the opposite.
But, perhaps reflecting splits on the right of American politics in the face of coronavirus, Carlson took a different tack. On his Monday night show, Carlson, who is known to have Trump’s ear, told viewers coronavirus presented a “very serious problem”.
“People you trust, people you probably voted for, have spent weeks minimising what is clearly a very serious problem,” he said. “‘It’s just partisan politics,’ they say. ‘Calm down. In the end this was just like the flu and people die from that every year. Coronavirus will pass.’”
Trump has repeatedly claimed coronavirus is comparable to or less serious than the common flu – claims rebuffed by public health experts.
“They may not know any better,” Carlson said. “Maybe they’re just not paying attention, or maybe they believe they’re serving some higher cause by shading reality … and there’s an election coming up. Best not to say anything that might help the other side. We get it.
“But they’re wrong … It’s definitely not just the flu.”
Carlson also seemed to address Trump directly, saying that instead of “assuring people that everything will be fine”, it was “better to tell the truth. That is always the surest sign of strength.”
Many observers think a global recession is likely.
On Tuesday morning Fox News host Laura Ingraham tweeted: “Fact: Some prominent people on the left, trying to frame this is Trump’s Katrina, will be disappointed when US stocks bounce back today. Those aren’t people you want running the country next year.”
READ MORE  Former special counsel Robert Mueller. (photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Appeals Court Rules DOJ Must Give Mueller Grand Jury Materials to Congress
Harper Neidig, The Hill Neidig writes: "A federal appeals court in Washington ruled on Tuesday that the Department of Justice (DOJ) must hand over grand jury materials from former special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation to Congress."
A three-judge panel on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a federal judge's decision that the House's impeachment inquiry justified its request for the sealed documents.
"In short, it is the district court, not the Executive or the Department, that controls access to the grand jury materials at issue here," Judge Judith Rogers wrote in an opinion for the panel's 2-1 majority. "The Department has objected to disclosure of the redacted grand jury materials, but the Department has no interest in objecting to the release of these materials outside of the general purposes and policies of grand jury secrecy, which as discussed, do not outweigh the Committee’s compelling need for disclosure."
"Special Counsel Mueller prepared his Report with the expectation that Congress would review it," Rogers added.
Judge Thomas Griffith, who was appointed by former President George W. Bush, concurred with Rogers, a Clinton appointee. The lone dissenter, Judge Neomi Rao, was appointed by President Trump.
The decision can be appealed. A DOJ spokeswoman did not immediately respond when asked for comment on the decision.
Rao wrote in a dissent that Congress lacks standing to seek court orders for documents held by the executive branch and that the panel should have ruled that the House no longer has a need for the materials that justifies an exemption to grand jury secrecy laws.
"A reasonable observer might wonder why we are deciding this case at this time," Rao wrote. "After all, the Committee sought these materials preliminary to an impeachment proceeding and the Senate impeachment trial has concluded. Why is this controversy not moot?"
The Democratic-led House Judiciary Committee sought access to the secret records last July in an effort to continue Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
The panel later argued in court that its impeachment inquiry qualified as a judicial proceeding, meaning its request qualified as an exception to iron-clad grand jury secrecy laws.
While the case has outlasted the impeachment inquiry and trial, House Democrats have not let up in their court battles for records from Trump and his administration.
They suffered a loss late last month when another D.C. Circuit panel, led by Griffith, ruled that they could not sue to enforce a subpoena for testimony from former White House counsel Don McGahn.
Griffith wrote for the majority that the courts cannot resolve conflicts between government branches, effectively rendering congressional subpoenas of the administration legally unenforceable.
Griffith, who announced plans to retire last week, wrote in a concurring opinion on Tuesday that the grand jury case is distinct from the McGahn case.
"Unlike McGahn, this case does not involve a suit between the political branches over executive-branch documents or testimony," he wrote. "Instead, it involves an application for access to records of the grand jury, whose disclosure the district court has traditionally controlled."
The House has asked the full circuit court to rehear the McGahn case.
READ MORE  Konar Province, 2010. (photo: Moises Saman/Magnum Photos)
Nan Levinson | Would a Draft Matter? The Nature of the Military That Fights America's Forever Wars
Nan Levinson, TomDispatch Levinson writes: "Bizarrely enough, the spate of phone calls from recruiters began a couple of years ago. The first ones came from the Army, next the Marines, and then other branches of the military." READ MORE  Marchers in Santiago, Chile, flooded the streets as part of International Women's Day marches. Confrontations with police were reported at events in Chile and Turkey and other countries. (photo: Esteban Felix/AP)
Chile Denounces Government Repression During Feminist Strike
teleSUR Excerpt: "The feminist general strike called in Chile on Monday as part of the celebrations of International Women's Day was repressed by the police of President Sebastian Pinera's government, according to the National Institute of Human Rights (INDH)." READ MORE  At Mike Leary's Island Demo's equipment yard, more frequent tidal flooding from rising seas has inundated the property in recent years. (photo: Mike Leary)
Media Coverage of Climate Change Increased in 2019
Michael Svoboda, Yale Climate Connections Svoboda writes: "For the first time, environmental protection rivals the economy among the public's top policy priorities." READ MORE |
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