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Daily Kos Recommended

Some of this week's most important and widely read stories about the ongoing coronavirus crisis from Daily Kos, the largest online gathering space for progressives.

• Florida man loses job after Costco mask meltdown went viral amid coronavirus pandemic
  
• President Hillary Clinton announces that every case of COVID-19 has now been traced to its source
  
• Cartoon: Mistakes were made
  
• There's something you can do to make sure Daily Kos isn't a victim of the ongoing media extinction event: Start a $3 monthly recurring to Daily Kos to support our work. It really helps.
  
• Trump sank himself in Michigan. Biden didn't have to lift a finger
  
• More than 100 fraternity members test positive for COVID-19 as colleges weigh reopening plans
  
• COVID-19 rages, Trump melts down, and Congress takes a two-week break
  
• Millions of Americans will soon find out just how badly they've been screwed by Trump and the GOP
  
• Trump's tragic incompetence has cost American lives. Every Republican senator who voted to acquit Trump needs to be held accountable for the crisis they've helped create. Chip in now to end Republican control of the Senate.
  
• Those right-wingers who praised Sweden's response to COVID-19 are looking pretty stupid now
  
• Sen. Joni Ernst says 130,000 American deaths show Trump is 'stepping forward'
• 
  Though it is a holiday weekend, the Sunday news shows continued on in mostly the usual fashion. Trump ally Sen. Joni Ernst, one of the corrupt man-child's most ardent defenders as the Republican Senate nullified impeachment charges against Trump without investigation, once had a lot to day about two (2) Americans dying of Ebola under President Barack Obama, saying it showed "failed leadership." CNN host Dana Bash asked Ernst whether 130,000 Americans dying in the (now fully out-of-control) COVID-19 pandemic also is showing "failed leadership."

  Sen. Joni Ernst replied with yet another response seemingly hand-tailored to show just how corrupt, incompetent, and buffoonish the Republican Party has become. After a long filibuster resulting in Bash repeating of the question: "No, I think that the president is stepping forward," she clowned.
  Lord, now that was just pathetic. I’m embarrassed for both of them.

  Again, the whole premise of so-called "news" programs is invalidated if political leaders are simply allowed to bullshit their way through each with no repercussions. Bash's question was spot-on, probing whether a sitting senator's supposed outrage at one pandemic would translate to the next. Clearly, it did not.

  What, then, should the repercussions be for being so transparently a hack? Should a buzzer sound? Should a duck drop from the ceiling? During the pandemic itself physical solutions are largely out of bounds, as most of the people praising Donald Trump's brilliant handling of a pandemic now expected by the White House to result in at least a quarter million dead are praising him from inside their own homes because it is simply too unsafe to travel to the studios as usual. That means the best solution is, for now, right out; nobody is going to agree to have a pie-throwing machine installed in their den.

  Hecklers, then. I'm going to propose the "news" shows liven up their broadcasts with professional hecklers. If any politician says something as egregiously tawdry as Joni Ernst says regularly, ninety seconds of interview time will be given to a team of hecklers to point it out and roast their target into oblivion.

  Hey, it's more news than what's currently being broadcast. If the nation's top political reporters are incapable of bringing shame to those that quite transparently deserve it, we need to bring in people with more appropriate skills.
• Trump is deliberately making things worse, and those who remain at the White House know it
  
• Epic New York Times columnist freak-out on Trump’s dereliction on COVID-19 & more
  
• Sign the petition: Demand Congress hold abusive employers accountable if they cause COVID-19 outbreaks. REJECT COVID-19 corporate immunity!
  
• Researchers argue that COVID-19 is 'airborne,' and it could change social distancing guidelines
  
• Cartoon: Save our statues!
  
• Missouri summer camp gives children coronavirus parting gift
  
• 'No one among us is immune': Penn State student dies of COVID-19 complications
• 
  A 21-year-old Penn State student has died from complications related to COVID-19, and the university is now working to track down those who have had contact with the student, the school said in a statement Thursday. Juan Garcia was living off-campus when he became sick and decided to travel home June 19 to Allentown, which is about 165 miles east of the university. While home, Garcia was tested for COVID-19 on June 20 and died 10 days later, according to the school.

  “We are profoundly saddened to learn about Juan’s untimely death during this pandemic,” Vice President for Student Affairs Damon Sims said in the statement. “While I did not know Juan personally, we have learned through conversations with those closest to him that this young man had a remarkable spirit and was greatly loved. I know our entire campus community sends our deepest condolences to his family and friends as they grieve this unthinkable loss. It is a poignant reminder that no one among us is immune to the worst consequences of this virus.”
  The university is asking anyone who may have been in contact with Garcia to call the University Health Services 24/7 Advice Nurse at 814-863-4463. “The University is in the process of contact tracing to reach those who may have been in close contact with Garcia while he was contagious,” Penn State officials said.

  Garcia's death happened as the school is preparing to reopen Aug. 24, with double-room residence hall occupancy, The New York Times reported. Campus instruction is, however, planned to end Nov. 20, according to the university. The news has triggered criticism on social media, with many condemning what are believed to be the school’s economic priorities. Penn State accounts for about $128 million annually in Centre County, where the university is located, the Times reported.

  “What I've heard is ‘we simply have to,’ ‘life as we know it will stop’ if we can't send kids back to school, open up our colleges, get people back to work as fast as possible,” Gregg Gonsalves, a public health professor at Yale University said in a Twitter thread Sunday. "What if the price of reopening is death?”

  He also shared a tweet from feminist author Mona Eltahawy, who argues “there is no going back to normal after a pandemic.” “At least 365,000 people have died around the world during this pandemic,” she said in late June. “That’s what normal brought us. F—k normal.”

  WARNING: This video contains profanity which may not be suitable for younger readers.

  Penn State isn’t the only university struggling to balance reopening needs with public health concerns. Nearly all of the country's 4,300 colleges and universities are promising a mix of online and in-person options for students, and presidents at the institutions are hoping multiple testing locations, reenvisioned academic formats, and tight social distancing guidelines will help protect students and staff members, USA Today reported.

  Terry Hartle, senior vice president with the American Council on Education told the newspaper: “At the end of the day, a lot of it is going to depend on young people showing discretion and good sense.” 

  Pennsylvania has seen 6,749 deaths related to COVID-19, including three reported Saturday, The Patriot-News reported. The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases increased by 634 Saturday, bringing the state's total to 89,375. 

  Still, the statewide counts pale in comparison to epicenters of the virus such as Florida and Texas. Texas is reporting almost 192,000 cases, and more than 190,000 people have been infected with the virus in Florida where Gov. Ron DeSantis has said he won’t shut down businesses again, according to CNBC.

  Although Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered bars to close and began requiring people to wear face coverings in public, the state, which was one of the first to lift its stay-at-home order, has only required restaurants to scale back seating capacities. Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, whose county is experiencing a "non-linear increase" in COVID-19 related hospitalizations, told ABC’s “This Week” she is pushing for the state to implement a stay-at-home order.

  “I'm sure a mask order will make some difference and I’m grateful that that’s happened,” she told the network. “That said, as long as we’re doing as little as possible and hoping for the best, we’re always going to be chasing this thing. We’re always going to be behind and the virus will always outrun us.”
• Sign the petition: Urge key oversight bodies to investigate Facebook -- and stop the company from profiting off of vote-suppressing ads.
  
• Justin Trudeau turns down Trump's invite to bathe in our COVID filth
  
• Trump's COVID-19 response plan: total surrender
  
• Working parents cannot return to their jobs if they can't afford diapers
  

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