March 31, 2020

It's the old Watergate question "What did the president know, and when did he know it?” come 'round again.

I was listening to MSNBC on my car radio just now. Nancy Pelosi on what I guess was "Morning Joe." She was talking about how Congress and the Executive branch need to work together, and then she worked in her attack on the President. You see, now, they are working together, but why did President Trump decide only this last weekend to extend the social distancing another month? It's good that the medical experts got through to him, but she'd like to know what they were saying to him at various points in the past, going back to February and January. Maybe they were telling him all along and if he'd followed them earlier, we could have begun social distancing in a month or 2 earlier, and we could have gotten the outbreak under control with much less sacrifice. She uttered the words "What did he know, and when did he know it?"

The classic question from the Watergate scandal was "What did the president know, and when did he know it?"

So you've got that to look forward to, once we emerge into the aftermath of the coronavirus lockdown. There will be investigations into Trump's failure to act sooner. And I think it's a sign that we're coming to the end of the beginning* and seeing the light at the end of the tunnel* that we're even talking about anything other than how can we solve this problem beginning now and going forward.

––––––––––––––

* A Winston Churchill phrase, after a victory in November 1942: "Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." I think when it looks as though the coronavirus curve is about to flatten, it's the end of the beginning.

** "The light at the end of the tunnel" was a popular phrase in the Vietnam era. It began, I believe, as an expression of hope. You're in a tunnel, but you can at least see a dot of light, and that must be the exit. It became something to use only sarcastically, and the conventional joke of the time was that when you think you see the light at the end of the tunnel, it might be a train coming right at you. Don't look to the Vietnam Era for optimism!

ADDED: Trump watched the show too:

119 comments:

David Begley said...

“but she'd like to know what they were saying to him at various points in the past, going back to February and January.”

Executive Privilege.

What an insufferable partisan 80 year old bitch.

Ryan said...

Clearly, Trump's failure to act earlier warrants a full house investigation followed by impeachment.

Chris said...

While she was handing out golden pens, trump was already meeting with his pandemic council. Which by the way was pointed out as being too white by the media. Fuckers.

David Begley said...

What were Obama’s people telling him during the Swine Flu and Daniel outbreaks?

wendybar said...

Why would anybody listen to that old lying bat crazy lady that spews hate and divides America??? I'd rather eat coronavirus tainted glass.

tim in vermont said...

I have been thinking about that Churchill quote quite a bit. I think that this is the end of the beginning. It’s here now, it’s spreading, we are fighting it. The initial fog of war is starting to clear.

n.n said...

Water Closet during an eight year administration and still in progress.

Jersey Fled said...

"Clearly, Trump's failure to act earlier warrants a full house investigation followed by impeachment

Or we could just skip the investigation and go straight to the impeachment

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

What were Nancy and Congress up to in DEC, JAN and FEB? Oh right they were 100% focused on removing Trump from office! And opposing his move to limit flights from China. My what a contrast between Nancy rushing to impeach while deliberately slowing down the national response to the Wu Flu! And she thinks we’ll forget this quickly huh?

rhhardin said...

Vietnam paints slowly rising and falling lines in its tunnels. At the low points there are shelters in case a train is coming. You run in the direction of the down-going line.

Tim said...

I didn't think the old bat could make my dislike her more. She did.The Left is on a kamakazi mission. I dearly hope Trump makes they pay.

Sebastian said...

Ah, yes, Nancy Y'All-Come-To-Chinatown Pelosi.

Buckwheathikes said...

From the New York Times:

"For most of last week, as Mayor Bill de Blasio continued to urge New Yorkers to mostly go about their daily lives — sending their children to school, frequenting the city’s businesses — some of his top aides were furiously trying to change the mayor’s approach to the coronavirus outbreak.

"There had been arguments and shouting matches between the mayor and some of his advisers; some top health officials had even threatened to resign if he refused to accept the need to close schools and businesses, according to several people familiar with the internal discussions.

"Teachers were threatening not to show up to school on Monday."

Democrat Nancy Pelosi has nothing to say about Democrat Mayor Bill De Blasio fiddling while New Yorkers dropped like flies.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/16/nyregion/coronavirus-bill-de-blasio.html

gilbar said...

maybe nancy should bring back the Civil War's Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War?

Look how much GOOD* that did!!


GOOD* that is, if you define 'good' as Truman did; when he called it, an example of what not to follow

Wince said...

"It's the old Watergate question "What did the president know, and when did he know it?” come 'round again."

To paraphrase Gerald Ford...

"Our long national nightmare shall continue."
-Nancy Pelosi

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Personally, I’m NOT going to soon forget that Chuck and Nancy attempted to impose “ballot harvesting” and prevent ballot integrity by disallowing using ID to verify voters. THAT is using a crisis to fuck over your fellow Americans and both of these detestable humans should be politically shunned for that and that alone. People are suffering and DYING and Nancy tries to pull a bullshit move to disenfranchise two thirds of the country.

AllenS said...

"What did he know, and when did he know it?"

That's what the next impeachment reason will be. Count on it.

MayBee said...

I thought it was the end of the beginning when she tried to pork up the Coronavirus bill.

But I really can't have her acting like it isn't ok for Trump to change dates as information changes. The last thing we need is a date too far in the future for political reasons. We already have people who can't really say what it will take for them to come out of self-seclusion (other than being able to take a Covid test every day).

gilbar said...

Serious Question
Doesn't this crisis SHOW, that it's time for the United States, to go their separate ways?

Clive Ngwenya said...

They always know, and we bare the brunt as collateral damage.

Michael K said...

I don't think this is going to work for her.

The January photo of Trump's WuFlu committee meeting while Nancy handed out pens is going to be in an ad.

tim in vermont said...

Wasn’t it right in that State of the Union speech she tore up?

Howard said...

No Allen S (our own typhoid Mary), it will be used in campaign ads. I think they will calculate the excess deaths due to Trump's delay impacting on the Coronavirus into something like 10 911's or 50 911's whatever the biggest number they come up with.

Buckwheathikes said...

February 25, 2020

Nancy Pelosi encourages people to come to Chinatown restaurants.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7w9jV9ODf6g

Nancy Pelosi: "You should come to Chinatown. Precautions have been taken by our city. We know there is concern about the tourism problem throughout the world. But we think it's very safe to be in Chinatown and hope that others will come."

What did she know? That there was a worldwide pandemic in progress. When did she know it: On February 25, 2020. What did she do? Encouraged people to gather together in small places.

Is Bill Barr investigating Nancy Pelosi? Why not?

AllenS said...

Howard, as soon as I quit coughing and vomiting, I intend on answering you.

Todd said...

I understand the need/desire for "social distancing". The farther away folks are, the harder it is for an air-born virus to reach others.

What I have not see/read much if anything on is how are all of the homeless tent cities doing in CA? How are the homeless doing in other cluster areas? Those "encampments" have the worst of the worst conditions. No distancing, no hygiene to speak of. They must be getting ravaged by this "pandemic", yet I am hearing NOTHING. What is up with that?

AllenS said...

Howard, if you give me your address, I have some blankets I'd like to send you.

Darrell said...

The CIA/NSA were too busy phonying up data against Trump for the Impeachment from Thanksgiving to the end of the year to give a heads up on the Wave of Death in China.

Jeff said...

I think we all remember the fuss the Democrats made when Trump stopped travel from China, so I don't see how they have a leg to stand on here. I think the chief effect of Pelosi's and the other Democrats' actions is to make people who voted for Trump with the greatest of hesitation -- such as me, for example -- absolutely determined to vote for him again.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

That Moaning Joe clip is going to make a great commercial for Trump in a few months. I hear them say and see fools here write that every move Trump took made the crisis worse and it is obviously hyperbole, much like Trump uses in his speech. But I have to ask, everything?
So shutting down flights from China was wrong?
Restricting travel from Europe?
Demanding CDC approve private testing?
Rallying the private sector to make PPE?

And if the national health is Trump's responsibility and the sick people have him to blame how much worse must Cuomo be to have such an overwhelming clusterfuck in NYC?

narciso said...

im the only one that follows protocols now

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
narciso said...

This is why politico is hot garbage, it was the face hugger hive of the journolist.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Of course they will try to impeach Trump again. The corrupt house impeached Trump for Biden's crimes. Impeaching Trump over Hillary-Chi-Com virus makes perfect sense.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

Trump should have banned travel from Italy before Hug a Chinaman Day, not after.

IMPEACH!

narciso said...

an answer to an earlier question

Xmas said...

Person to Person transmission was discovered by the CDC on January 30th. On January 31st the White House announced travel restrictions for foreigners and recommendations of quarantining for 2 weeks for allowed travelers coming from China. That travel restrictions were against the recommendations of the WHO and argued in editorials and news articles as 'unnecessary' and 'counter-productive'.

Except for Washington State, it appears that the restrictions on travelers from China worked to contain the outbreak in the US in early February. In late February, travelers coming back from European trips over the February school break, particularly Italy, brought the virus back with them. That's when the BioGen conference in Massachusetts happened. Travel restrictions to Europe didn't begin until March 13th after it became apparent how vast the outbreak in Europe was. Social distancing in the US began on March 11th, really, with the NBA cancelling their season because one of their players touched every mic and came down with the virus.

Gahrie said...

I think we all remember the fuss the Democrats made when Trump stopped travel from China, so I don't see how they have a leg to stand on here

In a rational world this would be true. However by the election, the Left and the Althouses of the world will either simply "forget" the Democrats bad behavior, or attempt to rationalize it away ("They both do it"). This is nothing new.

Black Americans went from voting 90% Republican to 90% Democrat beginning in the 1930's, while the Democrats in the South were enforcing segregation and Jim Crow. The civil war where the Democrats tried to destroy this nation to protect slavery was still a living memory. The Democratic Party was openly led by members of the KKK. Two decades earlier a Democratic president famously watched Birth of a Nation in the White House. But it happened, and continues to happen anyway.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

Think of the uncountable lives that were lost by the president waiting until this past weekend to extend the social distancing policy that was already in place and scheduled to last until Easter!

GatorNavy said...

I eagerly await any journalist to ask what was Nancy, Joe, Chuck and Barack’s response to the swine flu pandemic. Or Mers or the original SARS.

Todd said...

Char Char Binks said...

Think of the uncountable lives that were lost by the president waiting until this past weekend to extend the social distancing policy that was already in place and scheduled to last until Easter!

3/31/20, 8:41 AM


If that doesn't rise to the level of a "high crime or misdemeanor" NOTHING does!

Laslo Spatula said...

"Don't look to the Vietnam Era for optimism!"

I would like to point out that the following came out during The Viet Nam Era:

"Yummy, yummy, yummy
I got love in my tummy and I feel like a-lovin' you
Love, you're such a sweet thing, good enough to eat thing
And it's just a-what I'm gonna do"

Which seems pretty optimistic to me.

I am Laslo.

n.n said...

The President and bureaucracy ("deep state"). Did the "deep state", press, media, social platforms, and Democrats put People at risk while prosecuting their multi-trimester witch hunts and warlock trials in order to cover-up the actions and consequences of the previous administration?

Howard said...

Allen S: I imagine you as Lt Col Kilgore saying: (Virus) Charlie don't surf.

Gusty Winds said...

While Nancy had the country, and the executive branch bogged down in a sham impeachment, Trump was already working on the Coronavirus. Seems that simple.

Morning Joe. What a clown.

Best part is his no socks with leather shoes Donny Deutsch look.

Tim said...

She is vile. The Left wants you subjugated or dead. Remember that.

Gusty Winds said...

Joe Exotic is a better musician and entertainer than Joe Scarborough. And Joe Exotic lip syncs....

Tommy Duncan said...

"She (Pelosi) was talking about how Congress and the Executive branch need to work together, and then she worked in her attack on the President.'

The Democrats hope there is a way to turn this into Trump's Katrina.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

How much money does the Pelosi family make off of chi-com interests?

Is Joe Scarburough owned by the Chi-Coms?

Is MSDNC owned by the chi-coms?

We already know Hillary is a chi-com bot... so these questions need answering.

DarkHelmet said...

Nobody "knew" the contours of the pandemic in January. Or February. Or March. We still don't know. We've only had wide scale testing in the US this week. The idea that Trump knew or should have known something that is fundamentally unknowable is ludicrous.

Of course, Pelosi knows that. She's just doing what she always does: angling for political advantage, no matter what the cost. And the national media are more than eager to help her do it.

But why does any rational person listen to Morning Joe or anything else on MSNBC? What's the point? Do you listened to the daily talking points from the Communist Chinese Government? Iran's official government news? Putin's captive press?

I just don't see why anybody voluntarily listens to unadulterated propaganda. There is neither news value nor entertainment value. Unless you're a masochist.

narciso said...

Is the pope argentine, did scarborough kill his assistant, i mean we're asking inconvenient questions.

narciso said...

Its like em waves of the aliens, msnbc is only the highest frequency most affected tmz.

rcocean said...

Pelosi can't stop insulting and attacking Trump even during a national crisis. But that's completely expected. The Democrats NEVER stop playing politics, They NEVER miss an opportunity to take advantage of a crisis to push their agenda. They are relentless, unprincipled, and unpatriotic. They'll only stop doing it when the sainted "moderates" and "independents" start getting upset about it, which they never do.

Howard said...

The buck never stops with Trump. He is truly the Teflon Don.

MountainMan said...

Trump was way out front of any do the Democrats on the virus, even with the impeachment distraction. They should be careful what they ask for. There is ample video evidence that DeBlasio, the mayor of New Orleans, and even Pelosi herself were advising their constituents that the virus was not a problem and everybody should get together and enjoy their Chinese New Year and Marci Gras. But somehow, what they said to their constituents is Trump’s fault.

rcocean said...

Anyway, the media-DNC attacks are expected. Did ANYONE think the DNC-media was going to PRAISE Trump for anything - or stop giving him 92 negative coverage? They already got their meme. "Trump lied, people died". If only Trump had acted sooner..If only Trump had not done this or that..Orange man wouldn't listen to the experts because he only cared about $$$...Orange man has done nothing, its the experts who are the real heroes...Trump has made things worse with his confusing talk and constant U-turns. Etc.

CNN/PBS/NBC/MSNBC/ABC/CBS/WaPo/NYT all work in lock stop to spread the anti-Trump story.

chuck said...

I don't expect the Democrats to honestly investigate anything, that is what I learned from Russia, Russia, Russia. No, it will all be propaganda seeking political advantage. When the Democrats will recover from that virus, ongoing since Bush, is something epidemiologists can speculate on for decades.

iowan2 said...

Howard, I have been asking for two weeks for you and the other sufferers of TDS to identify specific actions, recommended by the CDC, etal, President Trump refused to implement.
Or more fun, looking back with clear 20/20 hindsight, what actions SHOULD President Trump have taken.

Heatshield said...

What did Pelosi know and when did she know it? She should have known it was bad in late January when Trump ordered the China travel ban. Yet she was in Chinatown in San Francisco on February 24 telling people to come there and have fun that there is no danger. Three weeks later, the Bay Area went on full lockdown.

My point is, there is plenty of blame to go around. There are plenty of us that missed the early signals. None of us have ever experienced this before. Let's go back and get a full understanding so that we can be smarter the next time. But let's not expect anyone to have been perfect. But of course it won't go down like that because politicians will be doing the investigations and they are children, not adults.

Anonymous said...

She’s completely lost her touch for staying tuned in to the public mood. First the House Dems tried to stall the coronavirus relief bill so they could festoon it with a Christmas list of far-left nuttery that would never win in an up-and-down vote, and now they want to rehash the ridiculous impeachment hearings that frittered away so much time and energy that could have been used to work for the benefit of the American people instead of the Democratic Party.

Christ almighty do they need to be punished at the election. These far-left scum are not my countrymen any more. They are my worst enemies. I fear them more than I fear Muslim terrorists, Russian revanchists, or Chinese bat viruses.

rcocean said...

Joe Scarborough claimed to be a Republican and a conservative when in was in Congress. He got the "Morning Joe" gig because he was supposedly the "reasonable Conservative" to balance liberal Mika. But he could only keep up the FAKE CON act for so long, and now we have Morning Joe with almost all liberals attacking Trump 24/7/365. Its amazing this never happens the other way round. Liberal Media types stay liberal. Reasonable Conservative media types drop the mask and become liberal.

pacwest said...

If only Trump could curb his urge to mud wrestle the pigs. There's an endless supply of them.

That Pelosi and others consider the pandemic as a means to grab power is disgusting. It's hard to even grasp the level of vileness of the Democrats, but it's on full display.

Tim said...

She is vile. The Left wants you subjugated or dead. Remember that.

DarkHelmet said...

Howard, of course the buck stops with Trump -- for the response of the executive branch of the federal government. He's responsible for the CDC, the medical advisors he chooses to listen to, the public pronouncements he makes, the requests he makes of Congress. He's responsible for the message he imparts to the general public. He's responsible for leading by example.

The president is not responsible for DeBlasio's management of NYC, or the Mardi Gras revelers in New Orleans. He's not responsible for Pelosi's antics in China Town. He's not responsible for idiot kids partying on the beach during spring break. He's not responsible for residents of Detroit or Chicago refusing to stay home or take other precautions.

Unless you want him to impose a dictatorial police state like China.

Martha said...

Pelosi to Jake Tapper on CNN Sunday:
“What the President—his denial at the beginning was deadly. His delaying of getting equipment to where—it continues—his delay in getting equipment to where it’s needed is deadly,” she said. “And now I think the best thing would be to do is to prevent more loss of life, rather than open things up,” referring to the possibility of easing social distancing.

“I don’t know what the purpose of that is. I don’t know what the scientists are saying to him. I don’t know what the scientists said to him. When did this President know about this and what did he know? What did he know and when did he know it?” the Speaker added, repeating the most famous line from the impeachment probe of Richard Nixon.

“That’s for an after-action review. But as the President fiddles, people are dying. And we have to—we just have to take every precaution.”

Pelosi will be repeating that well-rehearsed smear for awhile.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/pelosi-casts-the-first-coronavirus-stone-11585609787

Left Bank of the Charles said...

Here are Trump's own words:

"[B]efore we heard the 2.2 million people... we had a lot of people were saying maybe we shouldn’t do anything, just ride it."

Trump himself seems to be asserting there was a before and after point in terms of what he knew and when he knew it. If I recall correctly, Althouse/Meadehouse went to social distancing on March 6, a full 10 days before Trump did. Althouse and Meade knew.


Tom T. said...

By November, there's a good chance that the consensus attack on Trump will be that he overreacted.

Howard said...

Iowan2: I'm not the one with Trump derangement syndrome. I think he's a slimy POS and opportunistic hog, etc. I hope that Trump downplaying of Coronavirus risks communicated by his medical experts will not result in significant collateral damage from the pandemic. we really won't be able to answer your question until all the data is in for this time. I expect sometime around August you will have all of the elite data-crunching lefties will be able to put a number on the excess deaths due to Trump's delay and using his bully pulpit to get people to change their behavior and to start social distancing earlier which will then be used in Democrat campaign ads. that's all I'm saying I'm not saying I know if they are right or wrong or anything of that nature.

I also predict that the number crunching will show that Trump closing the border with China and January have no effect on the spread of the virus.

If we're still alive in August then we'll know until then just sit back relax and enjoy the flight

Howard said...

If you are correct Tom T than Trump will win in a landslide. I think we all hope you are right. However my actions reflect the opposite opinion.

Temujin said...

What did the Chinese govt. know and when did they know it? Why would the Chicoms not allow the US CDC or any other reputable research organization that could have helped, into Wuhan? To this day, why has no one outside of Chicom approved party members or Chicom approved organizations (like WHO) been allowed in to study the what happened.

What was going on when the director of the WHO said the Chinese had everything under control back in mid-January and again repeated that the socialist state had it together and the world could learn from them in late January? What was up with the 2nd in command of the WHO cutting off an interview with a Hong Kong questioner when she asked him how he thought Taiwan was doing. He first pretended to not hear her and asked her to move on to the next question. When she repeated the question about Taiwan, he cut off the online communication. Then when called back he stated that "we've already discussed China and how well they did". Except that he was asked about Taiwan- who has done a remarkably good job of handling the virus. The WHO exec would not even acknowledge Taiwan as a country. So I guess the World Health Organization is really the Chinese approved health organization.

I view the WHO in the same light as the United Nations. Both are easily bought by tyrants to do the bidding of tyrants. And they are nothing more than a good umbrella for massive money laundering and cocktail parties. When this is over, someone needs to take the WHO's Tedros Adhanom and Bruce Aylward out at the knees. These men represent the very worst of a corrupt bureaucracy. But don't worry about them. I'm sure that the Chinese have paid them well for their obedience.

If we had a real Speaker of the House who had a brain in that doddering head of hers, she'd be working with the Administration to help. What was up with Nancy hanging out in SF's Chinatown encouraging people to go and hang out there in the LAST WEEK IN FEBRUARY. She is to me the same level as Jim Acosta. Grime under the sole of my shoes.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Social distancing started in FEB at the suggestion of the Task Force. Trump’s 15-day plan started in earnest on March 15.

Chris of Rights said...

I didn't realize that was a Churchill quote. I feel so ignorant. It's the last line of the movie version of Millenium, starring Kris Kristofferson. A good book, but a mediocre movie at best.

Anyway, I don't think that it's a sign we're at the end of the beginning. I think it's a sign that the only thing people in Washington know how to do is politic. They don't actually know how to solve problems. They know (or they think they know) how to push things to their political advantage, or to blame someone else for failures.

Frankly, it's a sign that our political class is worthless. Pelosi is going on about this and her ridiculous claims of Trump "fiddling". And if this had all happened 6 years ago, there would be Republicans doing the same thing. But most Americans don't give a f**k. They want to know how we're going to get out of this, what is being done about the 3.3 million people who filed for unemployment last week. They worried about those things and if they'll have jobs next week. What is important to Nancy Pelosi isn't important to us.

And that's very aggravating and depressing.

iowan2 said...

Thanks Howard. You're honest enough to admit, not a single action can be identified. Not one single action was delayed that would have caused a higher mortality.

Howard said...

From January until last week, Trump consistently minimized the risk the coronavirus posed to the country. He claimed to have the virus under "control," that the number of US cases would go "down, not up," that the virus might "disappear" through a "miracle" or something of the sort, that the virus might well vanish by April with the warmer weather, that the media and Democrats were overhyping the situation, and that "this is their new hoax," leaving it unclear whether he was calling the virus itself a hoax. (He later said he was talking about Democrats' coronavirus-related criticism, not the virus.)

Howard said...

Very effective use of the bully pulpit bye orangeman fantastic

narciso said...

Exactly aylward has moving his lips like the puppetmasters in beijing were doing so was adhanom.

DanTheMan said...

>>I also predict that the number crunching will show that Trump closing the border with China and January have no effect on the spread of the virus.

You can't be serious. Prohibiting travel from the most infected place in the world had no effect?

But having Rachel Maddow make a comment about the Mercy DID have an effect?

Howard said...

I didn't admit anything douchebag. What I said was just we won't know if any delay caused excess deaths until late summer. It's interesting I've been listening a lot to David Foster Wallace. he described how you people from the Midwest are so totally f****** gorked out on Benadryl all the time that you can't think straight. Thanks for confirming that diagnosis

Howard said...

Dan the Man, I didn't say whether or not it would be true I said that's what the number crunching would show. Realpolitik

I'm Not Sure said...

"Grime under the sole of my shoes."

In San Francisco? That's not grime.

Francisco D said...

Howard said: From January until last week, Trump consistently minimized the risk the coronavirus posed to the country.

Yes. He did not increase the panic that is causing as many if not more problems than the coronavirus.

There is a word for that: Leadership.

narciso said...

the source of the pantomime

mtrobertslaw said...

Pelosi will never be asked "What did she know, and when did she know it." And the reason is she knows nothing. Whether it is a matter of simple arithmetic or the first letter of the alphabet, she knows absolutely nothing.

Howard said...

Well I hope your bravado is correct Francisco d we will know in late summer because there is no reliable data at this time.

Kevin said...

The classic question from the Watergate scandal was "What did the president know, and when did he know it?

Obama. Crossfire Hurricane.

That's the investigation that needs to come after we've tamped down the virus.

That's the investigation Pelosi tried to bury under impeachment and which she needs to get in front of once again.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

So if you take all the ambiguity out of Trump’s remarks and remove the caveats and dependent clauses you can pretty much make it seem Trump was promoting Mardi Gras all along. How clever Howard is!

Kevin said...

Shorter Morning Joe: We now interrupt important briefings from scientists and government officials on the Coronavirus to resume our normal programming.

Tina Trent said...

Howard, you're a walking object lesson in the point: no Democrat politician would have had the fortitude to stare down the racissssm accusations and close the border when it was crucial. And while Trump was dealing with reality, other world leaders were literally telling people to go out and hug foreigners.

If New York City wasn't crawling with illegal immigrants, they would be better prepared in every way to provide care to the people who are actually supposed to be there.

Trump also gave other leaders more social space, as it were, to act to protect their own citizens too. Someone who doesn't care what other people think of his hair is precisely what is needed in such situations.

DanTheMan said...

>>Dan the Man, I didn't say whether or not it would be true I said that's what the number crunching would show.

This makes no sense at all. If that's what the number crunching would show, then it's true, right?

How could the number crunching show it, and it not be true?


Ken B said...

I think you are reading too much into this. Pelosi is a rabid partisan with neither shame nor sense. She attacks the president reflexively.

This won’t go the way she expects.
We just saw a clip of her telling people to mingle in dense crowds in Chinatown in late February. We saw worse from de Blasio. She called early steps racist. She voted to end the flight restrictions as late as 5 March.

What did the speaker know and when did she know it?

Lurker21 said...

We are still arguing now about whether it was necessary to shut down the country and for how long. It stands to reason that there was some dispute about this from the beginning. Any president would have had to weigh health concerns against economic considerations and would take care not to act rashly or precipitously. I don't think you would have seen the travel ban or shutdown or work on a vaccine happen any sooner or quicker than you did if someone else had been in the White House. We could have been more prepared - we could have had enough masks and ventilators and known where they were - but the Democrats really aren't in much of a position to claim that they got it right from the beginning. Still, so long as Pelosi is in charge there will be hearings. Maybe another impeachment.

Skeptical Voter said...

She rode into the room---and stepped off her broom. She adjusted her chaps and spurs. She drawled, "I'm still the Sheriff here in Robbers Roost, and I'm going to find a way to eliminate Orange Man Bad."

Meantime some young guns like AOC and her posse hope to send the Sheriff packing. I don't know which is worse--Pelosi or the Squad. But they live in Robbers Roost, the baddest town in the East.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

While he was spying on Trump’s campaign, Obama was also depleting the PPE reserves and proposing multi-million dollar cuts to the CCC, which was busy studying bullying and guns instead of INFECTIOUS DISEASE as it should have been. So yeah, preparedness is t a hallmark of progressive government. Nanny-statism is.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

“cuts to the CDC budget...” it should say.

pacwest said...

I hope that Trump downplaying of Coronavirus risks communicated by his medical experts will not result in significant collateral damage from the pandemic.

I also predict that the number crunching will show that Trump closing the border with China and January have no effect on the spread of the virus.

God how I love the smell of cognitive dissonance in the morning.

traditionalguy said...

The light at the end of the tunnel In Vietnam Nam years meant “we have no idea how to fight or to win this war but don’t want to admit it”

AllenS said...

Just returned from a trip to Hudson WI to buy two things that I forgot to buy yesterday when I was there. Originally, I was against the stay at home bullshit, now, I'm in favor of it. Driving and shopping is so much easier. Traffic was heavier today than yesterday. Why aren't these people staying at home? There were 3 people in Fleet Farm today that had masks on. Two elderly people had what looked like surgical masks on, and wearing thin black leather gloves. I felt so inadequate wearing my Lone Ranger mask.

Howard said...

Deplorables follow pied Piper leadership

RMc said...

Clearly, Trump's failure to act earlier warrants a full house investigation followed by impeachment

Or we could just skip the investigation and go straight to the impeachment


Hell, fergit all this lawyerin' stuff and git right to the hangin'...!

Narayanan said...

Walls are being built that will soon start closing in.

Not just on Trump but all of us.

iowan2 said...

@9:35 people from the Midwest are so totally f****** gorked out on Benadryl all the time that you can't think straight

Nice ad hominem attack.

But you don't need time to point out actions not taken. Its a simple question.
Walking back the panic. 2.2 million deaths? Suuuuure. Presidents statements are going to be way closer than 2.2 million deaths.

(I'm not even sure about Benadryl Antihistamine? Don't care. Who knows where you get stupid ideas from?)

TJM said...

Only an idiot would believe the Dem's narrative. Trump was the first to act by banning flights to and from China and for that he was called a racist. Obozo sat on his ass and golfed for 6 months while over 1,000 died from the swine flu. But the sycophantic media would never dare to question their Dear Leader

khematite said...

Speaking of taking too long, this was reported on February 24th by NBC:

Nancy Pelosi Visits San Francisco’s Chinatown Amid Coronavirus Concerns
By NBC Bay Area staff • Published February 24, 2020 • Updated on February 25, 2020 at 7:05 am

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi toured San Francisco's Chinatown Monday to send a message. She said there's no reason tourists or locals should be staying away from the area because of coronavirus concerns.

"That’s what we’re trying to do today is to say everything is fine here," Pelosi said. "Come because precautions have been taken. The city is on top of the situation."

Pelosi visited The Wok Shop, a temple and the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory, which was started 58 years ago by owner Kevin Chan's mother and uncle.

Chan said his business is losing about $500-$800 a day, or about 70% on average. He believes the fear of the virus is racially motivated.

"I think it's because even if I walk out and cough a little bit — my throat is itchy — they look at me, 'Oh,' like this, 'scary,'" he said.

As Pelosi walked from the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory to lunch at a dim sum restaurant, she hugged friends and waved to onlookers. She downplayed the racism issue, saying she understands people are concerned about China – the epicenter of the novel coronavirus.

"But that shouldn’t be carried over to Chinatown in San Francisco," she said. "I hope that it’s not that. But all I can say is, 'I’m here.' We feel safe and sound, so many of us coming here."

FullMoon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Gahrie said...

Hell, fergit all this lawyerin' stuff and git right to the hangin'...!

I like hangin'...

hombre said...

Absolute bullshit! When did he know what?

I don’t trust the mediaswine to do anything but create and report confusion. Given the early media contradictions, the Chinese deception and the reported lack of consensus among “experts,” is anyone stupid enough to think they know the “what” as well as the “when?”

If the media is reflective of a substantial plurality of the population, we are in a hell of a lot of trouble.

Achilles said...

There is real damage being done to the social fabric of this country right now.

I cannot see myself living cohesively with people that support Nancy Pelosi. She is just not a good person.

This will not end well.

The number of deaths from COVID-19 will seem like a small thing if this keeps up.

DavidUW said...

It's really a shame there's all this unused rope just hanging around.
and vacant lampposts.

perhaps that should change.

FullMoon said...

Pretty obvious that Nancy hates Trump. She really is taking it personally.

Drago said...

Ken B: "I think you are reading too much into this. Pelosi is a rabid partisan with neither shame nor sense. She attacks the president reflexively.
This won’t go the way she expects."

Nancy and the dems are going to take their lemmings like Howard over the cliff again. This will make it about the 5th or 6th or thousandth time it will have happened.

What makes it so curious is that Howard keeps volunteering to lead the charge. You'll note that at least several times per day now Howard re-launches the already debunked Trump called coronavirus a hoax meme.

Did anyone happen to catch the story about the idiot woman who drank fish tank cleaner with her husband?

Recall how Howard went to town on that and the deplorables? Turns out she is a die-hard, Trump-hating far left Democrat.

Who didn't see that one coming?

Just another faceplant by Howard and another "loss" in the dem "Narrative" column.

Douglas B. Levene said...

The Democratic and media line is that the Administration knew or should have known in January/February that the tidal wave of a pandemic was going to come crashing down on the US and have taken vigorous action then to protect against the virus. Of course, if they knew or should have known, so should have Sen. Schumer and Speaker Pelosi, who persisted with their pointless impeachment exercise at the worst possible time. Why didn't they suspend the impeachment until after the crisis? They surely knew - indeed, expected - that impeachment would soak up most of the president's time and energy. That was their goal, to keep him from doing anything else. Well, they succeeded and we are all paying the price.

Todd said...

Drago said...

Did anyone happen to catch the story about the idiot woman who drank fish tank cleaner with her husband?

Recall how Howard went to town on that and the deplorables? Turns out she is a die-hard, Trump-hating far left Democrat.


3/31/20, 2:05 PM


Worry not, both of them will still be voting reliably D for the next 20 or 30 years (yes I know he is deceased - when has that ever stopped the Democrats).

Gk1 said...

Well Nancy and the other democratic impeachers can help greatly by shutting the FUCK up now. They distracted the President from December to the first weeks of March with their temper tantrum impeachment. We will never forgive them for this. The blood is on their hands, not the President's.

Ray - SoCal said...

Pelosi is doing a lot of throwing stuff at Trump, and sees what sticks.

And what does not stick, she believes will be memory holed by the press.

Unfortunately for her, Trump knows the press is partisan and 92% of the coverage of him is negative per one study, and Trump communicates around the partisan press.

Reference so I don't get labeled as Fake News:
https://www.investors.com/politics/editorials/media-trump-hatred-coverage/

Ray - SoCal said...

Another example of a Politician trying to successfully attack Trump, and failing:

Gov. Whitmer reverses course on coronavirus drugs, is now asking feds for hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine.

And a top Republican, Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, gave her cover, saying it was a "misunderstanding".

Via Instapundit:

https://pjmedia.com/instapundit/363315/

DavidUW said...

Hopefully that keeps Michigan in the R column. And hope Shirkey gets primaried next time.
Whitmer's action was 1) truly idiotic. 2) anyone could have told her that doctors can prescribe off label meds for anything they want and what she was doing was likely illegal. 3) Chloroquine is a 70 year old drug that has been used possibly in a billion or more people.

If there's a misunderstanding, it's whether she's stupid or evil. In either case (or the likely "and" case), should not be governor.

Andy said...

What we have here is an example of a politician being caught in a paradigm shift. We are faced with a real crisis not a phony one. One that requires real seriousness on the part of our leaders not the typical games and foolishness. And yet here's Nancy. It's kind of like having an imaginary episode of The Brady Bunch, where the Brady home burns to the ground, and Jan goes on a tirade about Marcia wearing one of Jan's dresses without asking the night before. Jan would look just as petty and foolish as madame speaker looks today. So sad, I had to make up a plot to an imaginary episode of The Brady Bunch to illustrate her foolishness. This brings to mind another politician who got caught in a paradigm shift. Jeanette Rankin the first female elected to Congress. She was the lone member of Congress to vote against going to war with Japan after pearl harbor. Rankin was a pacifist who was standing on principal and acting with a good deal of courage casting that vote. Those are two virtues that madame speaker is unacquainted with sadly. If she was acting on principal and with courage her being so wrong, could at least be excusable.

PS There is an audio recording of FDR's Day of Infamy speech where the recorder was left on after the President finished speaking. It may be the first recording of the Congress actually in session conducting business. The House began working on the war declaration almost is soon as the President stopped speaking. One of the first members to begin speaking was Congresswoman Rankin. Another member is heard shouting "Sit down sister" and Rankin was immediately silenced IIRC.

GRW3 said...

Remember when the President was called a racist and a xenophobe because he shut the border to Chinese nationals and non-Americans who had recently been to China? Good times... The crazy people keep acting like video recoding and internet caches don't exist to replay their every comment in the past. Social Distancing? Nonsense said the NYC health commissioner on TV. Go to the public events, ride the subways and go out to dinner, all after other cities were already starting social distancing and shutting down events.