June 22, 2020

Trump looks "silly" in OK rally

Thank you Tulsa for the hope from the "heartland". When you are bleeding support in the "sooner" state it's over for hopes of Republicans holding the Senate.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/fox-news-host-chris-wallace-trump-campaign-looks-silly-for-not-owning-up-to-tulsa-rallys-crowd-size-2020-06-21?mod=home-page

June 16, 2020

Wearing face coverings should not be a political football.

Wearing face coverings should not be a political football. It's about survival for ALL.

I am doing my best to continue a self-quarantine, started at the end of February, to avoid becoming a statistic before my time is due. I venture out, wearing a face covering and avoiding public gatherings, order groceries delivered, sanitize, wash my hands (verging on an excessive compulsion). This is not normal, plays like a broken record in my mind.

Spring weather is but a memory giving rise to the extreme heat of the desert. Worse than the heat is the thought that this is our new “normal”. The rude awaking came yesterday.

I needed to have a document notarized. In days past, I would call my bank, confirm they could handle the task, end of story. Not to bore you with the saga, I found someone willing to make a “house call”. An educator earning money during a tough summer without other income.

When the doorbell rang, I promptly answered, waved at her through the glass in the door and pointed to my mask before opening. She was not wearing a mask. She was not pleased is an understatement. She huffed back to her vehicle and entered with a frown.

I discovered she had a long day, was a teacher trying to earn money during the summer and had parents my age. She frowned again when presented my voter ID, Democrat, as proof of identity.

Long story short, I used my professional social skills. She wore a face covering and we limited the spread of the virus.

When will Republicans stand up or are they all bought and sold on the Russian money market? Sorry, Ms. Buchwald, that goon is attempting to destroy the fabric of civil society for personal gain.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-do-so-many-americans-refuse-to-wear-face-masks-it-may-have-nothing-to-do-with-politics-2020-06-16?mod=home-page

Why do so many Americans refuse to wear face masks? It may have nothing to do with politics
Published: June 16, 2020 at 11:24 a.m. ET
By Elisabeth Buchwald
…snip
“Nationwide, higher percentages of respondents from urban areas reported use of cloth face coverings than did rural area respondents,” the report states. “Because outbreaks have been reported in rural communities and among certain populations since March 2020 these data suggest a need for additional and culturally effective messaging around the benefits of cloth face coverings targeting these areas.”
In the second week of April, a week after the CDC recommended all Americans wear face coverings in public, the divide between Democrats and Republicans who said they wear masks at all times when leaving home was fairly narrow, according to an Ipsos/Axios poll.

‘Trump had not made a point of not wearing a mask. Once he very clearly did not wear mask in public that transmitted a signal.’ — Chris Jackson, senior vice president for Ipsos Public Affairs
Some 38% of Democrats and 24% of Republicans at that time said that they wear masks at all times. By the second week of June, some 60% of Democrats and nearly 34% of Republicans responded they wear masks at all times.

That is the largest difference in mask wearing across all demographics including household income, age, race and gender, said pollster Chris Jackson, senior vice president for Ipsos Public Affairs.
In early April, “Trump had not made a point of not wearing a mask,” Jackson said. “Once he very clearly did not wear mask in public that transmitted a signal that if you’re a good supporter of the President you don’t wear a mask.”

June 11, 2020

Trump slams Fed as Dow dives 1,500 points

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/trump-slams-fed-as-dow-dives-1500-points-2020-06-11?mod=home-page

Trump slams Fed as Dow dives 1,500 points
Published: June 11, 2020 at 2:35 p.m. ET
By Robert Schroeder

President Donald Trump criticized the Federal Reserve over Twitter on Thursday, one day after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell offered a grim outlook on the economy, saying there was a “long road” ahead.

“I see the numbers also, and do MUCH better than they do,” Trump said of the Fed, without mentioning Powell by name. “We will have a very good Third Quarter, a great Fourth Quarter, and one of our best ever years in 2021,” the president said.
...snip
Trump’s tweet came as the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -6.50% fell more than 1,500 points after the Wednesday Fed statement and as cases of COVID-19 were resurging in some 20 states in the U.S.

Read ow plunges 1,500 points as U.S. coronavirus cases rise, amid Fed’s grim economic outlook.
...snip

June 6, 2020

Please remove rumpie from the front page.

He is not news worthy, imo. He wants attention.

June 6, 2020

"we've got to get out of this place."

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June 5, 2020

Mark Kelly (hat tip to dk)

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/6/5/1950535/-Morning-Digest-Arizona-Senate-race-moves-toward-Mark-Kelly-after-string-of-polls-finds-him-favored#read-more

…snip
LEADING OFF
● AZ-Sen: The Democratic pollster Beacon Research and the Republican firm Shaw & Company Research are out with a survey for Fox News that finds Democrat Mark Kelly leading GOP Sen. Martha McSally by a huge 50-37 margin. The poll also shows Joe Biden carrying Arizona 46-42, which is a big shift from Donald Trump's 48-45 victory four years ago.

After losing the 2018 Senate race to Democrat Kyrsten Sinema 50-48, the appointed incumbent looks to be in far worse shape this cycle. Every single poll we've seen in 2020, with the exception of a single McSally internal from January, has shown her trailing Kelly.

June 5, 2020

"Corrupt Cop Linked to Trump Tower....Russian Ops"

https://news.yahoo.com/corrupt-cop-linked-trump-tower-152837174.html

Corrupt Cop Linked to Trump Tower Lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya Exposes Russian Ops

The Daily Beast
Nico Hines
June 5, 2020

LONDON—A corrupt former police officer who was caught working with Trump Tower lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya has revealed in a Swiss court how Russia’s complex foreign influence campaign targets justice systems in Western countries.

The former consultant to the Swiss Federal Prosecutor's Office was sacked and convicted after his entanglement with Veselnitskaya and the Russian prosecutor general’s office was exposed. He reportedly told a court in Switzerland this week that he discussed a high-profile corruption case against Russia with Russian officials during an all-expenses-paid hunting trip to Siberia.

On the visit to the spectacular Kamchatka Peninsula and Lake Baikal, the official, who is identified only as Victor K., reportedly admitted that he spent a week fishing, enjoying the rugged countryside, and hunting for bear, including from a helicopter, with officials from the Russian prosecutor general’s office.
Victor K. told the appeals court Tuesday that he had conferred with the Russian officials on the trip about the high-profile Magnitsky case, which he was supposed to be investigating. The $230 million fraud against the Russian people was uncovered by Sergei Magnitsky, who was subsequently detained and beaten by Russian officials, who left him to die in a prison cell.

The case led to American sanctions against Russia, which were signed into law by President Obama in 2012, after a campaign by U.S.-born financier Bill Browder. While the Swiss authorities originally froze millions connected to the Magnitsky case that flowed through Switzerland nine years ago, the case has stalled.

The appeals court ruled Friday that Victor K. was guilty of improperly accepting the hunting trip, but it dismissed the fine that had been imposed by a lower court.

“The decision holds; he received undue benefit from the Russians, but it’s just a slap on the wrist for a serious crime,” Browder told The Daily Beast. “The fact that the Swiss discovered a Russian mole and he bears effectively no consequence is pretty alarming, and makes Switzerland look like a banana republic.”
…snip