Friday News: “Our Dunning-Kruger president: Trump’s arrogance and ignorance are killing people”; “The Coronavirus Test Is Too Hard for Trump”; “Jared Kushner Is Going to Get Us All Killed”; “The 1,000-Bed Comfort Was Supposed to Aid New York. It Has 3 Patients.”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, April 3.

Here’s Jared Kushner going for the world record of most meaningless corporate buzzwords used in a single one-minute video clip pic.twitter.com/Vy1QJEhLQa

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 2, 2020

• OPEC+ Pushes for Others to Join a Global Output Cut; Oil Rallies
• Spanish Death Rate Drops; Merkel Exits Quarantine: Virus Update (“Data from Spain suggest strict confinement measures may be helping to control the outbreak.”)
• In Southeast Asia, Governments Exploit Coronavirus Fears To Tighten Grip
• Live Global confirmed cases pass 1 million as Wuhan warned to be vigilant
• U.S. grapples with widening onslaught as China warns about risk of new infections
• After The Coronavirus Passes, Your World Will Not Go Back To Normal (“Before the pandemic began, the systems that govern our world were brittle. Today, they are broken. When we emerge, the world will be different, and so will we.”)
• AMLO Goes off the Rails (“How to explain the Mexican president’s dismissive, destructive coronavirus response?”)
• Which World Leaders Are Handling the Pandemic Best—and Worst (Trump and Bolsonaro the worst.)
• The Coronavirus Is the World’s Only Superpower (“Trump’s America? Not so much.”)
• Trump Shows Eagerness for Good News on Oil Deal That May Not Exist
• How US can keep death toll far below the 100,000 projection (“It all depends on our public policy, and especially on our public health system.”)
• New York governor says virus is spreading like ‘slow-moving hurricane’ across US. More than 6,000 are dead
• The past two weeks wiped out all the economy’s job gains since the 2016 election
• U.S. Jobs Report Likely to Show Start of Record Labor-Market Collapse
• The Coronavirus Test Is Too Hard for Trump (“The president joins Herbert Hoover and James Buchanan as a leader who failed when it mattered most.”)
• Trump sows uncertainty and seeks to cast blame in coronavirus crisis (Evil.)
• This is just the first in a series of cascading crises (“The first phase has been the health-care crisis in the world’s major economies. The next phase is the economic paralysis, the magnitude of which we are only just beginning to comprehend…Next up will surely be the danger of countries defaulting…Next come the explosions in the developing world…The problem we face is broad and global but, unfortunately, the responses are increasingly narrow and parochial.”)
• Trump warns against ‘partisan investigations’ after Pelosi establishes select committee on virus response (Trump knows he has a LOT to hide!)
• Pelosi To Create Bipartisan Committee To Oversee Coronavirus Response
• 240,000 coronavirus deaths: ‘In what circle of hell is that a good outcome?,’ asks Susan Rice
• How Trump let coronavirus take over America
• Experts and Trump’s advisers doubt White House’s prediction of virus deaths
• Inside the National Security Council, a rising sense of dread
• When will U.S. economy bottom? Economists hunt for the right view
• Trump administration ended pandemic early-warning program to detect coronaviruses
• Navy expected to relieve captain who raised alarm about COVID-19 outbreak on aircraft carrier (That sounds completely bonkers.)
• ‘Lack of leadership’: Esper’s pandemic response draws fire as crisis deepens (Esper isn’t qualified for this job, of course. Imagine if General Mattis were in charge now?)
• Fauci says that all states should have stay-at-home orders
• The Coronavirus Case for Everyone to Start Wearing Masks or Bandannas
• Banks warn of ‘utter chaos’ in new small business lending program
• White House expected to urge everyone to wear face coverings in public
• Top doctor says White House coronavirus task force still missing 50% of testing data
• Location Data Says It All: Staying at Home During Coronavirus Is a Luxury
• Trump Replaced White House Pandemic-Response Team With Jared Kushner
• Trump is always the last to figure it out (“Ignorance is inexcusable for a president. And the vice president isn’t much better.”)
• Kushner company stands to benefit from freeze on federal mortgage payments
• Jared Kushner Is Going to Get Us All Killed (“Trump’s son-in-law has no business running the coronavirus response.” Or anything else.)
• Why Is Trump So Timid With the Defense Production Act? (“The administration has all the authority it needs to produce medical supplies and prepare for a potential vaccine.”)
• Another GOP president, another recession (“The Trump economy has melted down.”)
• Fact check: Trump falsely claims plane and train passengers are being tested for the coronavirus (The default assumption should be that everything Trump says is either a lie or false. Or misleading or dubious.)
• Five things being discussed for a new coronavirus relief bill
• Resistance to stay-at-home orders remains widespread, exposing political and social rifts (“Experts are warning that a group of governors in the South and the Great Plains risk acting too late.”)
• Our Dunning-Kruger president: Trump’s arrogance and ignorance are killing people (“When stupid people think they’re smart, they do maximum damage. That’s where we are with Trump and the pandemic”)
• The next threat: hunger in America
• Democrats fear coronavirus impact on November turnout
• One year in, Democrats frustrated by fight for Trump tax returns
• Social distancing is working. The worst thing to do now is stop.
• Trump’s Coronavirus Response Shows He’s Loyal Only to Himself (“He’s not serving his country. He’s using patriotism as a political weapon.”)
• How Concerned Are Americans About The Coronavirus?
• ‘A lot has changed’: Bernie’s Wisconsin stronghold breaks hard for Biden
• Democrats need to dump their in-person convention (“It already was a relic of another time”)
• Jared Kushner Appears At White House Coronavirus Briefing (“The president’s son-in-law has taken on a significant role in the federal government’s COVID-19 response despite having no medical expertise.” Or expertise at anything.)
• What Everyone’s Getting Wrong About the Toilet Paper Shortage (“It isn’t really about hoarding. And there isn’t an easy fix.”)
• FACT CHECK: Trump Claims U.S. Testing For Coronavirus Most Per Capita — It’s Not
• Trump’s Failed Coronavirus Response Cost Him His Incumbent’s Edge (“The coronavirus did what nothing else has: It neutralized Trump’s ability to humiliate a foe, while giving Biden the perfect reason to lay low.”)
• Social distancing makes powering EVs with solar a good idea
• 100% clean energy group launches, with eyes on coronavirus
• President’s Campaign Calls Sessions ‘Delusional’ for Tying Himself to Trump
• Trump Cares More About Killing Obamacare Than About Saving Americans (“It’s always a tip-off when they don’t even bother trotting out some bullshit justification. It tells you that there’s only one reason, and it’s the obvious one.”)
• Wisconsin’s election seems to be barreling toward a train wreck (“Now is the time to test voting by mail.”)
• Federal judge extends absentee balloting but does not put off in-person voting in Wisconsin
• Wisconsin Democrats apoplectic over governor’s handling of Tuesday primary
• The Coronavirus’s Unique Threat to the South (“Due to high rates of conditions like lung disease and heart disease and obesity, the people living in these states are at risk if they get the virus”)
• Reporter from pro-Trump channel attends White House coronavirus briefing, defying press corps
• One America News Network to White House Correspondents’ Association: Who needs ya?
• The new Trumpist coronavirus talking point is that the death count is “inflated”
• Fox News and Facebook’s coronavirus town hall features Mike Rowe — who has spread misinformation about the virus on Facebook
• FL Gov. Overrides County Officials to Allow Church During Coronavirus Lockdown (Moron.)
• The 1,000-Bed Comfort Was Supposed to Aid New York. It Has 3 Patients. (“On top of its strict rules preventing people infected with the virus from coming on board, the Navy is also refusing to treat a host of other conditions. Guidelines disseminated to hospitals included a list of 49 medical conditions that would exclude a patient from admittance to the ship. Ambulances cannot take patients directly to the Comfort; they must first deliver patients to a city hospital for a lengthy evaluation — including a test for the virus — and then pick them up again for transport to the ship.”)
• The Navy hospital ship supposed to aid a struggling New York floats largely unused and idle (“Only three patients have been transferred to the U.S. Naval Ship Comfort despite nearly 1,000 unused beds and a nearly idle 1,2000-member crew.”)
• Sen. Mark Warner hosts virtual town hall from D.C.
• Trump declares major disaster in Virginia. The state has gotten a fraction of the supplies it’s requested.
• Virginia Receives Major Disaster Declaration from Federal Government for COVID-19
• Virginia’s Coronavirus Outbreak Declared A Major Disaster
• Virus Politics and Trump’s Shadow Complicate GOP Hopes in Virginia’s 7th District (“The Cook Political Report sees the general election contest as a toss-up. Sabato’s Crystal Ball has it at ‘leans Democratic.'”
• Virginia Members of Congress Urge Trump Administration to Reopen Obamacare Enrollment During Coronavirus Pandemic
• Northern Virginia Representatives Urge Lenders To Help Small Businesses In Face Of Chaotic Rollout Of National Assistance Program
• Gov. Northam Participates in Nationwide #AskTheGov Twitter Q&A
• Thursday (4/2) Virginia Data on COVID-19 Finds +222 Cases (to 1,706), +38 Hospitalizations (to 246), +7 Deaths (to 41) From Yesterday
• Coronavirus-Crisis-Triggered Unemployment Claims Soar in the U.S. (6.6 million filed just last week) and Virginia (114k initial claims last week)
• Virginia’s getting a fraction of the protective equipment needed from the federal government, documents show
• Nearly Half of Virginia Coronavirus Deaths Originated at a Richmond Nursing Home
• As unemployment claims soar, where are Virginia workers getting hit hardest?
• How strictly are Virginia’s social distancing orders being enforced? Court records show just a few citations.
• Virginia considers delaying raises, minimum wage increase as coronavirus blows huge hole in state budget (“One bright spot: The state has nearly $2 billion in rainy day and reserve funds, the most ever.”)
• Editorial: During pandemic, Virginia should follow steady course with the state budget
• Editorial: Virginians should be prepared for a long siege
• Virginia has logged more jobless claims than in all of 2019; claims soared 86% in Richmond region and 143% in Virginia
• Editorial: Amid uncertainty, Virginia institutions soldier on (This is a bizarre editorial; starts off with a perfectly fine argument about why the Certificate of Public Need – COPN – is crucial for hospitals’ financial viability, then goes off the rails by talking about how supposedly “great” Dominion Energy is – HA! Also, why mash up COPN and Dominion in the same editorial? Very, very weird.)
• Staffing group cuts doctors’ benefits as ER volume wanes in ‘calm before the storm’ of COVID-19 (Ugh.)
• No, police can’t pull you over just for being on the street under Virginia’s stay-at-home order
• 5 more COVID-19 deaths bring death toll at Canterbury to 16; two-thirds of residents infected
• At least 120 restaurants in Hampton Roads have closed to wait out the coronavirus pandemic
• Given COVID-19, Does Anyone See Any Possible Way That Schools Will Begin Their Conventional School Year in September?
• Group of 12 VA Delegates Urge Governor Northam to Protect Health and Safety of Public Schools, Students and Staff
• Kaine, others address Lynchburg Regional Business Alliance amid coronavirus crisis
• Hampton VA medical staff ‘desperate for PPE,’ its union says
• Redskins waive cash owed by Richmond for training camp in 2019; will continue to waive going forward
• Still breezy today, with some periodic clouds into the weekend