Friday News: “Trump’s phony deadlines are irrelevant”; “F*** Dr. Phil”; “The Democrats Are In…Array?”; “Trump’s Job Rating Slides; U.S. Satisfaction Tumbles”; “A Gloomy Prediction on How Much Poverty Could Rise”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, April 17.

My god…fuck Dr. Phil https://t.co/ny1lUO7rKl

— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) April 17, 2020

• China’s Economy Shrinks, Ending a Nearly Half Century of Growth
• China Suffers Historic Economic Slump With Hard Recovery Ahead
• US alerted Israel, NATO to disease outbreak in China in November — report
• Wuhan officials have revised the city’s coronavirus death toll up by 50%
• No country has beaten the coronavirus yet (“New Covid-19 infections are undermining some of the gains as countries relax restrictions.”)
• Virus Vaccine May Be Ready for Mass Production By Autumn, Oxford Professor Says (“Trial aims to give experimental shot to 500 people by mid-May. Phase-3 efficacy data ready by the fall in best-case scenario”)
• Reported U.S. Coronavirus Deaths Reach Record 4,591 in 24 Hours
• Bringing the Economy Back to Life (“A former Treasury secretary argues that Congress should act now to help small businesses and poor urban neighborhoods while committing to future fiscal repair.”)
• Fact Checker: Trump’s false claim that the WHO said the coronavirus was ‘not communicable’
• Coronavirus Latest: Despite Trump’s Optimism, There’s Still A Long Road To Reopening
• Millions wait for virus relief checks in major test for IRS
• Frank Rich: Trump’s War on the States (“The president can’t tell governors when to reopen society. But he can whip his supporters into a tea party–style frenzy.”)
• A Gloomy Prediction on How Much Poverty Could Rise (“Researchers suggest the poverty rate may reach the highest levels in half a century, hitting African-Americans and children hardest.”)
• Trump’s denial of his coronavirus failings will be “one of the biggest propaganda battles in American history” (“Americans are scared and confused about how to respond to the coronavirus pandemic. That’s only going to get worse, journalism critic Jay Rosen explains.”)
• Americans Agonize Over $1,200 Relief Payments That Won’t Be Enough
• Trump’s Job Rating Slides; U.S. Satisfaction Tumbles (“His job approval rating, now 43%, has slipped six percentage points since mid-March when he earned 49% approval, which tied his personal best…The six-point decline in the president’s approval rating is the sharpest drop Gallup has recorded for the Trump presidency so far, largely because Trump’s ratings have been highly stable and have yet to reach the historical average for presidents (back to 1945) of 53%.”)
• Trump lawyer Michael Cohen to be released from prison early over virus concerns
• Trump’s Virus Reopening Plan Leaves Toughest Decisions to States
• Most Americans Say Trump Was Too Slow in Initial Response to Coronavirus Threat
• Here are the drugs that could treat coronavirus. But don’t expect a silver bullet. (“Despite Trump’s boosterism, there are no treatments ready to fight covid-19”)
• Trump and His Allies Don’t Want People Getting Any Ideas (“The temporary imposition of popular relief programs in response to the coronavirus makes Republicans nervous.”)
• Trump refuses to lead a country in crisis (He’s incapable of it.)
• A New Statistic Reveals Why America’s COVID-19 Numbers Are Flat (“Few figures tell you anything useful about how the coronavirus has spread through the U.S. Here’s one that does.”)
• READ: White House guidelines for ‘Opening Up America Again’ (Worthless.)
• Multiple CEOs on Trump’s new council say they were not aware of plan to reopen economy (“Some states could be ready to open as soon as Friday, the president said.”)
• Trump loves empty gestures. And he’s averse to work. (“Trump’s phony deadlines are irrelevant.”)
• Trump’s concocted deadline is bedeviled by reality (“He’s opening the potential for new outbreaks among even his most loyal supporters.”)
• Trump completes reversal, telling govs ‘you are going to call your own shots’ and distributes new guidelines
• Trump calls on governors with “beautifully low” coronavirus numbers to reopen on May 1 (WTF?)
• My Wild, Totally Surreal Experience Covering a Trump Coronavirus Briefing
• States and cities are “falling off a cliff” as the economic crisis sets in
• Might This Finally Cure Us of Our Pathological Preference for a Television President?
• Fact check: Trump wrongly declares some states don’t have ‘any problem’ with coronavirus
• Pelosi prioritizes human life. Trumpers, not so much. (“The House speaker remains focused on facts.”)
• Coronavirus testing must double or triple before U.S. can safely reopen, experts say (“‘We are an order of magnitude off right now from where we should be,’ said an expert in infectious disease modeling who advised the Obama administration.”)
• We’re Going Backwards With Coronavirus Response, Obama ‘Ebola Czar’ Warns (“‘We’re not on a path to solve this problem, we’re on a path to make this problem worse…We’re going to test fewer people in America this week than we did last week’ said Ronald Klain.”)
• Romney is only GOP senator not invited to join new White House task force
• The rightwing groups behind wave of protests against Covid-19 restrictions (“Protesters in Michigan and other states claim to speak for ordinary citizens, but are also supported by street-fighting far-right groups”)
• Analysis: The resistance to stay-at-home orders rises from the right
• Fox News is promoting protests against social distancing measures: “God bless them” (Of course they do…)
• Early peek at data on Gilead coronavirus drug suggests patients are responding to treatment (“A Chicago hospital treating severe Covid-19 patients with Gilead Sciences’ antiviral medicine remdesivir in a closely watched clinical trial is seeing rapid recoveries in fever and respiratory symptoms, with nearly all patients discharged in less than a week, STAT has learned. Remdesivir was one of the first medicines identified as having the potential to impact SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes Covid-19, in lab tests. The entire world has been waiting for results from Gilead’s clinical trials, and positive results would likely lead to fast approvals by the Food and Drug Administration and other regulatory agencies. If safe and effective, it could become the first approved treatment against the disease.”)
• Starve the Beast, Feed the Depression (“Anti-government ideology is crippling pandemic policy.”)
• Trump’s new chief of staff Mark Meadows responds to frequent controversy with fits of emotion: Sources
• For Mark Meadows, the Transition From Trump Confidant to Chief of Staff Is a Hard One
• Judge denies new trial for Roger Stone
• Ignore Trump’s tantrums. Focus on his incompetence.
• Sen. Joe Manchin will back Biden for president
• Who will Joe Biden pick as his running mate? Here’s what Vegas betting odds show
• The Case for Joe Biden to Pick Elizabeth Warren as His Running Mate (The problem is that Dems would lose the Senate seat, since MA has a GOP governor.)
• The Democrats Are In…Array?
• Trump’s Culture Warriors Are a Literal Death Cult Now (“In Trumpworld, reopening is just a matter of will. And strength. And devotion to the leader.”)
• Democrats Must ‘Strike a Balance,’ Not Trump? (“A piece in Politico demonstrates the classic form in political journalism: Dems In Disarray.”)
• Small-Business Rescue Shows Not All States Are Created Equal
• Sen. Richard Burr’s Pre-Pandemic Stock Sell-Offs Highly Unusual, Analysis Shows
• Army Decides a Pandemic Is a Good Time to Give GOP Donors $569 Million to ‘Build the Wall’ (“What coronavirus crisis? Big Republican donors get a half-billion dollar, no-bid deal that one watchdog calls ‘a travesty that must be investigated and audited immediately.'”)
• New York and other hot spots are getting longer coronavirus peaks than expected, expert says
• Dr. Phil Claims Shutdowns Deadlier Than Coronavirus In Wild Fox News Appearance (Total quack, just like “Dr. Oz”)
• After Fauci urged caution in reopening the economy, Fox News turned to Dr. Phil for a second opinion
• Video: On Digital Town Hall, Sen. Warner Answers COVID-19 Questions, Explains What He’s “Particularly Frustrated About”
• Sen. Warner Urges FCC to Take Immediate Action to Tackle Digital Divide as More Americans Depend on Internet Amid COVID-19 Outbreak
• 1Q2020 FEC Filings Show Sen. Mark Warner, Rep. Elaine Luria (D-VA02), Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA07) Crushing Their Potential GOP Opponents (Also, Rep. Denver Riggleman (R-VA05) has less cash on hand than his Democratic opponents.)
• Governor Northam Requests Additional Federal Support for Virginia Workers, Economy
• Virus outbreaks are closing meat processing plants. Beef shortfalls may follow.
• Northam’s new task force promises action to help long-term care facilities in Virginia battle the coronavirus
• Here’s a state that’s quietly reversing the tea party’s damage
• Editorial: We’re suffering from a data crisis in the commonwealth
• Thursday (4/16) Virginia Data on COVID-19 Finds +389 Cases (to 6,889), +66 Hospitalizations (to 1,114), +13 Deaths (to 208) From Yesterday
• Audio: Gov. Northam’s Chief of Staff “Very Very Hopeful” About Starting to Get Businesses Back Up and Running by May 8 (Also rips Sen. Amanda Chase for putting out “an absolute falsehood that the governor was gonna close everything”; says “we want businesses thriving…this is something everyone wants”)
• With picnic baskets and few masks, demonstrators protest Virginia stay-at-home orders
• Editorial: Improving lives for students, nonprofits
• COVID-19 death toll surpasses 200 in Virginia; dozens protest social distancing orders
• As coronavirus crisis drags on, Virginia Republicans escalate calls to reopen
• Amid outbreak, Virginia’s health department keeping some COVID-19 information under wraps
• Video, Photos: Police Tell “Dozen or So” Anti-“Lockdown” Protesters to Spread Out, Leave Virginia’s Capitol Square (Signs declare “It’s just a COLD VIRUS!”; “My body my choice to work”; “We will not comply”; etc. Meanwhile, polling indicates the vast majority believe we need to continue or strengthen anti-COVID19 measures.)
• Protesters At Virginia Capitol Echo Some Conservatives’ Demands To End Lockdowns
• Facing the COVID-19 pandemic in Virginia without government relief
• Virginia’s tireless LGBTQ advocates win legal protection at last
• Advocates Say They Want More Protections for Immigrants With Driver Privilege Cards
• Virginia Health Care Workers Lament Trump’s Chaotic Coronavirus Response; Praise Gov. Northam’s Active Response
• RIP Former Arlington County Board Vice Chair Erik Gutshall
• Former Arlington County Board member Erik Gutshall dies after battle with brain cancer
• Inova bans hospital workers from wearing PPE they bring from home
• The church is closed, but its food pantry is open. A viral Facebook post swells volunteer numbers at a parish in Arlington. (“Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Church continues to provide groceries to the needy each week as the coronavirus increases demand for its help.”)
• Fairfax Schools Distance Learning Was A Disaster, Board Says (“After reports of harassment and security breakdowns, Fairfax County Public Schools is aiming to restart distance learning April 20.”)
• Fairfax Co. school officials apologize for tech flub; company says software hadn’t been updated in 2 years
• All staff, residents at Fluvanna care facility tested for virus
• Virginia Tech marks annual Day of Remembrance, without gatherings
• African Americans Make Up All of Richmond Coronavirus Deaths
• UPDATED: Five Philadelphia men charged with murder in Spotsylvania triple homicide
• Fredericksburg to furlough some staff, reduce wages for others
• Milder today as clouds increase, then it’s showery tonight and gusty tomorrow